Pastor Ken…
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Thursday morning prayer here at the chapel at Living Word.
Can I be honest with you this morning?
You know this morning, I thought maybe I’d start by reading this passage. I love what it says in Ephesians. I was thinking about this last night. Can I be honest here this morning? Would that be okay? You guys won’t think of me any differently if I’m honest, and I share “my real” with you.
Last night, I was feeling really tired just with so many different things going on in life and ministry and work and family. I was getting pretty tired honestly, and I noticed my attitude slipping and it wasn’t it’s normal chipper self. Ha ha ha ha… I know that’s a surprise to you. Maybe you haven’t experienced that. Just hold on. You just go another day. We’ll see if you have an encounter with a negative attitude. And sometimes it’s not so much that we’ve backslid or anything like that. It’s just that when you get tired, even physically, mentally, emotionally in some other way, it can cause you to be drained, and your guard to be let down, and your adrenals to be shot in your body.
Sometimes you have those moments where your mind and soul get fuzzy…
And so I found myself just kind of like… If you’ve ever seen the old TVs where they would kind of come in and out, and the picture would be tuned in and they would kind of haze out, and then something else, maybe weird squiggly lines. And sometimes you have those moments where your mind and your soul kind of are clear and then they’re out. And you’re thinking weird, strange thoughts, and maybe you’re a little negative or whatever. And for me in that moment, I think I just chilled and vegged a little bit and watched something for a few minutes and just to decompress and not think, maybe.
And then I just knew, okay, “Lord, I just need you. I need your flow. I need your replenishment. You’re my unending supply today and every day. Tonight and every night.” In every situation, He is our unending limitless supply to recharge us spiritually, to build us up on the inside, to be our firm foundation and stability in times of trouble. He is our help, the Bible declares. The one in whom we can run into and find safety and provision and help.
It’s at those times that I’m just real with God…
I just talked to Him. Not in the Queen’s English… not in some biblical phrase. I just talked to Him and say, “Hey, Lord, I need you to help me with this. I’m dealing with this. I need you to take care of this over here. And I just need you to recharge my batteries.” And I just took some time to just begin… Well, as I was thinking of what it says in the scripture about adopting a mental state and fresh attitude of mind every day. I think sometimes we have the false perception that Christianity is go to the altar, receive Jesus, and everything’s going to be hunky dory here on out. No! Life is a series of back-to-back seasons that we transition through. Life is a perpetual journey. Life, ministry, you’re calling… and all of it is a perpetual season of course correcting. Like that proverbial airplane that I’ve talked about, that when it sets off from LAX, Los Angeles airport and heads to New York City, it needs to course correct hundreds if not thousands of times along the flight path from Los Angeles to New York City. Constantly being course corrected.
We too need to course correct in our lives…
And we too need to course correct in our attitude, course correct in our thinking, course correct in our hearts. And so that’s the beautiful opportunity of prayers that allows us to course correct. To be refueled, to be replenished, to be revived. And so I was thinking of the verse in Ephesians that talks about adopting a new attitude of mine because that’s frankly what I needed. And so I just began to lean into Him and just pray and worship and declare some things. Because your declarations, your announcements over your soul, over your life, over the atmosphere of your home and your situation make a difference. And in this coming Hebrew year, starting September 25 of 5783, is a year where your strong stand of faith and your faith pronouncements are going to bring and carry a great weight. They will energize the angels around you to assist you and help you. Your words are going to bind and loose like never before in the coming year, I believe. And they do that for you personally, for us personally.
King David made course corrections too…
King David understood this principle and spoke to his own soul. He said, “Why are you downcast?” He recognized that he needed a course correction in his journey and in his attitude and outlook. And so he began to speak to the situation and over the atmosphere of his inner life and became his own best cheerleader. So it’s okay if you have days that the image in your soul and in your mind seems to be a bit hazy and kind of goes wonky. We can adopt a new attitude of mind. We can draw on Him. The Bible says who among you will stir him or herself up to take hold of more of God, to take hold of more of God. So I’ll say that over myself. I was saying that on the way in this morning. “I stir up the gift of God within me in Jesus’ name. I declare I’m stirred up and rising higher today. I’m infused with holy power. I am anointed with heaven’s fire in my heart and on my life.”
Ephesians says to put off your old unrenewed self…
But in Ephesians from the Amplified Bible at verse 22, it says “strip yourselves from your former nature. Put off.” So there needs to be an ongoing act of putting off and discarding, it says. “Your old unrenewed self.” Just put it off, right? Put it off. It’s just an intentional decision like me last night. I’m going to intentionally just talk to God here. Begin to draw on Him. I asked Him, “Lord, I need some heavenly briefings and downloads right now. Because I’m out. I’m not even running on fumes anymore. I’m empty. I need you. I call upon you. I draw upon you.”
That’s what I did. But it says, “put off and discard your old unrenewed self, which characterized your previous manner of life and becomes corrupt through lust and desires that spring from delusion.” It goes on to say, “and be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind, having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude.” I like that. “And put on the new nature, the regenerated self, which is created in God’s image, godlike in true righteousness and holiness.”
Can you listen to a little bit more scripture? It’s going to be the same one only from the Passion translation. I’m going to read just a bit more, cause I love how it flows and speaks to some of these things. The Passion translation says, “and he has taught you to let go of the lifestyle of the ancient man, the old self, which was corrupted by a sinful and deceitful desires that spring from delusions,” or you could say spring from a stinking attitude. The wrong wearied, defeated attitude. Verse 23 says, “now it’s time to be made new by every revelation that God has given you.” I like that. Every revelation that God has given you. In other words, choose to be informed not so much by your five physical senses or what happened yesterday or what someone said, but instead what God is actively imparting and transmitting and revealing to you each and every day. That’s how we go to the Word, right? That’s the bottom line of Christianity. You may feel a certain way. You may be thinking some certain thoughts. Your adrenals may be shot because of what’s going on in your life, but we can choose to go to God’s promises and say, “Lord that’s for me.” I let that inform and wash over me. The Bible says we’re to be cleansed by the washing of the water of the Word. We receive a briefing and a download of a new attitude and new perspective and new inspiration and energy and what we need each and every day through the washing of the water of the Word. So just let His Word wash over you this morning. Let it refuel and replenish you.
Live in union with Him…
So it says, “Now it’s time to be made new by every revelation that’s been given to you and to be transformed as you embrace the glorious Christ within as your new life and live in union with Him.” Live in union with Him. Gosh, that is one of the most precious things to me as I journey year by year. I’m growing more conscious that He’s with me. He’s right there. Just talk to Him, acknowledge Him, give Him thanks and gratitude for what is right and what is good connect with Him. He’s there. He’s the perpetual one who’s standing by… the one who actually is anticipating and looking forward to ministering to us and briefing us and informing us and baptizing us.
Verse 24 says, “and to be transformed as you embrace this glorious Christ within as your new life and live in union with Him for God has recreated you all over again.” All over again. “In His perfect righteousness and you now belong to Him in the realm of true holiness. So discard every form of dishonesty and lying so that you will be known as one who always speaks truth. For we belong to one another. But don’t let the passion of your emotions lead you to sin. Don’t let anger control you or be fuel for revenge. Not for even a day. Don’t give the slanderous accuser, the devil, an opportunity to manipulate you. If any one of you has stolen from someone else, never do it again. Instead be industrious, earning an honest living, and then you’ll have enough to bless those in need. And never let ugly or hateful words come from your mouth, but instead, let your words become beautiful gifts.” Beautiful pronouncements, you could say. “That encourage others.” In other words, let your words be productive, life giving, peace instilling. Not just over your life, in your home, but in every situation you find yourself communicating to someone. “Do this by speaking words of grace to help them. The Holy Spirit of God has sealed you in Jesus Christ until you experience your full salvation. So never grieve the Spirit of God or take for granted His influence in your life.”
Prayer…
Father, we pray for a supernatural proliferation of the Spirit of God across our land in Jesus’ name… breaking up of every stronghold, a breaking down of every wall of hindrance, a breaking up of every demonically inspired stronghold
Oh, my… secrets, all the secrets. Lord, let all the secrets come out now… nothing hidden anymore… it’s time for it all to come out now to all, to be brought onto the table.
We pray and speak light over America today. We speak light over your household, your church, your faith community, your church in Jesus’ name.
Lord, you desire light and truth… so we speak light today… to hopeless situations, light to the inner city and to the suburbs…
We speak light in the public schools, in the private schools, in the charter schools, we speak light today… holy heaven sent light now to birth revival, to cause awakening to come, to cause eyes to open and ears to be unstop and hardened hearts to be plowed straight through by the Spirit of God …
Peg shared…
As you were talking, Pastor Ken, I saw waves of refreshing. I’m a beach girl. So all my analogies go back to the ocean. But I just saw waves of refreshing coming over us. So I just declare that over us right now that we’re just being refreshed by the presence of almighty God. We just thank you, God, for refreshing us from the top of our heads to the souls of our feet. Every part of our bodies healed and whole and strong and released from anxiety and trauma and captivity and bondage, freedom in our bodies, freedom in our minds, freedom in our hearts, freedoms to go forward, freedom to do what God has called us to do. We just thank you for freedom. We’re living in the land of freedom. And we just declare that over our country… freedom in the White House, freedom to every house.
Barb shared and prayed…
You have our hearts. You have our lives. Oh Jesus, we give all to you today. We lay down everything. We lay it at your feet today. A living sacrifice. Thank you, Lord.
I was reminded when I was sitting there and Peg and Ken both said “this word” and I didn’t even remember till the Holy Ghost reminded me this morning. Early, early, early, I woke up with this very old kind of historical song. But the Holy Ghost was singing this in me. I probably haven’t sung it since I was in elementary school.
♪ This land is your land. This land is my land. From California to the New York islands, from the Redwood forest to the Gulf stream waters, this land was made for you and me. ♪
Now we know that that person was talking about the land was made for you and that person, but the Holy Ghost was saying this land was made for you and Me! Me God, I made this land for you to prosper, to be in health, to have dominion. And I made this land for Me to be glorified in. This land, America, the United States of America, He made this land so that you would be blessed and so that He would be able to see you prosper and be blessed in this land.
And it was so funny because I was like, “Oh yeah, you told me. It was super early and I didn’t even remember until you said “this land.” But because you said about the words and the year that’s coming and we need to declare that that is the truth. This land was made for God. This land was made for us. And no one, not the media, big Corp, the government, no one is going to stand in the way of us seeing this nation and this land the way God intended it to be. Wherever we put our foot, wherever we tread upon, wherever we are, we’re in Minnesota, wherever you are, that land belongs to you. And it is time for each one of us to stand up and take our place and declare that truth. “This land belongs to me. Minnesota belongs to me.” My roots go back to California. California belongs to me. My heritage is from there. And I will not allow the enemy to destroy or to pervert my land. This land will bring glory. Minnesota will bring glory to God. The states of this nation, wherever you are today, wherever you live, declare that. Your state will bring glory to God. It’s time for this nation to turn around. It’s time for this nation to be who God called her to be. It’s time for Minneapolis/St. Paul to turn and be who she’s called to be in Jesus’ name. All that darkness driven away with the light of Jesus Christ… that anointing today that destroys every yolk over the city, all that bondage and deception over our cities, over our states, over our nations. Those lies that the enemy has pumped through the media to the people destroyed, broken, exposed today in Jesus’ name! So that we can prosper… so that this earth can be filled with the Gospel. This nation standing up as a lighthouse, an example of the way it can be in the earth.
