Category: Prayer

Sunday Praise and a Prayer for Salvation

Posted on by Dorci

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise you.  We praise you for your sovereignty and your holiness.  We praise you for your gift of salvation, for your forgiveness, your grace, and your mercy through your Son, in whom you have made all things possible.  

Lord Jesus on this day we remember your triumphal entry into Jerusalem, that you fulfilled Zechariah’s prophecy, and we praise you and thank you that you revealed to us who you are, in those moments and in our hearts, and for your eternal salvation.

We remember, too, that there were shouts of “Hosanna!”- “Oh save!”, and that many people looked to You to save them from the suffering in this life, but didn’t see that Your kingdom was so much more that that. They didn’t see that Your kingdom was an everlasting kingdom, that You were, and are, and always will be the King of kings and the Lord of lords, and that You’d come to die in their place to save them from the penalty of their own sins, to give them an eternal victory, a life after this life.

Lord, we pray for salvation. Many will be listening to pastors all over the world today and in the days to come, looking for a savior in the midst of the suffering we’re facing. Many will be looking for someone to fix the world. Oh Lord, help them to not settle for redemption in this world only and miss the eternal redemptive work you desire to do in each of their hearts.

We pray you would pour out your Spirit, that you would soften hearts and open spiritual eyes to see their need for an eternal Savior. We pray, in your grace and mercy, you would grant repentance, that people will turn to you and pray for forgiveness for their sins, and receive You, Lord Jesus, as their own Lord and Savior.  

We praise you for the great work you are doing and will do. Help us continue to be a light, revealing your love, grace, and mercy. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.  

From Gray to Living Color

Posted on by Dorci

 

Do not be anxious about anything, 
but in every situation,
by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God. 
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7

 

There are times when we are inundated, either with our own personal experiences or through the outside world, with so much that’s going wrong.  

And when we enter into prayer it’s easy to jump right into those prayer requests, like we’re giving God our grocery list.  

But prayer is so much more.  

It’s sitting with and communing with our Heavenly Father.

Paul reminds us to pray with thanksgiving. In the Greek that word for thanksgiving means gratitude, or a grateful language, to God, as an act of worship.

Yes, we thank God for the things He’s done, but even more than that, we need to come to Him with an attitude of Thanksgiving. Of worship.

And that takes me back to the beginning. How do we pray with thanksgiving when everything around us feels like it’s crumbling? When all the world seems gray with empty shelves and unpaid bills and isolation and sickness and death?  

How can we see the good?  

We ask Jesus for His eyes. He sees the good, and when we see through His eyes we will see the good all around us – the things He’s done for us, the blessings we still have in the middle of it all, the beauty and kindness around us, like the kindness of a boy taking the time to stoop down for a minute to rid a yard of an ugly weed.  

And when He fills our hearts with His goodness, we can sit in communion, with hearts of thanksgiving, in worship.

With Jesus’ eyes, the world will go from gray to living color and we will be overcome with thanksgiving, just like this man who is suddenly able to see the beauty all around him that was there all along. 

 

 

Oh Lord, help us to see with your eyes…

Sunday Praise and a Prayer for Victory

Posted on by Dorci

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise your holy and your precious name. We praise you for your grace and mercy, for your goodness and your faithfulness.  You are glorified above all. 

Father we confess our sins to you and ask you to forgive us, not because of anything within ourselves, not because we can earn it, but solely by of the blood of Jesus the Messiah that was shed for the forgiveness of our sin.

We humbly come to you today for victory.  Just as Jehoshaphat prayed when he was facing a force greater than he could humanly handle, we also pray – we do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. 

Father, we are helpless, and we need you. We ask that you would act on our behalf, Sovereign Lord.

We pray for wisdom for our leaders and wisdom and protection for all our healthcare workers. We pray for needed equipment, beds, testing, all they need in order to take care of the sick.

We pray for healing for the sick; we pray for peace for their loved ones;

we pray for protection for the remaining businesses, that those that have slowed you will keep afloat and bring them back again; we pray for businesses that have had to shut down, that you would lead those employers and employees to jobs and new businesses;

we pray for churches, for provision for the pastors and leaders, and that church families would continue to pray and trust you, and you would bring them back together again;

we pray for every believer, that you would keep us strong in the faith; we pray your Spirit would be poured out in and through your children to continually and boldly proclaim the name of Jesus as the only name by which we can be saved;

and we pray for every unbeliever, that you would soften hearts, open spiritual eyes, and grant repentance and belief in Jesus as Savior and Lord.

And we pray for your mercy, that you would remove the virus that has taken over this country and so much of the world. May you be glorified in the storm and in the victory. In Jesus’ holy and precious name we pray, amen. 

 

Sunday Praise and a Prayer for Confidence

Posted on by Dorci

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise your holy name. We praise you for your unconditional love, for your grace and mercy, for your faithfulness, and we praise you for your provision.

Thank you, Lord, for your Word where you tell us “‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?’ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:5b-6, 8)

You are our Rock.  Help us to never forget that, no matter what. Help us remember that you are always with us, always helping us, always providing, always comforting, always strengthening, encouraging, leading, filling, always loving. 

Lord, I pray we will walk in this confidence every day. I pray we would not let anyone or anything take this confidence from us. We give you our whole hearts and lives, and we put all our trust and faith and hope in you. In Jesus’ holy and precious name we pray, amen. 

Sunday Praise and a Prayer for Strength, Courage, and Wisdom

Posted on by Dorci

Dear Almighty God, Heavenly Father, we praise your name.  We praise you for your goodness and your faithfulness. We acknowledge that your ways are higher than ours, that your plans are holy and righteous.

Father, please forgive us for our sins. We pray your Holy Spirit is free to move in and through us with His love and wisdom and kindness. We pray for your strength and courage to remain steadfast and faithful to our calling as dearly loved children of the Holy One as we weather this storm. 

Lord, let us be a beacon of your light as we walk in the peace and love that only you can give.  May we stand out as a light in the darkness, prepared and ready to serve you in whatever way you call us. May your will be done.

Lord, we pray you would pour out your Spirit and bring a revival such as we have not seen in a long time. We pray you would soften hearts, open spiritual eyes, and grant repentance so many can come to faith.

Father, we pray for a swift end to the virus that is making its way around the world right now.  We pray you would give wisdom to the leaders, wisdom to those who are working hard to come up with a vaccine, and wisdom for each of us as we choose our steps.

We look to you, Lord, the One seated on the throne in heaven, the One who rules the world, and yet is near to us, as near as our own hearts, indwelling us with your Spirit, leading us with love and compassion.

Thank you for all you are, for all you are doing, and all you will do. We pray in the holy and precious name of Jesus, our Yeshua HaMashiach, our Yahweh, our Adonai, our Elohei Ma’uzzi, our El Roi, our Jehovah Rapha, amen.

Time to Exercise

Posted on by Dorci

Years ago we were going through something and my husband was talking to his mom about it.  Her response to him was, “Well, isn’t that what your faith is for?”  And of course she was exactly right. 

There are times when trials come and our faith has the opportunity to be exercised.

Not long before Jesus was going to leave His friends and this world, He told them, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)

He knew their lives would not be easy. Their world would be filled with suffering and danger and persecution and they could be tempted to fall back into their human emotions of fear and anxiety. 

Of course we’re no different today.

Emotions can be contagious, and if we’re not careful we can get caught up in the world’s anxiety.

But Paul reminded us to “…not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  (Phil 4:6-7)

The word “peace” that Paul talks about is the same word Jesus used when He told His friends He was leaving them His peace. It means one, quietness, rest, set at one again,” and comes from a verb (an action word!) meaning to join.

As we join our hearts, spirits, and minds to the Lord in prayer, He will quiet our souls and give us rest. He will fill us with not just any peace, but His peace.

Jesus said His peace would be different than the world’s. The world can only have peace (maybe) when there is no trial, no suffering, when everything in life seems good.

But Jesus’ peace isn’t dependent on outward circumstances; it comes from within. Just as Jesus promised to send His friends the Comforter, He has filled us with His Holy Spirit so we can live in His peace no matter what’s going on, even if our flesh and the world wonders why we aren’t panicked.  We are gifted with His Spirit and can have His peace even when it makes no sense at all. 

We don’t have to be anxious.  As we take everything that concerns us to our loving and compassionate Heavenly Father, He will exchange our anxiety for His peace.

And as we’re filled with His peace, the light of Christ shines through us, and nowhere does the light of Christ shine more than in the darkness. 

While the world panics, we can pray to the One who knows all things and controls all things.  We can stop, pray, let the Lord quiet our souls from within, and be a beacon of Christ’s love and peace in the midst of trials and in the face of the unknown. 

And who knows just how many might see Christ shining through us, and ask us why we have such peace.

Who knows what God may do in answer to years of prayers for revival, as we determine to live with the peace of God in our hearts and our lives. 

I think about Jesus’ friends and all they went through all the way up to their deaths as they proclaimed Christ, spreading the gospel throughout the world, and I wonder how many times His words filled their hearts and minds and comforted them. We are their brothers and sisters when we do the same.

Take it from 6-year-old Cameron Brundidge:  

“But God did not give me a spirit of fear, but power, love, and a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)

Amen, sweetie.

 

Oh Almighty God, Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, we come to you and ask that you fill us with your peace that surpasses all understanding. Help us walk in the Spirit and not in our flesh.  Help us think about things that are true, and noble, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable, and excellent, and praiseworthy…  Keep reminding us to pray for one another, and to pray that the world will take notice of the love and peace we have, and remember that we are also people who have put our faith in you, and we pray you would draw people to you through our faith.  Help us to be a light right now, Lord. We pray you would give us the words to tell anyone who asks about the reason for our hope.  May you pour out your Spirit on all people, and bring revival to our weary world.  In Jesus’ holy and precious name, amen.

Sunday Praise and a Prayer to Keep Pressing In

Posted on by Dorci

Heavenly Father, we praise you.  We praise you for who you are and for all you do. 

Father, we need you desperately, and yet there are times when we press into you more, pray more, read more, that we then begin to feel attacks from the enemy. But you are with us, Lord.

Please give us focus and wisdom to “be alert and of sober mind. [Our] enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Give us strength to “resist him, standing firm in the faith, because [we] know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” (1 Peter 5:8-9)

We lift up our fellow believers all over the world who are facing severe persecution. Please, Holy Spirit, we ask that your presence would fill jail cells and other places where believers have fled, that you would fill them with your peace that passes all understanding when they are tortured, when they are hated, and rejected. We pray you would lift them up and encourage their spirits because the joy of the Lord is their strength. And remind them that their very great reward is with you. 

Help us stay focused, Lord. No matter how the enemy tries to throw us off course, discourage us, make us feel unloved, unneeded, and unwanted, remind us Who has called us. Remind us Who loves us, Who died for us, and Who gives us purpose every single day.

Remind us that when we feel the enemy’s breath, he’s there because we have become a threat to him, because through our prayers You, the Almighty God, moves mountains, changes hearts, and pulls souls back from the brink of hell.

Encourage us to keep pressing in, to keep praying, to keep reading, no matter what, and even more as the day grows nearer to your return.

Like Isaiah, we say “Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near.” Isaiah 50:7-8a

We pray it all in the mighty, precious, holy name of Jesus, amen.

 

Time to Pray Big

Posted on by Dorci

There are many faithful and trusted believers who have studied the scriptures and find that we may very well have just entered the last decade before Christ’s return.  No, no one knows the day or the hour, but the year?  Quite possibly. 

If that’s so (and even if it isn’t, none of us knows when we’ll be called home), we don’t have a minute to lose.  More than ever I want to pray.

Now, I’ve never been a big thinker. I think in small details. Up close and personal. Which is great on one hand, but on the other, my small thinking can cause me to have a hard time praying big.

 

God-sized.

 

There have been times I’ve dared to step out to think and pray big, and many times there’s been someone right there, ready to tell me how ridiculous that is. That I’m just an idealist, a dreamer, living in a fantasy. 

There will always be those. But those are not thoughts from the Almighty God who created a universe, heals the sick, brings bodies back from the dead, forgives sins, redeems a people, indwells souls, and creates a future, eternal home for us.

Ours is a God who does miracles.

I recently asked God again to help me think and pray big, to not limit Him and what He may want to do in and through my prayers.

Of course, being the faithful God He is, He’s already given me some understanding about praying big, limitless prayers. You know, since we have a big and limitless God.

A couple of days after that I ran across this video again.  A friend sent it a few months ago, and the Lord brought it to my attention again, at just the right time. 

This is the story of Rhonwyn Kendrick. She’s the mom of Stephen and Alex Kendrick who have given us movies like Courageous, War Room, and Overcomer. Her sons understand the power of prayer because she is a woman who prays big. Watching her story again, especially right after my prayer for bigger prayers, encouraged me and cemented my resolve to think and pray big. I hope it encourages you to let God out of that box and pray big, enormous, God-sized prayers. To pray bigger than our own minds can comprehend on their own. To pray in the Spirit, in God’s big, amazing, ridiculous, nothing-is-impossible will.  

To pray with faith, and with hope.  

I can’t wait to see what He’s going to do this year. 

 

 

“Commit your way to the Lord;
    trust in Him and He will do this:
He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
    your vindication like the noonday sun.”

Psalm 37:5-6

Heavenly Father, help us to let you out of the box in our minds. To throw the box away. Holy Spirit, help us to pray big and mighty prayers for our families, our neighbors, our churches, our country, and our world.  May we be known as a praying people, who pray to a big and mighty God. May your will be done in and through us. Help us redeem the time, O Lord. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. 

 

 

Sunday Praise and a Prayer for the Persecuted Church

Posted on by Dorci

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise You. We praise you for your goodness and faithfulness, for your love and grace and mercy, and for the joy you give even in the midst of adversity.  

Father, we lift up to you today the persecuted church. We pray for whole churches who must meet in secret. Help them to not give in to fear, but gain strength from You and each other as they encourage one another. We pray these congregations will only grow as your Spirit draws more believers.

We pray for those all over the world who are being persecuted – imprisoned, tortured, rejected by family members, because they have put their faith in you, the one true God.  We pray for your mercy toward them, that you would do amazing works through the your light that now lives inside them.

We pray your Holy Spirit would comfort them and fill them your peace that surpasses all understanding. May they know your love for them and may they live in confidence of it always, with all hope and joy. May they know that with you they will be strong and courageous.

Help them to know they are not alone, and they are not forgotten. We pray your will would be done, that they will be unharmed, released from prison, accepted by their families. And when they aren’t, we pray you would empower them to endure.

We pray for the salvation of those around them – whole families, guards, other prisoners, those who live near them, that they will see your love and peace in them and also come to know you as their Lord and Savior.

Help them to remain in prayer, and never let go of their trust in You. May you use these situations, and what the enemy means for evil, for your good and your glory.

Help them keep their eyes on You, and hold onto the words you gave to John “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.”

These are the heroes of our faith, Lord. Please remind us to keep praying for them.  In Jesus’ holy and precious name we pray, amen.