I’m Hungry

“I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. “  John 6:35

Lord, thank you for divinely placing people groups together who are hungry.  Father, I ask that you bless the times of fellowship, laughter, and conversation that happen around the table.  And as relationships form and basic needs are met in sharing a meal together, I pray that those meeting together will hunger and thirst after you.  Raise up hosts and bring friends together who are hungry and thirsty…may you be at the center  and give them the food and drink that satisfies.

Keep Burning

“You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning, my God turns my darkness into light.”  Psalm 18:28

“Sustain me according to your promise and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed.”  Psalm 119:116

Father, thank you that you nurture the flames of those who are burning and longing to serve you as harvesters among unreached people.  I pray, Father, as they let their lights shine in dark places, that you keep their lamps burning.  Give them the sustaining fuel of your promises and comfort them with the warmth of the movement of your Holy Spirit.   Father, we ask that you give life and cause fruitfulness in barren places.  Send out your harvesters, help them to keep burning as they shine like a city on a hill.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Blessing of Borders

“LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure.  The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.”  Psalm 16:5-6

“For he strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses your people within you.  He grants peace to your borders and satisfies you with the finest of wheat.”  Psalm 147:13-14

Father, thank you that you have assigned us our portion and our cup…that you have called, chosen, and prepared each harvester in their own specific place.  We ask, Father, that you make our lots secure and the boundary lines to fall in pleasant places.  As we trust you, you plant each of us and we bear fruit.  Strengthen your people.  Bless your people.  Thank you that you grant peace to our borders and satisfy us with your finest.  We ask that you go before each of us and prepare the area…the dorm of a college campus, the Starbucks coffee shop, the neighborhood, the medical community…and that you create pleasant and peaceful environments where church can be lived out and where You satisfy with your finest!  In Jesus Name, Amen.

Hope in the Storm

As intercessors, we are often called out of the boat to believe…to walk on water.  It is sometimes easy to have just enough faith to get out of the boat and trust Jesus to do the miraculous…then we see the wind and the waves…the impossible, the hopeless, the overwhelming…and our world is rocked!  But we learn from Peter that we fix our eyes on Jesus.  We keep moving and keep trusting.  He is our security…our hope…our destination.  His is the maker of the wind and the waves, and even they obey Him…we are not overcome!

Lamentations 3:21-26
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”  The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

Father, you are good!  We hope in you…we trust you…and fix our eyes on yours.  Because of your great love we are not consumed.  Though the winds pick up and the rains fall…though life gets overwhelming and feels, at times, hopeless…your compassions never fail.  Thank you that your mercies are new every morning and great is your faithfulness.  Lord as we anticipate your work in our lives and your ministry in the lives of the unreached, we wait quietly and patiently for your salvation.  We wait.  We hope in the midst of the storm.

A New Song

 

 Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.  Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
Psalm 96:1-3

These verses stuck out to me this week as I was asking the Lord to send laborers into the harvest fields.  Praying for folks in San Antonio, I began to ask the Lord to lead them to “sing a new song.”  These verses hold an attitude of boldness and authority that I was asking the Lord to give His laborers.  He is sending us out to proclaim his salvation day after day among ALL people….that all may know Him.

 Thank you, Lord, that you plant your people with divine purpose.  Lord we are asking that you give your people a new song to sing.  Break us out of habits and traditions and make us new…moving with new motivations.  We ask that you equip your people with the boldness and authority to declare and proclaim your glory and salvation.  Transform us into your glory, restore to us the joy of our salvation that we might be able to tell others day after day…All People…All Nations…of your marvelous deeds.   

Prayer Conversation

Matthew 18:19-20
“Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”

We are joining together and agreeing as we ask the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into the harvest field.  He is the “God who gives endurance and encouragement” who “gives a spirit of unity” among us as we join in prayer in Jesus’ name. 

Will you join the prayer conversation?

Please join the conversation by posting your prayers, thoughts, and agreements in the comments sections.  Together we will approach the throne of grace with confidence knowing that He who has begun a good work will be faithful to complete it and that our unrelenting prayer will lead to fruitfulness in barren places!

Wise Builders

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.”  Matthew 7:24-25

As the Lord sends harvesters into the harvest field, we are asking Him to give opportunities to build churches within literal houses…”churches that will multiply wherever life takes you.”  As He creates these opportunities, we ask that He turn our ears to wisdom and our heart to understanding (Proverbs 2), enabling us to be wise builders who build our houses on the rock.

Lord, thank you for raising up wise builders and sending harvesters into the fields.  Thank you for filling homes with people who are hungry for you.  I ask, Father, that you fill us with the knowledge of your will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.  We long to be wise builders who are building on the solid foundation that is Jesus Christ.  I pray that we might live lives worthy of you and may please you…bearing fruit in every good work.  Grow us in the knowldge of God, strengthening us with power according to your glorious might.  Give us great endurance and patience as we build.  Help us to continue in our faith…established and firm…not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.  (Colossian 1:9-12, 23)

Exceptionally Ordinary

What makes ordinary people exceptional? 
What allows for regular people to have courage? 

“When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. “  Acts 4:13

These were simple, ordinary men walking out the next step in their journey.  But these men were exceptional and had great courage…they had been with Jesus.  Their intimate relationship with Him became the foundation and the fuel for their work in the harvest field.  Amazingly these ordinary men displayed a boldness and courage that others could only attribute to their love for and time with Jesus!

Lord, we delight in You!  We will be strong and courageous because You will be with us wherever we go.  We ask Father, that you go before us and prepare the harvest fields.  Send out your laborers with boldness, courage, and great faith…knowing that our time with You radiates on our faces!  We draw unto you and know that You will draw unto us…better is one day in your courts, in your presence, than a thousand elsewhere.  (Psalm 37; Psalm 84; Joshua 1; James 4)

Gentle Harvesting

Glancing at a new issue of National Geographic last night, my interest was peaked by the title “Where Food Begins.”  I’ve become very interested in the concept of ‘harvesting’ and the articles inside the magazine offered some new perspectives for me on the subject.  The author of one article describes attending a farm show where dealers displayed–in hopes of selling–huge harvesters.  These giant machines aid present-day farmers in the cornfields of Wisconsin and the like.  The author expressed concern over the work of these machines, however.   He says, “Big, heavy machines like the harvesters mash wet soil into an undifferentiated, nigh impenetrable slab–a process called compaction.  Roots can’t penetrate compacted ground; water can’t drain into the earth and instead runs off, causing erosion.  And because compaction can occur deep in the ground, it can take decades to reverse.” 

It makes me think of these verses in Matthew 13:
“The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.”

And so I pray…

Lord of the harvest, I am amazed at the work of your hands.  We praise you and stand in awe as you tend the fields and prepare a harvest that will bring glory to your name.  Lord, I ask that as you send harvesters into the fields. that you equip us to be sensitive and make us mindful of our steps.  As laborers for your Name and your glory, help us to love as Jesus loved and to be filled with joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control as your Spirit enables.  Keep us in step with you so that we might not be compacting harvesters…but gentle harvesters. 

Father, I ask also that you send laborers who will invest and be mindful of how your Word is received.  Lord, in Jesus name, we ask that your Word take root.  Prepare hearts and protect hearts.  Your word says that you will replace hearts of stone with hearts of flesh.  We ask Father for redemption and restoration and for soils that will receive the roots of your word and the living water that you give.  Thank you for giving your laborers discernment and gentleness as we enter the harvest fields.  In Jesus name, Amen.

Maker of the Dance

“We Will Embrace Your Move”  by Darrell Evans Behold our God is gracious He’s moving among the nations Preparing a bride for Jesus And proving He reigns His Spirit is tearing down walls Built on the pride of men To those who’ve rejected Him He’s reaching His hand out again We will embrace We will embrace Your move We will embrace We will embrace Your love Oh God be our God and we’ll be Your people of praise We’ll dance and we’ll sing for our God is the Ancient of Days

 God is sending Christ-followers into the harvest fields.  He is creating redemption stories and divine appointments.  We are asking him to CREATE and define the rhythms of the Body of Christ.  We look to Him…trusting Him with all our heart and leaning not on our own understanding…and we ask Him to guide us and lead us in His way.  We embrace His MOVE and we ask Him, the Maker of the dance, to create melodies and rhythms that we can MOVE to.

Acts 17:24-28
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being…”

 

Lord of the harvest, we ask that you send laborers into the harvest fields that you have prepared.  In your sovereignty you have determined the exact times and places in which to plant each of us.  You have arranged the parts in the body as you want them to be (1 Corinthians 12:18).  Equip us to love and to serve; and as we trust you, we know that you plant us by streams of water and cause us to bear fruit.  

We praise you that you have planted your laborers in places where friends and neighbors will begin to seek you, to reach out for you, and to find you.  Lord of the harvest and Maker of the dance, help your laborers as we point to you and follow the rhythms you have established.  In You we live and move and have our being.  We embrace your move and are moving with you!