How Do I Enter In And Receive God’s Presence & Healing More Deeply In And Through Intercessory Prayer ?
Chef’s Menu For Today
Prayer to be set free from Hopelessness
Dear Lord Jesus Your Living Word in Proverbs 13:12 says: ‘Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.’ Oh, how I long for this shift in reality in my life.
Forgive me I pray when I have allowed myself to be overwhelmed by negative thoughts whether they are from the media or from my wounded, broken and sick heart or others. Help me to taste and see that you are good and to understand from Your Word and the beauty of Your creation that you are Good, that You have a good plan for my life. I have had so many hopes and dreams shattered, help me to find Hope and the capacity to Trust in You again.
I desire to come aside into the rest of Your presence to receive Your restoration of my heart and mind, for a shift of my unhealthy pre-occupations and perspectives. I desire to come into line with Your mindset, thoughts and Word Jesus by Your Holy Spirit. Show me please how You see so many situations of suffering and devastations, so that I may understand Romans 8:28-29 that Your purpose through the sufferings I’ve experienced in my life, is for me to turn to You to receive Your Grace and for You to conform me into Your image You intended, for the likeness of Your nature to be formed in me. Help me surrender to you Lord.
Please help me to develop new channels of receiving from You so that Trust is restored in my heart.
Show me where I’ve put my hope in man and been desperately disappointed and forgive me.
I’ve experienced the Curse in Jeremiah 17:5-10 and I realise in all the sorrow and negativity, my heart has turned away from Yours too often, and I repent of allowing despair of unmet expectations to take over. Let the Light of Your Word shine into the darkness of my heart and show me where You have searched my motives and attitudes and found they don’t line up with Your heart.
I desire to be like the Blessed man who trusts in You Lord so I desire to put my full confidence in You.
I ask you to conform my heart to be a Believing heart like Mary Magdalene, so that I may praise You and seek after You and testify in my darkest moments… ‘I have seen the Lord!’
Or like Noah who obeyed You to build the Ark, despite the disappointment of people’s not heeding his warnings from You. With the consequences of the massive flood, Noah still chose to worship You and sacrificed an offering to You with gratitude that You had saved his and his family’s lives once the waters had subsided. Change my heart Lord to be without complaint and to seek You in my distress.
Or make me like David who at Ziklag in 1 Samuel 30:1-8 trusted in Your rescue of his wives and family and of all his men when all seemed Hopeless when they had been attacked:
6 David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God .7 Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelek, “Bring me the ephod.” Abiathar brought it to him, 8 and David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?”
Thank You Lord Jesus for hearing my prayer.
Make me like You Lord Jesus as in the Prayer of St Francis:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring love.
Where there is offence, let me bring pardon.
Where there is discord, let me bring union.
Where there is error, let me bring truth.
Where there is doubt, let me bring faith.
Where there is despair, let me bring hope.
Where there is darkness, let me bring your light.
Where there is sadness, let me bring joy.
O Lord, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love,
for it is in giving that one receives,
it is in self-forgetting that one finds,
it is in forgiving that one is forgiven,
it is in dying that one awakens to eternal life.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
Ephesians 1:15-23 KJV
Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,
Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him:
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power,
Which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places,
Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
And hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church,
Which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.
Ima Odutola from: Light and Grace Ministries
To Listen to Ima’s Prayer on “Wonders Without Numbers” via YouTube: Click Here
Scripture reference:
Zech 4:6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
A Prayerful Meditation with Olivia Helmore
New Wine and Oil Meditation
Receiving God’s Remedy for our Hopelessness
The true seed is God’s truth and wisdom
This Thursday, we are going to be walking in the resurrection garden with Jesus. Let’s come aside again and find rest in the garden of our hearts as we encounter the Lord and learn to receive His wisdom and love in our broken places.
Last week, we witnessed the Lord commissioning Peter to feed His sheep; to walk out his commitment to the Lord not according to his past failures, but according to the future Jesus purposed for him. The Lord removed any doubt that Jesus intended for him to overcome, not according to his past, but according to God’s purposes towards all who believe: that we should hear, and receive, the Word by faith, and so live, doing the things we have seen the Son do for us; speaking the things we have heard the Son speak, and so partnering in the harvest of souls, by sowing the true Word, the true seed, which is God’s truth and wisdom, into the garden of this earth.
He is building in us a Kingdom that cannot be shaken
As we go out, as we proceed from the secret place of receiving God’s true word for our hearts, we believe that God is accomplishing His purpose of redeeming all things. There is a path of obedience; a journey, a way of doing the Word we are all called to, and this involves rightly dividing the Word; depending on the Word for our strength; digesting and metabolising the Word, in our bodies; following the Word, applying it to the circumstances of our lives.
In learning to discern how we are to apply the Word to our lives, we rely on the Spirit of truth. We rely on the Word and Spirit of truth to reform us, heal us, guide us, and discern our inward parts. It is through making ourselves available to the Word of God, to work on us, He grows us into faithful stewards of that Word. In hearing, heeding, and doing the Word, we are allowing the Creator of all things to build in us a kingdom that cannot be shaken.
God calls forth Life in the Place of Death
Through Noah, God revealed His faithfulness to the earth. The Lord was unwilling that the earth should be overruled by wickedness. He gave Noah instructions, that he, his family, and many creatures with them should be preserved from the coming judgement over wickedness, which at that time was by flood.
God is in the business of turning all things – even wickedness – for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Now some people have perverted this hope into something else; instead, they say that God is only in the business of prospering all things – that He’s never in the business of judging wickedness, or of calling us back from our waywardness.
Yet we have assurance of our true hope, that God will turn all things – even wickedness – for our good, because God has already done the impossible: He has called forth life in the place of death – for us in our hearts, in the resurrection of Jesus, and in His redemption after the flood. God is in the business of transforming man’s hopelessness in the face of wickedness, into hope in God’s covenant-keeping faithfulness – to the earth, and to His family in the earth.
God has covenanted Himself to Creation
When the waters were receding from the earth, after the flood, Noah received the welcome sign of a dove returning to the ark with an olive branch. In this olive branch, we witness God’s primary purpose in the flood: His purpose was to bless and prosper the earth through judging wickedness. Wickedness sets itself against the Lord, to destroy the witness and testimony of God’s covenant-keeping faithfulness in the earth, and His love towards all creation.
Wickedness prospers for a time, yet this never changes the mind and heart of God, who has covenanted Himself to creation. The Lord set the rainbow as a sign of hope and covenant, promising the whole earth would never again experience judgement by flood. Yet Jesus said the time of the end would be like in Noah’s day; that many would still be quite unaware of the measure of wickedness found in the earth, which demanded judgement for the good of creation.
The Lord transforms our Heartbreak and Sorrow into a Witness and Testimony
Even believing that God will turn all things for our good, sometimes, we lose courage. The day after Jesus was buried, Mary Magdalene was at the tomb and the Lord Himself encountered her. At first, she did not recognise Him. He asked, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” All that she wanted was to know where His body had been taken. She did not yet realise the evidence of Jesus’ resurrection was standing before her!
Here was the Man who held the keys of hell and death, and was able to redeem the story of mankind; redeem us to the point that we are able to respond righteously to God’s covenant-keeping faithfulness to us, and to creation.
When Jesus called Mary by her name, then she recognised Him as her beloved teacher. He instructed her to go to His brothers, and tell them He was ascending to His Father, and their Father; His God, and their God. He revealed Himself as the First of many sons. The family of
God was being restored because of the Lord’s faithfulness to us, and to His creation.
So, Mary Magdalene went to the disciples and did as the Lord had told her, witnessing that she had seen Him, and testifying of the words He had spoken. This moment of encounter with the Lord had transformed Mary’s heartbreak and sorrow. The Lord had gently redirected her love for the One who had healed her, so that she could offer her witness and her testimony, that many more people could place their hope in the resurrection.
Though we lose courage, we return to the sure word of Jesus
Far from abandoning His disciples, far from failing to effect His New Covenant between the Father and many sons, the Lord Himself was about to appear to His disciples in the flesh, and confirm He was indeed the Holy One of Israel, with the power to fulfil His own Word, and to redeem as many as would receive His gift of hope unto salvation.
Where we failed, God has overcome. Where wickedness prevails, the Lord will again effect His covenant with the earth and the family of God. The Lord will destroy wickedness. We do not always see wickedness judged in the earth. Yet we know, because of Jesus’ resurrection, that the power of transgression was finished at the cross.
Though we lose courage, we return to the sure word of Jesus: that He ascended to the Father, and our Father; to His God, and our God. Though there is a time, as in the days of Noah, when wickedness prospers and righteousness is despised, the Lord misses nothing. And in the meantime, as we wait for His judgements, we are to do the Word.
As we do the Word, He builds in us a safe harbour for others to shelter
First we hear, yet we must not only hear but also heed; therefore we do: we do what the Word instructs us, how the Word instructs us. Each of us has a witness and a testimony from our encounters with the Son through His Word and the Spirit of truth. As we build our life and ways on the sure rock of His Word and His ways, He forms in us a vessel through which He can speak the beauty of the New Covenant into the earth; He forms in us a vessel through which He can testify of His marvelous love and faithfulness towards all creation.
We also prepare ourselves, through the Word, to overcome any temptation to turn aside; to forget His Word, or to pervert it. Though God’s Word comes with judgement over sin, this is for our benefit: that we would heed the warning, that there is a coming judgement over all wickedness in the earth. But God has seen fit to prepare a place for us in His kingdom. And if we believe Him – that He was sent of the Father, to bring many sons and daughters home to their Father in heaven, He builds in us a safe harbour for others to shelter when they grow weary, hopeless, or discouraged in the face of unaccounted-for sin, in the church or in the world.
From Hopelessness to Hope in God’s Covenant-Keeping Faithfulness
May you hear the Lord calling your name. May you recognise Him: may you receive directly from Him the word that He has ascended to His Father, and your Father; to His God, and your God. May you know that He is building in you a trustworthy vessel of His wisdom, His truth, and His love. May He gently turn the eyes of your heart to His covenant-keeping faithfulness. May you believe that He is able to effect the New Covenant, in full measure, in His time. May you trust He has given you a witness and a testimony, for the good of His family, and your family: may you look full in the face of the Son, and discover He is restoring the broken places in your heart, to life.
Ps Jeff’s Special Today: “Failure to support Israel”
Israel is the chosen place on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem for Yeshua/Jesus’ soon return. It continues to be “a special treasure to Me above all people, for all the earth is Mine.“ (Exodus 19:5). The land He gave to Israel is His, not to be divided (Joel 3:2). His Covenant with Israel and His Word He gave to them, and now to us, will stand forever.
However, being honest with yourself, as you spend time with the Holy Spirit, is there an old issue with being reluctant to support Israel that needs to be confessed? any part of replacement theology? is failing to support Israel an issue ? do you have any residue of opposing Israel from your upbringing as a child? was it a family pattern?
God bless you as you seek His Holy Spirit Wisdom and Comfort on this issue. May you go forward on His path, “perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Corinthians 7:1).
