Prayer Summary for November 20

Scripture Focus….

(10) “In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides]. (11) Put on God’s whole armor [the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies], that you may be able successfully to stand up against [all] the strategies and the deceits of the devil. (12) For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere. (13) Therefore put on God’s complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day [of danger], and, having done all [the crisis demands], to stand [firmly in your place]. (14) Stand therefore [hold your ground], having tightened the belt of truth around your loins and having put on the breastplate of integrity and of moral rectitude and right standing with God, (15) And having shod your feet in preparation [to face the enemy with the firm-footed stability, the promptness, and the readiness produced by the good news] of the Gospel of peace. (16) Lift up over all the [covering] shield of saving faith, upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked [one]. (17) And take the helmet of salvation and the sword that the Spirit wields, which is the Word of God. (18) Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God’s consecrated people).”
(Eph. 6:10-18 Amp.)

Shared…

The following excerpt is taken from Born for Battle by R. Arthur Mathews:

The Cutting Edge

Prayer is a weapon, a mighty weapon in a terrible conflict. Our prayers are to be a continual, conscious, earnest effort of battle, the battle against whatever is not God’s will.
P. T. Forsyth

Prayer is the cutting edge of any work for God. It is not a supplemental spiritual rocket to get some well-meaning effort off the ground. Prayer is the work and the working power in any spiritual ministry. It should be the central thrust.

The spiritual history of a mission or a church is written in its prayer life. The expression of corporate life is not measured in statistics, but in prayer depth. The programs of preaching, teaching, and serving; the goal setting; the adoption of news, twentieth-century techniques, seminars on time management, and administrative procedures are all good. But they are effective and productive in God’s economy only as they are subject to prayer.

Considering the importance God attaches to prayer for the carrying out of His purposes on earth, we must be alert and sensitive to common habits and tendencies that impair our prayers’ effectiveness and blunt their cutting edge. Prayers with blunt edges have no power of penetration. They may not get through to the throne. Furthermore, such prayers do not have any sharp edge to inflict wounds, our best endeavors ought to concentrate on preserving a razor-sharp cutting edge.

In a day when new and exciting cutting edges are being recommended, the tendency is to be carried away with new ideas and relegate the traditional trusty weapons to a place of less significance, or to throw them away altogether. We need to realize that God is not going to use any means of operation just because it happens to be innovative. Nor will he use it because it relates to the status quo. Edith Schaeffer warns us that “it is difficult to stand against the pull of 20th century solutions.” It is easier to go along with the contemporary mood. It is less troublesome to give priority to outward means and methods that promise to increase the effectiveness of our service and our praying, but often at the expense of inner reality.

The concept that treats prayer as if it were merely a supplement booster in getting some projects off the ground makes the projects primary and the prayer secondary. Prayer was never meant to be incidental to the work of God. It is the work.

If prayer is fostered only by emergencies and is only and always juts petition, then it seems to me that some very important aspects of prayer are being ignored. Prayer is more than the church’s ambulance, called out to deal with various crises after the damage has already been done. To use it only in this way is to cheapen and act despitefully toward the deeper significance of prayer that God teaches in the Bible.

To pray in an emergency is altogether right. But to pray only in an emergency cannot be right because this limits prayer to the area of our own self-awareness in the events of life. It makes prayer a convenience, something to which we are driven by our human perspective on the crisis, not something in which we are drawn and energized by the Holy Spirit.

I think we need to study the implications of these things. Prayer must start at God’s end, for isn’t that the control center of all that happens? Therefore our relationship with Him and our attitude towards the things He allows to disturb our lives is more important than passing on information to Him.

Because of this, our first duty is to make sure we are really in that lofty place by His side with the right attitude and with nothing in us to prevent Him from hearing us or to prevent us from hearing His still, small voice. It is only from that place of closest intimacy that we may learn what the will is that we are to pray will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

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Prayed…

We are to be hungry and thirsty for You!
Continually be being filled
We plead the blood and come under the covering of it
In it, we have been made clean and restored!
By Your Spirit, we are faithful to pray Your plan out every day!
We release Your living water to the world
Father, we pray and request new divinely given songs
For hearts to be opened and ears to hear the melody of Your Spirit
There are new sounds and songs that are still to be sung
Prayer should not be an ambulance to fix the problem that has already accrued
We pray out ahead and stop the maneuvers of the enemy before they take place
Declaring the Word of God today!
We believe for the wells of life to spring forth
Some things need to be stopped, and other things need to go forth
Closing doors that should have been closed a long time ago
We seal them shut never to be opened again
Seeing new doors to walk through!
No boundaries holding us back or in
Shaking off the dust
Praying over the house of God
There are mandates to be walked through—call, speak, declare, and believe!
Keep moving further!
Pleading the blood over every step that is ahead
Every detail is covered in the blood!
There was something that was not finished in October and mistakes were made
We apply the blood over them and declare correction to come by the blood!
That being turned in the right way—it is NEVER too late!
Get over on the right step again!
By the blood, removing all of the hindrances out of the way
Churches will be restored and walk in victory all the way through to the finish
Lord, we want to be faithful to You, Your will, and Your Word
Thank You for the blood of Jesus that washes us and makes us new
Jesus, thank You for Your faithfulness to go all the way to the cross for us!
We continually trust and lean over unto You
Help us to be faithful in prayer!
Our eyes are lifted to You
We have a thankful heart today!
This day is blessed and new!

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