Morning Chapel Prayer Playlist
Morning Chapel Prayer Today
Pastor Heather…
Welcome to Morning Prayer. My name’s Heather Sibinski. I’m one of the pastors at Living Word.
I’m going to read John 1:9 in the Amplified Classic…
9 “There it was—the true Light [was then] coming into the world [the genuine, perfect, steadfast Light] that illumines every person.
10 He came into the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him [did not know Him].
11 He came to that which belonged to Him [to His own—His domain, creation, things, world], and they who were His own did not receive Him and did not welcome Him.
12 But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name—
13 Who owe their birth neither to bloods nor to the will of the flesh [that of physical impulse] nor to the will of man [that of a natural father], but to God. [They are born of God!]
14 And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us; and we [actually] saw His glory (His honor, His majesty), such glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of grace (favor, loving-kindness) and truth.”
The word “tabernacle” stands out…
That word “tabernacle” stood out to me. Tabernacle. He tabernacled with us. In the Strong’s [Concordance], it’s the word, skēnoō, which means “to dwell, to tabernacle, to pitch a tent, to encamp, figuratively to occupy as a mansion, or specially to reside as God did in the tabernacle of old, a symbol of protection and communion, to reside as God did, to dwell.”
Another definition…
“Properly: to pitch or live in a tent, denoting much more than mere general notion of dwelling. For the Christian is dwelling in intimate communion with the resurrected Christ, even as He who Himself lived in unbroken communion with the Father during the days of His flesh.
The Thayer’s Greek Lexicon says…
“To fix one’s tabernacle, have one’s tabernacle, abide or live in a tabernacle or tent. God will spread His tabernacle over them so that they may dwell in safety and security under its cover and protection. Universally equivalent to dwell followed by with a place among us, with one, to be one’s tentmate.” He’s our tentmate. The verb appears five times in the New Testament.
It was interesting because it’s like the tabernacle, not only is He dwelling among us, it’s like a sense of dwelling within us.
We are His tent.
We are His tabernacle now.
We are His temple, right?
So just picture that. He’s over you. He’s tabernacling over you like a tent. He’s pitched over you, but He’s also dwelling within you, like you are His tent. You are His tabernacle. And I just think that’s such a beautiful picture.
He’s around us. He’s over us. He’s surrounding us. But He’s also within us.
Prayed…
Thank you, Jesus, that you abide and dwell in us, among us, over us, around us. You’re surrounding us. We are literally sandwiched by your presence.
Thank you, Father. We reverence you, Jesus. And you came to your own and they received you not. Let that never be said of us, Father.
Let that never be said of us that we’re always ready to receive you, that we have the privilege and the honor to be called children of the living God.
And that we don’t forget that honor, that privilege, and reverence when you walk into a room.
Reverence that indwelling, that tabernacle inside of us and around us as we go through our day.
Direction…
Take a minute and recognize that He’s dwelling within you.
Thanksgiving…
Thank you, Father, you’re in us, you’re among us, you’re around us.
We are surrounded and held by your presence inside and out, sealed by the Holy Spirit.
Direction…
Just take a minute for that to sink in. You are surrounded by the living God. You are a temple of the Holy Spirit. You are sealed with the Holy Spirit; the God of the angel armies surrounds you. He fights for you. He goes before you to make a way where there seems to be no way.
Thanksgiving…
And today, we just thank you, Father, for that. We take a minute to reverence your presence, not just within, but upon, and we welcome you now.
Open the eyes of our heart, Lord, to see that you are all around us.
I love the picture of the train of His robe filling the temple. And what is that? That’s His glory, His presence, and it just keeps coming and coming and coming. It fills the temple.
Thanksgiving…
So not only do you fill the space that we’re in, you fill this temple, this living temple, our bodies. Fill us with your glory. You’re so beautiful. You’re so holy. You’re so good. We just stand in awe of you.
Direction…
Receive it. Receive His infilling, His indwelling presence. Overflowing. Yeah, just yield to it. You don’t have to fight or earn it. You just yield. It’s like laying on a hammock by the lake. You just receive.
Thanksgiving…
So we do that now, Father. We just receive all that you have with gratitude, with appreciation, knowing that there’s nothing we could do to earn it or deserve it, but you call us worthy and righteous because of the precious blood of Jesus, and so we receive your love, your strength. Changed from glory to glory in your presence. Just being in your presence, just abiding in you Magnifying you in our hearts
The importance of being filled…
As pray-ers, it’s so important that we’re filled, right? Sometimes I hear the phrase in my head, “Who’s praying for the pray-ers?” “Who’s pastoring the pastors? “Who’s ministering to the ministers?”
He is! But we have to come into His presence and be filled. And there is always a time to pray and to have our list and to speak. And we do that too. But then there’s times where we just rest in His presence and we get refilled because we can’t be running on empty.
We’re out in a busy, busy, crazy, distracted world, so we have to be filled to overflowing. And I always love the picture of a scuba diver. That’s how I see it. When we get into His presence, it’s like everything’s happening and fast and noisy up on the surface. But when we get under or into His presence, it’s like everything just slows down, becomes quiet, peaceful.
Direction…
How do we do that now?
We just slow down. Put our eyes on you. And as we worship you, as we glorify you, the beautiful thing is you’re filling us, you’re changing us to be more like you. Just as we adore you, it helps remind us that we’re not in control. You are in control. And we’re so thankful for that today. So thankful that your ways are so much higher than our ways.
So we do that…
And so we just take a minute to slow down to acknowledge that you are King of Kings and Lord of Lords. You are ruler. You speak things into existence. You’re holding all things and nothing is too difficult for you. Nothing is beyond restoration, because you make all things beautiful in their time. You work all things together for our good, and so we just rest in that.
Just rest in that knowledge today…
That your defender, the God of the angel armies, is fighting on your behalf. That Jesus is at the right hand interceding for you. Right now, He’s interceding for us. He’s pleading for us. He’s praying for us.
Thanksgiving…
Thank you, Jesus. We have the Holy Spirit, the comforter dwelling in us, showing us all things to come. He’s strengthening us, encouraging us, exhorting us, building us up in our most holy faith
Meditate on all the things He’s giving us…
I love to think of all the things that He’s given us, the tools He’s given us to walk the path that He’s put out in front of us.
We have the blood of Jesus.
We have Father God, Jesus His Son, the Holy Spirit.
We have angels that surround us, ministering spirits that go out before us and make a way.
We have the armor of God.
We have the Word of God.
We have the fruits of the Spirit.
We have the gifts of the Spirit.
We have authority; He’s taken the keys of sin and death and hell. The devil is under our feet.
He chooses to tabernacle with us…
So just be reminded today of who you are, who He created you to be, temples of the living Spirit of God, temples that He tabernacles with us. He chooses to. He doesn’t have to, but He chooses to.
Thanksgiving…
Thank you, Father, that you choose to tabernacle, you choose to dwell among us, within us.
You choose to make us in your image for your glory, not for our own glory, but for Your glory.
Question…
What do you want to speak to hearts today?
Answer…
You are speaking to hearts even now. And let’s build ourselves up, build up our most holy faith.
Even now, Father, you’re strengthening believers. You’re strengthening the pray-ers.
Thank you that our burden is light, our yoke is easy today.
Yeah, you put us in wide open spaces.
You make us to lie down in green pastures.
You are our shepherd. We shall not want.
Yea, though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we shall fear no evil.
For your rod and your staff, they comfort us.
You lead us beside still waters, still and peaceful waters.
You make us to lie down in green pastures.
You prepare a table for us in the presence of our enemies.
So today we feast and we fellowship at that table.
Let our enemies continue to fight because we know they’re defeated.
We choose not to be afraid today because we choose to focus on you, to feast at the table that you prepared for us.
And the enemies have to sit and watch us feast. They have to watch us fellowship.
They have to watch us have joy.
They have to watch us have more than enough to have our fill at the Lord’s table.
For the battle is the Lord’s. You are our defender.
You are the commander of the angel armies.
We feast on your goodness. We feast on your love. We feast on your peace. We feast on your provision. We feast on healing today. We feast on your presence.
So rise up, church. Rise up. Get out of that bed. For the Lord your God is with you.
And you’re working out our story. You’re working it out in us, through us.
So we just yield. That’s all we have to do, just yield to the flow of the Holy Spirit.
He knows the way to go.
We thank you, Father, for tabernacling with us, for dwelling with us, in us, and among us, upon us.
