Midday Musical Devotional Pt.1

I am on my way to Idaho this weekend to share in the Word and worship. My internet may be a little sketchy; So I will catch up with all my comments when I return on Tuesday. For the weekend I have left you all some musical devotions and  questions I hope bless you.

Midday question: What challenges are you struggling with at the moment?

Midday Scripture: Romans 8:31-39 NIV

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Midday Prayer: Lord Jesus I acknowledge the challenges openly this afternoon. I also admit I don’t have all the answers. I know, though, that You do know the way…You have the answers. Show me the way. Give me your strategies to victory and come and work the win in me! Give me strength to stand until you have completed Your work! In Jesus name A-men

A 21 Day Spiritual Journey Day 19

“The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.”
― Søren Kierkegaard

“The saddest prayers are not the ones that go unanswered but the prayers that go unasked.” Mark Batterson

I have used this month to set a host of prayer goals and to seek vision regarding the things I think God wants me to work on. I started with about 10 items on my prayer list but God grew my  list as I sought Him these last three weeks. Some of the goals have been met and some have gone through changes. Here I’ll show you:

1. I started out praying for direction and provision for my son as he heads toward graduation. I asked God to help him quickly pay off his college loans because he was called to the mission field not to loans.

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
― Eleanor Roosevelt

My son unbeknownst to me has begun applying for a Masters program in PA. He has also applied for an assistedship which would pay for his schooling and leave him with a small stipend to meet expenses! So my prayer for him has changed. MAy God grant him entrance into the Masters program and the assistedship. God has clarified my prayer.

2. I have been praying for my daughter Melanie direction and provision as she heads toward graduation. I asked God to help her quickly pay off her college loans because she was called to the mission field not to loans.Since I started praying Melanie has been suggested for a position as a children’s minister at an inner city church and possibly for a teaching position at the elementray level in a private school near Boston. She could then pursue her Masters in counselling through one of two schools she is looking into. Again God has clarified how I should pray.

3. For my daughter Amanda who is two years from graduation I have been praying the God dream. One of Amanda’s professors just happened to give her an assignment this semester to present her vision to a class of fellow students. She has found an accountability partner who is helping her to clarify and follow the dream.

4. I started out praying for a new car. God told me to fix my old one. So now I am praying for money to refurbish what I have. The first $300.00 was provided this week.

Has God turned any of your prayer directions lately? How?

Angela’s testimony Audio version

To here Angela’s testimony in audio go to:

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cornerstoneag.net%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsermons%2F2013%2FHPM%2520Angela.mp3&h=QAQEgpuP-

 

To read the transcript go to:

http://wp.me/pVpiQ-1te

http://wp.me/pVpiQ-1tk

http://wp.me/pVpiQ-1to

A 21 Day Spiritual Journey: Day 11

“The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.”
― Søren Kierkegaard

This afternoon before I left church I closed myself in my office and prayed through all the items on my thought web. Throughout the last eleven days I have continued to add things to the web. It’s getting quite large. Some of the requests require nothing short of a miracle; Others simply need my time and attention.  As I prayed through my list, though, I realized that the real miracle I need is for God to prioritize and organize my schedule to fit all the dreams He has given me into it in their proper order.

I have been amazed at how quickly God has touched some of the circled requests while it seems HE is waiting on others. As I prayed I felt that God is going to give me action plans for each request in its proper order. My job is to keep praying into them. I also have to be ready to receive vision and then to release that vision into the hands of others whom God will equip for the tasks at hand.

I am at the point of realizing I will need to call forth help and entrust myself to godly men and women to help me accomplish much of my call. I need to pray about what I am to release into the hands of others.

What do you need to ask for help with in order to fulfill your dreams?

 

A 21 Day Spiritual Journey: Day 8

“The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.”
― Søren Kierkegaard

God always gives us exactly what we need, even if we don’t think we need it. Our acceptance or rebellion against God’s plans take nothing from God. Such decisions only make pleasant or painful our journey through the adventure of life.

Yesterday Winter Storm Helen kept our office closed and this wrinkly pastor working from home. I had lots of time to catch up on the prayer I had missed from the day before (in between shoveling ops of course).

God knew I needed time to catch my breath. I’m sure he giggled (if God giggles) as he saw me use my breath-catching-time to plan out today to the minute. “Man plans God laughs” Liza Minnelli said. I think He has good reason. He truly knows what’s coming and how many of our plans are going to come to be.

Now I’m not against planning. I shudder to think what would happen to me if I didn’t plan.

my life with no agenda

But I am learning that my planning is not  God’s planning even when I ask God to guide me in my planning. He refuses for His own reasons to show me everything that is coming. Maybe He just likes me to be surprised. More than likely it’s the only way He can build my faith. Whatever the reason, I am learning to make my plans and be ready to chuck them in favor of his.

Today I arrived with my lists in tow. A man was waiting in our lobby. He wanted to meet with a pastor. After I stowed my snow boots, my 16 bean soup, and my agenda I sat down with him. I missed a planned prayer meeting  a writing session and two scheduled phone calls. The man gave his heart to Jesus. HALLELUJAH THE JOURNEY IS DOING ITS JOB!

I think I’m going to be praying for more divine interruptions and the heart to recognize them when they come.

Now I’m off to do the things on my list in the timing God apparently intended all along.

A 21 Day Spiritual Journey: Day 7

It’s amazing what a difference a day makes.

“The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.”
― Søren Kierkegaard

What is your Jericho? What walls do you need God to knock down?

Today I met with one of our C.cada artists for a music rehearsal. This brother’s first CD will hit the stands in about a week. His debut album marks the culmination of a year-long Jericho march.

As we chatted over tea before practicing our special music for Sunday I listened to his heart about the process: the commitment it called for, the road blocks, the frustrations, the waiting, but most of all the promise! My friend has held fast to the promise God put inside of him over a year ago. He has never let go of it no matter what the road looked like. In fact we were talking about one of the very last difficulties he faced in the journey. A problem in production sent him and his partner back to the audio drawing board to remix and remaster the whole project from scratch. Instead of bemoaning his luck this musician praised God for the valuable intel he gathered in the process of having to personally remaster his own CD.

This visit coupled with the study God has me doing have revealed a very wrong mindset in me. You see, I look at my Jerichos and I see  problems. They strike fear into my heart. My friend looks at his Jerichos and he sees promises. They give him faith.

I’m changing the way I think here. I am coming to see that problems become possibilities in the light of God’s promises. My Jerichos are not issues they are opportunities God is going to use to fulfill the passions of my heart!

Here are some quotes I reviewed from the first part of  THE CIRCLE MAKER  by Mark Batterson:

“The greatest moments in life are the miraculous moments when human impotence and divine omnipotence intersect.” Mark Batterson, The Circle Maker

” It is absolutely imperative at the outset that you come to terms with the simple yet life changing truth: God is for you.” Mark Batterson, The Circle Maker.

“God is not a genie in a bottle, and your wish is not His command. His command had better be your wish. If it’s not you won’t be drawing prayer circles; you’ll end up walking in circles.” Mark Batterson, The Circle Maker

And here is a simple song I need to meditate on in light of all this.

 

 

Heaven Pt. 87

“When Solomon finished making these prayers and petitions to the LORD, he stood up in front of the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands raised toward heaven. He stood and in a loud voice blessed the entire congregation of Israel:” I Kings 8:54,55

In our last “Heaven” post we left Solomon on his knees with his hands stretched out to Heaven asking for God’s blessing. We’ve left him there for a long time and its high time we got back to these Heaven posts on a more regular basis. 🙂

The take away from today’s verse for me is that there must come a time when we finish with our praying and we get up and do something, even if that is only to get out-of-the-way.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a firm believer in praying through. In most cases we don’t pray enough. Then in other situations we fall to our knees when the time for praying has come and gone and it’s time to act.

The truth is we ought to be praying the blessing of our God upon our days before they even begin. Then as our days happen we can act in cooperation with the Holy Spirit confident of the fact that God is going to move on our behalf.

There’s a time for everything. There is a time to pray. There is a time to finish our praying and a time to get up and move in the faith we have prayed forth.

How do you know when your praying is complete and it’s time to act?

A 21 Day Spiritual Journey: Day 1

As the chilly waters of a new year begin to rush by I am setting out on a 21 day spiritual pilgrimage to discover what God would transform in me in this year 2013.

Our whole church has been asked to participate in the season of prayer and fasting. I am believing that this year will be our most powerful time of corporate dedication yet.

As I set out I will be using these posts to notate the things I hear from the Spirit of God along the way.

Today was a day of reconnecting. In the business of the day I stole away several times to just BE with the Savior. In my heart I know that this will be a time of ridding myself of many blockades between me and my God… things I have allowed to stifle the flow of the River of God into my life.

Once again the Spirit reminds me that without the place of prayer the place of ministry is powerless. Unless I am asking for God to meet me in the work of ministry the labor of the ministry will amount to nothing of eternal value. The quiet place…the secret place is desperately needed and will only become more important as the days wear on to darkness.

Today’s quote:

The greatest tragedy in life is that our prayers go unanswered because they went unasked. -Mark Batterson

Question of the day:

What is your Jericho? What walls do you need the Lord to knock down?

A Sunday Song

🙂

Prayer… 8 P.M. Every Night Pt. 2

I reblogged this a few days ago and am just following up with all of y’all. How is it going? What has God shown you in the last few days?

https://jelillie.wordpress.com/2012/09/12/4310/