Morning Chapel Prayer Playlist
Morning Chapel Prayer Today
Pastor Heather…
Good morning, everybody. We’re glad you’re here with us for morning prayer. Thank you for joining us. My name is Heather Stabinski. I’m one of the pastors here at Living Word.
Prayed…
The comforter. The comforter is here. Moving, moving. Hovering, changing things, moving into atmosphere.
So we welcome you. We reverence the ministry of the Holy Spirit now.
What do you want to say now? What do you want to pray? We give you free reign.
Yielding now. Yielding, yielding to the moving of the Holy Spirit.
Oh, so many things He wants to pray through.
I hear Him saying, “Give Me time. Give Me space to pray, to move through you.”
Throughout your day, at your work, in your home, in your car, even at the store, cooperating with the Holy Spirit.
That we wouldn’t go into autopilot, but that we would be sensitive throughout our day to attune our ear to what He has to say.
Flowing in His way. A flowing in His way, in His river throughout our day.
It’s not so hard, you see? It’s not so hard. “Just let Me take the wheel,” I hear Him say.
Release control. He knows where to go.
So get into that flow. Let Him take you where He wants to go.
Stop fighting. Stop pulling. Stop walking against the rapids and get into that flow.
Now, get into that flow for His burden is easy and light.
He knows the best way to get there.
So, release, release control. Let go of the reins. For He reigns.
The one who reigns on high has your reins.
So stop fighting. Stop being stubborn. Stop saying, “I know the way.” And let Him go. Let Him lead the way.
A close following, in step with the Holy Spirit.
So close, so close that you sense every movement before it’s even made.
Heather comments…
I see two dancers and they’re so in step. That’s us with the Holy Spirit. We have to be so in tune and in step at letting Him lead the way that we’re watching every nuance, every turn, every movement. But that we’re in sync. We’re in unity with Him.
Oh, the places He wants to go. The places He wants to take us. But He won’t go alone. He’s waiting. He’s waiting for us to get into step. And what a beautiful dance it will be—full of grace, full of beauty, full of strength.
He knows every step. So let Him lead the way now. He’s got you.
And how do we get to know His ways? Time in His presence. Time praying in the Spirit. Because we’re changed in His presence, into His likeness.
And it’s so easy. He’s our mirror. He shows us who we were meant to be.
So stop fighting to be something He hasn’t created you to be. Stop striving for your own way. And step into His ways, for His ways are higher. His yoke is easy and light. He knows all things, and He’s given us all things to be victorious.
And as we spend time in His presence, in His Word, praying in the Spirit. We’re looking in a mirror, a mirror of who He created us to be.
And it’s so much more than we are right now. So much is waiting. So come up higher now. Let Him lift your head now. He’s the lifter of our heads.
And you don’t have to look down and watch your feet when you walk. You look up to Him. For He’s got your steps prepared, every single one.
So eyes on Jesus, all eyes on Jesus. The lifter of our heads, our glory, our peace, the lover of our souls.
Gentle and low, is how we come to you. Humble, humbling ourselves before you, Lord. A laying down.
What are the things He’s calling you to lay down?
Now what are those things He’s calling you to lay down as a sacrifice that’s pleasing to Him? So lay it down now.
Lay it at His feet as an offering. He’ll bless it. He’ll multiply it. Or He’ll take it away if it’s causing you pain.
For He knows. He knows the plans that He has for you.
And they’re for good and not evil. For a future and a hope.
So, yield to those plans now.
Say, “Here am I, Lord. Do as you will. I lay my life down as a pleasing sacrifice.”
Because I know you can multiply this little life for your work, for your will to feed many.
Worship leader shared…
We all have things we really need to give to Him and let Him just have. Sometimes He asks for things we really like. We really want to keep. But I’ve lived and walked with Him long enough now to know that if He’s asking for it, He has something better. So whatever that is, whatever you need to just lay down to make room for Him like never before in your life, don’t fight Him on it. He really does have the best for you. Yeah, it might make you feel sad to give it up. There might be some emotions you have to deal with. But even Jesus in the garden struggled, so He understands what it’s like to wrestle with that. But He showed us it’s best to follow the Father, even if it means something hard.
Prayed…
So, Father, whatever that is that people are struggling with giving up, help us lay it down because we want more of you. More of us hasn’t solved anything. We need more of you, Jesus. We need you to be the center of everything again. Even that spot, even that thing that we would rather you not be. Even that. So whatever that is, we surrender it now. We give it back to you.
Pastor Heather shared about “Glass Trophies”
I just felt led to share something that the Lord showed me one time in prayer. And I wrote it down. I thought this was fitting for everything we were talking about today. It’s called “Glass Trophies.”
Glass Trophies
Ornate, breathtaking, beautiful handblown glass trophies, catching light within each intricate curve. These are my accomplishments, a testimony of my life’s work. Delicate, precious, displayed high on a shelf out of reach beyond human touch. Admire my collection, won’t you please? Do you see the workmanship and the detail I put into each piece? Appreciate the time taken to create each miniature monument to my success.
I secretly spend time here. This private little room in my heart. I gaze upon my most prized collection and reminisce on my past achievements. I’ve polished and preserved each piece throughout the years. Past purposes seem to fill my new empty spaces. Beholding each piece makes me feel held. Each trophy tells a story of my worth, proof of my purpose.
Today, Jesus came in my secret room. He gazed upon my collection. I was beaming as I watched Him. “He must be so proud of me,” I thought to myself. He looked at me lovingly, such a tender look I’ve come to know and love. And I knew He was desiring an extravagant act of worship from me.
The questions seeped into my heart and confronted me. Would I be willing to give them all up and break them at His feet? My heart began to weep. “But, Lord, I worked so hard. These are my proof of worth. I need them.” He held me close to His heart. I knew it was my choice. He would never push me. He would wait until I was ready. He could come again another day.
Slowly my eyes were opened and I began to see the emptiness of each trophy, the uselessness of such delicate pieces in the face of the work He was calling me to. I could remain like these delicate sculptures, cold and out of reach, beyond human touch, a precious relic of the past to be admired on a shelf. Or I could be alive and present, filled with His purpose, like moldable clay in His loving hands. A living, breathing sacrifice.
“But what can I admire in a room filled with barren shelves,” I thought to myself. “What will fill this room in my heart once it’s empty?”
He would!
His love began to fill every space of that room until I thought my heart would burst. I began to grab each glass trophy and smash them at His feet, like Mary with her alabaster jar, offering up that which represented my life’s work.
To my surprise, each piece released the most beautiful fragrance of worship. I wept at His feet as my fragrant offering filled the room. Is that all I have to give? Suddenly my collection seemed so small and insignificant. What else could I give Him? What else can I break at His feet?
He lifted My head, smiled and held me close. “You are enough,” He said. His love shattered every fear and insecurity within me. Every feeling of unworthiness melted away. All striving to prove my worth ceased. I just enjoyed His presence and He enjoyed mine. My purpose redefined—to love and to be loved, to share His love with others.
Prayed…
So, Father, whatever glass trophies we have on our shelves, past achievements, we just break them at your feet because it’s all for you, Father. It’s all for you.
And whatever thing you’re asking us to lay down today, we surrender.
For we know that whatever you have for us is so much greater, so much more fulfilling, eternal.
So we thank you, Father. Whatever you’re calling people to today, whatever that is, to lay something down, it might even be a beautiful thing that they love. It might be something that is holding them back. You speak to their hearts, you show them, Lord, that you have so much more to offer. You have so much more than that thing that might be holding up space in their hearts.
So we thank you for that, Father. Thank you for your patience with us, for Your grace, for your mercy.
