Morning Chapel Prayer Playlist
Morning Chapel Prayer Today
Pastor Ken…
Good morning, everybody.
We have a cause-and-effect relationship with the Father…
As we were singing about the rain of God’s Spirit, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the relationship the Father has set up between us and Him by way of the Holy Spirit, and how it’s a cause-and-effect relationship. Meaning if we’ll obey, if we’ll engage, will participate in kingdom of God operations on the earth, there will be an effect. In particular, let me read a passage to you. I was thinking in particular about this passage that Jesus taught His disciples in Matthew 18.
From the King James, it says…
“Surely I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Now let me read that to you from the Passion translation. It says this…
“Receive this truth. Whatever you forbid on earth will be considered to be forbidden in heaven. And whatever you release on earth will be released in heaven.”
So what are we waiting for, in other words? I think that’s important to just highlight this morning whether you have an assignment to pray about something beyond yourself, or there’s something going on in your own household or business or life in some regard, understand that Jesus did what He did so that we could be fully outfitted with spiritual authority, or the right to rule within our given domain—our lives, our nation, our households, to exercise heaven’s resources and heaven’s spiritual authority.
John Hagee quote…
Now, let me read something that John Hagee shared not long ago regarding this. He said, “Scripture makes it clear that God has placed the initiative in our hands. Jesus said whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosened in heaven. We act on earth and God responds in heaven. Too many people are waiting on God to do something, while God is waiting on them to move. The ball is in your court. Faith requires action. And heaven responds to decision. God does not respond to indecision. He responds to obedience. … There is no such thing as standing still. You either decide or you either decide to not decide. In either case, you have made a decision. You may not win every battle, but persistence and determination will prevail. Quitters never win and winners never quit. Temporary setbacks are not signs of God’s absence.”
Pastor Ken adds…
Or I like to add, are not a sign or an indication that He’s denying you. A delay, I like to say, is not a denial. It’s just an invitation to continue to grow, to persevere, to allow your faith to be refined.
He goes on to say…
“Those setbacks are signs that you are human. Press on. Endure to the end. Make up your mind to do what God has placed before you and live boldly, fearlessly, and confidently in Christ knowing that the victory belongs to you.”
Pastor Ken adds…
Which reminds me of another truth, that we’re not here praying for something this morning. We’re here, once again, praying from something—from a position of authority, from a position of being sons and daughters of the most high God, called into a royal priesthood, crowned as kings with His favor, endowed with a mission to carry His message to this world, to pray this message out in this world.
Excerpt from Pastor Lynne’s book, “The Master Is Calling”
Now, let me share another point of reflection with you from Pastor Lynne’s book, “The Master Is Calling.” She says this regarding us being God’s mouthpiece.
“Some people have gotten off into extreme thinking we must always labor and travail if God is to work powerfully in our situation. And that’s not true. When the Apostle Paul wrote to the churches in Rome, Ephesus, and Thessalonica, he said, ‘Make mention of them in their prayers.’ Do you think God moved in those churches in response to those brief prayers Paul lifted up on their behalf? Certainly, He did. When you’re praying according to the direction of the Holy Spirit, you’re speaking God’s words and His Words make things happen.”
You’re binding. You’re losing.
“All he had to say was ‘let there be light’ and a darkness so great, it had engulfed this entire earth was conquered in an instant. God’s words are containers of His power.”
Pastor Ken…
That’s a really simple truth, but it’s something maybe we forget about from time to time. God’s words are containers of power. So as we pray this morning, remind yourself that you’re releasing containers that carry power to accomplish the purpose of God, to send the enemy on the run.
Pastor Lynne quote…
“But since He has given mankind dominion,” you and I, in other words, “…over the earth, in order to release His power into His people’s lives, He needs a man or a woman to speak His words for Him. He needs someone to be His mouthpiece. That’s what you’re doing when you’re driving down the street in your car, just taking your little cues. You’re making yourself available to God. You’re opening the way for Him to intervene in situations by speaking His Word over them.”
Now let me just jump over to another section where she talks about something a little different.
She says this…
“Some people think God moves in such miraculous ways for me because I have a special call to pray. But remember the Bible says that He who supplies you will with His marvelous Holy Spirit works powerfully, miraculously among you because of your believing. Galatians 5:3–5. Notice that the scripture doesn’t say the Holy Spirit will work miraculously with you if you have a special call to pray. It doesn’t say He’ll do it if you’re a very mature Christian or who fasts every week and spends six hours a day in prayer in your prayer closet. It says He’ll work powerfully and miraculously with you because of your believing. So just believe and trust God to help you follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and He will work powerfully and miraculously in your prayer life, just as He does mine.
“Does that mean you’ll be able to wake up tomorrow morning instantly and start picking up on every cue the Holy Spirit sends your way? Probably not. I’ve been practicing this lifestyle of prayer for more than 20 years now, and I’ve found it takes time for God to develop you in it.
Time is the great equalizer…
“It takes time to develop in spiritual things. But remember that whatever station of life you find yourself in, whether poor or rich, whatever nationality you come from, the great equalizer among all humanity is time. We all have the same amount of time each and every day. It’s the preciousness of time and it’s the opportunity that each of us have to determine how we use our time that makes a big difference in our lives and in our future.”
Pastor Ken…
In other words, as we devote time to spiritual things, to the investment of prayer, it causes us to grow. It causes us to become more skillful. That’s all it takes is time… devoting time to study, devoting time to spending time with God in prayer will cause you to mature, to further develop, to further grow and become more skillful in the things of the Spirit, in things of prayer.
Our mandate is to not get comfortable where we are…
And that’s maybe punctuated in my spirit because I feel like that’s one of the mandates to the church right now along with prayer is that we not stay where we have been. That we not get comfortable and satiated with our present level of understanding and wisdom and skillfulness in all things spiritual, in all things prayer.
But in fact, God wants to grant us a level up. He wants us to walk in the higher ways that His Word states that God walks in, to think His higher thoughts that the Bible says He thinks. And not live down on a thin veneer of our present natural reality. The Bible says He calls us to a higher place in Him.
Ignorance can no longer be an excuse…
Scripture also records that God’s people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. That being said, ignorance can no longer be an excuse, whether it’s for the Word or the things of the Spirit. Then as we enter into these days like as the days of Noah, it’s going to require another level of skillfulness in God, the exercise of your authority and the use of your prayers in your spiritual life. Because if you haven’t noticed, there’s a high level of deception that’s being broadcast and is happening in our world.
We need to level up…
The Bible says in the latter times that it’s possible that even the elect could be deceived. So we need to level up. We need to give ourselves to the things of the Spirit. Prayer’s not just an emergency action we take because we are facing crisis or we see a need. Prayer is a life. It’s a privilege. And it’s a life as Katherine Kuhlman once said that we’re to give ourselves to. It’s a calling. It’s an assignment that God has placed on us that we’re to step into every day.
Spend time in development…
Just like a pro on the athletic fields of our country, they’re at the level they are because of the time that they devoted to their practice, to their craft, to their sport, to their arts, to their instrument, whatever you want to point to. They gave a lot of time. There’s a book that was written years ago that talks about outliers. And the root understanding of that book has to do with the key number of hours, which I think he sets forth something like 10,000 hours of practice and in investment and attention has to be applied for you to become a true outlier in your field of endeavor, business or sport or art or music or whatever. So an inordinate number of hours.
Every one of us has time…
I’m not saying you have to set out to spend 10,000 hours with God here the next year. I’m just saying that we have time. Every one of us has time no matter who we are or where we come from. And this walk with Jesus was never meant to be just a tradition or a source and supply of solutions for our problems. Jesus came to inaugurate a revolution of sorts in the way humanity lives, to really turn us back to what God’s original attention was in the Garden of Eden. Where Adam walked with God in the cool of the day. He walked with God. Didn’t visit Him occasionally. He walked with him day in and day out. That was His priority. And Adam’s job description and what Adam did float out of that place with His creator.
And that’s what prayer is supposed to be for us. It’s supposed to be our preeminent and most important priority. And that everything in our life would flow out of connection with our creator, fellowship with the Father.
Pastor Lynne goes on to write…
“There is something, however, you can do right away. You can get started. You can begin to teach yourself to walk with a consciousness of God. You can start training yourself to listen to your heart throughout the day so you don’t miss the cues the Holy Spirit is sending you. At first, you may only think about it a couple of times a day. But stay with it. Keep trusting God and you’ll get better at it every day.
“In addition, begin studying and meditating what the Bible has to say about the work of the Holy Spirit. I know I’ve mentioned that before, but it’s so important. It’s worth repeating. You see, it doesn’t matter how much you studied the Word in that area, if you want to keep expanding your ability to work with the Holy Spirit, you need to keep on studying. Jesus said the measure of thought and study you give to the truth you hear will be the measure of virtue and knowledge that comes back to you. The word virtue actually means power. So if you want to increase your power to pray by the Spirit, keep increasing in God’s Word.”
