Tag Archives: Faith

Forty Days of Praying the Word of God: Day 5

“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

1Corinthians 15:58

Thank You Father for the promise that what we do for You and for Your Kingdom will never be in vain. Thank You that You give our work for You purpose and meaning that outlives us.

I pray that You will give us a firm stance. Lord, make us unmoveable in our day. Let us not be blown about by the winds of changing opinions, or even by the persecution to come. I pray we will plant our feet firmly on Your truth, with our faces set like flint toward obedience to Your Word. Father, build up the resolve of Your Church in this hour to stand firm no matter what comes.

I pray for undivided hearts and minds to fill Your people, that we will be given fully to Your work. I pray nothing will be able to distract us or deter us from our calling and our purpose in our generation. Teach us God, to not look to the left or the right, but to keep our gaze upon You, unmoved from who You are and who we are as Your children.

May the work we do be for You and through You and unto You, Lord. I pray we will cease with the lesser works that are done for us, to build our own kingdoms. Let us not labor in vain for our own pleasures Lord, while the labor of Your Kingdom goes undone.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Forty Days Praying the Word of God: Day 4

“After I made an inspection, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the great and awe-inspiring Lord, and fight for your countrymen, your sons and daughters, your wives and homes.” When our enemies heard that we knew their scheme and that God had frustrated it, every one of us returned to his own work on the wall. From that day on, half of my men did the work while the other half held spears, shields, bows, and armor.”

Nehemiah 4:14-16

Lord God, I pray that in our day, we will remember Your greatness and let go of our “fear of them”. I pray we will take our stand, and fight for our children, fight for family.

Mighty God, would You rise up on behalf of the children in this nation and the insidious, evil attack on their identity?! We cry out to You to intervene, for “So great is Your power that Your enemies cringe before You.”

“Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered”!

I pray for a mighty move of Your Spirit in this land that will turn the tide of evil, scatter darkness, and rescue all of those who are held captive by ideologies of wickedness. I pray that, with holy indignation, You will establish truth in this nation, and tear down the stronghold of lies concerning gender, marriage, family, and identity. I ask that You call Your Church to stand firm in this hour, to give no ground to the enemy and to actually begin to take ground, as You answer from heaven.

We will remember Your greatness, and we will not fear. We will build and we will fight. We will restore and we will protect. By Your Spirit. And by Your power, the darkness will turn. By Your power, schemes are exposed, lies are laid bare, and truth will prevail.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Forty Days Praying the Word of God: Day 3

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with My loving eye on you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.

Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in Him.”

Psalm 32:8-10

Father, I lift up my family to You, and I pray that each of us will always come willingly under Your instruction and counsel. I pray that You will instruct, teach, and counsel my children and grandchildren all of their days. I thank You that, because we belong to You, Your loving eye is upon us. I come against any spirit of independence and rebellion that would attempt to lead those I love to turn from You, in the Name of Jesus.

The wicked will have their woes, but as for me and my house, we will trust You and we will be surrounded by Your unfailing love. Thank You for Your promises, Lord. Thank You for Your commitment of love to us. We can feel surrounded by many things in our world today, but I pray we will know and rest in the truth that, as we trust in You, we are surrounded on all sides by the great love of our God.

I pray also for Your Church, Lord, and I pray You will instruct us and teach us in the way we should go in this hour. Increase our understanding of our calling and our mantle. I pray that in these times of trouble, Your people will be found faithful, not fearful, fully surrendered, and unresistant to Your Spirit’s leading. I pray that it will be Your ways that we follow, and Your heart that we desire to please, above all others. May the hearts of Your people be found fully trusting in You, and fully surrounded by Your love.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Postscript: For the last two years or so, God has been calling me back to intercession. Learning to pray God’s Word back to Him in 2004 was an explosion in my prayer life, an explosion that set me on fire for prayer, and that lit up the darkness that surrounded me and my family at the time. I invite you to join me in this 40-day journey of fire, lighting up the darkness of our day.

Feel free to leave prayers of your own, or prayer requests in the comment section. I would love to pray with and for you!

Forty Days of Praying the Word of God: Day 2

“She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me”

Genesis 16:13

You are the God who sees us! Thank You, Father, that nothing in our lives goes unseen by You! Nothing is hidden from Your loving gaze. You see every detail, every tear, every insecurity we cover-up. We are seen and we are known by our Father in heaven. Forgive us Lord, when that truth does not leave us undone.

I pray for fresh encounters for Your people, God. For those who feel unseen and unknown to encounter the gaze of the One who sees them. I pray that just one glance of Your eye will kindle again the fire of our love for You.

I pray that the God who sees us will also purify us with a gaze that misses nothing. I pray that hidden sins in Your Church will come under Your holy eyes of fire and bring repentance. See us o’ God. Search our hearts and reveal every lukewarm place, every idol that is hiding within us. We invite Your gaze, Lord. We need Your gaze.

I pray that Your people will recognize You, Lord. That we will see You amidst the chaos and the fear and the darkness of our day. I pray we will be Your witnesses in the earth, as we see and believe that You are moving in the nations. I pray that we will stop being distracted by darkness, and will once again turn our eyes to heaven.

You are the God who sees us. May we be the people who see You.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen

Postscript: For the last two years or so, God has been calling me back to intercession. Learning to pray God’s Word back to Him in 2004 was an explosion in my prayer life, an explosion that set me on fire for prayer, and that lit up the darkness that surrounded me and my family at the time. I invite you to join me in this 40 day journey of fire, lighting up the darkness of our day.

Feel free to leave prayers of your own, or prayer requests in the comment section. I would love to pray with and for you!

Forty Days of Praying The Word of God: Day 1

“As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for You, God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and appear before God?”

Psalm 42:1-2

Lord, I pray these verses over Your Church. I pray that those who belong to You through the blood of Christ will begin to long, to thirst for You. I pray that our souls will begin to feel parched for Your presence. I ask God, that You would move upon Your people to stop filling themselves with other things, even good things, so that they begin to thirst for the better thing – Your presence. I pray for a move of Your Spirit to begin to send the Church into the secret place of prayer and communion with You, a place away from the crowds of followers, away from the spotlights, away from the applause, and into the holy place of Your presence. I pray for a great wave of dissatisfaction with earthly pleasures to hit Your people, driving them to seek to be satisfied in You alone.

The power is Yours alone. We cannot muster the thirst, we cannot move our own souls to be dissatisfied. It is only by the move of Your Spirit that Your people will begin to long once again for the authentic presence of God that comes with no applause, nothing to entertain our flesh, but instead comes with the searing gaze of heaven, leaving us with a trembling of soul, with speechless awe and the low bow of a surrendered heart.

Come, Lord God, and make Your people long for You like never before.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Postscript: For the last two years or so, God has been calling me back to intercession. Learning to pray God’s Word back to Him in 2004 was an explosion in my prayer life, an explosion that set me on fire for prayer, and that lit up the darkness that surrounded me and my family at the time. I invite you to join me in this 40 day journey of fire, lighting up the darkness of our day.

Feel free to leave prayers of your own, or prayer requests in the comment section. I would love to pray with and for you!

Revive Us

They went into Capernaum, and right away He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and began to teach. They were astonished at His teaching because He was teaching them as one who had authority, and not like the scribes.– Mark 1:21-22

He preached, and something began to stir.

Just then a man with an unclean spirit was in their synagogue. He cried out, “What do You have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuked him saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit threw him into convulsions, shouted with a loud voice, and came out of him.

They were all amazed, and so they began to ask each other, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” At once the news about Him spread throughout the entire vicinity of Galilee. – Mark 1:23-28

He set a man free and amazement was awakened.

When evening came, after the sun had set, they brought to Him all those who were sick and demon-possessed. The whole town was assembled at the door, and He healed many who were sick with various diseases and drove out many demons.  – Mark 1:32-34

And now an entire town came seeking the healing, delivering man from Galilee.

Maybe that’s what revival looks like.

A people not really expecting anything new, astonished at the teaching and authority of Jesus. Amazement at His power over darkness. The broken, sick, and tormented carried to Him on fresh hope. Crowds pressing in – not because they’re expecting a great show that will make them feel something for an hour, but because they need His power to set them free.

“…a man with leprosy came to Him and, on his knees and begged Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” (Mark 1:40)

“So many people gathered together that there was no more room, not even in the doorway, and He was speaking the word to them.” (Mark 2:2)

“While He was reclining at the table in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Jesus and His disciples, for there were many who were following Him. When the scribes who were Pharisees saw that He was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they asked His disciples, “Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Mark 2:15-16)

Those desperate to be made clean on their knees begging for His willingness * People crowding His presence because they are convinced He heals * His presence among sinners and the offense it brings to the pharisee in us

Maybe revival looks just like that.
Maybe revival is less about a fresh fire from heaven and more about a fresh amazement from earth.

I mean, it’s possible that His Word will begin to burn in our hearts when we begin to burn for His Word, right? When we’re willing to push past what’s in our way so that we can get to Him, maybe that’s the sign that something that had died is finally breathing again. What if revival comes when we realize that He is our only hope to be made clean again, and we’re willing to drop to our knees and ask for His willingness?

What if we are revived when we need His presence to free us, not entertain us?

Why I Can’t Be a Patriot

Patriotism ~ love for or devotion to one’s country (Merriam-Webster) ~ devoted love, support, and defense of one’s country; national loyalty. (Dictionary.com)

“By ‘patriotism’ I mean devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes to be the best in the world but has no wish to force upon other people. Patriotism is of its nature defensive, both militarily and culturally.” ~ George Orwell, Notes on Nationalism

I was born and raised military. As a little girl, I would polish my dad’s combat boots and the brass for his uniforms, and I always felt a sense of pride in it, though I would not have known the words to tell you that. The sight of soldiers and combat boots was as commonplace in my life then as the sight of people with cell phones is today. Naturally, I grew up and married a soldier, and within a few years grew bored so it made perfect sense to join the Army myself.

When I finished my enlistment and was simultaneously done with my marriage, I left the military and walked into a completely different life. It took less than a year for me to regret my choice not to re-enlist. I missed the community of military life and the discipline required to be a soldier. I missed the sense of purpose. I missed the sight of soldiers and the sound of taps at the end of every workday. Whenever I went back home for a visit, the familiar sound of helicopters on maneuvers at all hours was comforting, like home-cooking comforting. Is that weird? Maybe it’s weird. I don’t know. It’s not weird to me, but it may be to you. Unless you grew up on military bases. If that’s you, I know that you know, right? Do you miss it too?

Anyway, then I met someone and, you know, kids came, and then my military world became just a part of my past. But the patriotism it instilled in me never left. The pride in our military, in what our flag stands for, in what we stand for…it has always run strong in my veins, and if you dared to talk bad about any of it, I would turn on you. I was, in every sense of the word, a patriot. Proud of this nation and convinced it’s the greatest on the earth.

I am pro-life, and pro-first and second amendments and want both preserved. I also have a deep respect for the office of the President of this country, even if I do not agree with or even like who occupies that office at the moment. I love the freedom this country affords me to vocalize my opinion, to practice my faith without persecution, and to have a say in who governs our way of life. I am so grateful to God for where He chose to plant me, and I would not want to live anywhere else, except heaven.

But lately. Lately I have felt the pull of the Holy Spirit to reposition my heart, to see with different eyes, to get the perspective from heaven. And that has been hard on my patriotic soul.

To reposition my heart is to consider my true home. To recognize that God has, through the blood of Christ, made me a foreigner on this earth. Regardless of where I’m planted, my citizenship is in heaven. I know, I know. We all quote it and nod our heads in agreement and then go right back to our outrage, our theories, and our side of the argument. But my transference of citizenship is not just a theory, it is as true as the death and resurrection of Jesus. God has told us something that very few of us in the Body of Christ actually live out as truth. We agree it’s true, but we don’t live it. To reposition my heart means I have to live it. Everyday.

It means I have to be willing to shift my loyalties and pull away from the umbilical cord of patriotism for a country that is actually not my home. It’s a slow process because I have a deep identity as a patriot within me that I now have to deny. I cannot be a patriot, because it divides my devotion. It clouds my view of reality.

Which means I need to see things with different eyes. Take off the rose-colored lens I’ve seen this country through, and see it from a distance. From the heavens. To see what God sees. As I have attempted to draw back and get a bigger, better view, my heart has hurt. I now see a sin-sick nation that has, for the most part, turned from God in terrible pride, rebellion, and arrogance, bent on power and control. And right now, I bet some of you think I’m talking about Trump, and others think I’m talking about Biden. It is neither of them, it is us. The collective nation that has reduced our utter moral decay into a blame game of one party or the other, each of us believing that God stands with us on either the right or the left. Thinking we can bring God down to our level of self-righteousness and arrogance while He brings judgment to the other side.

Woe unto us.

To see with different eyes means I have to be willing to remove my patriotic glasses that sees good on the right and bad on the left (or vice versa), and look at this country as a whole, and see what God sees and I’m just saying, it’s a freaking horror show.

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light
and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” ~ Isaiah 5:20

I know we all want to believe that when God looks at the United States, He sees what we see. He sees the greatest nation on the earth, a superpower, an idealistic place where the American dream is attainable, and “bring me your huddled masses” makes us more virtuous than all others. He sees democracy at it’s finest. A Republic, built on the belief that all men are created equal, although we have never really lived that way.

I think maybe, collectively, we don’t consider that He sees rampant sexual sin in the forms of pornography, adultery, homosexuality, and unfettered fornication without consequences and that we have actually fought for the right to most of it. Do we think He simply shakes His head over our lust for more – more stuff, more money, more power, as though He just caught us sneaking a cookie before dinner? Do we ever wonder what He thinks as He witnesses millions of wombs being emptied through the murder of the unborn? Or do we think He agrees that we have the right to kill our babies? Do we think He agrees with “my body, my choice”, or do we actually just not care about or need His agreement?

Deception and corruption, lying and cheating, are everywhere, at every level of governance, in every position of authority. Marriages and children both being defiled by sexual sin in, really, alarming numbers. Do you know that it is estimated that one in three women have had some form of sexual abuse as children? And all of this is simply the tip of the iceberg. Our sins go much deeper than what many of us know, deeper than what we read about on the internet (our primary source of truth these days).

We sin without shame in this nation, and then ask God to bless us, and be on our side, and agree with us that we are the greatest nation, ever.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;” (Romans 3:23)

I don’t think that, collectively, we understand that we have fallen so very short of the glory of God. We just keep pretending that it isn’t so.

I cannot, before God, hold onto my patriotic pride. It feels like a betrayal in some ways, but that is part of the process for me, I suppose. I have let go of patriotism in order to take hold of the heart of God. I know people will say you can have both, but I am of the belief that holding onto God with one hand while trying to hold onto something else with the other is a dangerous endeavor. I find it is wise for me to hold onto God with both hands. It’s just better that way.

So now what? Now, I do what I am most called and equipped to do. I speak truth, and I pray, as a citizen of heaven, for the people in this nation. I pray for the outpouring of the gospel and repentance, because I know that until hearts are surrendered over to God through faith in Jesus, nothing will change. And because I know that God is after people, those He created for fellowship with Him and are now living on the other side of a great chasm, separated from Him. God is not playing some cosmic game of battleship with the nations of the earth. He is revealing Himself to the people of the nations so that they might believe and be saved from the coming day of wrath. It has always and will ever be about restoring our relationship with Him so that we will not perish. So I pray, with what will hopefully become an undivided interest in what God is after, rather than what I want to see happen in the politics of this country.

So to my fellow believers, I say this: We are the Church of Christ and we know that this life is short and eternity is, well, eternal. I am compelled to urge us to check our investment in what is temporary versus what is eternal. What are we raising the next generation to fix their eyes on?

Have we the courage to lay our hearts next to God’s so that we see the truth about our hearts? Can we put all of our national pride, our allegiance to a party or a cause, up to the light of God’s word and let Him show us what we need to lay down?

Can we please check our hearts? Can we please, for the love of all that’s holy, close our mouths for a minute? Will we remember who we are – foreigners on this earth, citizens of heaven? That’s a real thing, not just something in a storybook. We should probably take it more seriously than we do.

Can we lay down our pride and our need to be right, and just pick up our cross and go love who God loves? Can we please open our eyes and see that only God is good and only God is great and nations are nations only by His hand and let it humble us and pull the prayer from our lungs and quiet the national pride that excuses our gossip and our hatred? I think we can do this. I pray we can do this.

Because a storm is coming and God resists the proud but draws near to the humble and beloved, we’re going to want Him near.