Morning Chapel Prayer Playlist
Morning Chapel Prayer Today
Pastor Ken…
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to morning prayer. Thanks for being here with us.
Isaiah 55:6–9 from the Amplified Bible states, “Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call on Him while He is near. Let the wicked leave behind his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to the Lord and He will have compassion. He will have mercy on him. And to our God for He will abundantly pardon.”
John Lake quote…
Just as a point of reflection this morning, John Lake wrote many years ago, “God is endeavoring by His Spirit in these days to exact the souls of men and women into that high place, that holy life, that heavenly state whereby men and women walk day by day, hour by hour, in the heavenly consciousness of the presence of Christ.”
Psalms 32…
And then another verse that just kind of hit me this morning is found in Psalm 32. It states in the New King James, “For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to you in a time when you may be found. Surely in a flood of great waters, they shall not come near him. You are my hiding place. You shall preserve me from trouble. You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.”
God’s invitation to the body of Christ…
The thing that echoes in my spirit right now is that there is, without a doubt, an invitation for the body of Christ. There is an invitation, a summons from heaven. And heaven awaits a response from each of us individually and from us collectively. He wants to work with us, in us, and through us in this hour in our individual assignments, but also in our collective church-wide assignments as well. Not only in our community but in our nation.
God’s not troubled because He knows the end from the beginning…
And while there are negative, demonically sparked fires going on all around us that we hear regularly on the news, God is not troubled by that at all. Because He knows the end from the beginning. He knows our future better than we know our past. He holds the answers. And the last time I checked, my Bible still says He holds me in His hand and that I’m ever before Him. He always is reminded of me. His thoughts toward you and toward me are greater than the grains of sand that you can count on the seashore.
We must respond to His call to us…
He’s far greater than when we first came up with an idea of who He is. Our minds can’t comprehend fully who and how great He is. Why, of course, there’s no shadow of turning in His nature. Why, of course, He’s not nervous about what’s happening on the world stage or the national stage, because He knows how quickly that can—or He can—turn it if earth will respond to heaven’s invitation. If we will respond to His eliciting cry or call to us today, every one of us has something that we can respond to today individually in our hearts with our prayers, with our words, with our actions. It’s time to wake up to become fully sober, spiritually speaking, and respond to Him. Because in that response…
There’s a release of heaven.
There’s a release of the power of God.
There’s a release of solutions.
There’s a release of abundance.
There’s a release of solutions.
There’s a release of the supernatural turning power of God to turn on its head everything the enemy has initiated.
God thrives and loves and gets excited to turn hopeless situations around—on an individual level and on a national level.
Excerpt from writings of Cheryl Sacks…
And this is something I wanted to read real quickly to you. It comes to us from the author Cheryl Sacks, who shares a story in this short article about how when she was a child, she and her cousin or friend started a wildfire in their yard and almost burnt their house down when she was a little girl. And it was just something that was indelibly imprinted in her mind. And she writes in regard to what’s going on in our world and our nation and what our response should be. She writes…
“Like the blaze that nearly consumed our backyards that day, a raging spiritual inferno is sweeping across our nation. Just as I passively watched the wildfire spread closer and closer to our homes, many of us remain unmoved by today’s critical issues until they threaten to engulf our own lives, our own jobs, our wellbeing, and our children’s futures.
Should we let the fire devour us before we act?
“But should we wait until the danger is at our doorstep before we act? The flames are already devouring our core values, destroying our families, threatening our security, and assaulting our freedoms. This surge has manifested in rising violence, addiction, persecution, moral degeneracy, and spiritual apathy. As Christian leaders and believers, we must now sound the alarm. It’s time to be on our faces like King Jehosaphat, and the people of Judah who when faced with an insurmountable threat of destruction cried out to the Lord in fervent and intentional prayer and fasting. (2nd Chronicles 20)
“Jehosaphat called a solemn assembly and all Judah stood before the Lord acknowledging their helplessness and seeking God’s intervention.”
Is it that simple? Yeah. Is it easy? Well, you know yourself. I know myself. No, it’s not always easy. So many competing things and we’ve got this flesh to deal with.
In this pivotal hour, the Lord is asking more from His people…
“This is the kind of humble, desperate prayer we need today before the flames consume us all. The Lord is asking more of His people in this pivotal hour. He is calling all of us through deeper consecration, convicting our hearts of the need for repentance, holiness, and the fear of the Lord.
Now is the time for our church services to turn into houses of prayer and routine meetings into solemn assemblies. The mandate is clear: God desires His people to be cleansed, activated, ignited, and moving in the power of the Holy Spirit to fulfill His purposes for the church in this strategic time in history. I bet you didn’t know that you’re living in a strategic time in history. And don’t get nervous. God must have thought about you and me that He would place us on the planet at this time. He must have the goods. You must have God in you to succeed and discharge all of your assignment while there’s breath in your lungs and my lungs.
“If we are to witness the profound, spiritual transformation needed in our homes, schools, churches, and nation, we must be willing to sacrifice our convenience, time, and routine, devoting ourselves fully to seeking the Lord and obeying His call on our lives. We each have a part to play.
What is yours?
The cost is high, but the price of neglect is far greater. Here in Arizona [where she evidently lives] Christian leaders are calling for statewide prayer, fasting, and solemn assemblies beginning October 1.”
Pastor Lynne will lead morning prayer on October 1…
Which by the way, make a note to yourself: Pastor Lynne will be here on October 1 to do morning prayer. So spread the word and be sure to be a part of that in two weeks from right now.
“Ending with a united gathering at the state capitol on Sunday. November 3, leaders in all our states are making similar calls. Many churches are opening their doors on Sunday afternoons, encouraging believers to gather and pray for the nation. Imagine the impact if every church in America did this. We urge everyone to take this message seriously. Whether you are a leader who can mobilize thousands or someone who can gather a few friends in your home, I urge you to act now. This is not the time to sit in front of the television, watching the news, wringing our hands and waiting to see what happens next.
And I would pray, God forbid, that that would be our response.
“This is the time to act. Scripture is clear: If we humbly seek the Lord, He will answer. [That’s the model Jesus represented for us.] But if we sit idly by and let the fire burn unchecked, whatever that fire might be, you want to point to those flames that are lapping at our doorsteps will consume all that we love and cherish.”
The curse of knowledge…
I like to point out there’s this thing in the research realm called the “curse of knowledge.” Meaning because we’ve only known a particular state or a particular reality, we don’t really believe that it could be any different. We’ve only known peace. We’ve only known our American experience. But the truth is, that could change. And history proves that can change in a day. And I don’t mean to strike fear in anybody’s hearts. No, not at all. But I hope it would sober us a little bit. Realize, “Okay, what we have is beautiful in this nation, even just our religious freedom. What are we doing to sustain that? To watch over that?”
It’s time for us to stand on the walls to watch and pray…
The Bible calls us to get up on the walls of the outpouring and watch and pray. Jesus spoke to His disciples, “Watch and pray. Could you not watch and pray with Me one hour?”
I think that’s still the call of Jesus for us right now as His followers. She goes on to say…
“God always responds to the sincere repentant prayers of His people. We have seen Him move in powerful ways throughout history, and He is ready to do it again. In case you had a doubt, make no mistake about it. He is ready. We are at the precipice of Him doing it all over again and on a level and to a dimensionality we’ve not seen or has never been recorded in history. But we have the prophetic on it that it’s going to be something. It’s going to be a show. God’s going to put some things on display. That’s His intent. But He needs us to respond.
“To Jehoshaphat’s solemn assembly, the Lord said, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed. Tomorrow go out to face them for the Lord is with you.’”
“So what are you saying, Ken? We’re going to have to face some things.”
Yeah. You individually, me individually, us collectively. We will have to face some things. There will be some fiery furnaces and there will be opportunities to fear. That’s why God is saying, “Get ready, church. Prepare yourself, array yourself with what I have paid the price that you would equip yourself with.”
And I won’t get into that because that’s a separate teaching.
“‘But go out to face them, for the Lord is with you.’ The following day, Jehosaphat positioned the worshipers out in front and the people rose up in praise, thanksgiving, and prayer. The power of the Lord was unleashed and their enemies destroyed themselves.”
What!
They didn’t even have to lift a finger. They just had to respond to what God was summoning or eliciting them to do…
To fight the good fight of faith.
To be a student of the Word.
To give ourselves to prayer.
The power of the Lord was unleashed and their enemies destroyed themselves. Let this be a moment when we rise up in the same spirit of faith and urgency, knowing that as we humble ourselves, seek God’s face and turn from our wandering ways, we will hear from heaven.
Let us call our communities to gather in prayer and repentance just as King Jehosaphat did with all of Judah. Then watch God arise, vanquish our enemies, and save our nation.”
So agree with me in this prayer…
Father, in Jesus’ name, we cry out to you this morning as a company here at Living Word.
We cry out to you, Lord, with sincerity and faith injected into this prayer that you would awaken, purify, and activate your church.
Lord, strip away every form of complacency and ignite each one of us with a passion to pray and take action as you lead.
Empower us with the courage and boldness of the early church, that we may arise in your authority.
Break the chains of darkness, set captives free, and help us to see our nation transformed in the power of your Spirit, in Jesus’ name.
Lord, we decree that your church is consecrated and mighty army, fully clothed with your armor ready to confront the spiritual darkness in our land.
We declare that your church empowered by your dunamis power partners with you to ignite a great awakening, like in the book of Acts.
We proclaim that our families, communities, and nation will return to you to be saved.
In fact, Father, we echo the promise of scripture that we and our whole households shall be saved in the name of Jesus.
