Pastor Susan…
The strongest and best at the very end to run strong…
I’m gonna read this scripture as kind of a launching pad today. Welcome everybody to prayer. If you have your Bibles, open to Hebrews 12. We’re gonna be praying for the church this morning. We had a service last night that was kind of just worship and prayer. This word has been strong in my heart, but it’s “turn.” And, I just believe I’m thinking about a race, like a baton race and how that last turn is really pivotal. They put their strongest and best at the very end to run strong. And we know we’re at the end. And if you’re alive and listening and here today, you’re here in this time period of the church age on purpose.
God has given us what we need to be strong runners…
And God has given us what we need to be strong runners and to be able to keep the pace. Because I think it’s an accelerated one. And He’s accelerating things. He’s speeding things up. But praise God, we run and we are not weary. We walk and we don’t faint. Right?
Hebrews 12
But in turning our eyes, we’re gonna read Hebrews 12. And I’m reading Amplified Classic beginning with verse one. And it says, “Therefore, then since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses who have born testimony to the truth, let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance and unnecessary weight and the sin which so readily, 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, looking away from all that will distract to Jesus who is the leader.” And I love this. “The source of our faith.”
We have to keep our eyes on Him…
The Bible tells us that the just shall live by faith and that we are to walk by faith and not by sight. And the Bible tells us in this scripture that Jesus is our leader, and He’s the source of our faith. If we are going to live by faith and walk by faith, we’re gonna have to keep our eyes on the One who is the source of our faith. And that’s the Lord. There’s a lot nowadays to pull our view off of Him. But it goes on and said, “And he’s also the finisher, the source of our faith, giving the first incentive for our belief. And he’s also its finisher bringing it, our faith, 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.”
Jesus fixed His eyes…
I love that Jesus had His eyes fixed and if He could fix His eyes, we can fix our eyes. And we’re just gonna pray for the church today. Pray about the looking, pray about that walk of faith, praying even as it says in Roman’s 8 about all creation is yearning for the sons of God to be manifest. And you know what that’s about? You know what that looks like? Us getting our eyes on Jesus and off of the drama in the world and remembering who we are, whose we are, but who we are and whom we carry. The one that we carry, which is greater. Greater is He than is in us than he that’s in the world.
People are waiting for the sons of God to be manifest…
And when the church remains fixed on the truths of God’s Word and when we keep our sight on Jesus, the author and the finisher, you know we realize that no matter how bleak it might look or how challenging the circumstance is, greater is He that is in us than He that’s in the world. Remember in school, the greater than sign? Whatever was on that side, you know, was greater than whatever was here. As long as there was the greater than sign, you just knew whatever is over on this side is always greater than what’s on the other. And we have the greater one. Greater is He. And knowing that He’s the greater one and that He’s living in us causes us to arise and actually operate and function like the children of God that we are. And that’s what’s needed now. The world is waiting. There’s a lot of talk about, “Oh, you know, are people gonna be turned off by a move of God or by this or whatever?” But let me tell you something. People are waiting for the sons of God to be manifest. They’re waiting for the genuine, the real, the authentic, the manifestation of the Lord. And so we’re gonna pray about that this morning.
Prayer …
Father, we lift you and exalt you to the highest place in our lives… the highest place of our eyes. We’re looking to you this morning, the author and the finisher of our faith… You know the way … you’ve gone before you already made the way… we depend on you to show us every step, to show us the timing, to show us what to say, to show us the how to’s, how we do what we’ve been called to do.
Prayer about flooding our eyes with light…
Father, we pray for the body of Christ. We pray for the outworking of this scripture that we’ve read in Hebrews chapter 12 today. We pray about the revelation coming to the body of Christ… seeing, seeing, seeing what needs to be seen. Father open eyes and flood eyes with light … where there’s been deception, dullness, and haven’t seen clearly, and there’s been darkness, we pray for light and illumination … for the body of Christ around the world. So that we can see things that are encumbering, that are unnecessary in our lives. We can see where things are sin and things are besetting us.
Prayer about those things holding us back…
I thank you for light this morning that there is seeing this morning because where there is light things become visible and clear. So we’re asking you to turn up the light… that we would see the things that are holding us down, holding us back … and just like a hot air balloon, when those weights are cut off, it just begins to soar. And it actually begins to function and move the way it was created to.
So Father, we pray that for the body of Christ, all the unnecessary weight, all the hindrances, all the things that would hold people back, we pray light on those things, that there would be a stripping off, a cutting away, a letting in the name of Jesus…
Prayer about body of Christ to be strong influence…
Father, strengthen the body… we pray for the body to be strong, a strong influence in the world, strong in the Lord… that there would be spiritual growth… we lift up all the new Christians, all the baby Christians, some of them aren’t new. They’ve been babies for quite a while, but Father, we know from scripture, it’s your will that we would grow up in you in all things. And that we would become adults, spiritual adults, mature ones. So Father, we pray into the spiritual growth of the church… every part of what’s needed… the training, the equipping, the Word, the impartation, the move of the Spirit.
Oh, Father, we’re praying for the maturing of the body of Christ… that we would be no longer children … children can be easily tossed to and fro… you don’t want us to be children to remain children… that we would grow up in you in all things.
Prayer about deep roots…
So, Father, we pray into the plan you have to build the church, to grow the church, to cause every Christian to be strong, strong in the Lord… having deep roots … roots that go deep into the truths of your Word… that the word of God would be exalted in the life of every Christian.
Prayer about awaken the church…
Father, that the sons of God would be manifest that we would know who we are and we would walk in our authority and we would do the work that you’ve called us to do… awaken the church … cause eyes to be opened … revelation, flood the eyes of hearts with light that we would see and know and understand what the will of the Lord is … understand what is our glorious inheritance, what Jesus purchased and delivered and made available to us through His death, burial, and resurrection.
Prayer about cooperating with the Holy Spirit…
And that we would come to know the Holy Spirit, how to cooperate, how to flow with Him, how to take advantage of His present-day ministry.
Father, we pray into the plan to grow… and build the church … individual believers, but, what about the multiplication? What about the making of disciples? What about the go? Going, going, going, go into all the world and preach the Gospel…
Prayer about the nations…
We’re lifting up all the nations… There are to be disciples in every nation… we ask you not one nation are there is it to be dead or blind or dark? … full of light, full of light. Every nation,
Prayer about light into the darkest places…
North Korea, we say lighten up the light of God, the light of God into the darkest places… disciples… are coming out of you… we pray for the multiplication of it, not just the addition, the multiplication… building, building, building, building … I see it in my spirit, like a snowball going down a hill and as it goes down the hill, it gathers speed, but it also gathers mass. It gathers, it gathers more and more, and it becomes bigger and bigger and stronger and stronger and faster and faster.
Prayer about the work accelerated…
Oh, Father the work… we pray to accelerate the work, accelerate the work, accelerate the work…
Prayer about combinations…
Yeah, the combinations, Father, we lift up the combinations. It’s not about one man. It’s not about one ministry. It’s not about one stream. It’s about combinations. Combinations that unlock all the nations, like a combination lock. Father, when they come together, the combinations reach the nations. And so we pray in the combinations. Oh, we pray into the coming together. Parts that have been separated … parts that have been distanced … streams that have just been going on their own … it’s time. It’s time a coming together, a coming together of God’s people… So unified, so strong…
Prayer about connections…
Father, we’re asking for your wisdom… for your guidance… for revelation of the plan… connections, connections, connections…
Prayer about fulfillment of Great Commission…
The Great Commission … go ye… go ye… into all the world… we pray about the going, the going, the going the going into all the world. That’s movement. Moving, moving, moving … relocation, positioning… because calls are calling … we call all those that are called, called to get trained … We call you to training places around the world. Training here, training places around the world.
Prayer about acceleration, speeding on the Gospel preached…
Hunger, hunger, hunger, wherever hearts are hungry, you show up … Father, we pray for speeding on of the Gospel message… every part of the acceleration that’s needed… as we pray about that acceleration, every part that’s needed … the parts we know about or think we know about, but then there are the parts we don’t know anything about yet, but you know… Father, we thank you that you’re ordering… you are speaking to parts … you’re orchestrating and moving and positioning and speaking and making things clear and visiting … visitation… awakening
Prayer about dreams and visions…
And dreams, dreams, dreams and visions… dreams and visions … to those who aren’t even born again, dreams and visions… dreams and visions. They’re not even born again yet, but they will be, they will be … because you’re calling, you’re calling them out of darkness into the marvelous light… Lord for callings… some are still in darkness right now, but you are calling them out of darkness into the marvelous light. And so we call “come out of the darkness…” come to Jesus… come and know the love of God… come as you are, come as you are, you are loved… the Lord is calling you. You are a loved one. And the Lord is calling…