Morning Chapel Prayer Playlist
Morning Chapel Prayer Today
Pastor Ken…
Well, good morning, everybody. We’re blessed you’ve joined us this morning.
God is getting the attention of His people…
If you haven’t been discerning it, there’s much activity in the realm of the spirit, in particular around God’s people. Activity by and of the Holy Spirit to garner our attention, to draw us into Him. As much activity in the realm of the spirit; the operation of the Holy Spirit right now is to get our attention as His people, as His church. And it just struck me this passage from Psalm 42; it was authored by the sons of Korah in ancient Israel, who were a Levite group of priests who devoted themselves to serving in the temple.
They were gatekeepers.
They were servants.
They were leaders of worship.
They were known for consecrated and committing and devoting their lives to the service of God’s purposes in the temple.
Deep calls unto deep…
And it is known or widely accepted that they penned Psalm 42. And in Psalm 42:7, it says, “Deep calls unto deep, at the noise of your waterfalls all your waves and billows have gone over me.” I think it’s interesting because they use poetic imagery here to suggest the fact that God is calling out to the deepest parts of our souls. Yes, even today. Yes, even if we professed His name once upon a time. After all, salvation is just an introductory offer. There are many offers to follow as we journey with Him to go deeper, to know Him more intimately, to be surrendered in ways that allow Him to reveal Himself, reveal His goodness. Reveal His glory. He’s selected each of us. He sought us out, once upon a time, and He’s still doing so today. The deep in God is calling out to the depths of our souls today, to get our attention…
So that He might have His say…
So that He might address the concerns that we have…
So that He might have His way on the inside of us…
He’s leading us back to consecration and commitment…
One of the reasons I believe He’s calling for our attention is because He’s wanting to remind us and lead us back to one of the ancient ways of the Old Testament in the days of the early church, which is the habit or practice of consecration and commitment and devoting our lives one day at a time to Him. Not just once upon a time, but one day at a time. Sometimes moment by moment, devoting yourself to Him, being conscious of His indwelling presence and that you are a walking, talking, breathing temple of the most high God upon planet earth. And that was for a very specific and profound reason, that where we go, He would go. But…
He needs our partnership.
He needs our collaboration.
He needs our attention.
That we would be surrendered to Him.
That we would be devoted to Him.
That we would lay down our agendas and pick up our cross and follow Him.
James 4:7…
There’s a few passages that emphasize this, both having to do with devoting yourself to Him and drawing close to Him. And let me just read a few scriptures to you here by way of reflection. James 4:7 says, “Therefore, submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Verse eight says, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
James 4:7 in the Passion…
Then in James 4:7 in the Passion, “So then surrender to God. Stand up to the devil and resist him, and he will flee in agony. Verse eight says, “Move your heart closer and closer to God, and He will come even closer to you.”
Romans 12:1…
Then in Romans 12:1 from the Passion translation, it says, “Beloved friends, what should be our proper response to God’s marvelous mercies? To surrender yourselves to God, to be His sacred living sacrifices and live in holiness, experiencing all that delights His heart, for this becomes your genuine expression of worship.” I like that.
Galatians 2…
Then in Galatians 2 from the Passion Translation, it says, “My old identity has been co-crucified with Christ and no longer lives. And now the essence of this new life is no longer mine for the anointed one lives His life through me. We live in union as one. My new life is empowered by the faith of the Son of God who loves me so much that He gave Himself for me, dispensing His life into mine.”
The missing key in the church…
I just have to say that this ancient and biblical and spiritual and holy practice of devoting and consecrating and daily committing ourselves to His plan and purpose is perhaps a missing key in the church and in our lives. Because it’s in the process of doing so that God is able to dispense more efficiently and more fully His power. And we walk more in synchronicity and in alignment or agreement with His plan for our lives. We won’t just walk one day casually, flippantly into the will of God, into the blessing of God. We have to choose just like you once upon a time chose to give your heart to Him initially.
God is getting our attention saying…
“Church, choose to follow Me. Choose to lay down the lesser things that you might engage with the higher things. Choose to surrender your self, your time, your heart, your life, so that you can find the true life. Discover true power. Know an unending supply of resource in every way you could describe for your life.”
He’s calling us to a higher life…
He’s calling us to a higher life, to a higher walk as individuals, as churches, because He’s wanting to display Himself to a generation to a degree in magnitude that has not been witnessed on planet earth, perhaps up until this point.
We’re in the final days…
We are the end-of-days church. We’re to be a part of running with Him in these final hours to just be trophies of His victory and displayers of His glory and conduits of anointing and healing and workings of miracles and signs and wonders that demonstrate the Father’s heart to a generation. It’s not about us. We died with Him on the cross, and we’re buried with Him that we might live. But we need to stay buried and we need to stay dead to ourselves. We need to put to death ourselves so that we can take up the cross of Jesus. We can take up the mandate of the Spirit and follow Him.
Jesus emphasized that to the disciples…
That real life is found in dying to yourself and your agenda and your way and using all your time to what you want to do. I know this is heavy maybe, but there’s life in it. There’s freedom in it. You want to know where freedom is found, liberty is found? In following Him instead of ourselves.
Oh, there’d be plenty of opportunities for us to choose and God will say, “What do you desire?” Firstly, we must take up the mantle and pursuit of knowing Him and surrendering to Him and saying “Yes” to His agendas. “Yes” to His way. “Yes” to what He has to say to us.
Luke 9:23…
In Luke 9:23 in the Passion translation, Jesus said, “If you truly desire to be My disciples, you must disown your life completely. Embrace My cross as your own.” Remember, the gospel is counter cultural. So anything the world is saying, or your flesh is trying to convince you of, or your mind comes up with on its own is probably the opposite of what God has to say.
“And surrender to My ways, He says, for if you choose self-sacrifice, giving up your lives for My glory, you will discover true life. But if you choose to keep your lives for yourselves, you will lose what you try to keep.”
Leviticus 20:7…
And then kind of going in the way-back machine here to the Old Covenant in Leviticus 20:7. “So set yourselves apart to be holy. For I am the Lord your God. Keep all My decrees by putting them into practice, for I am the Lord who makes you holy.”
1st Corinthians 6:19…
Finally, 1st Corinthians 6:19 says, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God and you are not your own?” When was the last time we heard that preached, right? Come on now. What? Yeah! He paid a high price to buy us back. The least we can do is say, “Lord, I am yours.” Not just once but daily…
Be conscious of His presence.
Be conscious of His calling.
Be conscious of spiritual activity going on around your soul.
Be conscious of what He’s saying to you in His Word.
Because He’s speaking and it’s for our benefit. Even though we’re laying down our lives, He has our benefit and our best interest and our best future in mind—individually and collectively.
So Paul writes, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you? Whom you have from God and you are not your own for you were bought at a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods.”
Book by Kenneth E. Hagin “Following God’s Plan for Your Life”
Can I share just a bit more? I pulled off a book by Brother Kenneth Hagin’s called, “Following God’s Plan for Your Life.” It’s such a good book. I haven’t picked it up in a while, but I copied a couple of excerpts on his chapter on consecration. And brother Hagin, too, pointed out that consecration or choosing to devote yourself daily to God is something that’s a missing ingredient in the church. And he noticed was much more prevalent in the early days of the 20th century when he was a young man. And how Christians were less sick and more healthy, and there was more power. And there were many things that he saw in the church in his early days, in the thirties, forties, fifties, that he thought were missing at the end of his ministry. And he related that to the fact that there was a lack of consecration or devotion to God in many ways in the modern church.
He writes in one chapter…
“God is looking for believers who will dedicate and consecrate themselves wholly to Him to carry out His plan for their lives just as Jesus did at Gethsemane and throughout His earthly ministry. The Lord’s eyes roam throughout the earth to find people whose hearts are dedicated to Him. God is looking for believers who will say, as Jesus did, Not My will Father, but yours be done.
“Notice that Jesus didn’t pray the prayer of consecration one time. He prayed virtually that same prayer many times. You see, the prayer of consecration is not a one-time prayer as the prayer of faith. The prayer of consecration is a prayer you pray throughout your life. You will only be able to follow God’s plan for your life if you constantly maintain an attitude of consecration. [Or you could say devotion or committing yourself to Him.] And surrender to the Lord’s will, whatever it might be.”
Let me read one more excerpt…
He talks about how so many are at a crossroads right now, Christians. And he writes…
“Many Christians are at a crossroads in their lives right now. In other words, they face decisions that will affect the course of their lives. They are at a crossroad where they must decide if they’re going to consecrate themselves fully to do God’s will no matter what He asks them to do.”
Or I would insert “no matter what the enemy tries to tempt you to do otherwise.” Because just as much as God has a plan for your life, the enemy has a plan for your life and he’s at work, too, to try to deceive and discourage and wear us down and get us to choose something lesser; maybe because of fear or anxiety, or it just seems to be an easier way to go. But the way of God, the plan of God, is the way less traveled.
It will demand faith from us.
It will demand daily consecration.
It will demand us to lay down our agenda to accept and follow His.
Brother Hagin goes on to say…
“Believers who stand at a crossroads can choose to follow the path of their own plans and desires. That path may look wide and bright and stretch straight out before them as far as their eye can see. But if they continue to lean to their own understanding and disobey God, that straight wide path will eventually lead them into darkness. In other words, believers who don’t choose the perfect will of God will encounter trials in life God never intended them to encounter.
“On the other hand, the path God has planned for obedient believers may be narrow, one that goes over mountains and through deep valleys. God’s path might have bends and curves in it that sometimes obscures our view. Believers who follow God’s way may not always be able to see very far down the path because following God is a step-by-step walk of faith and obedience. But despite the difficulties that lie on the path of obedience, such a great future in the Lord awaits those who choose to walk in God’s ways.
“You might say, No, I don’t much believe I want to take the narrow curving path where I can’t see what’s ahead of me. I don’t know where it’s going. I can see the other paths stretched out wide and straight before me. But if I go down the narrow road of God’s choosing, I can’t see beyond the mountains. The way of obedience looks rugged and difficult, but the road of obedience is the one you must choose if you want to follow God’s plan for your future. And as you choose to obey God, He will furnish you with the power and ability to climb the mountains you are facing right now.”
Pastor Ken…
That could be a key and a clue for somebody right there this morning. The answer, the breakthrough is in the choosing. Choosing and consecrating and saying “yes” to God’s plan. And it’ll open a door for the provision for His vision to begin to flow.
Don’t look at me that way.
We all deal at times with disobedience. We all rebel. We all play stupid. Like, “What? What did you say? I didn’t hear that.”
You know, the sons of Korah, who I mentioned, wrote Psalm 42. Their forefathers were known as the Sons of the Rebellion. And actually the sons of Korah that devoted themselves in the temple and wrote I think it was 11 chapters in Psalms, actually became a testimony to God’s ability to restore and redeem even though their forefathers rebelled. Yet the ones that came after them, their sons and grandsons and great grandsons got it right and went on to follow God and become some of the most devoted ones in ancient Israel serving daily in the temple.
