Morning Chapel Prayer Playlist
Morning Chapel Prayer Today
Sister Jeannie…
Good morning. Thank you for joining corporate prayer this morning.
Father, we thank you for the opportunity and the honor just to pray, to be your mouthpiece today, to declare your word.
Last night some friends and I went to “The Thorn” at the Orpheum Theater. I would highly recommend it next time it’s in town. Apparently it’s been sold out every night. It’s playing one more night tonight.
Anyway, it’s kind of like a story about Jesus with some Cirque de Soleil mixed in. And a couple things occurred to me. People are hungry for God. I mean, here we are in downtown Minneapolis, and it was completely packed. It started late because there were so many people to get in. And then, at the end scene when Jesus is being tempted by the enemy to give up… for the first time it occurred to me, Jesus and Satan have known each other the entire time. Think about that!
God created Lucifer. Jesus is the Son of God. So they’ve known each other the entire time, and he was the greatest of all the angels. And now here’s Jesus at His weakest, most vulnerable moment. And the former greatest of all the angels is tormenting Him. So even when the familiar comes after us, even Judas… think about that. Judas, there could be no greater betrayal than someone that was in your inner circle to have them betray you.
Jesus already experienced it…
So when we experience those things, Jesus already covered it. He experienced it as well. In fact, the sting wouldn’t have nearly been what it was if Judas hadn’t been in His inner circle. And then when you think about the difference between Judas and Peter, the Word says that Peter denied Jesus. But not that he sold Him out. So even times when we’ve failed in our relationship with Him, we can be encouraged that even the first time when Jesus was resurrected and He appeared to Mary, He said… I just love what Jesus said. He said, “Tell the disciples and Peter.”
Think about that!
Here’s Peter denying Jesus three times. And then Jesus comes back and says, “Tell the disciples. Oh, and Peter too.”
Boldness requires humility…
Even as we pray today and we use His name, it’s His name that we’re using. And we’re doing it from a place of righteousness of everything that Jesus did for us. And it requires humility for us to do that. Boldness requires humility. Courage requires humility. Boldness requires humility. Courage requires humility. We humble ourselves and we walk in the authority He gave us, keeping our minds off of ourselves.
So today, right now as we read your Word, Father, we submit fully to you, Holy Spirit, and what you want to do.
He’s been talking to me about today and unless He changes His mind… We’re going to be taking a little bit of a different route today in prayer. Praise God. So let’s just read a few scriptures. So everything I’m reading is already in the Word.
Matthew 18:5–7…
Let’s read from Matthew 18:5–7 in the Amplified Classic. “Firstly, whoever receives and accepts and welcomes one little child like this, for my sake and in my name, receives and accepts and welcomes Me. But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in and acknowledge and cleave to Me to stumble and sin, that is who entices him or hinders him in right conduct or thought, it would be better, more expedient and profitable or advantageous for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and be sunk into the depth of the sea.”
This is what Jesus says…
This is what He’s saying today. “Woe to the world for such temptations to sin and influences to do wrong. It is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the person on whose account or by whom the temptation comes.”
Do you have an idea of the direction we’re going to today?
Matthew 18:5–7 in the New Living. “And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on My behalf is welcoming Me.” Welcoming a little child on Jesus’ behalf is welcoming Jesus. “But if you cause one of these little ones who trust in Me to fall into sin, if you cause a little child to fall into error, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.” These are Jesus’ words. “What sorrow awaits the world because it tempts people to sin. Temptations are inevitable. But what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting.”
Stick with me. It’s going to get good.
Genesis 1:27, “So God created man in his own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him. Male and female, He created them.”
In the New Living. “So God created mankind in his own image. In the image of God, he created them. Male and female, he created them.”
Let’s read again. Matthew 18:5–7 in the New Living. “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me. But if you cause one of these little ones, male created male created female in the image of God, if you cause one of these little ones created in the image of God, male or female, this is what Jesus says. Who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you…” This is personal! He’s talking to you personally. He’s talking to me personally.
“It would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.” It would be better for you. This is what Jesus says. This is what Jesus says today. Today! Little children, little girls, little boys, little children. If you cause them to get into error, male or female, it would be better for you to have a millstone hung around your neck and to be drowned.
Did you hear that word? Drowned! Perished in the depths of the sea.
It is related to children created in the image of God. Does voting come to mind? If your voting causes children… encourages children to be in error, Jesus says… I am out on an edge right here. It would be better… God help us. It would be better for a millstone to be hung around your neck and for you to perish at the bottom of the sea.
What sorrow awaits the world because it temps little children to sin. Temptations are inevitable. But what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting?
So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God. He created him, male and female. He created them.”
“Jeannie, you should not talk about this.”
Yeah, I’m reading the Bible. I’m not going to love anyone to hell today. So God created mankind in His own image. In the image of God, He created them. Male and female, He created them.
False teachers…
Dear friends, John 1:4, in the New Living. “Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world.”
Could it be that a false teacher or a false prophet makes light of tempting little children, concerning them being male or female… makes light of it. Could it be? This is how we know if they have the spirit of God. If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. And when Jesus walked the earth in a real body, He said what He said. And it remains today, and it will always remain.
That person has the truth about Jesus, the truth that sets us free. The truth that keeps us free. Jesus says it would be better that a millstone were hung upon your neck and you perished at the bottom of the sea.
Hear me, Church! I am only reading the B-I-B-L-E, the Bible, the Word. That’s what I’m reading. But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, does not acknowledge what Jesus has said, does not greatly honor and make it foundational what Jesus has said, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist.
“What?”
Yes! The spirit of the Antichrist.
“Which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.” I am not going to have that conversation with Jesus when I die. Are you? Answer the question.
We are in that moment. And really, we’ve been in that moment the whole time. It’s just becoming more obvious, but now it’s going to get a little more encouraging.
“But you belong to God my dear children.” You do! You’ve already won a victory over those people. Because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. For such a time as this, those people belong to this world. So they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them. But we belong to God. And those who know God, listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us.
God watches over His Word to perform it…
Jeremiah 1:12, “Then said the Lord to me, you have seen well, for I am alert and active watching over My word to perform it.” You know, we can be so encouraged that God watches over His Word to perform it, but we can also have the fear of God knowing that He watches over His Word to perform it. And there’s a freedom in the fear of God. There’s a freedom that causes you to cast off care and to humble yourself before Him and say what He says, knowing that He will not back down from what He says.
I’m so thankful He loves the little children more than we do. And He gives us a mandate to stand on their behalf. We were all little children at one time. And He got us through the whole time. And His Word remains true.
