Sarah Prayer email below and Harvest prater revival prayer and Dave Butts Blog. Check them out! How is God directing your prayers, choices and steps today?
Zoom Huddle 10 am today
Good Morning Faithful Followers of the Way! We are the redeemed of the Lord! PTL! What a blessing to know that we are forgiven and our eternal destiny is set! But that isn't all their is to life in Christ. True worship is allowing the Holy Spirit to mold, shape and direct you to your purposes each day. It's obedience to living sacrificially and loving lavishly more earnestly like Christ and producing good fruit and many disciples of Jesus. We are working on that and that is a very good thing! We are a work in progress and process! God is our salvation, security, source, strength and purpose as we live this life for His glory until we are called home.
ODB reminds us that Jesus is our King. He is our Lord and Savior, we sometimes forget the Lord and King part and go off doing our own things or what we think is best without consulting or staying connected to God. His ways are best and He is the God of the impossible. He calls us to trust and obey even stretching us sometimes beyond what seems possible right now. Pray for deep faith and trust to follow well and sow lavishly into His plans for you and us and allow some stretching of faith. Charles Stanley reminds us we are equipped for good. Are we allow God to use us to our fullest potential and in His strength to do all he has for us? We see the contrast between unjust and just leaders. Pray for our leadership and pastors to be following God, just and good shepherds and stewards of all God's blessings.
I have to run. I actually slept in until 5 today. There is a lot here already. What's God saying to you and what will you do about it? Who are you processing with? Let's end with some prayer starters to begin praying with: "Praise God as the source of every thing that is good, holy, just, and beautiful. Thank God for inviting you to remain in Him, as a branch remains in a vine, so that you too can produce good and holy fruit (Jn. 15:7-8). Confess your failure to "remain in" Jesus, to find your fulness and satisfaction in Him. Be specific about things that crowd out your desire to abide in Him. Commit yourself to finding your fullness in Jesus during this day. Ask Him to show you that apart from Him you can do nothing (15:5). Pray that parents will be rooted firmly in Jesus that their children cannot miss seeing the fruit that they bear as disciples. Pray for spiritual leaders of your church will see their need to be abiding daily in Jesus and His Word, constantly in prayer, and completely dependent on Him for ministry. Pray for Christians in positions of leadership--business, politics, medicine, teaching--may remain firmly attached to Christ and so bring glory to His name. make a list of the unsaved persons you know, and ask God to graft them into the tree of life (Rom. 11:17). Ask God how He would have you connect these people to Him." Amen!
We are a people of God PTL! A people of informed an powerful and effective prayer! Thank God for using you, informing and directing your prayers! Remain steadfast and persevering in fruit producing efforts and faith. God has great plans for you just as you are and greater things ahead. Rejoice! I'm praying for you and for God to lead us to His best with deep faith to become more like Jesus this year--living sacrificially and loving lavishly more like Him each day.
ODB:
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While drilling for oil in one of the sunniest and driest countries in the world, teams were shocked to uncover a huge underground system of water. So, in 1983 the “great man-made river” project was begun, placing a system of pipes to carry the high-quality fresh water to cities where it was sorely needed. A plaque near the project’s inception states, “From here flows the artery of life.”
The prophet Isaiah used the image of water in a desert to describe a future righteous king (Isaiah 32). As kings and rulers reigned with justice and righteousness, they would be like “streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land” (v. 2). Some rulers choose to take instead of give. The mark of a God-honoring leader, however, is someone who brings shelter, refuge, refreshment, and protection. Isaiah said that “the fruit of [God’s] righteousness will be peace” for His people, and “its effect will be quietness and confidence forever” (v. 17).
Isaiah’s words of hope would later find fullness of meaning in Jesus, who “himself will come down from heaven . . . . And so we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17). “The great man-made river” is just that—made by human hands. Someday that water reservoir will be depleted. But our righteous King brings refreshment and water of life that will never run dry.
By Karen Pimpo
REFLECT & PRAY
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Where do you need Jesus to bring the water of life? How can you follow His example of bringing refreshment to others?
Dear Jesus, thank You for bringing peace through Your perfectly righteous rule.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Isaiah’s prophecies often condemn Israel as having “closed eyes and ears” (see 6:10; 29:10, 18; 35:5; 42:7; 43:8; 44:18). The prophet uses this phrase over and over to point out that God’s people refuse to look to or listen to Him. They’re interested only in their own agendas (31:1).
In the Gospels, Jesus’ disciples were waiting for Him to be Isaiah’s promised king (Luke 24:13-35). But, like the people in Isaiah’s day, their eyes and ears were closed to what God was really doing through His Son—overthrowing the reign of sin in the world.
But Christ’s resurrection after His “defeat” by the Romans finally opened the eyes of the disciples. They saw, perhaps for the first time, that Jesus was there to change the world not through military conquest but through forgiveness of sins. And it was a message they were to take to the rest of the world (Matthew 28:18-20).
Jed Ostoich |
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Charles Stanley:
Harvest prayer Revival Prayer:
January 30, 2024 - Praying for Revival (Day 30): Heaven Waits for Our Prayers
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In the 1740s, Jonathan Edwards preached a series of sermons on the millennial reign of Christ. Out of this series came a prayer movement that became the common denominator to hundreds of revivals, three international awakenings, and the explosion of international missions.
In one of the key passages, Edwards addresses Revelation 8, in which the Lamb of God takes the scroll from His Father and opens the seven seals—that is, when God inaugurates the consummation of history.
Instead of an explosion of activity, however, we read the following: “When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour” (v. 1).
Everything in heaven stopped. In silence heaven waited. But why did heaven wait? When it came to the end of all things and the return of Christ, heaven waited for “the prayers of all the saints.” Upon the evidence of Revelation 8, Edwards was convinced the second coming of Christ would be preceded by a great and global movement of prayer.
Today there is an unprecedented movement of united prayer across the earth. Was he right about the power of united prayer with regard to the purposes of Christ? Absolutely.
As with revivals of the past—and the great missionary and church-planting movements that emerged from them—God may want to accomplish many great things before the coming of His Son. Even today we are witnessing great harvests of souls—the largest in the history of the Church. This age of the Holy Spirit is yielding remarkable fruit.
May the certainty of Jesus’ return keep us on our knees.
I praise You God that Your people can rest in the assurance that the return of Jesus Christ will happen in Your perfect timing. Pour out Your Spirit and accomplish great things for Your Kingdom as the prayers of the saints fill the throne room of heaven to inaugurate the consummation of history. I pray for church-planting movements to explode across the earth and for a huge harvest of souls to precede the coming of Jesus. Raise up Your Church in the greatest global movement of prayer in the history of the world. I give You all of the glory and honor and praise!
Pr a y e r Po i n t s:
• Praise God that we can rest in the assurance of the return of Christ in God’s perfect timing.
• Pray that God will pour out His Spirit and accomplish great things for His Kingdom before Jesus’ return.
• Pray for a growing crescendo of the prayers of the saints to fill the throne room of heaven and inaugurate the consummation of history.
• Pray for church-planting movements to explode and a great harvest of souls to precede His coming.
• Ask God to raise up His Church in the greatest global movement of prayer in the history of the world!
--Adapted from Day 30 by Bob Bakke: Do It Again, Lord (30 Days of Hope-Filled Prayer for Revival) compiled and edited by Carol Madison.
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Dave Butts Blog:
Are You Wandering?
by Dave Butts
“Why, O Lord, do You make us wander from Your ways and harden our hearts so we do not revere You? Return for the sake of Your servants, the tribes that are Your inheritance” (Isa. 63:17).
“Wander from Your ways” is powerfully descriptive as we consider how easy it is to move away from a right relationship to God. It does not take effort to drift. You just quit trying. You lose focus. Staying close to God requires effort. We are not talking about earning our salvation . . . that is not dependent upon our effort, but upon God’s grace. Maintaining and nurturing the relationship will mean giving ourselves to prayer, the Word, fellowship, and worship.
How many have shipwrecked their faith, not by deliberate rebellion, but by drifting away through inattention? Wandering aimlessly through life, we miss the Lord’s presence and His power to transform. Might that even be a picture of the 21st century church today as we wander away from the firm commitment to daily seek His face?
O God, forgive my tendency to wander away from You. I get so caught up in daily activities that I find myself off doing my own thing and not paying attention to You. Like the hymnist I find myself saying, “prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart, Lord, take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.”
Sarah prayer email:
Good evening, Warriors,
Hope your Monday has been good and your Tuesday will be better.
I am including the prayer needs and praises that were shared yesterday during our time of worship.
And at the end of my email, I have attached a listing of the events and dates for the next couple months.
You can print it out, hang it on the fridge so you don't forget something you want to attend AND you could
print extra copies to hand to a friend or neighbor as an invitation to the event.
Those in need of our prayers:
Larry Kunkle - they found a cancerous spot on his jaw. Larry will be having aortic stenosis repaired at Thomas Jefferson
around February 13th, and then will have Oral surgery around 2/16 and remain in the hospital for another week.
Let's pray for medical team and for all to go well, and for Larry's wife and family.
Randy - distant relative of Marylou S. - continue to pray for him and his family as he is dealing with his cancer, and waiting to
learn of any possible treatments
Joanne - Kay Paul's sister in law, has some health issues and needs specialized care. She also needs to find a place to live that
is able to offer this care.
Marshall Rehm has asked for prayer for two friends that are both dealing with cancer at various levels. Pray for Marshall as he shares with them and pray also for their families as are on this journey together.
Faye Ann Nixon - asking for continued prayer for her daughter Holly who has been battling cancer the past several years.
Her cancer has now spread to Holly's arm. May we continue to pray for Holly to sense God's peace holding her close.
Lisa Wenner has asked for prayer for Gary, who has lost his mother recently and he is really struggling with the lost. May we
all pray that he is able to find God's peace
Gina and Jason Fuhrman has asked for prayer for Christian, as he takes his written driving test today.
UPDATE: The facility where you take the test was closed today, so Christian was given another day to study.
So may we continue to pray that he remembers what he studied as he takes the test tomorrow.
Yvonne Muik has asked for prayer for her Great-great grand son.....he is not due until the end of March, but
due to some medical issues with her Granddaughter (baby's mom) they may have to take the baby a few weeks
early. She is asking for prayer for a safe delivery, and that both mom and baby will be fine and healthy.
Gary Bastan's family members that we have been praying for are doing better and showing some signs of improvement
May we continue to lift them up in our prayers.
May you continue to pray for Pastor Don and myself as we serve our Lord at and with the people at St Matthew's
I would ask for continued prayers for my legs and the lymphedema that I deal with daily. God is good and I CHOOSE JOY through
it all. I appreciate your prayers tremendously and I can feel them helping me.
Praises:
Lisa Wenner shared that her family was finally able to all get together for their Christmas celebration! The family was dealing with
illness and COVID, but this past weekend they were able to all get together. It was a great time.
Marylou S. shared the great news that her daughter, Krissy is engaged !! Congratulations!!
Thank you to everyone that has been supporting our Food Pantry with groceries. Gina is working on a monthly listing
of food suggestions for each month. As an example, February would be cereal, instant oatmeal, cream of wheat.
We will print the monthly needs in the bulletin the first Sunday of each month.
Okay everyone, time to head to bed or head into our Tuesday, (depending when you are reading this)
May you all have a great one!
Blessings,
Sarah
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