Morning Chapel Prayer Playlist
Morning Chapel Prayer Today
Pastor Susan…
Well welcome, everybody, to Tuesday morning prayer. It’s a beautiful, warm day out.
The Father is the Master Planner…
Thank you, Lord, for your plans. We worship you that you’re a planner. Oh, what a planner. Oh, what a plan. Every day is part of your plan. Every life is part of your plan. We are part of your plan. Living Word is part of your plan. Our families are part of your plan. Our children are part of your plan. Our grandchildren are part of your plan. We’re so grateful that you are the Master Planner, that you have a plan. It’s a glorious plan. You’ve already determined the outcome and you’re positioning us. Father, we thank you for your plan this morning. We thank you that you have a plan. And that you’re working that plan this morning.
I have a few scriptures that I’m going to share this morning just as a launching pad for where we’re going to pray today. But last night and this morning, it came up in my heart, Philip and Fern Halverson were just such a massive part of this ministry in the early days. And I know Pastor Lynne learned so much from them when it came to prayer and praying out the plan. And they used to always say, “God has a plan. He’s already determined the outcome. So you might be wondering maybe where you’re going, but I want you to know He’s already determined the outcome.”
God has a plan and we’re a part of it…
So this is kind of our life. Every day is like a discovery. We’re discovering God’s plan. We’re not trying to invent God’s plan. We’re not trying to come up with our own plan. God has a plan. We’re part of the plan, and He’s already determined the outcome. And then they would say this, “He’s positioning us.” So every day this is about hearing from Him. It’s about being with Him and spending time with Him. And hearing from Him, getting clear and then just doing what He says. It’s actually pretty simple. We don’t have to have all the answers. We don’t have to know everything that’s coming. We just have to hear from Him today and do what He says.
We have a partnership with Him…
So along these lines, there’s just a few scriptures that I have in my heart because we’re going to pray into God’s plan today. I think it’s important that we do, and that’s always what God intended. This is a partnership with Him. He doesn’t just have a plan and then we just default, and we just expect somehow that He’s just going to do it. We have to cooperate with Him. Right? Yeah, we do!
Eph. 2:10, good works that God predestined and planned…
So Ephesians 2:10. I’m going to read it from the Amplified Classic. I know it’s more wordy, but I think it really gives us a great description.
“For we are God’s own handiwork, His workmanship, recreated in Christ Jesus and born again, or born anew, that we may do those good works which God predestined and planned beforehand for us.”
God had you in mind. He had His plan in mind when He created you. And He has you on His mind every day when it comes to positioning you to walk out the plan He has.
And the rest of the verse says… “Taking paths which He prepared ahead of time.” Sometimes you might be feeling like you’re forging the way and you don’t know where you’re going. But Jesus has gone ahead and He’s prepared the way for you. And it says that we should walk in them. “Those paths…” And I love this. “If you’re wondering about the future, leery about the future, the Bible tells us that we should walk in those paths living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live.”
So it’s a good thing that He’s prepared…
So God’s got a plan. It includes you. It includes me. And He’s prepared these paths for us to walk in. And He has designed us for good works that just fit into His plan. We all have a supply, and we all have a part of that. So we’re capable of doing the good works that God has and walking in the straight paths of the Lord. And here’s a big “if.” If we humble ourselves and hear from Him and obey. And that’s where our steps of faith and obedience come in.
I’m going to read Proverbs…
This is a launching pad for where we’re going to pray today. Because when we pray, every prayer needs to have a key ingredient. I’m sure you know this already. But it’s faith! We don’t pray in wonder or desperation. We pray from a place of faith. And this is why it’s important for us to get our faith footing. Right? So we can pray into the plans that God has, and we can pray from a position of faith, knowing what God’s going to do because God is faithful. And in that sense, He’s so faithful. He’s predictable. He’ll always be faithful to you. He’ll always be faithful to me.
Our way is to do this with God and with His light…
So the people in the world are used to just navigating, right? They’re used to navigating everyday life, their decisions, what comes their way without the wisdom of the Lord and without the light of the Lord. But that’s not our way. Our way is to do this with God and with His light. And that means, although He expects us to use our understanding, here’s the distinguishing part—we’re not to lean on that.
We can investigate. We can research. We can look into our options when we’re making decisions. And you know, I know we have people here that aren’t on staff, but this is part of our staff prayer time today on Tuesdays. And people I know are watching online. But we need God’s light to navigate in our leadership and our families. We need that every single day.
Pro. 3:5, lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord…
And if you’re not intentional about going to the Lord and getting His light and direction, then we’re going to lean on our understanding. And we don’t want to lean on our understanding because that’s never going to direct us. So Proverbs 3:5–6. And then the first part of verse seven. But Amplified again.
“Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. 6 In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths. 7 Be not wise in your own eyes…”
You know when we rely on our own understanding to get us through, although we may not look at it this way, we are being wise in our own eyes. “Like “we know.” We can figure it out. “I’ve got a really good plan. I’ve been meditating on this, and I’ve come up with some really good options.”
And we can investigate, like I said. And we can do our due diligence to look at things. But at the end of the day, we always go back to “Where is the witness of the Lord?” What’s His Word and what’s His witness when it comes to the plan of God? Right?
The “mystery” part can make us uncomfortable…
And so, as we’re going to pray today, there’s just a lot about God’s plan that we don’t know. Have you discovered that? Lots of mysteries when you look into the future. And mysteries can make us uncomfortable. The “mystery part” can make us uncomfortable. Because we want to know. We want to know 10 years down the road. We want to know like two months from now. We want to have it all written out. But the danger of knowing certain things too far in advance is that we make our own path to get there.
And the Bible tells us that God’s prearranged and made paths ready for us—as individuals and as a ministry. He’s got a plan. Living Word was birthed with a plan. And our time together today, we’re going to pray about the plan that God has for you and your family and the church. We’re going to pray. And your church, those of you that are watching and are a part of other churches, it’s important that you pray for your church.
But here’s the deal…
God knows everything. Nothing is a mystery to Him. But lots of things are mysteries to us. We need mysteries revealed. And God delights in revealing mysteries. So I’m going to read a few scriptures. Again, more for a launching point. Sorry if I’m overloading you with scriptures, but I’m really big on that. I like to know my footing. Because it changes my approach to the Lord. I can come before Him and pray into God’s plan with confidence. Because I’ve refreshed myself on what His Word says.
Proverbs 4:5 says this…
The first part of it says, “Get wisdom and get understanding.” That doesn’t come from ourselves. That comes from the Lord. So if there are questions, mysteries… We could say this. It’s kind of like there’s some dark spots. Darkness doesn’t always have to be like sin and evil. Sometimes it’s just not knowing. It’s not knowing things that we’re going to need to know, but God is in the business of revealing. And so the Bible says “get wisdom and get understanding.” This is a principle thing. Get wisdom. And the only place we can go to get the wisdom that we need to see and navigate and make the right decisions is from the Lord. It’s not going to come by worrying or mulling things over. It’s going to come from Him.
Proverbs 4:11, “I will guide you.”
I love this about the Lord. “I will guide you in the way of wisdom. I will lead you on straight paths. When you walk, your steps will not be impeded. When you run, you will not stumble. Hold onto just instruction and do not let it go. Guard it for it is your life.” That’s a promise to us.
Verse 18…
Proverbs 4:18 tells us that “the path of the righteous is like the light of day. It grows brighter and brighter.” You know, the more light you have during the day, when you get up and the sun’s maybe not quite up yet, it’s hard to see. Things are murky. There’s darkness. But as the day progresses, there’s more light and you can see more and more clear. This is God’s promise to us. The path of the righteous… that’s you and me. It grows brighter every day.
Here’s some other things that the Lord says…
2nd Samuel 22:29: “For you, oh Lord, are my lamp. The Lord lights my darkness.” Do you have questions? As a leader, decisions that you’re making or how to do the assignments that God has given you. While the Bible says you, Oh Lord, are my lamp. The Lord lights my darkness.
Psalm 18:28 says, “You cause my lamp to be lighted and to shine.” And you know what that is? For, you Lord, caused my spirit to be flooded with light so that I can see. I can see the right decision at the right time. At the crossroads. That’s what decision points are. They’re crossroads. And the Bible tells us that every crossroad, wisdom cries out, “go this way!” Well, what way is that? It’s the way of the Lord. It’s the straight paths. Straight paths are the quickest, least complicated way to get to your destination. That’s what a straight path is. And that’s what the Lord has prepared for us—for you and me, for this ministry, for the churches you’re a part of. Straight paths! This is His promise to you.
And I just want to encourage you at some time, you’re going to have to believe what God says about you. You’re going to have to believe what He said He’s done for you, and you’re going to have to put your faith in Him.
Ephesians 1:17 For I always pray…
I think this is well known to a lot of you. I’m going to read it from the Amplified. So verse 17. “For I always pray…” Paul prayed and so we’re going to pray today. This is something we always pray about. This is something we should always be praying about, working with God in prayer about for your life. You can wonder, you can strive, you can worry, you can ponder, but if you leave the prayer out of your equation, you’re missing a major source of light. You can ask people for opinions and all that stuff, but the light you need has one source and it’s the Lord. It’s Him! And He’s interested in you knowing. He’s interested in me knowing. He brings light.
God is the Revealer…
“For I always pray the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation of insight into mysteries and secrets.” Nothing’s a mystery to the Lord. Lots of things are mysteries to us, but God is the revealer. I believe that’s one of His names. When I read about Him in the Word, it’s capital “R” revealer. He reveals secrets and mysteries to us. It says “in the deep and intimate knowledge of Him by having the eyes of our heart flooded with light so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you. And how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints?”
Two more scriptures…
Psalm 119:130. How do we increase light in our lives? Well, we do it really through the Word. We know God’s Word is light. And by the Holy Spirit… The Holy Spirit enlightens.
“The entrance and unfolding of your words give light.” If you are needing to understand and you may think, but you know this thing that I need direction on, or I’m just wondering about a decision on, I just don’t think that that’s found in the Bible. And I will argue with you and say the Bible is the answer Book. And as you read scripture from scripture, the Holy Spirit will flood your eyes with light. He will speak words of light and life that bring you direction and help you navigate and see the way that you’re to go. If you leave the Word of God out of your life, the source of life and light is being cut out. This is a source of light to us.
“So the entrance and unfolding of your word gives light. Their unfolding gives understanding, discernment, and comprehension to the simple.” That’s me! I am pretty simple. And there’s just a lot I don’t know. But one thing I do know is that God is faithful as I press into Him to show me what I need to know. And I’ll pick up on things in my heart as I pray.
Do you speak in tongues?
First Corinthians 14:2. I’ll read it from King James first. “But he that speaks in an unknown tongue.” Do you speak in unknown tongues? I hope you do every day. It’s a gift. Being able to speak in other tongues is a gift. And it’s powerful. And it’s an instrument through which God brings light and through which we can pray about the mysteries. I heard it said once and I don’t even know… Maybe I got it from the Lord. Maybe I heard it from somewhere else. I don’t know. But I’ve said it for a lot of years. “Mysteries prayed, become mysteries revealed.”
“He that speaks at an unknown tongue speaks not to men.” This is talking about your private prayer language, not tongues and interpretation in a church service to edify and build the church. This is talking about your private prayer language. “For he that speaks in an unknown tongue, doesn’t speak to men, but to God. For no man understands him how being in the spirit he speaks mysteries.” God’s plan, the fullness of His plan is a mystery, but He’s given us the ability through the Holy Spirit and through this wonderful gift of being able to pray in other tongues, to pray perfectly the will of God about the mysteries… things that we don’t know with our understanding yet.
This is like the coolest thing. We can pray about what’s coming. We can pray into God’s plan. We can pray those things out right in the here and now. And understanding can come.
The Amplified says “For one who speaks in an [unknown] tongue speaks not to men but to God, for no one understands or catches his meaning, because in the [Holy] Spirit he utters secret truths and hidden things [not obvious to the understanding].”
So we’re going to do that this morning. We’re going to pray into the plan. God’s got a plan for you. God’s got a plan for me. God’s got a plan for Living Word. God’s got a plan for your church. God’s got a plan for the body of Christ. God’s got a plan for our nation.
And He needs us.
We’re partners with Him, right? I’m going to all pray out some things in English, but we’re going to be praying in tongues today. And if you’re not filled with the Holy Ghost, that’s okay. Just pray where you are. If scriptures come to your heart, pray that out. If you have some things that rise up in your heart, words that you understand in English or your known language, that’s good. Pray them out. That’s what we’re here to do is pray about those mysteries this morning.
