Morning Prayer Summary for Friday, August 28, 2020

Pastor Tim…

Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Friday morning prayer. I’m so glad that those of you that are here in the chapel are with us. I appreciate your faithfulness to come and be a part of our prayer times in the morning. And those of you that have tuned in this morning, thank you.

We’re going to start this morning with some praise and worship. I’ve been thinking about how we’re to come into God’s presence. There’s a certain protocol I think is so appropriate and so honoring. He is our creator. He’s our king. He is the king of kings and the lord of lords. And there is a right and proper way to come into His presence that shows the proper respect and honor. The Bible says to enter His gates with thanksgiving in our hearts and enter His courts with praise. So we come with a thankful heart. We come with an attitude of gratitude for who He is and what He has done for us.

I’m so thankful for who our God is and who He has been to me and to our family. He’s been good. He is good. And He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. There are some scriptures that I want to share with you that will set the stage for us. When you think about praise… Praise is our responsibility, really. It’s a choice that we make. It’s not based on a feeling. It’s not based on our circumstances. It’s based on the goodness of our God. And it’s based on the fact that we owe Him everything. He’s done everything for us. He’s been so good to us. And because of that, we ought to praise Him.

So I just want to read some scriptures. There are so many awesome scriptures throughout. I’m going to start with Psalm 46. “Praise the Lord. Let all that I am praise the Lord. I will praise the Lord.” It’s an act of our will. It’s a choice we make. “I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath.” I think about that song. ♪ As long as I have breath, I will praise You, Lord… as long as I can sing, I will sing your praise… wherever You lead me, I will follow You… as long as I have my breath, I will praise You, Lord. ♪ Isn’t that good? So many songs have been written right out of the book of Psalms. That’s just one of many.

Psalm 147 says “Praise the Lord. How good to sing praises to our God. How delightful and how fitting.”

Psalm 148 says, “Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens. Praise Him from the skies. Praise Him all His angels. Praise Him all the armies of heaven. Praise Him sun and moon. Praise Him all you twinkling starts. Praise Him skies above. Praise Him vapors high above the clouds. Let every created thing give praise to the Lord.”

Psalm 149 says, “Sing to the Lord a new song. Sing His praises in the assembly of the faithful.” I believe I’m in the assembly of the faithful this morning.

And Psalm 150. This is kind of like a summary of all these verses put together. It says, “Praise the Lord. Praise God in the sanctuary. Praise Him in His mighty heaven. Praise Him for His mighty works. Praise His unequaled greatness. Praise Him with a blast of the ram’s horn. Praise Him with the liar and the harp. Praise Him with the tambourine and dancing. Praise Him with strings and flutes. Praise Him with a clash of cymbals. Praise Him with loud and clanging cymbals. Let everything that breaths sings praise to the Lord.”

Hallelujah! That’s what the Word says. And that’s what we’re to do. We’re to praise Him with everything that we have, with all that is within me. David said I will bless, or praise, or thank the Lord with all that I am. With everything that’s on the inside of me. I will praise. I will bless Him and thank Him with all that is in me. I will bless His holy name. So this morning, I want you to join me as we praise Him. This is not a spectator sport. This is a full contact, full participation thing. That means I can’t praise for you. I can’t sing your song. You are to sing your song. You are to praise Him out of your heart because of who He is and because of what He’s done for you. So as we lift our voices this morning, let’s come to Him with a heart of gratitude and attitude of thanks for who He is and all that He’s done for us.

I think of this song we used to sing. It goes like this, ♪ Because of who You are, I give You glory… Because of who You are, I give You praise… Because of who You are, I will lift my voice and say, Lord, I worship You because of who You are… Lord, I worship You because of who You are…

Thank You for loving with unconditional love. We have so much to be thankful for… And I can say that even as we’re going through some pretty hard times right now. I know that most all of us are going through some pretty intense and challenging situations on a personal level. There are things going on around us that difficult and challenging. But even in the midst of these times, we can still praise the Lord our God. We can give thanks and praise to Him and we could say, Father, You are good, Your mercy and Your lovingkindness is forever. And I trust You, Father. I put my hope and trust in You. I will not trust or lean to my own understanding but in all of my ways, I will acknowledge You and I know, Father, I’m confident that You’ll direct my steps. Thank You, Father.

You are good, in the morning I say You are good… in the evening I say You are so good … You are good to me… ♪

Come on, just see that situation turning around. See that son or that daughter coming back to God. See it with the eyes of your faith. All confusion has to go. Fear has to leave. Sickness, disease and infirmity has to go. Cannot stay. See provision coming to your home. See that job opportunity materializing. Your broken heart being mended through the comfort of the holy ghost. Just see it. That’s what our God is doing on your behalf. He’s working on your behalf. He’s working behind the scenes. It may not look like it, feel like it, but I promise you, He’s working. He never sleeps or slumbers. He’s always working for us. Always fighting for us. Moving things. Shaking things. Turning things.

Thank You, Lord. I trust You. I believe in You and Your Word. I believe Your Word is true. You’re a man of Your Word, Lord… What You said, I believe… you’re good in the morning… in the evening… all the time in every situation… You’re good… so good…  ♪

I know a lot of you have been standing and believing God for your healing. Some of you have been standing a long time and perhaps you’re starting to get weary. And the enemy has suggested to you that it’s never going to change. It’s always going to belike this. Just resign yourself to this. I’m here to tell you, don’t resign yourself to that. Don’t believe the lie of the enemy. It is God’s will that you be healed. It’s His promise to you. It’s who He is, Jehovah Rapha. We were sharing on Wednesday, He is the God that heals you. And He’s already made provision through His Son, Jesus. He sent His Word and healed us. By His stripes we were healed. That means we are healed. Jesus lives on the inside of us and there’s no sickness in Jesus, so there can’t be no sickness in us. We were healed, therefore, we are healed. The enemy is the one that tries to put sickness on us. The Bible tells us to resist the Devil. We are to submit ourselves to God and to resist the Devil and when we resist him, he has to flee. That’s the Word. So we resist sickness. I want you to resist that sickness and resist the lies of the enemy that would say you have to accept this. No you do not! And it doesn’t matter how long and I don’t minimize the pain and suffering that you have experienced. I’m here to tell you, you don’t have to put up with this. God wants you healed and whole. He sent His Son to give us life and to give it more abundantly. He wants us healed so we can fulfill His plan and purpose here on the earth. To be His ambassadors, to expand and advance the kingdom of God. To be His hands and feet. To be His expression of love to others. To set the captives free. That’s why we need to be healed and whole and well. So we can accomplish all that God originally intended for us to be and to do.

Pastor Tim continued to lead in worship…

Barb shared…

This came up in my spirit. About a week ago, I woke up and I felt horrible. Not like you feel a little sick. I felt horrible, like I don’t want to get out of bed. So I was laying there. My eyes closed. And I hear, “You should praise the Lord.” I went, “uhhh.” I feel so bad I can’t do that. It’s too hard right now. So I closed my eyes. And again I heard, “You should praise the Lord.”  You just want to say, “Stop it, Holy Ghost! Leave me alone.” But you know He’s the helper and knows what you need. So I was just laying there. You might as well be honest with the Lord because He knows what you’re thinking. I said, “It’s too hard. I can’t do it right now. I feel so terrible.” And then I felt His presence and He was there to help me to praise. All I had to do was just yield to Him to open up my heart and say, You’re right. Nothing is too hard. I didn’t have to do it in myself. I had to let Him help me. So I just started with one word. I said, “Jesus.” Then I said, “Jesus, You’re good.” And then from there, just the anointing came and I began to praise and praise and I just declared who He was and how good He is and how faithful. I was out of the bed in five minutes. It didn’t take but five minutes. But we can’t resist. You might be in a hard place like Pastor Tim was saying. But the Holy Ghost is saying, “You just need to praise.” If you would just praise and get your mind on Me, who I am, let that praise come out. I’m going to help you. I’m going to give you the words to praise Me. You don’t even have to think of them on your own. By the Holy Ghost, that praise will come up out of you.

I was thinking of this yesterday when Pastor Folu was reading a prophecy from brother Copeland. And just one little piece struck me. He said that the Holy Ghost was going to cause us to rise up so that we could do what He’s called us to do. And for me he makes it simple because then I can hold onto it. He showed me a picture of a trampoline. When my kids were little, we had a trampoline. They’re pretty small and they would say, “Mom, come on the trampoline. I want you to bounce me.” I’m the bigger person so when I would get on there, I would make a big jump and they would bounce way up. “Do it again!” So I would bounce and they would jump way up. I saw in the Holy Ghost, here we are, we’re on this trampoline and the Holy Ghost, just like in the beginning, He was hovering and He was waiting for the Word of God. “Let me go. I’m ready to do Your Word.” So we are, on that trampoline and the Holy Ghost is saying, “Come on. Just let me help you. I’m going to come down so hard on that trampoline that you’re going to rise up.” You’re not going to stay in that situation. You’re going to rise up and out of that confinement and that containment. And all you have to do is listen and respond to Me. And I’ll do the work. It’s by My Spirit.

All we have to do is yield to the Holy Spirit. So if you’re in a hard place today, listen to His voice. Do what He says to do. Let Him help you to praise Your way out of that situation today. Yield yourself over to His presence.

Pastor Tim led in worship…

praise is the way… it’s a good and perfect way… whatever your situation, just praise your way through… that’s the way you’re going to get through… just open your mouth and sing… lift your hands and praise His name…

I love what you said, Barb, about how sometimes it’s probably the hardest thing that we could think of doing at the time because the circumstances are so difficult. Sometimes it’s like the last thing we want to do. We know it’s the right thing to do, but we don’t want to do it. We don’t feel like doing it. Remember, we said praise is not a feeling. It has nothing to do with our emotions. It has nothing to do with the circumstances that we’re facing. We praise Him because He’s commanded us to. Right? But we praise Him also because we know that’s our way out. That’s where He’s going to meet us. That’s where our help comes from. Because He is where our help comes from.

The Bible says that He’s looking for those that will worship Him in spirit and in truth. So He’s looking all over the earth… looking for somebody… looking for a sound, for a praiser… somebody that will lift their voice. Whether they feel like it or not, going through really hard and difficult things and yet they choose to overcome their feelings, their emotions, their circumstances and lift up their voice. “God, I need You. I love You. I praise You. I thank You for what You’ve done for me. You’ve been good. My circumstances are not good, but You are good. And I praise You right now. Father, I choose to praise You.” As soon as He hears that voice, He’s like—BOOM! He’s right there. And He’ll get underneath your praise and He’ll lift you to a place. Then you kind of start riding on the wind of His help and strength. The Bible says that He actually enthrones Himself on the praises of His people. Isn’t that something! He comes to us. When we lift our voice in praise, He comes to us. And He enthrones Himself on our praises. And when He comes, He comes with all that He is and all that He has. Whatever it is you need. He’s right there to supply. Protection, provision, peace, joy. Whatever it is. Healing. Strength. Restoration. Energy. Wisdom. Insight. Revelation. Think of what you need from Him today, I promise you this is not a futile exercise. It’s not a formula. There’s power in this. And when we obey and do what He said to do in His Word, it always produces results. He’ll never let you down. Not one time. I know right now that you’re being strengthened. Because you’re focusing your heart and mind on Him and choosing to believe His Word and choosing to obey. Just believe healing is coming your way. Renewed strength like that of an eagle, right? That’s His promise. We will mount up with wings like an eagle. Run and not be weary. Walk and not faint. We’ll have the strength and the energy that we need for today. Sometimes we could just take it one day at a time, right? That’s okay. We have strength for today. That’s His promise to us.

Why don’t you reach up your hands and receive that, just by faith. Father, I thank You that You’re renewing my strength like that of an eagle. I receive that strength.

Thank You, Father, I receive that peace that You promised as I keep my mind stayed on you. Peace that passes all understanding. You can have peace in the middle of a storm. He’s got you and everything is going to be okay. That’s a supernatural thing. But that’s our God. That’s what He does for us.

Just take a big breath. Just breathe that in.

Peace, peace, wonderful peace… it’s coming down right now… from heaven above… peace I give to you…

In the book of Joshua, it says, “Don’t let the Word of God depart from your mouth, but think and meditate day and night on the Word of God.” Why? “So that you’ll be careful to observe and to do according to all that is written in the Word. Then you will make your way prosperous. You will deal wisely and have good success.” That covers pretty much all of it, doesn’t it? That’s what He wants for us. That’s old and New Testament. His plan and purpose for us. He’s not given us the spirit of fear but the spirit of power. He’s made available to us all of His power and might. So we could say, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me the strength. Greater is He that is in me than He that is in the world.” There is an anointing on the Word, a power that you can tap into today. So tap into that power.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases… His goodness never comes to an end… ♪

I want to say this. I keep coming back to healing. It’s so on my heart. I want to share with you this. He’s done it for me. These are not just words on a page. This is my experience. I’ve experienced the healing power of God in my own life and my own family. My father was healed of prostate cancer. My mom was healed of incurable liver cancer. Yeah! God healed me of an autoimmune disease that I battle for many years. And there was no medical solution at the time. Went through a lot of testing, experimentation. What man could not do, God intervened and healed me and made me whole. So this is real for me. That’s why I’m confident in His ability and promise to heal. That’s why I can say to you—Keep believing! Keep standing on His Word. Don’t accept what the circumstances look like right now. I have a lot of respect for medical science and doctors. I appreciate them a whole lot. And their heart to help people, to bring healing. There is only so much that man can do. God is our healer. And He can heal us and make us whole. There’s nothing that’s impossible for Him.  

Barb shared…

The Word of God is like a hammer. And every word that Pastor Tim has been singing out, it brings a breaking. I kept hearing that: “There’s a breaking.” It just kept coming up. He’s breaking that bond. He’s breaking that thing off of you today in Jesus’ name. And He’s healing you, to the core! The anointing of God is breaking you free. He’s breaking you loose of that bondage. The anointing of God will not be held back from you. The power of God will not be held back from you. Today, it is flowing to you. The grace of God is coming to you right now. Strength is coming into you right now. The power of the Holy Ghost is strengthening your body right now. Because the redeemer lives. And He is redeeming you right now. He has claimed you as His own. And He will not let you go. This attack of the enemy will not stand in Jesus’ name. We will not reason it out. We trust in You. Yes, Lord, You are the Redeemer.

Comments are closed.

Post Navigation