Morning Chapel Prayer Playlist
Morning Chapel Prayer Today
Pastor Ken…
For such a time as this…
Thank you, Lord. Isn’t He a good father? He is. The truth of the matter is that He has strategically appointed each and every one of us to be here at this moment in history, to be where we’re at. Don’t question that. He’s appointed you and assigned you to be right where you’re at in this moment of history. And it reminds me of the passage in Esther 4:14, which essentially says, “You have come to the kingdom for such a time as this.” And I was just kind of looking up a little bit about that passage. There are three primary topics, or themes, in that passage in Esther four.
Number one: Divine providence or the plan of God, you could say.
Number two: Courage.
Number three: Responsibility.
We’re on the cusp of the beginning…
I’m glad that I’m assigned to this generation, aren’t you? I’m glad that we’re on the cusp of the beginning stages of a third great awakening. We’re seeing revival spread, answers flowing, heaven showing up in unlikely situations and places. And I believe that’s going to happen for you today here at Living Word. Glory to God. There’s a few verses that I’ll read to you here as we get going.
Philippians 4 in the Passion…
Philippians 4:8, from the Passion Translation says, “Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Instead, be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell Him every detail of your life. Then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding will guard your heart and mind through Christ Jesus.” What a good passage, right?
Acts 1:13…
“And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying. Peter, James, John, and Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alpheus, and Simon the zealot, and Judas, the son of James.” And I love this.
Verse 14 says…
“These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication.” In other words, they realized they were assigned for such a time to make a difference, to affect the course of history or what happens from here on out. And so we too have the same assignment, right? To shape and affect the course of history, to bring into existence things that wouldn’t otherwise show up in your life, in my life, in this church, in your church, in the course of history unless someone had prayed, someone contended, someone asked that they might receive.
2nd Corinthians 1:10, Passion, says…
“He has rescued us from terrifying encounters with death.” This is the Apostle Paul speaking of all his interesting missionary journeys. “And now we fasten our hopes on Him to continue to deliver us from death yet again. As you labor together with us through prayer, because there are so many interceding for us, our deliverance will cause even more people to give thanks to God. What a gracious gift of mercy surrounds us because of your prayers.”
In other words, there were others praying for Paul who was in crisis, and as a result, God showed up and the scene and the situation was transformed. And others outside of Christ noticed and became believers because of those prayers.
Your prayers make a difference…
An earth-shaking, generation-transforming difference. Don’t misunderstand that. We’re here not just to persuade God, but to engage with the Father in what He already has made up His mind to do for you, for Living Word, for your family, your children, your grandchildren, for our nation. And we get to be a part of it. We get to join Him, engage with Him in the fulfillment of the final events that wrap up this age, I believe.
Excerpt from Mark Brazee’s book…
In Mark Brazee’s book, “Processing the Plan of God Through Prayer,” he writes about the power of corporate prayer in chapter six. He says, “Jesus said in Matthew 21:13, It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer. The house of God today is the church, the body of Christ. Notice Jesus didn’t say the house of miracles, healings, teaching, preaching, or spiritual gifts. Why not? Because if we have prayer, we have everything else.”
Isn’t that good? Love that!
Of the early church, Mark writes…
“It would be to our benefit to go through the Book of Acts and see the pattern of the early church, the pattern that they had set, which was corporate prayer. We will find that every miracle and every major event that took place in the Book of Acts was directly related to prayer. The majority of their prayers were united, meaning there was more than one person praying. Of course, corporate prayer does not replace individual times of prayer. We will always need to keep our individual prayer lives active. Nothing can replace that fellowship or communion we have with God on a personal level every day. But we are living in a time when it is important to pray things through. And when we come together collectively, or corporately, we will accomplish those things more quickly than we can any other way.”
He said this…
“I know if the church would unite in prayer, we would begin to see more results. I want to get to the place where I have so much prayer out ahead of me, I am walking things out instead of working them out.”
You could say “amen” right there. That’s okay.
It’s true. I think in many ways in the Western Church, we have a theology of God that comes through at the last moment or in the last hour at 11:59. And maybe that’s not a theology at all God had in mind for us. Maybe it’s just the fact that’s when we pray the best, when things look the worst. But the truth of the matter is God intended for us to be praying out ahead of things.
Pastor Lynne talks about how she prays oftentimes two years in advance of walking something out or experiencing something. So that it’s not an intense season where we’re looking for God’s faithfulness to come through.
Personal experience…
Instead, we walk with God each day in the realm of prayer to such a degree that we begin to carry a confidence in our spirits about God’s faithfulness. Have you ever had a time where you prayed things through and you just knew “I’ve got the answer,” even though naturally you didn’t see the answer?
I had a time once many years ago where I’d prayed something thoroughly through. I knew it. But then something happened that kind of made me think, “Oh, I need to pray some more.” But then as I went to pray, I sensed in my spirit, “No, I’ve already prayed this through. I’m done.” There was no unction to pray because I’d already prayed it through months in advance. It was just a matter of walking it out and experiencing what God had in mind and intended.
Mark Brazee goes on to say…
“The best way to walk things out is to get the way plowed and paved before we get there.”
And then one little excerpt. I’m going to spare you all the reading here, but a couple of highlights.
He writes about processing the plan of God through prayer corporately…
“Some things are accomplished more quickly with united, or corporate, prayer than in any other way. Not only will we get things done more quickly, but some things will not be accomplished at all unless we pray them through corporately.”
Prayed…
So, Father, we thank you for this opportunity to come together unto your name.
We pray, Lord, today for new open doors.
Word came forth…
“Yes, I hear that phrase. Step over now. Don’t stay. Don’t procrastinate. Step over now. Move in now. Move up there now. Take that ground in Jesus’ name. Don’t hesitate. No, no, no. Lean into your God-ordained faith. Yes, that measure or portion granted unto you of the God kind and the God quality of faith. Step into that now. Take that place in Jesus’ name. Don’t hesitate. No, church, no, no, no, no, no, no. Now is the time you are that appointed people. You’ve heard My voice clearly. So take that step. Step over there. Yes. Step over, over, over. There’s some things you need to step over in Jesus’ name. It’s right in front of you. Don’t let it be an impediment. Don’t let it be something that makes you think, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t.’ No, no, no. Step over it in Jesus’ name. It’s time to step over that. That didn’t happen the way you thought it would happen. It’s time to step over what they said. It is time to step over fear. It’s time to step over those obstacles and blockages. They’re not to stop you. They’re to be stepped over every member now. Stepping over now. Yes. In unison now.”
