Morning Prayer Summary for Monday, July 12, 2021

Shared…

The following excerpt is taken from The Master is Calling by Lynne Hammond:

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.
(Psalm 27:14 KJV)

In addition to establishing habits, you can also cultivate attitudes that will greatly enhance the atmosphere in your house of prayer. One of the most important is the attitude of dependence on the Lord.

Whether we realize it or not, we are totally dependent upon Him – especially in the area of prayer. The Bible tells us very plainly “we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought” (Romans 8:26). Therefore, if we’re ever to pray effectively we must first come to a place of humility and childlike dependence. WE must be able to say in all sincerity, “Father, I cannot accomplish anything without the leadership of Your Spirit. So I’m waiting here before You in reverence and faith, trusting You to show me the way I need to pray today.”

Then we must be willing to do exactly what we said we would do – wait.

That may sound simple, but once you’ve tried it you’ll find it is anything but simple. In this day and age, we’re not used to waiting. We live in a fast-paced automated world where you put your quarter in the machine, hit the button and -wham!-your soft drink falls out. You put a box in the microwave, wait a few seconds and -beep!-dinner is served.

God, however, is not a machine, He is not a microwave. It takes time for us to cultivate a relationship with Him, not just time spent talking, either, but time spent in quiet waiting.

The fact is, most of us do too much talking in our prayer times. We need to change that. We need to stop focusing so much on what we want to say to God and start attending instead to what He wants to say to us. We need to ask for grace to cultivate the listening side of prayer.

It takes great grace, great discipline and great desire, to come to a place where we can consistently hear God’s voice. It is the highest challenge of the Christian life. But we must meet that challenge, for it is the key that opens every door. Why is it so hard for us to listen? Because it often takes time for us to hear from Him. It takes the ability to wait in His presence, to quiet our minds and our hearts so the static and noise that often keep us deaf to His gentle voice melt away and we can hear Him at last.

The problem is most of us can’t seem to sit still that long. We have too many other things we could (and thing we should) be doing. Imagine for a moment that I were to put you in a rowboat on the middle of the ocean. If I left you there alone without an oar and told you to wait for me until I came back for you, it would be easy for you to wait, wouldn’t it? There would be nothing else for you to do.

If I were to take you downtown, however, drop you off at a major intersection and tell you to wait for me, you might find waiting much more difficult – especially if I delayed in coming for you. Rather than sit helplessly on the corner, you’d have a great number of options. You could hail a cab or catch a bus. You could step into a phone booth and call a friend. You’d probably do it, too, because we all find it much more comfortable to take action and take control than to wait.

Yet, if we are to cultivate a living, vibrant relationship with God, we must learn to wait.

I’ve noticed in prayer groups, people who haven’t developed the skill of waiting on the Lord sometimes miss God’s direction because they feel they have to do something the moment prayer begins. Like a cat jumping on a mouse, the pounce on the first thing that comes into their mind and off they go, praying as fast and as hard as they can. They don’t understand that sometimes God doesn’t want us to do, He just wants us to be.

There are times He just wants us to get comfortable in His presence. Times when He simply wants us to set our hearts on Him and be aware both of our desperate need for Him and His promise to fill that need and overflowing. Wonderful things happen during those quiet times. God moves on our hearts. WE may not even know what He is doing, but if our hearts are turned toward Him in faith we can be sure He is doing something great.

He Works While You Wait

Even though waiting may seem like a very passive activity to you, it actually sets God in motion. Isaiah 64:4 says, “For from of old no one has heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who works and shows Himself active on behalf of him who [earnestly] waits for Him.”

Exactly what kind of work does He do for us while we wait? He strengthens us, for one thing.

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the ear, does not faint or grow weary; there is no searching of His understanding. He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength [causing it to multiply and making it to abound]. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and [selected] young men shall feebly stumble and fall exhausted. But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hop in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired. (Isaiah 40:28-31)

What a blessing it is to exchange our limited, human strength for the unlimited strength of God Himself! Yet many times we pass up that blessing because we don’t take the time to wait. So, instead of burning brighter day by day, eventually we burn out.

A minister’s wife once said to me, “You know, I am so busy in ministry I don’t have time to wait before the Lord.” Of course, she meant well. She loved God. But she had fallen right into the Devil’s trap. He knew if she spent all her time serving people and none in the presence of God, she’d eventually dry up, run out of power and be no help to anyone.

Don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying we shouldn’t serve people. What I am saying is that service should come from the overflow of our relationship with God. We should be meeting people’s needs not from our own puny, human resources, but from the rivers of living water that are released within our hearts during our times of quiet fellowship with Him.

No doubt, sometimes you’ll want to wring your hands when you look at your schedule. You’ll think, How am I going to get all my work done if I take time out to wait on God? The fact is, you can’t in your won strength. You will have to depend on God and you express your dependence by waiting on Him. You come before Him and say, “Lord, You are my life. You are my strength. You are my ever-present help. So I’m putting everything -schedule and all – in Your Hands. I am waiting on You.”

Please understand, waiting on the Lord doesn’t necessarily require hours of your time, and it doesn’t always have to be done just in your prayer closet. If you’ll ask the Lord to help you, you can learn to wait on Him at the office during a break time, when you’re driving your car, at a restaurant while you’re waiting for your food – anywhere!

I remember on particular Sunday, I had planned to spend the afternoon fellowshipping with the Lord and preparing to preach the evening service. My plans were interrupted, however, when my daughter told me she needed me to take her to the mall to buy something she needed for school on Monday. Since I had purposed in my heart not to let my ministry interfere with meeting my children’s needs, I set my plans aside and off we went.

As I walked through the mall with her I thought, Lord, it looks like I won’t get to spend much time alone with You before I preach tonight, so You’ll just have to help me.

Suddenly the Lord spoke to my heart. See that seat over there? He said. You just sit down there, wait on Me and let your daughter go on and shop with her friend.

That’s exactly what I did. I sat down, closed my eyes and in a flash I left that mall and stepped in to the presence of God. I don’t know what the shoppers who passed by me thought I was doing. I probably looked like I was asleep. But I wasn’t. I was having wonderful time fellowshipping with the Lord, listening to Him and receiving the strength I needed to minister that night.

If you’ll ask the Holy Spirit for His help, He’ll show you man such opportunities. He’ll even help you wait on Him in the midst of seemingly impossible circumstances.

This is where so many Christians miss the will of God for their lives. Instead of waiting on Him, they just try to figure out in their brains what the best course of action would be. The problem is, God’s plan for us isn’t in our brains. It’s in our hearts! And if we want to know what that plan is, we must allow the Holy Spirit to bring it up from our hearts and reveal it to us in times of quiet waiting.

Prayed…

Holy Spirit You are our comforter, You are the very breath of God
You are with us, and wrapping Your arms around us
There is a rhythm now, there is a cadence now!
We will wait on You, Lord
Sync us up to You, so that we will be at the right place at the right time
Thank You Lord, thank You spirit
You have so much stored up for us
Father, we worship You, and we wait on You
Hallelujah, we turn our attention towards You
Thank You for Your presence, thank You for Your goodness
We love and worship You
Holy Spirit have Your way in this place
You have called us for these days and these hours
We acknowledge You, and we ask that You would have Your way today
Break down the barriers, Lord
You are causing us to respond to what the spirit is saying
Jesus, clean out our souls
Make a way where there seems to be no way
Be still, be quiet and make way for the redeemer has come
Thank You for a greater impartation from heaven, Lord
Praying that today, there would be a pruning going on
Things that need to be shaken off would be shaken off
We pray for course corrections in peoples hearts and callings
Give us a fresh visions to be cast!
Thank You Lord, that You have given us authority
Grant unto us utterance in these last days
Declaring that the violence in our city would be cast down in Jesus name!
We apply the blood of Jesus over our cities, and over our nation
Pushing back darkness, and we come against violence and the stronghold of the enemy
Lawlessness, be cast down and go in Jesus name!
We raise up the standard of the spirit of God in our communities and cities
Speaking grace to the mountains of impossibilities
Grant unto our senators, mayors and leaders grace for every decision that needs to be made
Thank You for the peace of God and we break those assignments of the devil in Jesus name
Praying for wisdom and insight for law enforcement officers
Calling in the harvest of souls in the name of Jesus
Bring help where there is no hope
We lift up the mission, Lord
Praying over the atmosphere, praying that Your presence would surround us, Lord
Thank You for healing, restoration, peace and hope in every area
You are working hand in hand with leaders in our communities
Calling for change today, change today!
We lift up those firefighters that are fighting those wildfires
Grant unto them strength, we pray for rain today Lord
Rain come, we call for rain in our nation, to bring life all across our nation
Thank You Lord, thank You Jesus
We reverence You, and worship You, Lord

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