I invite you to sit here a while and enjoy the presence of God. Enjoy the music and the words of His beauty and power. Read the psalms of praise with me.
Today is the day that God hath made. Let your heart give praise to the creator of your life. The very breath that you are breathing comes from Him.
Don’t think of your circumstances and trials today. Let’s give God, our Heavenly Father, all praise for who He is. The beauty, the majesty, the power, the love of His being! The blessing that is ours, knowing that He loves us.
“Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Psalm 103:1-5
“Oh, give thanks to the LORD! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples! Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; Talk of all His wondrous works! Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the LORD! Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face evermore! Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth.” Psalm 105:1-5
”Praise the LORD!
Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament!
Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!
Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp! Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes! Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals!
When I am feeling well it is easy to pray. It is easy to respond to an urgency to pray for others. It is easy to have faith, because life is good and hopeful at the moment.
I have been made acutely aware, in the past couple of months, that when I am in pain, my focus is on my pain and on me. My intellect knows that Jesus is still my healer and that He wants me to be well, but all I can see is the problem. It is so hard to see beyond the pain.
Yes, I still believe, but my focus becomes more and more self-absorbed. When I am thinking more of myself than I am of Jesus, I have moved away from His presence. I begin to doubt and have fear that my problem is greater than His power.
I woke up the other morning with this thought, “Don’t weigh your problem with His promise.”
If we begin to analyze and judge His promises then we will diminish our faith in His power. His power, His ability and His desire to heal and to save is unchanging! Our disconnect to Him, comes when we move away from Him and His presence.
Praying for our unsaved kids can also become a ‘worried task’ and we may be guilty of weighing their sin against God’s salvation, believing that there is no hope for them. Don’t let us become so lost in the worry that we are only focused on the situation and the problem.
We will find the presence of God in prayer. Prayer is simple, like quietly opening a door and slipping into the very presence of God.
If circumstances in your life, pain or worry, have caused you to feel a distance or disconnect with the Lord, bring your focus back to Him and seek Him. Seek His presence.
Jeremiah 29:12-13 – “ Then you will call upon me and go and pray to me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for me with all your heart.”
Psalm 27:8 “When You said, “Seek My face”, My heart said to you, “Your face, Lord I will seek.”
Psalm 63:1 “O God, you are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.”
Psalm 105:4 “ Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His face evermore!”
(Pause my Playlist at bottom of page before watching video.)
Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
Matthew 7:7 “ Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
Hebrews 11:6 “ But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him,”
(Pause my Playlist at bottom of page to watch video. Then go back to enjoy the music.)
I realize this is a long post and not the usual message I share, but it is just as important. As God-fearing people, we must become more passionate about the ruthless killing of our babies!
If you are in the Houston area, please make the effort to take part in these events. If you are not able to be there, please, please pray!
I was made aware of this by my niece, who shared this letter from Lou Engle, President, TheCall, Inc.
"Largest-ever Abortion Facility in U.S. sparks ‘Moral Outcry’. Facility targeting Black, Hispanic Communities in Houston will "Lead to countless innocent deaths and make Late-Term Abortion more accessible".
At this present moment, the second largest abortion facility in the world, next to China, is being built in Houston, Texas. This six-story, 78,000 sq. ft., Planned Parenthood abortion “Super Center” is right in the middle of four minority neighborhoods. Three of these neighborhoods average an 85% Hispanic population and the fourth is 80% Black American. The third floor is dedicated to performing late-term abortions.
Obviously, Planned Parenthood is targeting these minority communities and families to fuel their abortion industry.
Thirty-seven years ago abortion was legalized in Texas; now let it begin to be reversed there. We are calling for the pro-LIFE people of Houston, Texas, and America to gather Sunday night, January 17th, 2010 for TheCall. We are describing these types of gatherings as TheCall/Crisis for historic moments when we only have a brief window of time to mobilize. It is a sudden summons of the consecrated ones who will leave everything in a moment to gather, fast, pray and proclaim.
This Call will be Sunday, January 17, 2010 6:00pm-11:00pm @ Grace Community Church in Houston, TX. Location: South Campus 14505 Gulf Freeway Houston, TX 77034
On this evening, we will be unifying with one voice before God to pray for the Luke 1:17 answer to the killing of our babies and the wounding of our women – “And he will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children …”
Silent March will be Monday, January 18, 2010
On Martin Luther King Jr.’s holiday, January 18th, 2010, at 9:30am, remembering that great voice of justice in America, thousands of believers along with key Black-American and Hispanic leaders will gather to march silently, pray, fast, and peacefully witness against this massive abortion facility and then we will hold a National Press Conference.
This is a great hour for pro-LIFE people “when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics” may come to raise up a witness for the preservation and healing of a city and a nation.
We are calling the consecrated ones from all over America who have set their face to see the ending of abortion in their generation to suddenly come to Houston and stand as a prophetic witness against this abortion temple. May God find a generation who refuses to be silent when the ancient death temples begin to brazenly arise in the earth again.
Demonstration of Compassion
Who knows? Houston could become a Birmingham of our day to let the unborn go free and spare the pregnant mother the agony of post-abortion physical and spiritual trauma. Here a great demonstration of compassion could be launched through pregnant mother care and a mass movement of adoption.
Out of Houston the voice of our minority peoples could begin to proclaim to the nation their stand for life. We believe, as Martin Luther King Jr. would have proclaimed it – It is time to “subpoena the conscience” of the nation with a dramatic display of unity against this facility and for the healing of our nation.
I Have A Dream
Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” Clearly, for every child God has a dream.
Martin Luther King, Jr. cried, “I have a dream!” His niece Alveda King has prophetically stated, “How can the dream live as long as we kill our children?”
God also has a dream for America, and a massive six-story abortion facility has never been a part of that dream. Let the nightmare end, and let the dream live.
Join Lou Engle, Tony Perkins, Sammy Rodriguez, Eduardo Verastegui, Mathew Staver, Star Parker, Dr. Richard Land, Ken Blackwell, Pastor Stephen Broden, and Bishop Harry Jackson in Houston to take a stand and to pray!
Consumed by the call, Lou Engle President, TheCall, Inc."
My prayer for the New Year is for the Holy Spirit to renew my passion for lost souls, a passion that causes me to spend more time in prayer for their salvation. Time and distractions have a way of getting in the way, and interfering with what I feel I should be doing. I know that it is only by the strength of the Holy Spirit that I will be able to keep my focus for this ministry.
In Acts 12 we read the story of Peter being miraculously delivered from prison, because the church offered constant prayer to God for him. That night, Peter was sleeping and was bound with two chains between two soldiers and with guards standing before the door.
God sent His angel to deliver him, and as Peter obeyed the angel’s instructions, his chains fell off his hands and he was led safely past the second guard post and when they came to the iron gate leading to the city, it opened of its own accord.
God delivered him from death, because the church was in constant prayer for him!
The devil has the unsaved bound with chains just as Herod had Peter, with every intention of causing their death and destruction. The situation looks hopeless to us, but when we continue to pray, God will deliver and work a miracle in their lives.
Constant, unceasing, unrelenting prayer is the key to freedom and deliverance!
God acts powerfully in response to prayer.
Let our prayers be like Paul’s in Col. 1:9-10 “We…do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”
This video reminds us of the importance of prayer, not only for salvation but for healing and safety as well. (Pause my Playlist at bottom of page.)
God is our Heavenly Father and He delights in His children asking and believing Him for all of our needs.
