October 26, 2012 - Acknowledge & Be Still

Prayer focus for October 26-November 2, 2012

I'm posting this blog a day early since I will be at a conference all day tomorrow.

My prayer, Father God, is that all thoughts turn to You.  That we acknowledge You in all our ways, in all our affairs--financially, socially and all the paths that we normally leave You out of.  Guide us in every way Lord. Proverbs 3:6.

I pray for protection this upcoming week--physical protection and spiritually as well.  Let us honor You, even during this Halloween week.  I pray Psalm 91 over the Township.  We come to Your secret place, under your shadow.  Be our refuge and fortress.  We trust in You!

Psalms 46:10: Be still and know that I am God.  Before we start on a path, let us acknowledge Him and wait for Him.  Instead of running off into several different directions, trying to run down several paths at once, we need to be still and let God show us which way to go.  God show us what to do with our time.

Isaiah 55:12: For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace... Let peace lead.  Don't rush.  God I pray Your people be still, calm and full of peace now and throughout the upcoming season.  That we are not impulsive in our decisions, in our spending.  That we don't start this season off with a "sugar high" or a false energy that leads us to make quick and wrong decisions.  Let us be mature in You and soak in Your presence, hearing Your voice clearly!

October 20, 2012 - The Roar of Worship

Prayer Focus for 10-20-12 to 10-27-12

God, let there be a roar of worship rise up from Waterford.  Let our praise, our hunger our passion and cry for You rise up to the heavens as a roaring lion.  Like the Lion of the tribe of Judah, let the sound of Waterford worship roar like a lion!  Let it be loud!  Let it be bold!  Let it be full of passion and hunger for You!  Let it come from the depths of our heart!

No matter what is going on around Your people, let them look to You, look to Jesus and roar out worship and praise to You.  Let us get our eyes off of the things that would distract us from looking at You and listening to You. 

Revelation 5:5, Proverbs 28:1

October 13, 2012 - Listen for the Sound

Prayer focus for October 13-19 2012

There's a sound from Waterford that God desires to hear--He longs for it.  It's a sound indigenous to this land.  It's a sound of worship.  A sound of music.  A sound of His people crying out to Him with abandonment.  A sound of rejoicing in His goodness.  A sound of dancing.  A sound of celebration.  A sound of singing over the revelation of His goodness, mercy, truth and love.

It's time for the victims to rise up.  It's time for those who have been wronged, treated unfairly, even abused, to reach up to the heavens in worship and cry out to God.  It's time for reverse racism to end.  It's time for victims to let go, to forgive, to worship God, to let go of the desire for vengeance, retaliation, judgement, punishment, fairness or "rights."  It's time to abandon all for Him--to let the anointing of the Spirit break the yoke of bitterness and resentment, to let the Spirit of the Lord come into our hearts and set us free.

The truth will make you free and the truth is that we are called to be like Jesus who, when He suffered wrongfully, committed Himself to the One who judges righteously.  He didn't seek vengeance.  He died for the sins of the very ones who were crucifying Him. This truth will set you free.  It brings the anointing of the Spirit which breaks yokes of bondage and liberates you!

Let's seek Him wholeheartedly and produce the sound of worship that He longs to hear from the people in this land.  Listen for the sound...

1 Peter 2: 19-23; Isaiah 10:27; 2 Corinthians 3:17; Hebrews 12:2-4, 15; John 8:32

October 6, 2012 - Sincere Motivations

Prayer focus for October 6-12, 2012

When we pray we release energy into the atmosphere.  And we pray from our heart.  Jesus said out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  So it's important we know the intents and motivations of our heart, because we want to release Holy Spirit energy when we pray and not anything from a selfish motivation or evil influence. 

It's an ongoing process to examine our hearts and motives.  God is continually working in us--enlightening us, delivering us, sanctifying us. Not only do we need to be free from the obvious things like pride, selfishness, envy, greed, etc. but also things like guilt & self-loathing.  Those things are not to be confused with humility!  We also need to know what effect emotional pain and hurt is having on us.  All things are working together for our good!  Even the people and circumstances that trouble us.  As we worship and pray from a sincere and grateful heart even during tough times, the authority of our prayers increases.  (See James 5:16-20).

During prayer today, I found myself doing some self-examination, asking God to cleanse my heart and open my eyes to those things I need to see about myself.  I realized that being around an atmosphere of worship, by the true Spirit of God, (in Spirit and in Truth), has set me free from all kinds of deceptive thinking/influence that I wouldn't have seen any other way.  We Christians have to be (continually) filled with the genuine Holy Spirit and not just "good" religious behavior! 

My prayer is for all of the worship leaders in our churches to be influenced by the true Spirit of the living God to a greater degree than they currently are.  To press in deeper to Him, to cry out for Him in a way they never have before.  Also that the pastors do not become envious as the worship leaders rise up and flow in a greater depth of the Spirit.  Pastors need to feel secure in the love of God and in their position in order for this to happen.  And worship leaders can help by making sure their pastor knows they respect them.  God, let there be no envy between these two positions!  Let each one recognize their place and put the unity of the Spirit above individual calling. 

Open the eyes of our heart Lord!  Let true worship from a sincere heart rise up from Waterford as a fragrant offering that is pleasing to You!