TGIF updates:
Thank you all for your prayers, encouragement, and for filling gaps during my hospital stay. I am so blessed by God and all of you! THANK YOU! I'm taking one day at a time towards healthier choices and God is helping as He responds to our prayers and His perfect will and timing! PTL! I'm feeling pretty good and working on becoming heathier. Please Lord!
Sunday there is a lot going on! Pray for Sarah as she leads worship and Mike with the kids. Pray for wisdom as we vote on the '24 budget at the conclusion of worship and pray for our new members class before brunch. And then pray for, plan to attend, and bring someone along for brunch. It will be a great day of worship, study and fellowship! (Karen and I plan to attend worship but will not be able to stay for brunch. Can't wait to see you all!)
Good Morning Focused, Wise, Trusting Disciples of Jesus! Please may that be us Lord! How often we fail at theses yet God loves, forgives and knows how to lead us back to Him and His ways. How often are we double-minded doubters crying out for God to help our unbelief? Too often, I'm afraid. BUT GOD! He knows you and your leanings and ways, loves you, forgives you and wants to steer you onto the smooth and narrow way, His best way and ways. Check out TWFYT below about being a disciple of Jesus as we seek to become more in '24--more like Him doing more of what we are created to do. Amen! Check out Charles Stanley's devo about receiving God's wisdom. And check out and pray through the Harvest Prayer blog on releasing God's will in prayer. We are more in Christ and we have more to release in prayer and accomplish as disciples of Christ! Amen! So be it Lord! Let us earnestly pursue Christ and God's best for us!
What an awesome God we love, follow and serve! He loves you and has some great things for you to follow Him to and release in prayer! Trust Him and seek His wisdom to pray and go love well! And then take one step at a time, in faith, to becoming all you are created to be and do! And worship! Remember Jesus on the cross that Friday. All hope seemed lost, BUT GOD! Sunday was coming! Persevere in faith and groeth in Christ and as His prayer warrior! He really does have great things in store that we cannot even think of or imagine! Rejoice!
TWFYT:
Charles Stanley:
Harvest Prayer Blog:
February 23 - Releasing God's Will
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One major purpose of prayer is to release God’s will on earth. While I cannot explain how it works, somehow, in God’s sovereign plan, He has chosen to accomplish certain aspects of His will only if people pray. Some believers cringe at this teaching. “What do you mean it releases God’s will?” they say. “God’s will is God’s will. He’s going to do it whether we pray or not.” But Scripture, Christians of the past centuries, and experience all tell us otherwise.
Let’s start with Elijah. James tells us, “Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops” (James 5:17-18). First Kings 17 and 18 gives us the story of these two verses. God apparently put in Elijah’s heart to pray that it wouldn’t rain. The prophet went to King Ahab and declared it wouldn’t rain for three years—and it didn’t.
“After a long time, in the third year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah: ‘Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land’” (1 Kings 18:1). What follows is the incredible showdown between Elijah and the true God and the false prophets of Baal. Following a decisive victory, Elijah said to the king, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain” (18:41). Then Scripture tells us, Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees [signifying intense prayer].
“Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked. “There is nothing there,” he said. Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’” Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose,[and] a heavy rain came on. (1 Kings 18:42-45)
Did you notice the sequence? God planted a thought in Elijah—pray for no rain—then His will was released. He sent word again—I’m going to send rain. Yet somehow Elijah knew to pray fervently for it to happen. Again, God’s will was released.
Creator God, sometimes I assume You are just going to do whatever You want without involving me. Yet, You have created me to be a part of Your plan on this earth. Because Your Spirit knows what Your will is, He is able to show me how to intercede in ways I cannot always understand. Help me to be sensitive to the prompting of Your Spirit even when I am uncertain about the outcomes. Give me the boldness of Elijah, who simply listened and trusted!
--Adapted from The Power of Personal Prayer (Learning to Pray with Faith and Purpose) by Jonathan Graf. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
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- Praise the saving God whose paths are beyond tracing out! (Rom. 11:33).
- Give thanks for his continual, personal care for you.
- Confess any failure to maintain a healthy relationship with the Lord.
- Commit yourself to disciplined, joyful Christian living, recognizing the tremendous blessing of belonging to Jesus Christ.
- Ask that you will be “joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (Rom. 12:12).
- Pray that any personal difficulties experienced by unsaved persons around you may be opportunities for them to come to know the grace that is found in Jesus Christ.
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