My Prayer Page 73

“In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths.”

Lord, I raise your banner over my life and acknowledge your name-

 in my home, in my family life, in my children’s hearts and lives,

in my marriage and its struggles; in my past, present and future.

You were with me as a child,

you are here with me as a wife and mother of 3.

You will go forth with me on my pilgrimage.

Lord, I stand on the watchtower waiting for your authoritative word;

You are directing my paths.

 I acknowledge your name!

Lord, I seek your face in this time of prayer….

I ask that you hear my voice when I call out to you and that you answer me.

I honor you where I am…. and I am seeking to be obedient.

Lord, let your love for me cover the multitude of sins that battle for my life.

You are here for me wanting to help me obey.

Thank you for your gracious commandments.

Thank you for the liberty your commands provide.

You are gracious in defending me; I am flanked by your presence;

your kind and compassionate Holy Spirit.

Your spirit whispers to me as a guide;

it opens my mind to revelations,

it leads me when I am wandering lost and stays with me when I leave my post.

Thank you that I am draped in your righteousness

and garbed in the heritage you provide.

Lord, I am a warrior on the battlefield longing for the peace of paradise.

You know this weakness and you fight for me when I can’t.

You remind me who I am, you direct me with your Word
and encourage me with truths that have not yet taken hold.

Your faithful command fills me with honor

and ushers in an eternal value that I will never find here on earth.

I bow to your leadership and rise up a warrior ready for battle.

May the day of victory arrive with the sound of your trumpet!

May my heart and mind be fixed on your voice as we battle it out together.

Song Recommendation:

Forever live

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv4LRl2KI2M

Psalm 46 - Page 72

With the world as it is and after what happened in Hawaii this past week I’d like to share the footnotes in the NIV Bible for Psalm 46:1-3. 

 It says: 

“The fear of mountains or cities suddenly crumbling into the sea as the result of a nuclear blast haunts many people today.  But the psalmist says that even if the world ends, we need not fear. 
 In the face of utter destruction, the writer expressed a quiet confidence in God’s ability to save him.  It seems impossible to consider the end of the world without becoming consumed by fear, 
but the Bible is clear – God is our refuge even in the face of total destruction.  
He is not merely a temporary retreat;
 he is our eternal refuge and can provide strength in any circumstance. “  

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

And the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

Though it’s waters roar and foam

And the mountains quake with their surging.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the holy place where the most high Dwells.

God is within her, she will not fall’

God will help her at break of day.

Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;

He lifts his voice, the earth melts.

The Lord Almighty is with us;

The God of Jacob is our fortress.

Come and see the works of the Lord,

The desolations he has brought on the earth.

He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;

He breaks the bow and shatters the spear,

He burns the shields with fire.

“Be still and know that I am God’

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth.”

The Lord Almighty is with us;

The God of Jacob is our fortress."
Psalm 46

Amen and Amen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKs_gQecaDY&list=RDqyUPz6_TciY&index=5

SONG RECOMMENDATION

Psalm 46

BY:  Shane & Shane

Cadence of Commonality! Page 71

DISSONANCE DEFINED:

“An inconsistency; inharmonious; lack of agreement.”

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE DEFINED:

“The state of mental conflict.”

This world beckons us! 

It calls out to the human mind and encourages us to seek the familiar; 

to go along with popular opinion;

to be like those around us!  Each day we live in the grind of the cadence of commonality! 

This is comfortable and easy, we think!  The cadence keeps us on our earthly path

 and this is good, we think!  Staying on the path of finite sameness we don’t hear 

our own beating heart as it beckons us to something infinitely different. 

But, then cognitive dissonance begins its cadence and we subconsciously feel a conflict. 

The spirit within us is calling out and that is where the conflict begins. Whether we’re in tuned  

with this our not, our beating heart pumps in cadence with the Spirit of God of Creation!

 Like the amazing universe we live in we are designed to be vast and bold; 

filled with so much positive energy that we mentally explode with power, 

love and unique creativity.  Everyday we sit on the cusp of a new and fresh revelation 

yet we stop at the threshold of vast knowledge because we’ve limited our lives and souls

 with the cadence of the commonplace.  IT’S TIME TO BE DIFFERENT!!!

Scripture says:

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more

than all we ask or imagine,

 according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory…”

Ephesians 3:20-21

Let’s dare to ask God for revelations that are beyond our own imagination 

and live vast lives everyday!!!

Scripture says:

“Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,

and whoever sows generously we also reap generously.”

2 Corinthians 9: 6

Let’s be crazy generous- everyday!!!!

Scripture says:

“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation,

so that you may know him better.

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened

in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you,

the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

That power is like the working of his mighty strength….”

Ephesians 1:17-20

Let’s pray powerful prayers like this EVERYDAY!  Let’s be bold enough to 

“believe that He exists” and to march to the cadence of the drumming of the God

 who Commands an Army of Angels.  THIS is our inheritance!

  And there is nothing common about it! 

FOR SCRIPTURE SAYS:

“And without faith it is impossible to please God,

Because anyone who comes to him

must believe that he exists

 and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

Hebrews 11:6

SONG RECOMMENDATION:

Different

By:  Micah Tyler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUT4trsrBCw

Jesus Page 70

Jesus,

You came to earth to love people.

However, many didn’t respect you.

Many didn’t listen to you.

Many misunderstood you--

so, they called you a liar.

You lived away from your home

You endured the pain of mistreatment

Your life was crucified in more ways than one

as you struggled to represent God in a sinful world

Some stood back from you

Some flat rejected you.

Some people didn’t like you,

so… they plotted your demise.

With Quiet strength you stood firm.

You walked in your beliefs.

You persevered; you loved!

You even wept! (John 11:35)

Your time on earth was predestined

Your life’s calling was unbelievable

You obediently lived out your life!

You made a difference in this world!

Your life and struggles purposely resemble all of humanity.

That was your life’s calling--

That you be fully human

In order that the world could relate to God!

I’m comforted by this predestined similarity.

I’m awed that my pursuit to be godly

Must be done through my humanity-

Just as your life’s calling was fulfilled through your humanity.

I’ve often stumbled

Trying to understand how to relate to an invisible God,

But you are the eternal answer.

I just needed to see the similarities to see the truth.

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest

who has gone through the heavens,

Jesus the Son of God,

Let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,

But we have one who has been tempted in every way,

Just as we are--Yet was without sin.

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence,

so that we may receive mercy and find grace

to help us in our time of need.”

Hebrews 4: 14-16

Song Recommendation:

Prince of Peace

By:  Hillsong United

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIqUTMHl9Cs

Being Poured Out Like a Drink Offering Page 69

There is a mystery in this world that cannot be understood with our natural mind.  There is knowledge that can be attained but not with the intelligence of human capacity.  There is a passage that leads to a sacred place but it is not of this material realm.  There is a door at the end of that passage that cannot be unlocked with a literal key.  The mystery, the knowledge, the passage, and the door are all spiritual in nature and NOT of human wisdom.  The scripture below delves into this eloquently:

“We have not received the spirit of the world
but the Spirit who is from God,
that we may understand what God has freely given us.

This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom

but in words taught by the Spirit,

 expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.”

1^st Corinthians 2: 14

I’m leading you into the spiritual realm using imagery and God’s Word so that you can absorb a recent spiritual encounter my husband and I had that contained irony at it’s core.  This moment-in-time encounter with coincidence presented a mystery wherein irony could not be the only cause.     

One morning we were reading our daily devotional together and going over how it applied to us specifically.  We were seeking deep understanding over typical human issues that plague most couples.  We were studying how the Holy Spirit works and surmised that we had not allowed the Holy Spirit to change us due to our individual strongholds.  We were searching out wisdom and had a time of prayer wanting to surrender our struggles to the Lord.

As we continued to talk I remembered a distinct prayer I had several months back and shared it with my husband.  It was an earnest prayer wherein all I had in front of me was a tub of water.  I pressed into the prayer, cupped a handful of water and sincerely offered it to the Lord. I was desperate yet empty handed, I thought.  I had never heard of a water offering yet shortly after that prayer the Lord led me to scriptures that discussed this type of offering and, as only God can do, He sharpened my mind with His teaching style using irony.  I passionately shared this with my husband trying to express the profound effect that prayer had on me and we continued with our reading.  He picked up one of my favorite devotionals called Streams in the Desert and said “Let’s read this one too.”  He opened the book to that day's date and was about to read it aloud to me…but I quickly stopped him.  I was prompted to point out that the Lord frequently speaks to me using that devotional and that I felt the Lord was going to confirm His presence to us in this very moment.  I told my husband to watch carefully because the Lord was going to show up in a profound way.  He opened the book to the page dated December 12th and began to read aloud and lo-and-behold the scripture at the top of that page was as follows:

“I am already being poured out like a drink offering,

 and the time has come for my departure.

 I have fought the good fight,

I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

2^nd Timothy 4: 6-7

The Lord shocked us both with His Spiritual presence and filled our minds and our senses with awe! It’s hard to share these types of spiritual encounters because they are so personal but I had to find a way!  I pray that you see that this seemingly ironic incident was the presence of the living, breathing Lord.  The timing and that scripture was sent straight from the Throne Room of heaven and it spoke volumes!  Some things that are beyond profound need to be acknowledged as otherworldly.  My husband and I were being God-taught and we both knew that the Lord was present in our heart, home and marriage for indeed His name is Emmanuel –God with us! 

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

How unsearchable his judgments,

And his paths beyond tracing out!
Who has known the mind of the Lord?

“Or who has been his counselor?”

“Who has ever given to God,

that God should repay him?”

For from him and through him, and to him are all things,

To him be the glory forever!

 Amen.

Romans 11: 33-36

Song Recommendation:
God with Us

By:  Mercyme

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05Y-Px39cm4