How Do I Enter In And Receive God’s Presence & Healing More Deeply In And Through Intercessory Prayer ?
Chef’s Menu For Today
Prayer Meditation
Leah felt ‘worth-less’ in her husband’s heart as he Loved Rachel her younger sister, who also became Jacob’s wife. In Genesis 29:16-30 Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. …v17 Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful. …v23-29 after 7 years of serving Laban, Jacob hoped to marry Rachel, but he was deceived and given Leah. Then he was given Rachel and agreed to work another 7 years ….v30 Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah.
Where do we find our sense of Worth, Love and Value? From Humans OR from The LORD?
Genesis 29:31-35 Let us Pray that where we have not felt loved and where hope deferred has set in our hearts, that like Leah, where we have felt worthlessness and have been deeply disappointed with our hearts sick – Let us shift to Praise the Lord!
31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.
32 So Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben; for she said, “The Lord has surely looked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will love me.”
33 Then she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon.
34 She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi.
35 And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name Judah.Then she stopped bearing.
Revelation 5:4b-11 Let us enjoy the beautiful focus of Worthy is the Lamb as we as ‘Australia Kneels’ bow before the Lamb who was slain, in the midst of the Throne.
Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”
6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
7 Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.
Instead of focusing on worthlessness, let us Behold: Worthy Is the Lamb
8 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
9 And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
10 And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth.”
11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands,
12 saying with a loud voice:
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honour and glory and blessing!”
13 And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:
“Blessing and honour and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne,
And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”
14 Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.
Receive Jesus the ‘Lamb’ of God in the Bible into our hearts & establish that He alone is Worthy
Dearest Lord Jesus, how we thank you for your mercy that when Abraham took Isaac his only son, in obedience to your calling to make a sacrifice, in Gen 22:7, Isaac asked his father…’but where is the Lamb?’ When you saw Abraham’s faith and complete surrender to you, lifting his hand to slay his son, you commanded him to stop, and you provided the Ram for the sacrifice as a type and shadow of what we discover in John 1:29, when Jesus’ cousin John saw Him and said; ‘Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.’
Jesus the Messiah was the Passover Lamb 1 Cor 5:7that was prophesied by Isaiah in chapter 53:7. ‘He was led as a Lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before it’s shearers is silent, He open not His mouth.’ …1 Peter1:19 recognises ‘We are redeemed…with the precious blood of Messiah as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot.’
Now we Testify as in Rev 12:11, we Overcome, by the Blood of the Lamb, the Word of our Testimony and loving not our life unto death
In Rev 7:9-10,14,17 the Apostle John received the Revelation of the Throne room of heaven, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
14“These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
In Rev 13:8…… All who dwell on the earth will worship him (the anti-Christ), whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
In Rev 14:1-5 …behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads.
2 And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps.
3 They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth.
4 These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were [c]redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.
5 And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.
In Rev 17:14… These (those with the Beast) will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.”
Rev 19:9 … ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’
Rev 21: (about the New Jerusalem) 14 ‘Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the [a]names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.’
The Glory of the New Jerusalem
Rev 21:22-27 But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.
24 And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honour into it.
25 Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there).
26 And they shall bring the glory and the honour of the nations into it.
27 But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Rev 22:1-5 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.
2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
3 And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.
4 They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.
5 There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.
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 Message and Prayer on “The Love of God has Found me” via YouTube: Click Here
Rom 8:37 The One Who loves us gives us an overwhelming victory in all these difficulties.
God’s Love is our weapon, our shield and fortress. Nothing can stand successfully against God’s people, because of God’s Great Love !!
Anchor Scripture:
Romans 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
A Prayerful Meditation with Olivia Helmore
New Wine and Oil Meditation
Receiving God’s Remedy for our Worthlessness
What does worthlessness say?
This Thursday, we are looking to Jesus to provide the remedy for our worthlessness. What is worthlessness? How does it manifest in our lives? We may feel worthless when we believe nothing can change others’ negative judgement about us. We may feel trapped by negative expectations of ourselves and others’ responses to us.
This makes it difficult to live in community. Instead of knowing and believing we have an important role to play in the family of God, and in the settings He’s given us to minister peace and reconciliation to the world, instead we might feel that trying to offer what we have is just too difficult. Maybe we feel there will never be any fruit to our works and efforts, based on past experience where we’ve been rejected or cast aside; we might think that what we have to give will never be deemed worthy of being received by our family in the church, or our friends, or the world.
Worthlessness often takes the form of a negative confession over ourselves, for example that I am disgusting, or that who I am doesn’t meet others’ expectations or God’s expectations. It also manifests in the form of self-blame. For example, maybe I find myself agreeing with the idea that I am always the reason things haven’t gone to plan, or I am always the reason someone responded to me in a manner that was hurtful.
Worthlessness says: I have no place here; I have no voice here; I have nothing to offer here; and even if I did, no one will receive me; I’m in the wrong place; I can’t make a difference here anyway. But God says: let the person who joins themselves to My family not say they are a barren tree, because they are pillars in the house of the Lord; we are all vital, an important piece of His redemption story now.
Preparing to receive the Lord’s remedy for our worthlessness
Now, let’s make some room in our heart, to invite God into the places we feel worthless. Are there areas in your heart you have a negative expectation of how others will receive you? Are there ways you speak over yourself which deny the place at God’s table He has prepared for you? Are there any memories you can bring to Jesus now, where you know you need to feel His assurance of the way He sees you? Are there any assignments the Lord has given you, that you have laid down because of a negative expectation of how others will receive you?
Let’s come to the Father now, and receive His promised Holy Spirit, that empowers us to overcome the world, and that includes our feelings of worthlessness. In this moment, we invite you to receive the Word of Jesus over you by faith.
Hearing and Praying the Word
Let’s hear the words of God over us, and mix our hearing with faith, as we ask God to help us believe. Lord, help us believe that You have chosen us. You have set us apart. You have given us a seat at the table, and You are preparing a place for us.
You said, in Your Father’s house there are many mansions; there is room for everyone who dares to receive Your grace as it is, freely given to everyone without respect to status or power in this world.
Though the world may reject us, Your words are the ones we choose to believe. Your words are the words we choose to confess over ourselves. Lord, thank You that as we bring our wrongdoing into the light, we have the assurance we are absolutely forgiven. Our past is not the measure of our future.
Please help us Lord, not to limit ourselves by our past or despise our weaknesses, but rather to receive Your Word, that in our weakness Your strength is made perfect. Lord, help us believe that you are able to cause the least among us to overcome as we run by faith and not by sight or past experience.
Though we are weak, You are strong. You do not intend for us to overcome in our own power or strength, but by Your Spirit. The empowerment of Your Spirit comes by faith in Your Word. And as we exercise the measure of faith we’ve been given so far, You give us more faith.
Digesting the Word
Our sense of worth comes from knowing how great a price He was willing to pay for our benefit, so we could live and not die apart from Him, divorced from His Presence. He also paid the price for us to know our purpose in this life. Far from being worthless, we have the purpose of conveying the good news of Jesus to the world through the fruits of our relationship with Him.
Now, people may still reject us – and they may reject us more, because now we carry the Light of the world, which convicts men and women of their sin, and the Light of the world, Jesus Himself, was rejected when He was here in the flesh. We too, therefore, expect some measure of rejection. Yet our calling, in the midst of being called worthless by the world, or those in the church who do not receive us – our calling in the midst of the witness and testimony we carry from Jesus being called worthless – is to call more people out from darkness; is to continue to share that witness and testimony He gave us. And He will give us the wisdom to share as He wills, for our protection, our blessing, and others’ salvation.
As we minister the Word to the world and church, yes, we are sure to experience rejection. Therefore, we remind ourselves that Jesus is with us to the very end of the age. He has not left us abandoned. The Holy Spirit is our Comforter and Advocate, and when we come before anyone who challenges the living Word in us, we are not to fear but receive the words the Holy Spirit gives us in that hour.
Jesus said, every one of the hairs on our head are numbered. We are so precious to God. He has called us by name and adopted us into His family at great price.
Remembering the Word
The Lord gave Peter a dream. In that dream, the Lord showed Peter that the Gentiles were being called into the family of God, and Peter was not to be offended by God’s grace to the Gentile world. Those whose destiny was considered worthless because they had not been chosen by God as the Jews had been, were now being chosen by God.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul reminded the Gentiles they must never consider themselves better than the Jews. Because if, for a time, God chose to hide Himself from the understanding of many Jews, in order that His Word may go out to the Gentile world, even so, God intended at a later time to reveal His face to all of natural Israel once again, that they may know their true Messiah had truly come in Jesus.
He is coming again, and will show Himself the Redeemer of all those who believe, Jew and Gentile. Neither one is cast aside; all are called freely, to receive the Lord’s Word and His gifts: forgiveness, faith, repentance. All are called to live out the witness and testimony Jesus gives us, as we choose Him over our own ways.
Applying the Word
Let’s remind one another, and ourselves, of our precious worth to the Lord and to one another. God doesn’t need our performance. If self-justification was sufficient for salvation, the sacrifice of Jesus is rendered worthless. But the truth is, our worth is found in Jesus. He evidenced, by His death, how precious we are to Him. Though we experience rejection, His Word over us, and in us, is never worthless. In hearing and receiving His Word over us, our sense of worth to Him and to His kingdom is renewed; rebuilt; restored.
The Lord has purposed every one to have a seat at the table, and to play a vital, important role in His kingdom. We need our brothers and sisters. And they need us. Let us turn back from rejecting ourselves, and rejecting one another because of our past hurts. Let us receive His wisdom of how we are to be together, and how we are to receive nurture ourselves when that is necessary.
Let us turn aside from our own ways, and enter His rest, His ways of calling in the lost, of calling in the weary, the broken and rejected. Those who feel worthless are very close to His kingdom. He doesn’t wish us to remain in that place of feeling worthless, but He does meet us there, and He does want us to reach others in that place.
He does need us to reckon with our fear of rejection, as we are ready, and walk in the dignity He has given us as ministers of peace and reconciliation. May you trust God, that He will furnish you with the sense of worth, dignity and belonging we all need.
Exhortation and blessing
We won’t always see the family He’s adopted us into. Sometimes, we will be scattered, as we are, around the world. But we gather in the Spirit every time we take communion, and we remember the price He paid for each one.
To the afflicted, to those tossed around, troubled, as though in a storm, He calls you dearly sought out and not forsaken. He is with us to the end of the age. His Holy Spirit is a deposit of the things He is preparing for us in His kingdom.
May He deliver you from all doubt that you are precious and dearly beloved. May you know, in the deepest depths of your spirit, that He is. For then, when you doubt or fall down, you can know and remember that He hears you when you ask Him to help you believe.
Help our faith, Lord. Help us to know and believe we are far from worthless. You have adopted us into Your family. We have access to the full inheritance of eternal life with You; of meaning, purpose, hope and joy.
Guide us, Lord, as we learn to receive the gifts you have for us and exercise them; as we learn to hear and receive Your Word and do it. May You help us not to be afraid of rejection in the eyes of the world, but trust in Your promise that the afflictions and rejection we suffer now are nothing compared to the incomparable joy of what is ahead.
Thank You Lord for preparing a place for us, and paying the price for Your dearly beloved, precious family. Give us eyes to see our worth to You, to one another, and others’ high value for us.
Ps Jeff’s Special Today: “Avarice / Greed.”
Jesus/Yeshua called out the Pharisees: ” Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.” (Luke 11:39). Instead of their misguided obsession to remove moral pollution allegedly acquired by contact with sinners, the Messiah desired them to have motivation to fulfill God’s promises: to meet the needs of the poor, to practice justice, and to express compassion. 1 Timothy 3:3 gives us another word on greed:“ …not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous.” And in 1 Timothy 6:9,10 the Holy Spirit speaks to us again: ” But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, from which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
But being candid with yourself and the Holy Spirit, is avarice or greed an old issue needing to be confessed? Do you think His Word is only for the disciples 2,000 years ago? Do you have any residue of avarice or greed as an issue for such a time as this? Is this avarice or greed connected to your upbringing as a child? Was it a family pattern in any way?
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).
