10 AM Worship (In person and Zoom) Study Jonah 1 (Don't forget the Celebration offering envelopes will be used to fund outreach gift cards)
--------------------------------------------
Good Morning Hallowing Our Abba Daddy, Praying in His Kingdom and Will, Followers of the Way! Think about that a second and talk to God and process with your teammates what that means. God is our Dad and we are His adopted children who are very loved and always helped and that leads to worshiping Him. When we pray, "Hallowed be Your name" we are confirming the complete wholeness and separateness (holiness) of His being and the integrity of His holy name (His good character) and we worship and ask for help to glorify Him and live according to His perfect plans for us. Then we pray in His Kingdom on earth and in heaven to come and pray for His will to be done in, through and around us. And we ask for His help to fulfill our created purposes and help to follow Jesus (THE Way) yoked to Him. And guess what? God says gladly! Thanks for asking and releasing My power and plans. And after praying we step into the day informed and led by His Spirit to all He has for us. Just pause as you digest this and what it means to you and us and for His Kingdom and then worship as you prepare for . Before stepping out engage with The Connection Blog, Our Daily Bread and Upper Room devotionals. Abide in His presence and receive and release all He has for you and the day ahead. He has great plans for you and us. Don't lean on your own understanding or be about just your business. Be about Him and His business as you incarnate Jesus and His plans to lovingly bring people into His Kingdom. Allow Him to uplift you, empower you, and lead you to His perfect plans and also release His power to save, transform and bring His justice to bear all around you. And then worship as you walk through it with Him. And don't forget the testimony of His faithfulness you get to share along the way. Encourage each other, build His Church and help each other to do so well. If you are still here on earth, He's not finished with you yet and there is work to do until He calls you home and your race is complete. Think about the joy of that day you step into Jesus' arms and he thanks you for doing your part well. We can complete our races well and be His good and faithful servants! That comes about one day, one step of faithful obedience at a time. Keep at it and continue to trust, obey, worship, choose joy always and run your race well. Thank Him for this day, His provisions and presence and even protection and ask for help to steward well all his blessings and to glorify His holy name. Amen! I prayed for you earlier and God says to remind you how much he loves you and is rooting for you to grow in Him and to live and love like Jesus well ! AMEN! Father, we hallow Your holy name and pray for Your Kingdom to come and will to be done in, through and around us ! Come and use me well. Thanks! Amen! Shalom shalom!
Connection Blog
- God Initiates Prayer
Scripture clearly shows us that God’s will is primary in prayer:
I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. (John 5:30)
So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. (John 8:28)
For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. (John 12:49)
Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. (John 14:10)
Christ prayed and lived by Divine initiation and so must we! Think of how this “loop” of prayer works. We are in God’s presence in prayer. We ask Him what His will is—how He wants to usher in His kingdom on earth. He reveals His will to us as He desires. We align our prayer and our lives with His will and pray for His “kingdom to come” and “His will to be done on earth as it is (being done) in heaven.”
Prayer is not a matter of getting God to do what you want. It is not an exercise to persuade God to align His will with ours, but exactly the opposite. We are in His presence to hear what heaven has to say about our lives and this world. And then, in prayer, to enlist the resources of heaven to accomplish His will on earth.
This type of prayer starts in heaven, passes through the discerning intercessor, and returns to the Throne. Such prayer is effective because it was initiated by God Himself. God loves to answer His own desires, and we get the joy (and training) of being involved as His instruments.
Divine King, all prayer originates within Your heart, flows to Your people through the power of the Spirit, and then, through Jesus, is ushered back into Your presence! Help me to fully grasp and understand this amazing mystery. How can I be worried, anxious, angry, unsettled, uncertain or fearful when You are always listening, always working and always moving in my life? Help me to listen to everything You have to say about my life and the world around me, so that I may obediently align with the very thoughts of heaven.
---Adapted from Simply Prayer by Bill Elliff. This book is available at prayerleader.com.
ODB:
Follow God’s Way
The Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.” Haggai 1:5
Ken avoided the migrant workers in his building. Their habits and way of life, so different from his, annoyed him. One day, however, while Ken was praying, a thought pierced him: They’ve been your neighbors for years, yet not once have you shared the gospel with them. Think carefully about your attitude towards them.
Scripture tells us of when God confronted the Israelites with a similar warning: “Give careful thought to your ways” (Haggai 1:7). After their captivity in Babylon, His people returned to Jerusalem, tasked to rebuild the temple. God had “moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia” (Ezra 1:1) to order the construction and provide funds (vv. 2-4). But after the people laid the foundation, opposition grew (4:1-5), so they neglected the project for fourteen years.
Through the prophet Haggai, God told them, “Give careful thought to your ways. . . . My house . . . remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house” (Haggai 1:7, 9). God was saying, “Think carefully about how you’re living. Are you doing what I want you to do?”
God disciplined His people (vv. 5-11), but when they resumed construction, He encouraged them, “I am with you . . . . Do not fear” (2:4-5). And the temple was completed in less than five years.
In what area of life do we need to “give careful thought to [our] ways”? Let’s ask God to show us and help us follow His correction.
By Karen Huang
REFLECT & PRAY
How is God’s way different from yours? What things do you need to change to truly obey Him?
Dear God, please help me to follow Your way.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
When the Babylonian captivity ended, the Jewish people returned with a mandate from King Cyrus to rebuild the house of God (Ezra 5:13-14). When the prophet Haggai wrote, it had been eighteen years since their return, and the project remained unfinished due in part to spiritual lethargy. This became, in a sense, the theme for the book of Haggai—spiritual lethargy that dulls the enthusiasm of the people of God for the things of God. To follow His way requires a heart and passion for Him. , God likewise wants to show us where we need to follow Him in obedience.
Bill Crowder
UR: In the Gap
The word of the Lord to Ezekiel, “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.” - Ezekiel 22:30 (NIV)
Last summer while my husband and I were walking our dog, we noticed a hollyhock plant growing on the edge of the street. The plant stood tall, tucked in a space where two concrete curb sections came together. It was an unusual place to find a flower growing.
Over the summer, I marveled as the plant bloomed with pink flowers, attracting butterflies and affecting the whole neighborhood. Bike riders moved to the center of the street to avoid bumping the flowering plant. Neighbors congregated near it and watered the hollyhock. On trash pick-up day, I nervously watched the approaching garbage truck. My fluttering stomach calmed as I saw the truck swing wide around the plant.
This little plant brought to my mind the story in Ezekiel 22 of God searching for people in Jerusalem willing to stand in the gap in the wall. God was looking for people willing to make a difference and stand strong against sin when no one else would.
God still searches for people willing to stand up and make a difference. It may mean doing the unpopular or the uncomfortable. It may mean going to unexpected places or speaking to someone who seems unapproachable. It surely means trusting completely in the One who is always dependable.
's Prayer
Dear God, show us how to stand in the gap and make a difference with you and for you. Amen.
LISTEN ONLINE
