Confidence in God

Ever since last night I have been thinking about all the prayers that have been prayed for my Dad’s salvation. My mom has been praying for him almost 40 years. I can't count the number of times I've shared the Gospel with him and he has completely rejected it. I came to Church last night believing God for a Miracle. Believing that my dad was going to finally get it and he would be saved so when I looked up and saw that my dad had skipped out during invitation I felt like my heart had fallen out of my chest.

Several people tried to encourage me by telling me he was there and had heard the word but all I could think of was he has heard the word for 38 years now and nothing had changed, what makes this time any different? Literally I could feel all hope in my Dad ever accepting Jesus as his Lord and Savior fading quickly. How quickly the enemy rushed in to attack as soon as my focus shifted from God to me.

I’m sending this to you today not to say that I have this all together in a matter of hours because I completely do not but I believe that through this God is trying to teach me something that in turn we all need to begin praying for. As we face these last days where we place our confidence will be a key factor in overcoming the things that are to come.

God wants us to be Confident in Him and in the truth that all things (not some but ALL things) are possible through him. Our focus will determine our behavior. He wants us to stop talking about how big our giants are and start telling our giants how big our God is.

Numbers 13:30(NLT) But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!”

When the Israelites first approached the borders of Canaan, Moses sent scouts into the Promised Land to assess the situation. Ten of the scouts came back with reports that focused on the giants in the land, men so big and powerful the scouts feared they could not be defeated. Two of the scouts focused on God and his promise that he would give the Israelites the land.

So let's add praying for "Confidence in God" to our prayer list. Don't forget to pray this over our Pastor and Bev as well.

Heavenly Father,
I love you and praise you. Thank you God for always understanding where I am even when I don't understand myself. Lord, I spend so much time grumbling and complaining about all the messed up stuff going on in and around me that I lose sight of who I place my confidence in. Father forgive me for being self centered. I ask you Father, to help me to keep a God Confidence in and through all things I face and endure. Thank you for your love, your mercy and your grace. In Jesus Name, I pray Amen.

Read
Psalm 27

Prayer List
1. Divine Protection
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur/strength when weary
4. Revival
5. Steadfastness
6. Surrender
7. Discernment
8. Worship in Spirit and Truth
9. Trust
10. Pray to be led by the Holy Spirit
11. Resist Discouragement
12. Offense
13. Unity
14. Fire of God to fall
15. Walk in Obedience to His Word
16. Overcome Fear with Faith
17. Shift in the Atmosphere/Preparation
18. Give double honor
19. Radical Transformations
20. Confidence in God

Radical Transformation

I am saddened that we have lost someone very dear and close to us but at the same time, I find hope and peace in a God who has a plan for our lives far better than we can ever imagine. A God that loves us enough that he sometimes allows our hearts to be broken for a bigger purpose.

I was recently reminded of a word that God gave Bev for the young people and I heard Christian mention it at both Memorial Services…“Transformation”. The word transformed comes from a Greek word (Metamorphoo) which means "to change into another form, to transform, to transfigure". The same word we use to explain the process of changing from a caterpillar to a butterfly. It's also used to describe Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. As Christ was transfigured on the mountain, His "face" shone like the sun and the lives of Peter, James and John were changed (Matt 17:1-2). Transformation comes by and through beholding the Glory of the Lord. There must be a beholding, a deliberate setting of our attention upon the Lord Jesus Christ (Col 3:2). Just as it was the glory of the Lord that caused Moses' face to shine, so it is "the glory of the Lord" that transforms us into his likeness (2 Corinthians 3:18). As a Christian our goal should be to become more Christ like every day (Rom 12:1-2).

Tuesday morning on my way to work, I was listening to Jeremiah Yocom and I felt this tug on my heart and I heard a whisper in my spirit saying….Amy, now it’s time, pray for transformation. That's all I heard, no big revelation or this elaborate conversation between God and I. Just a still small voice, but with that I felt an urgency to pray for people who have been or will be affected in some way, form or fashion by Casey's story.

Already we have probably seen hundreds of people calling out to God through the passing of Casey. What we view as a tragedy in our eyes, God's sees as his perfect plan. God called home a child of His that was willing to sacrifice his very own life for the sake of others coming to know the Lord.

Let’s pray for radical transformations to take place.

Heavenly Father, we praise you and we thank you for giving us the opportunity to be part of your bigger plan and giving us the privilege of knowing Casey Quinn. We thank you for putting an example of someone who had sacrificial love right in front of us. Jesus, we pray that your glory will be reflected in our life so those around us will be influenced, transformed, and transferred to a new position of spiritual wholeness. Father, we pray for radical transformations in the lives of every single person the Holy Spirit is drawing to you through the life and death of Casey Quinn. God, we pray that you will give each one of these people a kingdom connection, a supernatural connection, Father. Someone they can connect with that will disciple them, someone who has been radically transformed by beholding your Glory. We give you praise for what you're doing and what you're going to do, In Jesus Name, Amen

Prayer List
1. Divine Protection
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur/strength when weary
4. Revival
5. Steadfastness
6. Surrender
7. Discernment
8. Worship in Spirit and Truth
9. Trust
10. Pray to be led by the Holy Spirit
11. Resist Discouragement
12. Offense
13. Unity
14. Fire of God to fall
15. Walk in Obedience to His Word
16. Overcome Fear with Faith
17. Shift in the Atmosphere/Preparation
18. Give double honor
19. Radical Transformations

Give Double Honor

As you all know, Pastor Appreciation Day is right around the corner.  The Bible says give honor where honor is due and to the elders that serve well give double honor especially if they labor in the Word. I want to always honor my Pastor and his wife but not just once a year, every day of the year. they need our encouragement, they need to feel valued, respected and honored by us as a body of believers standing behind them in ministry. I believe there are several things that we can do to honor them.

1. Love them unconditionally. I have heard 1 Corinthians 13 several times in the past couple of days and each time I hear it mentioned, I go back and read it one more time. I fall so short of truly loving as God has commanded me to love but I strive to love in this magnitude daily. Pray to love like Jesus. That he will love through us so that God's complete love can be poured out of us. If we would choose to love unconditionally daily, the light of Jesus would shine so brightly through us that His love could not be contained. Our lives would be a reflection or a magnet so to speak for Jesus to a lost and hurting world. Love is kind, it is not jealous or envious, it is not self seeking, it keeps no record of wrong, it is not easily angered, it endures all things. Love is Patient.

2. Pray for them always. I think that God will bless a church that prays for their Pastor. A praying church will manifest the power of the living God in a mighty way. Paul repeatedly asked the churches to pray for him and his ministry. The enemy knows his time is coming to an end so the battle is only going to become more intense as we approach these last days. All the more reason we need to be prepared for what's ahead. Interceding for our Pastor and his wife is spiritual warfare and it's our job to bare their burdens and cover them in prayer.

3. Provide for their physical needs. A church that does not supply for their pastor's needs violates the Scripture. God says give the pastor "double honor" (adequate support and respect). We should be supporting our Pastor and any needs that he may have physically. Look for opportunities to bless them above what you're already doing.

4. Be a Faithful and Loyal supporter. They need to know that we believe in them and that we're always there for them. We should serve them as unto the Lord. Let them know that we value what they value. Be faithful in your attendance to church. We should never find ourselves gossiping or speaking negatively about our Pastor or his wife. Every expectation of perfection that you have for them needs to be broken and brought under the blood of Jesus. We need to realize that they are no more perfect than we are. Recognize that they are not able to please each one of us according to what we want or may even need from them at all times, their primary focus is to please the Lord. Let's demolish every unrealistic expectation that we have for them and instead set out to encourage, edify and build them up. Support them and their ministry so the Lord may be glorified in all things.

Related Scripture's
1 Timothy 5:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13; Hebrews 13:7, 17; Hebrews 13:18-19; Eph. 6:18-19; 2 Thess. 3:1-2

Let's pray that God will open our eyes on how we can give our Pastor and Beverly double honor not only this week but every day of the year.

Father we thank you for giving us a Pastor who loves us and has our best interest at heart. We ask God that you open our eyes to ways that we can give our Pastor and his wife double honor every day. Holy Spirit keep them on the forefront of our minds so that we can pray for them always. Jesus teach us to love unconditionally. Father, we release and demolish every unrealistic expectation that we have of them in the name of Jesus. We ask that you open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing on them that cannot be contained. In Jesus Name we Pray, Amen

Prayer List
1. Divine Protection
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur/strength when weary
4. Revival
5. Steadfastness
6. Surrender
7. Discernment
8. Worship in Spirit and Truth
9. Trust
10. Pray to be led by the Holy Spirit
11. Resist Discouragement
12. Offense
13. Unity
14. Fire of God to fall
15. Walk in Obedience to His Word
16. Overcome Fear with Faith
17. Shift in the Atmosphere/Preparation
18. Give double honor

Shift in the Atmosphere/Preparation

This morning as I was praying God pricked my heart when I started praying for tonight's prayer meeting. All the sudden I saw the importance in praying for a shift in the atmosphere, asking God to commission angels to take charge over us, in coming to the house of the Lord prepared spiritually.

Several weeks ago the Lord really began speaking to me about stepping out of my comfort zone in prayer and I found myself needing to make a decision. I could either remain where I was or I could take a step of faith and let God move. I decided it was time to take that step and I went to a friend and asked her to pray with me at our next prayer meeting because I was really struggling with praying with confidence in a public setting. From that day forward, I began covering this prayer time in prayer, I prayed for a Spirit of Boldness, I prayed for the Holy Spirit to saturate the entire building, I prayed for a shift in the atmosphere and an angelic protection over our meeting place. I came to Church that Thursday night expecting something to happen and knowing that the Presence of the Lord would be upon us.

Since then I can't wait for Thursday night to come, because I know that if we come with our hearts prepared, if we come expecting, if we come worshiping then God will be in our midst. Beverly talked about this at our Ladies Retreat and God brought it back to me again today. We need to be praying for God to prepare our hearts and our place of worship. I truly believe that we have to stop expecting to have Church as usual. Our Pastor should never have to worry about fitting a message in on our time frame. If the Holy Spirit moves and we sing more songs than expected, he should not have to stress over having enough time to give US a message that God has put on his heart. We need to throw our watches out the door when we come into the house of the Lord and expect the unexpected.

I think the biggest thing is preparation. In order for the atmosphere to shift we can't have any spiritual hindrances, so that means anything that you're bringing to church with you has got to be cast off. 1 Peter 5:7 says, Cast your cares on him, for he cares for you. We have to stop holding on to all our junk, let go and let God. Our God is not a common ordinary God. We need to come prepared, expecting and with the right attitude. Acts 3:5 "and he, gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them".

2 Chronicles 5:13-14
13 The trumpeters and singers performed together in unison to praise and give thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, they raised their voices and praised the Lord with these words: “He is good! His faithful love endures forever!” At that moment a thick cloud filled the Temple of the Lord. 14 The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple of God.

2 Chronicles 7:1
When Solomon finished praying, fire flashed down from heaven and burned up the burnt offerings and sacrifices, and the glorious presence of the LORD filled the Temple.

I read once that the word for "presence" in Hebrew is also translated as "face" in the Old Testament. So to have a bigger impact the above scripture could also read: the glorious "face" of the LORD filled the Temple.

The Lord responds to our Faith. Solomon sought God and longed for his presence. He prepared himself and the people. He prepared the atmosphere with worship and praise to God. (2 Chron 5:11-14), they sacrificed so many animals that they couldn't be counted (2 Chron 5:6). He was prepared to be in the presence of the Almighty God.

A spiritual atmosphere is one where the presence of God is there, the Holy Spirit is moving, transformations takes place, and the Heavens are opened.

So this week let's pray over the very atmosphere, let's pray that our hearts are prepared, let's come to church expecting the extraordinary, expecting the Holy Spirit to have liberty and for transformations to take place.

Heavenly Father, we come before you asking for forgiveness for seeking ordinary when you're an extraordinary God. Lord, we cast every burden and care on you because you care for us. We come before you with humble, repentant hearts, seeking your face God, seeking a closer more intimate walk with you. We ask Father that you shift our atmosphere, that you establish a supernatural environment where your presence is welcome. That you saturate us with your Glory. In Jesus Name we pray. Amen



Related Scriptures

2 Chron 5:11-14

2 Chron 5:6

1 Peter 5:7
Prayer List
1. Divine Protection
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur/strength when weary
4. Revival
5. Steadfastness
6. Surrender
7. Discernment
8. Worship in Spirit and Truth
9. Trust
10. Pray to be led by the Holy Spirit
11. Resist Discouragement
12. Offense
13. Unity
14. Fire of God to fall
15. Walk in Obedience to His Word
16. Overcome Fear with Faith
17. Shift in the Atmosphere/Preparation

Overcoming Fear with Faith

For some time now God has been speaking to me about Fear. For those of you who know me well, you know that this is not an area that I enjoy talking about because it's actually an area that I struggle with alot. I have allowed fear to control many areas of my life that need to be operated by faith. However, God is saying this is not just something I am dealing with; this is something the body as a whole is struggling with. Fear is undoubtedly an attack of the enemy. Fear is meant to destroy our faith. It comes in many shapes and sizes but the overall outcome is to kill, steal and destroy. Fear is bondage. If we allow Fear to rule in our lives eventually fear will paralyze us to the point that we are no longer effective as a servant of God. We as a body have to learn how to recognize, defend and have victory over fear in order to be free from this bondage. Fear is the opposite of Faith, Romans 14:23 tells us that whatever is not from faith is sin. God's word also tells us that we should walk by faith not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). God does not give us a Spirit of Fear (2 Timothy 1:17). I believe that the enemy plants doubt in our mind that makes us doubt God's promises are for us today and after that seed of doubt is planted, fear begins to take root.

Quick story of how the enemy tried to stop me from being used by God by bringing doubt and fear in my life just this week. The other morning the Lord woke me up to pray for my brother in law urgently and I felt like God had a word for him. Immediately doubt entered my mind. Doubt that it was a word from the Lord and then fear struck me. What if he is offended or what if it causes problems with him and my sister and so I began praying Father your sheep know your voice and hear your voice, let me discern your voice above all others right now and after much prayer I went forth with the word God gave me via text message to my brother in law. Later that morning my mother informed me that he has a company phone and it does not allow him to receive text messages. So, once again doubt came forth. However, yesterday the Holy Spirit led a client of my sister's to speak a word to my brother in law, about an hour later my text message broke the barriers the phone company had in place and came through confirming the word he had just heard from my sister's client. I had to learn a valuable lesson in this to trust God's voice and not give place to the enemy in my mind. God's timing is always perfect.

We have to learn how to overcome fear and I think the first step is to recognize fear for what it is and to choose faith over fear. We need to understand God's protection and promises are for us today. To remain free from fear, we need to speak the word of God out loud (Isa 55:11), draw nigh to the Father (James 4:8), think about what you’re thinking about (2 Corinthians 10:5) and live according to his commandments (1 John 5:3). Whatever the devil is trying to convince you not to do is likely the one thing you need to aggressively pursue.

Please pray that you will easily recognize fear for what it is and walk by faith. Pray against fear this week in your life and of course pray against the same for our Pastor and Beverly. Remember that our leadership needs us to cover them in prayer in every area we are focusing on.

Scriptures References
Psalm 118:6
Isa 43:1-2
Isa 44:8
1 Corinthians 2:5
1 John 5:3
2 Corinthians 10:5
Isa 55:11


Payer List
1. Divine Protection
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur/strength when weary
4. Revival
5. Steadfastness
6. Surrender
7. Discernment
8. Worship in Spirit and Truth
9. Trust
10. Pray to be led by the Holy Spirit
11. Resist Discouragement
12. Offense
13. Unity
14. Fire of God to fall
15. Walk in Obedience to His Word
16. Overcome Fear with Faith

Walk in Obedience to His Word

As I was praying this morning, I asked God to please give me a word for our prayer group. I don't want this to come from me, I want it to be consumed by you, Father. I want you, God to saturate us with your presence. God spoke to me and said, I have already given you a word but you doubted my word and have sat on it. Immediately, I thought I didn't think this was something you wanted us to pray about and he said to me...Amy, I led you to pray about this last night over and over and then I remembered praying for the disobedient children of God, the black sheep, those Children that have turned from their faith, those blinded by the enemy. I prayed for God to prepare his Bride for his return and to bring those rebellious blinded, disobedient children back to their faith. So bare with me as I share with you what God laid on my heart earlier this week. Please forgive me for not sharing this with you when he gave it to me.

Read
2 Thessalonians 1:3-9 is talking about God's final judgment and Glory when the Lord returns.
8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,

Look closely at verse 8 and it describes 2 groups of people that will be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord. The first are those who do not know God but the second group of people really grabbed my attention because it's referring to those people who do not OBEY the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. This in my opinion could very well be anyone of us, it could be the people sitting in the church pew Sunday after Sunday, living a life that does not line up with God's word, condoning things that are in total contradiction to his word and making choices based on how they "think" they should live or how they "feel" like living verses how the scripture tells us to live. God's word is infallible, it's unchangeable. Regardless of how the world has changed since the Scripture was written, God's word and his expectations of the body have not nor will they ever change.

Jesus was always about His Father's business. Jesus’ Gospel was “the gospel of the kingdom of God, Kingdom of heaven” and the message was specifically, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”

Read
Matthew 10:7, Luke 4:43, Matthew 4:17, 2 Thessalonians 1:3-9

When you believe in something an action will follow. For example, if you believe your car needs gas to run than you won't try to drive it without any gasoline or if you believe a chair is broken you won't try to sit in it. The same applies biblically, if we believe the word of God to be truth, if we believe that the bible is God's instruction manual to us on how we should and shouldn't live than we will take heed to the word and apply it to our lives daily, not just when it feels good. We will be obedient to his word if we believe it.

Biblical "faith" is an action manifested through obedience. Obedience is obeying the word of God regardless of whether or not we like what it says. God's people are to live by faith and walk by obedience to His word. Jesus gave an urgent message saying Repent and Believe, turn from your wicked ways because the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. To repent is to change your mind. Our minds must be changed and renewed daily by God's word. At hand means, "Just around the corner" or "so close you can almost touch it". In other words, WAKE UP, time is running out people. Repent, Believe (obey) what I'm telling you, the Kingdom of God is upon us.

God is saying to me that we should be looking for the Lord's return and living in obedience to His Word without exception. Let's pray to walk in obedience daily. Not just momentarily or when it feels good but always walk in obedience to his Word.

Maranatha! The Lord is coming.

Prayer List
1. Divine Protection
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur/strength when weary
4. Revival
5. Steadfastness
6. Surrender
7. Discernment
8. Worship in Spirit and Truth
9. Trust
10. Pray to be led by the Holy Spirit
11. Resist Discouragement
12. Offense
13. Unity
14. Fire of God to fall
15. Walk in Obedience to His Word

Fire of God Fall

This week I feel very strongly that God wants us to line our prayers up with our leadership. This is so important to God that he has confirmed our prayer for this week to me through 3 different people, to make sure that I didn't miss it. I believe that God has aligned every week thus far for this very moment. Many times I have prayed for the Fire of God to fall upon me but it wasn't until just recently that I really learned what that actually meant. The fire of God is all consuming; it will burn up anything not of him and purify anything that is.

I want to show you a quick illustration of some key characteristics of how fire is used to refine gold. A refiner has to melt the gold to turn it into a liquid and purify it. This process is needed in order for the impurities in the metal to be revealed. Once the gold is in liquid form, the impurities will become a film on the surface of the gold that the refiner will than scoop out. During this process the refiner has to continually repeat these steps until he has removed all the impurities and can see nothing but his reflection in the liquid. Make sure you catch that last phrase; he keeps a fire under the gold until his reflection is all he can see.

In Hebrews 12:29 it says that God is a consuming fire. When we pray for the Fire of God to fall upon us, we are really asking God to completely consume us. To reveal and burn out anything in our life that doesn't bring glory to him, anything in our life that is not of him or from him (impurities). We are asking OUR refiner to refine us by revealing all the ugliness we have deep within us. It's a process, not an overnight fix but a process just as refining gold is a process. We're saying God, when you look at me I want you to see your son's reflection in my life, can you just pour that refining fire of yours down and burn everything out of me that would blind you from seeing Jesus in me. I know it may be painful and my flesh may want to hold onto all this ugly stuff but I desperately want more of you and less of me. God is looking for people who are willing to do whatever it takes to be in a closer walk with him. He's not looking for a mediocre Christian with one foot in the world and one foot in the church. He desires us to be holy, on fire for him, anchored in him and completely consumed and dependent in him.

My notes from Sunday's sermon say that without sacrifice there will be no fire and the key is Effectual Fervent Prayer. I want our scripture reading to be a review of the scriptures Pastor preached about on Sunday.

Read

Lev. 26:3-4
1 Kings 17:18
1 Kings 18:18
1 Kings 18:21
1 Kings 18:41-46
James 5:16-18
Hebrews 12:29

Heavenly Father, we come before you with repentant hearts, seeking to worship you and to be closer to you than ever before. Lord, we are asking for your Fire to fall upon us revealing every impurity in our life. Father burn out of us everything that is not of you or from you and purify by your fire everything that is so that your son may shine brightly through us. Let us not get caught up in the world by living mediocre, fearful lives but let us be a holy people desiring to please you. In Jesus name we pray Amen

Prayer List
1. Divine Protection
2. Holiness
3. Heart like Hur/strength when weary
4. Revival
5. Steadfastness
6. Surrender
7. Discernment
8. Worship in Spirit and Truth
9. Trust
10. Pray to be led by the Holy Spirit
11. Resist Discouragement
12. Offense
13. Unity
14. Fire of God to fall