Morning Chapel Prayer Playlist
Morning Chapel Prayer Today
Pastor Ken…
Good morning. Good to see y’all. So good to have you in the chapel here today, online with us today. Well if you didn’t already know, my name is Ken Olson and I’m one of the pastors here at Living Word.
God is saying, “Come to me…”
I hope you’re ready, because God has some good things in store for us and to do through us. When I was coming down this morning, I just sensed in my heart… I’m not saying it was a prophetic word or anything like that. I didn’t hear the voice of God. The clouds didn’t part. Angels with harps didn’t burst forth. But I just sensed in my heart that the heart of God is wide open right now, that He’s saying “Come to Me.”
Let’s hold fast to our confession…
In fact, I was reminded of Hebrews 4:16. Let me start with verse 14 in the New King James. “Seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed into the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, let us hold fast our confession.” That was just what we were doing right now. We’re holding fast to our confession. Hold onto it.
Sometimes you don’t feel like holding fast…
I know sometimes you don’t feel like speaking faith over your future or lifting up a hand to praise Him or even prayer. I get that. We are also going through a human natural experience as well being on this earth in this hour part of this generation. But firstly, we are spirits created, really recreated, in the image of Jesus, right? Righteous, holy, justified, endowed with favor, crowned with His goodness, marked by His name. And so you’ve got to on a daily basis leverage your will and choose to go with what your spirit is saying.
You’ve got to leverage the willingness of your spirit…
Jesus reminded His disciples in the garden of Gethsemane, “…for the Spirit is willing with the flesh is weak.” So when it comes to prayer, when it comes to speaking faith, you’ve got to leverage the willingness of your spirit. Even while you’re looking at yourself in the morning and things don’t look too good in the mirror and you’re brushing your teeth and you don’t feel like saying anything and you don’t want anybody to talk to you, you can still choose to say, “Today is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.” We can choose to leverage His Word and words and let them be emitted from our vocal chords, from our voice, and they will set spiritual laws in motion that go to work in your future, that go to work into your week. You set the course of your life continuously by what you say, aka “pray.”
We speak life, we speak hope…
So let it be said of us that we speak life. We speak hope. We declare things as they ought to be, not as they presently are. Because after all, the Lord reminds us that we can have what we say. God is the most creative being in all the universe, someone once said. And I’ve got to believe that we were crafted and fashioned by His hand, by His design, that He has deposited in us a degree of creativity. In fact, prayer really is engaging and being a part of the ongoing creative process in the earth, to create the will of God, to birth it into existence.
Life and death are in the power of the tongue…
I don’t know about you. I preach that often because that just inspires me and gets me all the more excited “to pray and to say.” When you speak out the Word of God, you are releasing faith forces. You are releasing the hand of God to go to work to create the reality of what you say—whether it be good or not so good. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, right? And those who choose to speak words of life or words of death will eat or consume or experience the results thereof.
Our profession of faith…
So in Hebrews 4:14, it says, “Seeing that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.” Or you could say our “profession of faith.” “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness.” Aren’t you glad that the Lord understands what you’re going through? He understands when you mess up, when we make mistakes, when we feel like just staying put and not getting up today. He understands. He has been tempted and has experienced what it is to be human on the earth, tempted and challenged by this realm and what’s attacking us in this realm. But because He did and did not yield or sin Himself, He’s able to effectively intercede and agree and assist us in this journey of faith in this life.
We come boldly to the throne of grace…
But it says, “But was at all points tempted as we are yet without sin.” Now here’s verse 16. This is the part I want to highlight especially, although it’s all good. It says, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace.” Somebody say “boldly.” Put “#boldly” in the chat this morning. “Let us come therefore boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
The throne of God is a place of receiving, of obtaining…
I love the word “obtain” there. It defines the throne of God as a place of receiving, a place of obtaining. So the heart of God is thrust wide open. It’s wide open to you and me today, no matter what we’ve been through. If you’re not in a good place with God, well then just come before Him and just talk to Him as your heavenly Father and confess that sin and humble yourself. Say, “Lord, I humble myself under your mighty hand, and I see in your Word that you give more grace, more empowerment, more supply, more love, more kindness if I’ll simply humble my heart before you.” He’ll empower you. He’ll fill you.
The heart of God is wise open for us…
He says, “Come boldly to the throne of grace” because the heart of God is wide open now for us to receive what we need to receive at the beginning of this week or even moment by moment throughout the day. In addition, I was reminded the heart is wide open because there is a forever invitation to us to engage with Him in prayer, in seeing the purposes of God become reality in the earth and in this generation.
Don’t let the enemy take you sideways…
Oh, there’s so much God is up to right now. Will you not be aware of it this morning? Just kind of slap yourself a little bit spiritually speaking and like realize, “Oh my gosh, God is up to a whole heck of a lot right now.” He is up to a lot in your heart right now. Will you not realize that? He’s up to a lot in your family right now. Don’t get it mixed up. Don’t let the enemy take you sideways. God is at work in the earth. Don’t be drawn to the fireworks happening even in our own government. God is at work in that. He is at work behind the scenes. He is at work in our leaders’ hearts, we believe.
Prayer is taking place in the White House…
And you guys maybe have seen some of the videos that prayer is taking place in the White House. Sounds like daily. I don’t mean just like, “Lord, I lay me down to sleep” prayer, but passionate prayer by bona fide believers. Amen.
God is at work and turning things around…
And so God is at work. He is at work in your daughter’s life. He is at work in that financial insufficiency. And that near situation where you think you’re going to go under… that bankruptcy. He is at work! He’s turning things around. And even if you’re in the midst of a situation that’s already like turned over, it’s just completely a problem. And you feel like you’ve gone under, you’ve failed, you’ve messed up.
Well, guess what?
The last time I checked my Bible reveals that we serve a God who actually loves a good challenge. He actually thrives in situations that look hopeless. When our natural eyes don’t see a way out, when we think this is the end of us, or the end of the church, or end the end of our nation, well, guess what? If we will simply agree… that’s what prayer is. It’s simply engaging with God in His revealed Word and His revealed “propheticness” to our generation and the hour in which we live. Agree with Him and say the same thing that He is saying. If we’ll do so, it allows Him to insert Himself into the affairs of our nation, into the affairs of our individual lives, and transform what looked hopeless into a trophy of glory. His glory!
Time is still ticking—God’s still at work…
So just know today that God has sent the answer, if you’ve prayed. Just understand in your heart that it’s not done yet. That situation. Your desire to see your whole household saved, to experience complete restoration and healing in your body perhaps. Time is still ticking. It may be short, but there’s still time. That means God’s still at work. You’re still alive. So that means there’s still purpose, and there’s still prayers that He is granting, sending to you to pray today. And some things He wants you to specifically say today and some steps He wants you perhaps to take this week, and some challenges you’re going to face.
He wants you to rise above the challenges…
But His intention is that you would overcome them. That you would rise above them, that while they are challenging and difficult and there seems like there’s no way out to your natural eye, God plans to use that adversity, plans to use that out-of-the-blue thing that happens that you weren’t expecting. But because you remain calm and you continue to pray in the Holy Ghost, and you choose to leverage your will to speak the Word of God to that situation, to speak the Word of God to that out-of-joint ligament in your household. Let’s say that person who’s been disenfranchised and maybe somebody that actually you haven’t talked to in a long time, maybe a child or a family member that you haven’t been in relationship for years, maybe in some cases. Just pray the promise of God over that one. Speak to that person. Call them back in Jesus’ name. It’s still day. So God’s at work.
We are God’s mouthpiece to the atmosphere around us…
The Bible tells us it will come night when no man can work. But while it’s day, we must work. And firstly, our work is to pray. Our work is to see what God has to say and agree with it and say the same thing. You’re a mouthpiece to a generation. We are mouthpieces to the atmosphere around us that seeks to keep people in bondage or hold maybe even our family members or neighbors or friends as trophies for the evil one.
Missionary to China, Hudson Taylor…
But I’ve been thinking so much about a quote by the great Hudson Taylor, the British missionary to China back a hundred years ago gave his life to preaching the Gospel across the continent of China. I love what he said. It’s so succinct, but it’s so powerful. I have seen it in my own life and I’m inspired all the more to pray in the same vein, in the same spirit. He once said, “It’s possible to move men.” Or you could say “people in general.” “It’s possible to move people through God by prayer alone.”
Kenneth E. Hagin quote…
I realize people have a will. But Kenneth Hagin used to teach years ago that you can’t usurp someone’s will, just like God can’t usurp or override someone’s will. You can pray that the eyes of their understanding would be opened and flooded with light that they would see. Because if any person in their right mind could see Jesus for who Jesus is, the embodiment of love and goodness and beauty and grace, why of course you would receive Him. Why, of course, you would surrender your life and all that you are to Him. And not resist!
Prayer pushes back darkness…
But the enemy’s strategy has always been to blind people’s minds, to obscure them from the truth. But prayer clears out the atmosphere. Pastor Lynne has taught us through the years that prayer pushes back darkness so people can come to themselves, spiritually speaking, and realize, “What have I been doing? Oh my gosh.” And they begin to weep and repent and come to the altar of God to give themselves to Him.
We’re called to give our lives to Him, to prayer…
So it’s possible to move men through God by prayer alone. I don’t mean just when it’s convenient as you’re stuffing your face with breakfast, running out the door kind of quick prayers. That’s all you got? Then that’s great. But we’re called to give our lives to Him, to give ourselves to prayer. And maybe you don’t have blocks of time… because I know it’s a busy hour we live in of time. Maybe you don’t have hours to give yourself to intercession. But there are lots of unscheduled moments in our lives that are beautiful opportunities. A few minutes here, a few minutes there. That God would love to redeem through you and that just even a two-minute prayer or five minutes of praying in tongues while you’re driving down the road from one place to the next can make a big life-changing difference. Sometimes it’s the shortest prayers that are the most powerful prayers.
His invitation still stands: “Come to Me all who labor…”
So I just encourage you in that this morning. God’s up to big things right now. His heart is wide open. His invitation still stands: “Come to Me all who labor and are heavy laden and I’ll give you rest. Learn of Me.” In that passage in the gospel where He says, “learn of me,” it literally means “yoke yourself, join your life with Me and learn how I do it.” Learn My rhythms each and every day.
Quote from J. Oswald Sander’s book, “Spiritual Leadership”
J. Oswald Sanders in his book, “Spiritual Leadership,” writes about prayer. He says this, “We are encouraged to know that Paul was probably the greatest human champion of prayer. He confessed, ‘We do not know what we ought to pray for.’ Then he had to add, ‘the Spirit himself intercedes for us with the groans that words cannot express.’ And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.”
One Bible commentary reads that when you yield to the spirit of prayer… the Holy Spirit is the spirit of prayer. He’s our divine mentor and coach when it comes to prayer. Yes, there are prayers that we can pray out of our own volition, out of our own intellect and understanding. We ought pray those, as well. But then there’s a place where as you get more familiar and acquainted with God the Holy Spirit… and I like to say that He is God the Holy Spirit is co-equal with God the Son and God the Father. He’s not some crazy uncle of the Trinity, who can never be known. In fact, He’s the one Jesus chose to send to us. Remember? He said that “I’m going to send the promised Holy Spirit and He will be to your benefit, to your advantage, for your profit.” So we ought to get to know Him. He is the one who joins with us in partnership in prayer.
And one Bible commentary says that when we yield in prayer in the spirit, whether that’s in tongues or you’re praying in the Spirit in your understanding, the Holy Spirit, it’s like He pours His prayers into us. The deep in God calls out for the deep in us and He pours into us the prayers of the Father that they might be uttered on planet earth. Because, once again, I say this often, God has set things up that this is a partnership between heaven and earth.
