Morning Chapel Prayer Playlist
Morning Chapel Prayer Today
Pastor Heather…
My name is Heather Sibinski. I’m one of the pastors here at Living Word. I want to welcome you to morning prayer.
Book, “In His Presence” by E.W. Kenyon…
I was going to read a little bit again out of “In His Presence,” by E.W. Kenyon. I was reading this morning, I believe I’m in like the second chapter, but the header is “All Kinds of Prayer.” And I’ve just been reading this and I think it’s good every once in a while to get back to those core, like the rocks of faith, the foundations of faith, of prayer, those things. And so I’m just going to read a little bit and then we’ll go into worship. I just want you to listen, prepare your heart to pray today, and I think these are all really great reminders of the importance of prayer.
Chapter, “All Kinds of Prayer…”
Ephesians 6:10 in the Moffatt says, “Hold your ground. Tighten the shield of truth about you. Wear integrity as your coat of mail. Have your feet shod with the stability of the gospel of peace. Above all, take faith as your shield to enable you to quench the fire-tipped darts flung by the evil one. Put on salvation as your helmet. Take the Spirit as your sword, that is, the Word of God. Praying at all times in the Spirit with all manner of prayer and entreaty, be alive to that. Attend to it unceasingly.”
Prayer is the foundation of all ministry…
“You’ll notice that by this translation that the object of the Christian soldier’s coat of mail, or armor, is that he may enter the prayer fight. Preaching and personal work are God-honored and blessed vocations, or ministries, but prayer is the foundation of it all. A man might preach with the eloquence of a Beecher and be the most skilled of diplomats as a soul winner, but he will fall short of his ministry in both fields if he isn’t backed up by the prayer life. The failure of all Christian enterprise is a prayer failure. Prayer alone gives success.
There are many different kinds of prayer…
“There are many different kinds of prayer.
“There is simple petition lifting its sentences in Jesus’ name to the heart of love.
“There is persistent, tenacious prayer that will not yield until the answer comes.
“There is prevailing prayer that overcomes every obstacle that finally lands the answer in the harbor of peace.
“There is a battle prayer with its tears and agony, its intense yearning.
“There is the quiet prayer of faith, whose voice is never lifted above a whisper, but whose persistent faith shakes the very throne of heaven.
“There is prayer without ceasing that seems to perfume the very act of the persistent prayer.
“There is the unconscious prayer attitude Paul says by the Spirit, praying with all kinds of prayer.
Nothing can take the place of prayer…
“How desperately the nation needs it. How desperately the church needs it. Nothing can take the place of prayer. Every believer should go into the school of prayer with Christ and actually learn the secret of prayer, the precious ministry of intercession.
The prayer of intercession…
“The prayer of intercession is the prayer for another, not for self. It is the prayer that passes out from your domain, your realm, into the realm of another. Jesus ever lives to make intercession at the right hand of the Father. The Holy Spirit in us ofttimes makes intercession that cannot be uttered in words.
Ofttimes we are depressed, we cannot understand it, or we cannot see any reason for it. It is the Holy Spirit in agony reaching through us to the Father.”
Depressed, that was probably the word they used then, but just like if you feel heavy, you have a burden of prayer.
“If our spirits were only fruitful, perhaps we could understand the language and the agony of the Spirit in His mighty outreaching toward the throne of grace. If our lives were only more perfectly under His sway, He might be able to breathe His passion through our conscious faculties in His mighty agony for lost men and women. Ofttimes our spirits are dull, and He cannot communicate His passion and yearning through them to our minds. So it becomes unintelligible agony, groanings that cannot be uttered. I suppose this is the reason why certain men and women are led to become the prayer channels for the whole congregation. So few of us in our busy lives take time to pray that the Spirit searches through the congregation for the willing hearts that will deny themselves some of the common pleasures and will be first in line of prayer instead of last.
And that’s some of you here today, some of you watching online. You’ve taken up that role of prayer.
“On these willing hearts rolls the burden of the entire church. Thank God that in our church are found those who are willing to set aside whole nights of prayer, who will leave the joy of visiting with loved ones and hide away alone with Him to take my burden and yours that we have in some way failed to roll on the Lord. They encompass our Jericho with their persistent intercession. It is a pity that more of us do not force ourselves into a life of prayer. We have the time. We use it in useless talk or careless reading…”
Or today we could say TV or social media.
“While the Spirit is searching for an outlet, He must pass us by because we are not ready. Oh, I beseech you, reader, not to talk about it anymore or plan when you will do it but begin it now. Force yourself into the prayer life. Regardless of how you feel, drive yourself into prayer. You will be amazed how halting and stumbling will be your first attempts. You have been rated perhaps as an unusual Christian worker in the church. Men look upon you as an outstanding Christian, but if they knew that in behind your public profession there was an empty closet or an unused prayer room, they would be amazed.
“If you live with the Lord in secret, you will be able to pray with great freedom in public. Unconsciously, we call upon the people to pray who are on praying terms with the Lord. Seldom will a spiritual mind reach out to an unspiritual life for help. It is only when we are clutching at straws that we do it.
Prayer has several elements…
“You see, prayer has several elements. It brings you into personal fellowship and touch with the Father and with the Holy Spirit and with Jesus. All three of the Godhead are brought into the prayer life.
“You are praying to the Father.
“You are praying in the name of Jesus.
“You are praying through the Holy Spirit.”
“Your prayer is based upon the Word. It brings this earth heart of ours into contact with the heavenly center of all divine power and activity. You can’t spend any length of time in prayer without being affected by it. The quietness, the unshaken faith, the deep, unsounded peace that pervades the Godhead will overflow into the pray-er’s life.
Many of us can make this mother’s confession…
“Said an anxious and nervous mother, “You will have to forgive me, children, but I forgot to visit the Master this morning, and so I lack His quietness and His strength.” Many of us can make that a confession, that our irritability, weakness, and lack of spiritual insight comes from not sitting in the presence of our Master.
A heavenly fragrance that lingers…
“One cannot spend an hour in conscious communion with the Father, the Son, the Spirit, and the Word without carrying away from that trysting place the fragrance that fills the atmosphere. There is a heavenly fragrance about Jesus that lingers with the pray-ers.
“They are slow to speak.
“They are slow to judge.
“They are quick to love and quick to help.
“There is a holy calmness about their lives that challenges the restless ones.
“They crave that quietness of spirit.
“Again, we cannot spend time with them without partaking of their stability and their unshakableness. One who is easily disturbed and who in the jolts of life is unseated will find a new strength and steadiness that will make him a blessing to the world by spending just a little time with the Rock of our strength.
“You see, a few moments with Him tunes us up, fills the battery, adjusts the carburetor, and makes it easy for us to face life’s uneven conditions. It gives us poise and holy dignity in our contacts. Faith makes us an intelligent victor. Faith makes mountains and difficulties take their true position. You can’t sit with the God of all faith and all love for one half hour each day without unconsciously breathing in the faith of God.
“What would it mean to you if Jesus should come into your home as He came into the home of Mary and Martha? You would take time to visit with Him. Jesus answered and said unto him, ‘If a man love Me, he will keep My word, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.’ John 14:23
“You love Him. Invite Him into your home, and then get acquainted with Him. Learn to talk things over with Him. He is there. Visit with Him. Remember, He loves you, is interested in all your problems. He will make His Word answer every question. He will make Himself real in your life and your home.”
Isn’t that so good?
And when we look at the life of Jesus, you see Him going from place of prayer, from place of prayer, to place of prayer, to place of prayer, right? And it says He went away into the mountains, or He got up in the night or early in the morning and got away to be in prayer to be with His Father. And, I believe a lot of us have forgotten just that importance. Of course, I’m preaching to the choir today because you are the pray-ers, and you are here. But the importance of it’s not just a casual putting out occasional petitions to Him. It’s a way of life, communing with Him. And we have to have it.
You have to keep the oil burning…
It’s like the oil in the virgins with the lamps. We have to have that oil to keep burning, to keep passionate in these days that we’re in because there’s so much happening in the world that we need that oil to grease our wheels, to give us fire. All those things that oil does to heal us, to keep us protected. Just think of the natural properties of oil and so many different properties it has. And the oil is like the Holy Spirit, right? The anointing, spending time in prayer helps us to stay lubricated, so to speak…
As we go through hard times
As we go through tight times
As we go through difficult times
As we go through fiery times.
We have to have that oil surrounding us.
