Morning Chapel Prayer Playlist
Morning Chapel Prayer Today
Pastor Ken…
Well, good morning, everyone. Happy Monday. Good to have you with us in the chapel.
My name is Ken Olson. I’m one of the pastors on staff here at Living Word. It’s good to have you with us.
God is purposeful in how He uses our prayers…
As I was reflecting this morning, I was reminded of how purposeful God is and how He uses our hearts. He uses our prayers. He uses our devotion to Him. Even in the simplicity of raising your hands before you go to bed and worshiping Him and expressing gratitude for His goodness. He’s all about that. He’s all around that. He’s in that… in the rejoicing. He’s in your declarations. He’s in your quiet reflections before Him as you ponder and utter His Word. He is in all of that. And so today, honestly, this is a simple thing.
Prayer is productive…
But I was reminded of how purposeful and how productive prayer is. Sometimes, we as pray-ers, we get so busy, engaged in the business of prayer and the business of intercession and making our requests and watching over something or an assignment or a situation or an individual in the spirit that we overlook, or we forget, the fact God designed prayer to be answered. That He had it in mind long ago that He would answer prayer, that He would choose to partner or co-labor with His people in the outcome of world events, in the outcome of His purpose and His plan in the earth—in individual lives and in collective settings as well. Even in nations. That He chose to do what He would do in this time through the vessels of humanity, the vessels of humans.
A license to heavenly interference…
I don’t remember who said this, but it’s been said that “prayer is an earthly license to heavenly interference.” Jesus put it this way. You have the power to bind and you have the power to loose. You have the power to prevent and the power to permit in the heavenly sphere that’s around us.
So that what shows up in the natural, shows up in your life, shows up in your future is what God intends. Because you choose His Word. You choose what’s on His heart. It’s why we feed on His Word. That’s why we renew our minds to His Word. That’s why we wait in His presence. That’s why we worship. Because it’s not about us.
It’s about what the Father wants.
It’s about receiving His heart.
And much of effective prayer has to do with understanding that God wants us to simply come and be at His feet, to wait in His presence, to yield to Him, to surrender to Him that we might be candidates to receive a deposit of what’s on His heart. And when we receive what’s on His heart, then we’re able to intercede for that, lift that up, declare that. That’s the prayer that’s already set up to be answered, to succeed, to prosper.
Personal breakthrough…
Recently somebody, I don’t know… Many of us have been busy with the stuff of life and a good friend of mine who’s known me for a long time, pointed out to me, “Ken, do you notice that has begun to change? And there’s been breakthrough there… and there… and there.” And I don’t say this to puff my own self up, but they said “It’s because of your prayers.” There’s something personal.
And I understand that prayer is not a matter of me working my way into God’s good graces. No. My dependence is upon His grace and upon His finished work and upon the perfect performance Jesus put in on my behalf, a very imperfect person.
That’s what salvation and grace are all about. “Lord, I depend on your perfect performance put in on my behalf in and through your earthly life and ministry.”
Labor to align your outer life to reflect Him…
He lived a perfect life, so I don’t have to. Now I am laboring daily to align my outer life to reflect His. But where I’m not perfect, my dependence is upon His perfection. My dependence is on His forgiveness and His grace… a.k.a. empowerment. So that today I might reflect Him in my thoughts and my decisions and my actions and how I carry myself in every aspect of my life more closely to Him.
The Bible mandate…
The Bible mandate and call for all of us is that we would grow up through this life to reflect the very stature of Jesus, not just internally. Yes, you do already internally, if you’ve received His free gift of salvation. You received salvation, and therefore, you were created anew on the inside, born again into a new creature that never existed before. One that is perfect in spirit. But that perfection on the inside must, over time, begin to become reflected in the outer parts of our lives…
in our souls,
in our thinking,
in our actions,
in our relationships,
in our finances,
in every aspect of our lives.
Through prayer, we are making a difference…
I don’t mean to get into teaching that, but I’m just here to say that because we engage in this most holy and high calling, this kingdom business called prayer, we are making a difference.
Can I just encourage you this morning? Your prayers are shifting the momentum of what’s going on…
in your life,
in your children’s lives,
in your church,
in your city,
in the very nation you claim to be a resident of in the world.
Prayer makes a difference.
Prayer is shifting the trajectory in the direction of God’s intention.
Not because you’re perfect, but because you’re called by His name. Because you’re washed in the blood of Jesus. Because your dependence is upon His free gift of salvation, upon His favor and His grace. The Bible says we’re able to rule and reign in life by one Jesus Christ because of our relationship in Him.
God is showing up!
And so this friend pointed out to me, “Ken, did you notice this has begun to change?” And I don’t know about you, but that just kind of stirred me up, like, oh my goodness! Why of course, I’m so busy with the business of prayer that I sometimes fail to see the goodness of God showing up. I wasn’t paying attention. I was just about my Father’s business. And lo and behold, this began to change and that began to change. And then a few days later, I saw something else change that seemed like it was immovable and impossible. And suddenly it’s begun to change.
And God’s hand is at work and His will is unfolding because prayer, while it doesn’t make you any better, it doesn’t get you into God’s better graces because you already are in His good graces. You are already endowed with His name. The Bible says in Him you live and move and have your being. Truly you are His offspring. You are His son. You are His daughter. So of course, He wants to answer your prayers.
Because when He looks down, He no longer sees the old, ugly self that you or I once were. But He sees the perfection that is Jesus. He sees the blood of Jesus applied to the altar of your life, and it’s speaking “forgiven.” It’s speaking and reflecting back to Him, “They’re righteous. My son, my daughter, they’re holy. They’re well pleasing to Me.”
Because the blood has been applied…
Because you’ve been robed with righteousness. At least that’s what my Bible still states. Was it taken out of yours? Was there an edit done? No! It says that He did what He did that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. So He sees you…
as righteous,
as holy,
as beloved,
as worthy
as actually lovely…
Because you emit the fragrance of Jesus. Because you’re in Him and He’s in you. “You’re in Christ” is a common phrase we hear echoed in the New Testament by the great Apostle Paul. In Christ. In Christ. You’re in Christ. When the Father looks down, He sees you “in Christ.”
Refuse to be disconnected from your courage…
So I just want to encourage you for a moment that your prayers are shifting things. Make no mistake about it. Refuse to be disconnected from your courage. That’s what discouragement is. You become disconnected from your courage. Now remain connected with your courage. Be stirred in your soul to understand that things are changing.
Declarations for this week…
This week at these meetings here, For His Kingdom Conference, we’re going to see some breakthroughs. I declare it. Do you agree with that? I declare that over you.
I declare that over a Living Word Christian Center.
I declare that over the high and holy work God has set our hands to… to plant 50 churches in the coming years. As pastors show up on the ground here in Minnesota from various countries in Central and South America, from Europe, from Africa, will you agree with me that we’re going to see more change?
That pastors are going to be transformed on the inside,
That their visions are going to be enlarged,
That finances will flow into the work of God,
That lives will be changed,
That families will be restored,
That children will come back to God.
If you set your hand to the work of God, whether that’s in the ministry, or in the marketplace, or in your neighborhood, or in a situation where God has assigned you to pray, then just let your heart be stirred to know as you are focused on His business, the Father is all about your business, your personal business, about your family, about your finances, about your health, about watching over His Word to perform it in your life personally. Amen. Hallelujah!
Our choice to be pray-ers, which is extended to every follower of Jesus, is the choice to take up the mantle of what God designed and what He desires and what He wants to see come to pass in Minnesota, in America, among the nations. And that is very sacred and very personal to the Father. When you choose to be a pray-er and to be a conduit through which God’s purposes can flow, through which His power can flow, through which His provision can flow, so that heaven can come into the earth realm.
That’s what prayer is all about.
You and I becoming a portal for heaven to come through us to the earth realm, to situations. And that’s personal to the Father. Because that is His will. Jesus said that His meat, His drink, His sustenance was to do the will of His Father.
I’m here to tell you, you’ve caught the Father’s eye. You’re special to Him. His favor is flowing to you today because you have come to carry out that plan. Firstly, through prayer. And it’s making a difference.
Make no mistake about it. Refuse to be discouraged. Refuse to be disconnected from your vision. Refuse to become infatuated with the enemy’s lies and deceits and secondary thoughts and things that you should focus on. Refuse to become distracted by fears.
Smith Wigglesworth quote…
In the past, I think it was Smith Wigglesworth who long ago said something to the effect, “To the degree that you focus on the past is the degree that you miss out on what God is saying and miss out on His will.”
The Bible says look away from all that would distract unto Jesus, the author, the continuer, which is implied in that passage and the finisher of your faith. Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your mind, set your sights on things above, not on things on this earth.”
So grow stronger today through your time in His Word. Let your heart take courage. Get excited when you see something that you can pray about. If the thought comes, “Maybe I should pray about that situation. Maybe I should make mention of that person before the throne of God.” I don’t know about you, but I’m kind of like an investor in the kingdom. I like to advance financially too. And so I see something that I think is a good bet, a good investment, like “I want to get in on that.” You ever had anybody come to you and say, “Hey, you got to get in on this. This is going to go viral. This is going to be hockey-stick growth. You got to invest in this thing.”
The more I pray, the more, honestly, I think literally… I had it again this morning. We prayed for the youth last week. Well guess what? Our parking lot’s full of families and kids getting ready to get on the bus to go to kids camp this week. And I thought, again, when I drove into the parking, “Oh, we got to pray about kids. I want to get in on that. There’s some good things that transpired in our youth ministry last week.”
Well, guess what?
God has some really big things planned for those kids. Life changing, eternal deposits and things He wants to do in our kids. And I want to pray because my prayers are investments in the kingdom. My prayers… your prayers are investments in hearts, in lives, in the things of God that will pay off in the here and now, but will also pay great dividends in the hereafter.
