Morning Prayer Notes for Friday, January 14, 2022

  1. “Morning Chapel Prayer Playlist

Pastor Dustin…

Welcome. Thank you for joining us this morning for prayer. My name is Dustin Sherry. I’m the youth pastor here at this wonderful church. Praise the Lord. Noah is gonna lead us in some worship. But before we do that, I want to read a couple of verses in the Bible.

Hebrews 12:1, Amplified Bible

“Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us.”

I want to read the last part of that again: let us strip off every unnecessary weight that would try to entangle us and cling to us and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course that is set before us.”

Get rid of everything that would hold you back…

I’m not going to teach a lot this morning, but those words keep resonating in my heart. That “strip off all of the unnecessary weighty things” that would try to hold you down, hold you back, trip you up, being intentional about getting rid of all of that extra stuff. Maybe it’s mental baggage, things you’ve been thinking about and carrying in your heart and mind. He says to get rid of all of that so that you can run, not walk, not just sit down and wait for it to come to you so that you can run with “patient endurance” the race that was set before you. Not the race that you’re trying to carve out for yourself so that you can endure and accomplish the things that God has already prepared for you.

God has a plan for your life … that you are to run your race with patient endurance…

It’s important to remember that God has a plan for our lives and He doesn’t just know about us. He doesn’t just know what He hopes we’ll accomplish someday. God has gone out in front of us, and He has actually prepared things the Bible says in advance for us to walk in.

And He said it’s important that you run this race with a sense of patience and understanding that it’s going to take endurance. Meaning it’s not going to all happen in one day. It’s not going to all happen overnight. It’s going to take you roughly your entire life to do everything that God has planned and prepared for your entire life. And that might sound obvious.

It’s kind of funny, but it’s almost like sometimes we have this idea. I’ll speak for myself where it’s like we’re praying and believing for a breakthrough. And it’s like, you know, we’re believing it’s going to happen any day. And that’s true, it could. But understanding the next breakthrough, the thing that you’re believing for, isn’t the end for you. It’s the next step for you. And He has this entire plan that it’ll take your entire life for you to accomplish. And so rather than trying to hurry things along and get to the next point, let’s just have this attitude and this heart and mindset that we’re going to patiently endure. And we’re going to accomplish all of the things that He has already set in place for us to accomplish.

Hebrews 12:2, Amplified Bible

So how do we do this? Well, let’s keep reading through the next verse. It says, “Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Running your race takes a disciplined mind, focused on Jesus…

There were a lot of things Jesus had to endure to accomplish what He needed to in life. And I’m thankful that Jesus endured a lot of things that we don’t have to. But He says if you’re gonna obtain the prize that’s before you, if you’re going to accomplish the plan that God has for your life like Jesus did, then you’re going to have to have that same sort of focus that Jesus had. It’s gonna take the grace and the strength of God. It’s not something that we can do by ourselves. We can’t will ourselves into this. We have to rely on Him. But it says, if you’re going to have patient endurance, if you’re going to finish your course, if you’re going to run your race, then you have to be disciplined in your mind. And you have to be willing to take your eyes and your attention and your focus off of everything else going on around you and stay locked in on Jesus, who is your source, He’s your supply, He’s your strength. He’s everything that you need. Amen?

Be led of the Spirit in prayer…

So this morning I’ll begin with some prayer. We’ll have Noah lead us into worship and we’ll just be led. We’ll do whatever we believe the Spirit of God is directing us to do. If the Lord gives you something to pray out, then do that. I’ve learned over the years that the Lord will speak to me in a variety of different ways. Sometimes I’ll have an image in my mind while I’m praying and He’s showing me things. Sometimes I’ll have a word in my heart that I’m supposed to speak out. Sometimes He’ll speak to me while I’m praying. And it’s just for me. He’s not necessarily giving me something to say. He’s just showing me something and speaking to my heart about something. And so I’ll just receive it and do my best to stay quiet and just listen to what He’s saying. But just be led by the Spirit of God during this time… that still small voice on the inside of you, that unction. Allow Him to lead you during this time.

Prayed…

Father, we endeavor to do what your Word says and to look away from everything else that would distract and put our eyes, our attention, our focus on you.

A word came forth…

If you’ll have ears to hear, He’s calling you this morning. Yes, there’s things to do in the earth, things to accomplish. Yes, there’s assignments and callings and positions that have been made for you to step into… offices that have been reserved for you and doors that you’ll step through into higher levels of authority and greater levels of influence … Yes, there are things to be done and things to be accomplished.

Things that you’ve prayed about and that have been burning in your heart. There are things to step into and there are places and positions for you to walk into … and great assignments … Some that others will see and some that they won’t. There are prayer assignments that are being given … things being deposited in your heart… things that have been burning on the inside of you that you need to pray out and to declare … words that need to be spoken and released into this earth, into the atmosphere, into your life…

Foundations are created through prayer…

Sometimes we think of callings in terms of what other people can see and recognize, but there are so many faithful men and women who have paved the way in prayer. Eventually it’s revealed in a way that others can see and notice. But before that, there’s a deeper… there’s like a foundational work that needs to take place… when they’re building a skyscraper, before they can go up, they have to go down … before they can build things that others can see, they have to go to places that people cannot see. They have to go in the ground and pour a foundation and do a deep work before they can go up…

We can’t wait idly by for things to change…

We can’t just wait idly by for things to just change in the natural. We have to be willing to yield ourselves over and step into prayer and be willing to do things that might not get recognition. Be willing to step into some places in the spirit and step into these assignments and these callings and allow the Spirit of God to work through you in this capacity.

Message to online people…

And so there are some people that have joined us online us and you want things to change in the natural and you’ve prayed and you’ve sought God about it … but there are things that need to be done and accomplished first in the spirit… there are prayer assignments, things the Lord has been speaking to you about… we get kind of caught up with the word “burden” sometimes, but that’s just the only way I know how to describe it. It’s just like a burden. Like it bothers you. It doesn’t bother other people, like it bothers you. Like there’s just something about it that you can’t let it go. You can’t move past it. Spend time praying in the Spirit and allow Him to give you words to speak out and to declare… allow the Spirit of God to lead you in prayer … and as you begin to pray these things out and yield yourself in this way, you’re going to see the changes take place that you’ve been believing for. You’re going to see the doors begin to open. You’re going to see those assignments being made manifest. You’re going to pray those things into existence.

Everything major that God is going to do, He’s going to begin with prayer. It’s going to be birthed in prayer. It’s going to be a sustained with prayer. C’mon! Prayer is not an accessory. It’s vital. Your connection to the Spirit of God working with the Spirit of God …

God wants us to get rid of distractions and have relationship with Him…

He’s calling us to Himself. Like we said at the beginning in Hebrews chapter 12, where it talks about stripping off all of the unnecessary things, all of the weights that would cling to you and entangle you, stripping aside those things and fixing your eyes on Jesus. He’s calling us to a relationship. And as we begin to put our focus on Him and spend time in His presence and ourselves to prayer, we begin to find all of these things changing in our lives. We begin to find these breakthroughs occurring. We begin to see ourselves step into purpose. We to see blinders on people being removed. We begin to see change and transformation in our own lives, in the lives of the ones that we love—in our city and our state and our country and our world…

Neglecting your relationship with Him will not bring change and transformation…

But we can’t neglect our relationship with Jesus and then try to go out and bring change and transformation. No. All we really have is Him. And we need to be filled with the Spirit so that we can be open, ready vessels for Him to flow through. We have to be sensitive to His voice. We have to have spent time in the secret place. We have to have spent time in His presence. Thank you, Jesus.

The more you mature in God, the more dependent you are on Him…

So turn your eyes upon Jesus this morning. Make the decision again to turn your eyes and your attention on Jesus. You never mature to a point where you no longer need Him. The world taught me the more I grew and matured, the more independent I was to become. But what I found with the Lord is it was the opposite. The more I matured in the Lord, the more dependent on Him I became. The more I grew in the things of God, the more I realized I needed Him. And like the Bible says, apart from Him, I can do nothing… nothing of value, nothing of substance, nothing with eternal reward… We have to abide in Him. We have to remain connected to Him. We have to keep Jesus at the center of our lives and the center of our focus. We have to spend time in the presence of God and allow Him to reveal things to us. We have to commune with Him.

We know that that’s where peace is. That’s where we’re strengthened. That’s when you begin to experience a depth of joy that you can’t experience anywhere else. But I say it like that because I think it’s important that we understand that, prayer is not an accessory. It’s not just a “part” of our lives. It should be the focal point and the center of it.

Don’t lose your first love…

You remember Jesus’s words to the Church in Revelation? He said, I see your deeds. You have no tolerance for wickedness and wicked people. You’re active and you’re doing lots and lots of good works. But He said, I have this one thing against you. You forgotten and neglected your first love. And He said “Change your ways, or I’m going to your remove your candlestick.” Another way to read it would be your influence. He says, “You need to turn back and put Me at the center again. It’s not that I’m not a priority. I’ve just moved down the list of your priorities. And I need to be first in your life. It’s not okay for Me to be ninth. I need to be first. I need to take priority.”

Brother Copeland: The Kingdom of God Process…

Jesus was one with the Father. He said, I only do what I see my Father do. And I only say what I hear Him say. I heard brother Copeland say, “I want to reveal the kingdom of God process.” And I thought, what Bible does he read? Where does he find this stuff? Like, how did I miss the kingdom of God process? And he went to that verse where Jesus said, I only do what I see my Father do. And I only say what I hear Him say. And he’s like, “That’s the key… listening to God’s voice. And then responding.” You think of the change and transformation Jesus brought to the earth. Think of the revival that Jesus brought to the earth. Think of the impact He had in the earth. He could not have done that apart from His relationship with His Father. Right?

To be imitators of Jesus, we must have an intimate relationship with Him…

And if we’re going to imitate and be followers of Christ and have the impact that we’re called to have, we can’t do that apart from a relationship with Him. As Christians, we know we’re never cut off from Him. He remains close to us. But I’m talking about what you give your thoughts to, what you give your time and your energy to. We need to have an intimate relationship with Him. Like the apostle Paul said… he said all these credentials that people are waving around as impressive… These trophies that people have, that they’re bragging about, he basically said I’ve accomplished more than all of you. And I count it all is nothing compared to the priceless privilege of knowing Christ Jesus intimately. When you add it all up, he said nothing compares to a relationship with Jesus.

He said, I thank God that I pray in tongues more than all of you. The apostle Paul accomplished a lot in the earth. God worked through him in a mighty way. And we see that he had an active relationship with the Lord. He spent time praying in the Spirit. He spent time with the Lord. And from that relationship and time flowed everything else. We’re designed and called to do more than run around and do stuff and check in with God occasionally. We’re decide to do something and then just ask Him if He’ll bless it. There’s a higher way than that. We can ask God to bless things and He values any time that we have. I’m not saying that we have to quit our jobs and just spend 15 hours a day with Him not doing anything else. Become monks. No. You’ve all been taught well enough to know that’s not what I’m saying and to know the balance of these things. It’s about the heart, right?

Father, we just thank you that we have access to you, that we can come boldly and confidently to the throne of grace and receive mercy. We can find grace as we’re going throughout our day. We can keep our ear inclined to You. We can stay in this place at work, at home, as we’re driving in the car.

Pastor Brandon shares story…

I’ve joked about this before. My wife and I are in the car a lot together and she can be talking for minutes. And even though she’s right next to me, I’ve been known to not hear what she says, even though she’s right there and talking at a normal volume. But if I’m distracted or thinking about other things, it’s hard for me to hear what she’s saying. It has nothing to do with where I’m at physically. It just has everything to do with where I’m at mentally. And like we talked about at the beginning, I think it’s important that we strip aside every weight and encumbrance, unnecessary weight, and we keep our eyes on Jesus. That doesn’t have as much to do with a physical location as it does just being focused and disciplined in your mind.

Prayed…

Father, we endeavor to acknowledge you… as your Word says, acknowledge you in all of our ways. We endeavor to keep you at the forefront of our minds, of our hearts … to check in with you and listen for your voice, to give you time, because we know that there are things that you want to see accomplished in this earth. Things need to be done, change that needs to come. We want to see a move of your Spirit. We want to see your power demonstrated. We want to see revival. But we recognize the truth that apart from you, we aren’t able to bring those things to pass.

So, Father, I pray that we would be sensitive to your voice, lean into you, press into you, take time and acknowledge you. As you stir in our hearts and give us assignments and direct us to pray things out and pray for people and situations… I pray that we would just be obedient and yield to that. We would respond to that and pray these things out. Take our authority over the enemy.

When you focus on Him in prayer, He begins to work out the things in your life in order to fulfill your calling…

There are assignments. There are callings. There are things that have been planned in advance for you to walk in. There are places and positions, you’re called to go. Positions you’re called to step into. New realms of authority, of influence. And those things are going to be unveiled and revealed to you by and through the Spirit of God. And as you’re faithful to yield yourself over in prayer, you’re going to find Him changing people’s hearts, minds, removing mountains that stood in your way, bringing the right people into your life, removing wrong desires from your heart … accomplishing and fulfilling right desires. You’re going to find Him making the path straight for you as you begin to yield yourself over to prayer.

Oh, it’s not about the networking. It’s not about you trying to make it happen for yourself. It’s about spending time in His presence, keeping Him at the center and as you engage in praying in the Spirit, He’s making the path straight. He’s removing obstacles. And you’re going to find yourself stepping into things, into places that are beyond what you could’ve hoped, dreamed, or imagined. You’re going to find things changing in your community, changing in your home, changing all around.

Pastor Brandon shares experience of using his authority…

I’m not minimizing or discounting doing things in the natural. That’s important. We live in this earth, but it’s so important that we’re led by the Spirit as we do things. I remember a few years back, my wife and I moved into a house with our daughter. My wife was pregnant. And we were excited about it. It’s going to be a great place to live. But then we started having all these weird things happening in our house. Predatory animals began running around the yard. And we would have crows and flocks of blackbirds that would just take over our yard. They wouldn’t go! It’s like they came from hell. Ha ha ha… They didn’t go to the neighbors’ houses. Hundreds of birds would land in our yard. I’d go out there and throw rocks at them and they wouldn’t fly away. I would yell. It was upsetting and very strange… just weird. And then we started having people coming on our property and things were being stolen. In the middle of the night, people would bang on our windows at three in the morning. I’d jump out of bed. They’d be banging on another window, so loud. I thought they were going to break the windows and it’s kind of scary. What’s happening here? I turn on the lights and they’d run away. And it wasn’t just like kids. Crimes were being committed all around us. This was in a rural area. And I was so upset about it. We had a baby and my wife is pregnant.

I called Pastor Jim and said, “Did I make a mistake moving here? I feel like I’m like living in a horror movie right now. What is going on?” And he was like, “Do you like your house?” And I said, “yeah.” And he said, “Do you want to move?” I said, “no.” He’s like, “Well then don’t let the Devil run you out of your house. Take your authority. Draw blood lines.” And I was like, “Yeah! You’re right. I’m a Christian. I have authority!” All these things that I teach in church. And so I decided to draw blood lines around the property. And so I asked him, “Should I just say I’m drawing a blood line or should I like actually do it?” And he’s like, “Do it.” I was like, “I have seven acres.” And he was like, “Just do it.” So I said, “Okay, Lord, how do I do this?”

I put olive oil on a stick. It might sound weird, but I just drug that stick around seven acres, listening to worship music and praying. After that, we never had another person come on our property that wasn’t supposed to. We had no more weird bird things going on. We had no more predators coming in and killing our animals. It all stopped. We did something natural, but it was after being led by the Spirit of God.

Our first impulse should be spiritual, not natural…

And we have these things happen in our lives sometimes where we find ourselves in these situations and the first thing is like… using my examples, get security cameras, get motion and sensor lights. Put up signs and barbed wire fences. Batten down the hatches. And not that there’s anything wrong with motion activated lights.

I’m just saying like our first response can just be to go into like this fight mode, this defensive mode, what is our past experience tell us. What’s the natural solution to this natural problem? We can carry that mentality throughout life. The first thing that comes to our mind is this natural solution. And we just try to fix it. And the Spirit of God will speak to you at times and give you a natural solution to a natural problem.

But it’s important that we remember that we have a covenant and relationship with God. He wants to speak to us. He wants to help us, and He’ll give us in these times of prayer… Even after Pastor Jim mentioned these things to me, I still brought it to the Lord. I appreciate the wise advice but I still brought it to the Lord. And the Lord confirmed it in my heart. “What he’s saying is right. Do that.” “Well, how do I do that, Lord?” “Do it this way.”

This year, let’s put an emphasis on our relationship with the Lord…

We can’t minimize the importance of prayer and I know that you know this. That’s why you’re here because you believe in prayer. But let’s put an emphasis on our relationship with God this year. As we enter into this new year, let’s put an emphasis on keeping our eyes on Jesus, keeping Him at the forefront of our thoughts. Let’s put an emphasis on cultivating an intimate relationship with God… on yielding ourselves over to prayer… on being led by the Spirit of God.

The Lord will fight our battles…

I believe that as we do, we begin to find He handles things for us. He fights battles for us. Some we know about. Some we don’t. He’ll turn things around and bring them together for your good. Somebody might be conspiring against you, and you might not even know about it and God deals with it for you, fights the battle for you. You’re praying in tongues. You don’t know what you’re praying. You’re just being faithful to pray in tongues. It’s a mystery to you. And the whole time God is working with your prayer and He’s fighting battles that you don’t even know exist, causing those things to benefit you. So all you see is a blessing show up in your life. You don’t know that it was actually a plan of the enemy to take you out, but God

turned it around and you’re just walking through life, enjoying the blessings of God and the favor of God.

Prayed…

Father, I thank you for every person in the room and online. I thank you for your favor that is upon them, your grace that’s available to them. Thank you for the new mercy that’s available to us every single day of our lives.

Father, I pray that you speak clearly to our hearts.

I pray that this would be a year where we see your goodness on display in our lives. A year of favor, a year of increase, a year of blessing, a year of promotion, a year of joy… regardless of what’s happening around us. We know that you can cause us to be blessed. You can help us to have joy and peace that passes all understanding. We can experience your goodness in any situation in any place.

I pray that we would be so filled with life and blessing and abundance that we would be able to be a blessing to others. We would have something to offer when others are discouraged and feel like they don’t have hope. We would be so filled with hope and joy that’s all that would come out of us is faith, joy, hope. As people are scared and talking fear and doubt and worry, I pray that as a result of the time that we’ve spent with you and your goodness in our lives, that wouldn’t get into our hearts and all that would come out of us would be your goodness, grace, encouragement, faith.

I pray that we would be the salt and the light of the earth, vessels of your goodness. So we just thank you for all of these things. We love you. We worship and honor you in Jesus’ name. Well, thank you, Lord.

Continue to be blessed. We’ll see you all this weekend at church, right?

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