Good Morning Sold Out, Learning to Live and Love Like Jesus, Praying Co-Laborers! Amen! May that be us Lord and teach us to pray like Jesus and as we are created and gifted for such a time as this! Thanks! Amen!
We've had some awesome days of ministry already as we have gathered several days as parts of God's Body to eat, fellowship, study, pray, encourage each other and learn what it means to become the people and church we are created and gathered to be. PTL! I am stoked! Three verses are primary for who we are in Christ and for how we are building our church and learning to do more of what we are created and gifted to do: Col. 3:11, "In this life Christ is all that matters and He lives in me..." Eph. 2:10, "You are God's masterpiece, made new in Christ, to do the things He had planned for you from long ago." and Acts 2:42, All the believers gathered together, studied the apostles teachings, fellowshipped, ate together and prayed. And God added to their numbers daily those who were being saved." AMEN!!! We are learning to be and do more like Jesus and as we are custom created, gifted, gathered and sent to do. PTL! We are becoming a dynamic movement of God! Amen! Keep praying earnestly into and following the Holy Spirit to your parts in His Good News Delivery Co. and over these verses as you meditate on them and seek God for His plans for you and us.
Since we are building our lives on our potential to become more like Jesus and doing what He created and gifted us to do, it behooves us to study and compare our lives to His. The Jesus shaped life is evidenced in a balanced triangle with equal parts of UP (his relationship with the Father)-IN (His relationships with the disciples and the gathered followers) and OUT (his relationships with reaching out to the lost, needy and seeking). How balanced is your and our triangle? Start with what Jesus did--get away from the noise and chaos, stilled Himself, sought God in prayer and followed Him from there to the day's assignments. Then spend some time processing and praying with your teammates before launching out into the world to share the Good News and make disciples. Love God wholeheartedly, love others and make disciples of Jesus and enjoy this life in Christ! That's always our marching orders. And as we do that as we are created and gifted, we don that easy yoke of Jesus and get inspired and affirmed as we truly enjoy this life in Christ doing what we are created to do as we are. Try it! You'll love it! Seek first the Kingdom of God and all things you need will be provided each day!
I've been earnestly praying into Sunday's worship service and what I think I am hearing God say to do. I spent some extra time with Him this morning processing before I work on the final draft. He wants to answer our prayers and teach us to pray. He wants to release His power from heaven to earth and even in the spiritual realms as we pray. We know that the prayers of a righteous person are powerful and effective (we are considered righteous because we are in Christ and have put on His righteousness and thus our prayers--all kinds of prayers--are powerful and effective. AMEN!). So pray earnestly! Keep knocking! God's plans and the works of our church and each of us are empowered and released as we pray. Our steps are informed for each day as we pray. And God has called us to become a House of Prayer for the Nations. Sunday we will learn more about prayer and get to experience and practice some Kingdom praying. Prepare your hearts!
You have to start with the connections blogs for today! We discussed some of this last night. Those of you that were there, check it out! What's God saying about the things we discussed like praying, preparing and standing firm on the Word and in Christ always. Our Tuesday Zoom Huddle has been studying and praying through the Lord's Prayer the last few weeks and several of our devotionals have been teaching about it. Pray the Lord's prayer with fresh hearts and minds, not from rote. Maybe use a different Bible translation? We should always be praying earnestly for His Kingdom to come and will to be done. That actually ties to Mike's dangerous prayers as we die to self, take up cross daily and prepare to follow Jesus. Then check out how God is speaking to us through some other devotionals today. Keep seeking! Keep knocking and keep praying and practicing prayer that is powerful, effective and will change the atmosphere around us and lead us to our parts for revival. God is on the move! And He will partner with us as we pray and step out in faith watching for how He is responding. And then pray some more and keep following. Yes PRAY--early and often--without ceasing! God is listening and will answer according to His perfect plans and timing! Amen! What's He revealing to you today? What will you do about it? I'm praying for you! Be still and know and then go and follow Jesus as He shapes your life and teaches you to pray and prepares you to go live and love like Him! Amen!
Connections Blogs:
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Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord. (Jeremiah 29:12–14)
It takes practice to become good at anything, and we must practice pursuing God’s presence, seeking Him every day until pursuing Him becomes the norm for our lives. Seeking God is a key in revival times.
It would do us all good to pause and examine our lives, seeing what we really spend our time seeking after. J. Vernon McGee said, “What is your ambition in life today? Is it to get rich? Is it to make a name for yourself? Is it even to do some wonderful thing for God?
Listen to me, beloved. The highest desire that can possess any human heart is a longing to see God.” Many people seek the wrong things and then want to add God to the end of their list. People seek comfort and convenience, but not Christ. They seek pleasure and pastimes, but not a personal relationship with Christ. Most people look for a church that has the right appeal: good music and children’s and youth programs. They seek the church with all the answers to their problems or needs.
For many, they confuse this with seeking God; this is not the same thing. Many have been led to believe they can seek God at their own convenience, but you cannot. Many a professing believer has been hurt, or gotten angry with the church or God, and left. Others have remained in the church but are filled with bitterness. They refuse to examine their lives in light of the Word of God, nor do they yield to the Word of God. Instead of turning to God, they have turned away.
After weeks, months, or even years of not seeking God, a crisis comes, an emergency, and then they expect a dead faith to work in their time of need. It does not happen.
We are commanded in Scripture (Jeremiah 29:12–14) to seek Him diligently and with urgency.
When we seek God, we are volunteering ourselves for judgment. We have reached a point in our lives where we are willing to be honest with the Word of God and how we live. It means we humble ourselves before God and also the one whom God uses to bring the message of the Word of God to us. Then, we adjust our lives to God’s standards.
Search me and know me, O Lord! Help me to seek Christ with all of my heart. May I denounce the idols that keep me from Your Presence. Help me to examine my life in light of the Word, and to yield to the power of Your Word. I sense the urgency of this hour, Father. Increase my faith, fill me with the humility of Jesus and allow me to lay my life beside Your purposes.
--Adapted from Praying with Fire: Seeking His Presence through the Revival Passages of Scripture by Mark Partin. 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 Lord, who is your strength, your rock, your fortress and your deliverer (Ps. 18:1-2).
- Give thanks that “the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength” (1 Cor. 1:25).
- Confess your desire to rely upon your own strength.
- Commit yourself to doing everything through him who gives you strength (Phil. 4:13).
- Ask God to cause you to serve him with the strength that he provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 4:11).
- Ask God to remove habits which destroy and limit relationships among your family and friends, and to replace these with habits which are life-giving and Spirit-led.
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Prayer Points taken from Patterns for Prayer by Alvin VanderGriend. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
Connection (Devotions for Everyday Life) © 2025 is a free devotional published daily by OneCry Prayer. Find more resources at www.onecry.com |
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I to WE devos:
The Upper Room: be still
[The Lord] says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” - Psalm 46:10 (NIV)
In August 2021, I began a months-long healing journey following spinal surgery. I had to stop working and to alter many activities in order to heal properly. My heart was in a hurry to recover so that I could get back to my regular life, but my body was clearly letting me know that this would take time. Part of my physical therapy included walking in my neighborhood, which became spiritual therapy as well.
During one of my daily walks, I noticed a flock of egrets standing serenely in the marsh grass, preening. I stopped to watch and be still with them. Suddenly, without taking a step, one of the birds gracefully bent his neck toward the water and picked up a passing fish. Then I noticed another egret walking briskly through the marsh, his long neck oddly bent with one eye toward the water. He seemed to be frantically searching for a fish.
The contrast between the two egrets was stark, and I felt God speaking to me, telling me to be still and trust that the healing I needed would come in good time. I should not be like that frantic egret. During the following months I have found God to be faithful, and I have done my best to be still and receive.
Today's Prayer
Dear Lord, help us to be still and wait on you. Even when we do not understand the journey, we trust that you will provide what we need for our good and for your glory. Amen.
TWFYT:
