Forty Days of Praying the Word of God: Day 20

“Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Matthew 6:9-10

Father, in heaven. Seated on Your throne. Unmoved, unchanging. Surrounded by the angels crying “holy!”. You are the undisputed King of all creation, holder and keeper of eternity. There is none like You, and before You every knee will bow and every tongue will acknowledge You. (Romans 14:11) I pray we will not lose sight of our Father, in heaven. I pray that we will remember that You are enthroned above the earth, and that we are small and You, o God, are great. Instill in us a reverence again, Lord, and a right understanding of Your sovereignty, power, and majesty. May we stand in awe of You and be filled with wonder over our Father in heaven.

I pray that the name of our God would be holy on our lips, that we would not cause it to be profaned, or common. I pray that Your people will speak Your name with reverence and honor, and I pray that we will speak it to every sickness, every disease, for there is healing in Your Name. (Acts 3:16) No other name saves us, and no other name causes demons to shake. There is power and authority in Your Name, and I pray we will remember. I pray that Your Name will not become just a name, but the whole of the reason we approach the throne of God at all. I pray that Your people will regard the holiness of Your Name and that it will be honored among those who do not know You.

Lord, I cry out for Your Kingdom to come today. I pray that in my home, Your Kingdom will come. In my workplace, Your Kingdom come. In Your Church, Lord, Your Kingdom come! Come, Lord, and rule and reign here today, in me. In my heart, may Your Kingdom come. Make us a Kingdom people, God, a people not of this world, a people who will not settle for earthly kingdoms.

Oh Father, as it is in heaven, let it be here. Your will be done on the earth. In my life. In my marriage. In my heart…Your will and not my own. I pray that in Your Church, Your will be done. In this nation, and the nations of the earth, Your will be done. I pray Your people will have the courage and the humility to die to their own will, to their own plans and designs and dreams, and cry out with sincere hearts for the will of God to reign over us. I pray that we will choose to trust Your will above our own, to trust that Your will is good and right.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Forgive us Lord, for when we have spoken such a prayer by rote, as just words to say, and not as a total surrender of our own will. I pray that the weight of this prayer would press upon us until we gladly release all things to the supremacy of Your will.

In the Name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

missing joy full

All it takes is a few words. Just a few, skimmed over and paid little attention. And then one day, those few words come off the page dressed in neon lights, making my head tilt sideways.

Open-Bible-500x215“The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”  He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.  However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’

 At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.” – Luke 10:17-21

Today I saw words I had been missing,

The seventy-two returned with joy”

and something in me ached. It ached because I realized that I can’t remember the last time I had returned with joy from discovering His power in ministry. And I think it ached because I hadn’t realized that I missed it, this joy.

“Jesus, full of joy…”

He wasn’t disappointed in them because they missed the point. Instead, He traded stories with them. They saw demons submit to them, He saw Satan fall from heaven.

They didn’t return all excited only to get a rebuke. He didn’t burst their bubble of excitement, but He did remind them that there was something far better than demons in submission, something really worth celebrating. Don’t settle for rejoicing over demons. Not when your name is in the book of life.

He wasn’t against them, shaking His head because they had it all wrong. He was

Full. Of. Joy.

Somehow, I missed that.

It doesn’t really matter to me right now why He was joy full. Just the picture of Jesus, smiling, laughing (because people full of joy do those things) with His disciples…that picture makes my heart happy. Joy full, even. And I’ve missed that.

Here is what I didn’t miss. Not today…

“…through the Holy Spirit…”

I won’t get joy full by trying harder. It can’t be worked up, or manufactured.

Joy won’t come from things, from circumstances, or from other people.

In my search to know more of the Holy Spirit, I am taking note…

He brings

Joy