Monthly Archives: January 2020

Find the Seam

31 Friday Jan 2020

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This weekend many will watch the greatest game of the Football season as Super Bowl 54 kicks off in Miami Florida.  I am a Missouri girl, so I guess you know which team I will be rooting for!

Ironically, I have loved the game of football since I was a young teen, and my friend’s family invited me to my first professional football game at the home of the Kansas City Chiefs.  Before life with my own family was so busy, I enjoyed playing fantasy football.  Then I thoroughly enjoyed watching my son play the game in high school.

You may not be a football fan, but this game gives me so many spiritual analogies, that I love to find one in this season of the year.

“Find the Seam” is a term that references a receiver who has the ability to find the gaps or opening in the zone defense.  A smart offense will run route combinations that are difficult for the defense to cover.

I once posted the below picture on my Secret Place Revelation Facebook page.

After posting it, I just couldn’t get the image of that lock holding the door shut off my mind.  I guess I have always operated under the assumption that God opens doors of opportunities in my life, and closes doors where protection is needed.  I do believe that this happens in the life of a Christian, but I recently began to ponder the possibility that perhaps the enemy wants to close doors to prevent us from walking into our destiny.

To say this in my football analogy, the zone defense is closing all the seams and the receiver cannot find the opening to make the forward momentum toward the goal line!  This thought made me take a step back and consider the possibility that I didn’t win because I let my opponent out play me!

This weekend when Mahomes faces off against Garoppolo, they each will look for the receiver who can find the seam.  If the defense closes in, they will look for a different opening.

I can tell you for me personally, I plan to look at open and closed doors differently in my future.  While there may be times I must trust God’s sovereignty, I am not going to sit back idly and see if an opening appears, I am going to scout my opponent’s defense and make sure he isn’t just blocking my progress.

Is there an area in your life you need to make some forward momentum? Don’t let your opponent keep you from finding the seam!

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Written in Red

20 Monday Jan 2020

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I love the red-letter editions of the many versions of the Bible I enjoy reading. There is just something about reading through the Gospels and seeing the words, that Jesus spoke, written in red.

Recently, I had an opportunity to read about a woman who used this same concept during her prayer time. In the book, the author shares a story about her friend taking a prayer journal with her when she goes to pray. She said, “I write in blue ink the words I want to say to the Lord in prayer. There’s something helpful about taking the time to write it out longhand. Then I wait in God’s presence for what I sense He is saying in response to what I’ve written. When I get a sense of His response, I write it in red. Back and forth we have a discussion, in blue ink and red ink.”1

A red ink pen is always handy for me, but I had never thought of using it this way. I am one of the people who mark up all the books I read. You can pull any book from my bookshelf including a Bible and know exactly my favorite parts and my thoughts about it because they will be circled, underlined, and comments added in red.

I also have a passion for spiritual journaling. For years, I have tried to document the insights I receive as I study the Word of God, as I pray, and frankly, as I just do life. I have found that if we are faithful with what the Lord gives us, He will give us more! Additionally, I realize my human inability to remember even the very important things as life goes by so quickly.

There have been many times that during my journaling I have chosen to write my prayers out longhand, and there have been times I have written things I feel the Lord is revealing or directing at the time, but I have never thought about changing ink color to write what I felt the Lord was speaking.

With this author’s story, I decided to do just that.  I decided to write out my prayer that day. When I had finished, I picked up my red ink pen and I said, “OK Lord, I am listening” Immediately, I knew exactly what to write, the Lord began to impress on my heart the words He was speaking to me that I should document!

Since that time, I can thumb through my journal and quickly see sections written in red! There is just something about the expectation of picking up that pen and then waiting and listening for His voice. This practice has given me a fresh perspective on my communication with God.

In the book I referenced, the author asked her friend how she knew those impressions in her mind that she wrote in red were from God. “Without hesitation, she replied, “God’s response always lines up with the Word of God and the nature of God. Over the course of time, I’ve learned to hear His voice, to recognize the ideas He drops in my heart while I wait on Him. The enemy wouldn’t be telling me the type of things I write.”1

We learn as we practice. One of those red-letter passages found in the Word of God tells us, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27 NLT). As we spend dedicated time with the Lord, we can learn to hear His voice clearly.

I don’t choose to make writing out my prayers a ritualistic thing that I do every day, there will be times I choose to verbalize my prayer.  I have however, quickly learned that it is a powerful practice to enter into my prayer time with the attitude that I am having a conversation with God and His part will be written down in red! It is a reminder that my discussions with Him are not supposed to be a one-way dialog!

There was something about picking up that red pen and saying, “I’m listening” that opened the door for the communication because I actively took on a new posture. I don’t think I will look at a red ink pen the same now, and I hope you won’t either!

References:

  1. Barrett, Donna L. Leveling The Praying Field: Helping Every Person Talk To God And Hear from God. Gospel Publishing House. 2019. 82-83

Week of Prayer 2020 – Saturday

11 Saturday Jan 2020

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Thanks for joining us for our final day of our week of prayer.  This week we have been joining with the Assemblies of God and the theme, “Leveling the Praying Field”.  

Saturday Prayer Focus

May my present and eternal relationship with You, O Lord, be strengthened by continually keeping the line open with You day by day.

Saturday Prayer Activity

As we come to the close of our week of prayer, I pray that this is just the beginning of your commitment to spend time daily in communion with the Lord. “Real praying comes from a heart that is hungry for God. It comes when we say like David did in Psalm 42:1-2 NLT, ‘As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him?’ When a person is hungry, the deepest part of their spirit begins to call out to God for something to fill that hunger.”1

“Once you begin abiding in Jesus, once you grow accustomed to having daily times of communion with him, you’ll find you cannot live without them. You’ll find yourself so craving to be in His manifest presence you can hardly wait to get into your place of prayer. Instead of hurrying to finish your time with God so you can get on with the rest of your day as you once did, you’ll hurry through everything else so you can have more precious time with Him.”1

Take some time today to think about and plan how you will continue to grow in your relationship with the Lord during this year. Set some goals, make some commitments, and write them down. Make this year your best ever by developing a strong prayer life!

Saturday Scripture Focus

Deuteronomy 4:29 NKJV

But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Philippians 3:10a AMP

[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly]…

References:

  1. Hammond, Lynne. The Master is Calling; Discovering the Wonders of Spirit-Led Prayer. Living Word International, Inc.. 1995. 22,27.

Week of Prayer 2020 – Friday

10 Friday Jan 2020

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Thanks for joining us for day 6 of our week of prayer.  This week we are joining with the Assemblies of God and the theme, “Leveling the Praying Field”.  

Friday Prayer Focus

O Lord, increase my sensitivity to divine appointments to pray for others, conveying to them Your love, grace, and power.

Friday Prayer Activity

As we consider today’s prayer focus, I think about the power of praying for others and the power of joining with others in corporate prayer.

We learn in Matthew 14:14 NLT, “Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” Jesus demonstrates here that He had sensitivity to divine appointments. It began with his compassion. Our love for others will position us to allow interruptions in our lives when there is an opportunities to pray for others or show the love of Christ in some way.

I love that the Holy Spirit gives us cues when we are sensitive to Him to let us know when prayer is needed. There are times that someone’s name or their face just comes across my mind. I know that they are in need of prayer through these kinds of promptings. There have been many times where others have blessed me with that same sensitivity. Just recently, while I was walking through a very difficult moment, a friend sent me a text saying, “You are so heavy on my heart, I am praying for you now!” What a blessing! It was the power of prayer that got me through that moment!

There is also much power available when we join our faith to pray together. You can read the story in Acts 4:23-32, when the religious leaders threatened Peter and John unless they stopped preaching about Jesus. The members of the early church joined together in prayer. The Bible tells us they prayed in one accord and when they were done the place was shaken. There is so much power available to us through prayer!

Friday Scripture Focus

Matthew 18:19-20 NLT

“I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.”

1 Timothy 2:1 NLT

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.

Week of Prayer 2020 – Thursday

09 Thursday Jan 2020

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Thanks for joining us for day 5 of our week of prayer.  This week we are joining with the Assemblies of God and the theme, “Leveling the Praying Field”.

Thursday Prayer Focus

Help me, O Lord, to understand that prayer is my personal responsibility, not something someone else can do for me.

Thursday Prayer Activity

At the beginning of a new year, many people think about health and wellness. Countless individuals embark on a new diet and exercise plan. It would be crazy to think that someone else could eat healthy or do our exercise for us. We understand that if we want results, we have to bear the responsibility.

Why would we think that if want to embark on a new devotional life centered on prayer and the study of the Word that someone could do that for us? “Prayer is a choice, a discipline, a decision to talk to God and hear from God, and no one can do your praying for you anymore than someone else can praise or worship for you.”1

Jesus demonstrated this for us. There are many times in Scripture where we read about Jesus’ prayer life. This is just one example from Matthew 14:23, “ After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone.”

Once you begin having daily time of communion with the Lord, you will find that you just can’t live without them. The interesting thing about spiritual hunger is that it can never really be satisfied. The more you get the more you want!

I hope that by day 5 you are settling into your new routine of committing dedicated time every day to spend communicating with your heavenly Father.

Thursday Scripture Focus

Matthew 6:6 NLT

But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

Ephesians 3:14-19 NLT – Paul’s Prayer for Spiritual Growth

When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

 

References:

  1. Barrett, Donna L. Leveling The Praying Field: Helping Every Person Talk To God And Hear from God. Gospel Publishing House. 2019. 112

Week of Prayer 2020 – Wednesday

08 Wednesday Jan 2020

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Thanks for joining us for day 4 of our week of prayer.  This week we are joining with the Assemblies of God and the theme, “Leveling the Praying Field”.  

Wednesday Prayer Focus

O Lord, may I hunger after, receive, and use the powerful prayer language available through the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Wednesday Prayer Activity

Before Jesus left this earth to return to heaven, He told the disciples that it was best for them that he goes so the comforter and helper the Holy Spirit could come (John 16:7-14). We believe that when you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit enters your life fully and completely. However, we also believe in an additional encounter with the Holy Spirit, which is described in Acts 2 that happened on the Day of Pentecost. We often refer to this experience as being filled with the Holy Spirit and when this happens the initial sign is speaking in tongues.

This gift allows for a deeper prayer life opportunity. In our Week of Prayer theme book, “Leveling the Praying Field”, the author Donna L. Barrett shares the below insight about the gift of the Holy Spirit:

The truth is, when we pray, we only have a small part of the story and fuzzy facts based on human understanding. We’re limited in the information and can’t see into the future to know how this piece of the puzzle might best fit into the whole picture, so to instruct God on the details really seems a bit absurd. Since He has our best interests at heart, knows the future and past, and has all the intelligence about the situation, wouldn’t it be great if our spirit could connect directly with His Spirit in prayer and bypass our limited knowledge?

We can! That’s exactly what happens when we pray in tongues. We engage the perfect knowledge of God, connected to our hearts, practically using our voice and bypassing our limited human knowledge. What a power tool!1

Wednesday Scripture Focus

Romans 8:26-27 NLT

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.  And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.

Ephesians 6:18 NLT

Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

Jude 20-21

But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love.

References:

  1. Barrett, Donna L. Leveling The Praying Field: Helping Every Person Talk To God And Hear from God. Gospel Publishing House. 2019. 97

Week of Prayer 2020 – Tuesday

07 Tuesday Jan 2020

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Thanks for joining us for day three of our week of prayer as we join with the Assemblies of God and the theme, “Leveling the Praying Field”.  

Tuesday Prayer Focus

Help me understand, O Lord, that the power of prayer is not so much in what I pray about, but to whom I pray.

Tuesday Prayer Activity and Scripture Focus

Ephesians 6:10 teaches us to, “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.” We must realize that the God we pray to is our source! He is the beginning and He is the end. Many in Scripture knew Him as the great “I am”!

  • He said to Abram, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” (Genesis 15:1 NKJV)
  • He said to Jacob after he wrestled with Him all night. “I AM God Almighty!” (Genesis 35:11)
  • He said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” (Exodus 3:14)
  • He said to the prophet Isaiah, “I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God.” (Isaiah 44:6)
  • He told the disciples:
    •  “I am the bread of life.” (John 6:35)
    •  “I am the light of the world.” (John 8:12)
    •  “I am the door.” (John 10:9)
    •  “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11)
    •  “I am the true vine” (John 15:1)
  • He told Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25)
  • He told Thomas, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6)
  • He told John the Revelator:
    • “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” (Revelation 1:11)
    • “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.” (Revelation 1:18)
    • “I am He who searches the minds and hearts.” (Revelation 2:23)
    • “I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” (Revelation 22:16)
    • “Surely I am coming quickly.” (Revelation 22:20)

We can be confident that He is our great I AM, He will be what we need Him to be at each moment in our lives, and this is to whom we pray!

Take some time today to write down who God is to you.

Week of Prayer 2020 – Monday

06 Monday Jan 2020

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Thanks for joining us for day two of our week of prayer as we join with the Assemblies of God and the  theme, “Leveling the Praying Field”.  

Monday Prayer Focus

As I present needs and concerns to You. O Lord, may I be content to leave the results to You.

Monday Prayer Activity

In the book, “Leveling the Praying Field”, the author Donna L. Barrett shares the below challenge:

On the playing field, what if we played like we were winning even if the scoreboard were covered? On the praying field, what if we prayed with confidence that God is responding even when we can’t see the results? What if we gave up the need to be the arbiters of God’s will because we understand that His plans are far above anything our most astute minds could dream up?

When there’s a good team leader, each person on the team only needs to carry out the assignment given to them and the group wins. General Motors makes cars on an assembly line. There may be an employee who puts four bolts on the floorboards of cars all day long, but never gets to see the finished shiny car on the showroom floor. If he faithfully completes his assignment, he knows he helped to build that final product. In a similar way, we’re on God’s team and our assignment is to pray for His purposes to be fulfilled. We need to pray faithfully knowing we have a Creator God who is doing His part to answer our prayers.1

Ask yourself if there are areas in your life in which you are not trusting God for His best results. Write about that situation and ask the Lord to help you to relinquish the control of that situation over to Him. Trust that He has your best interest in mind and rest in the knowledge that He is for you and not against you.

Monday Scripture Focus

Isaiah 55:8-9 NKJV

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

References:

  1. Barrett, Donna L. Leveling The Praying Field: Helping Every Person Talk To God And Hear from God. Gospel Publishing House. 2019. 50-51

Week of Prayer 2020 – Sunday

05 Sunday Jan 2020

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I want to invite everyone reading this to join with my church, Grace Community Church, and the Assemblies of God as we start our year strong with a week of prayer Sunday 1/5 through Saturday 1/11.  Our theme this year is “Leveling the Praying Field”.  The book with the same title, by Donna L. Barrett, is a great resource and is available at Amazon and other retailers.

At the beginning of each year, I like to seek the Lord for what He has for me as a focus for the coming year. This year my focus is on 20/20 Vision. When you have an eye exam and discover that you do not have that perfect 20/20 vision we all desire, there are specific lenses that are useful to correct your vision.  One of the best places to start correcting spiritual vision is through prayer! It is so important that we establish the priority and right perspective of what our personal prayer life can be. Watch for our daily focus updates each day this week and use this time to refocus your attention to making prayer a priority in your life in 2020.

Sunday Prayer Focus

Strengthen in me. O Lord, the commitment to regularly talk with You and hear from You through prayer.

Sunday Prayer Activity

I encourage you to take some time today to make a commitment to dedicate specific time to pray this week and then carry this new commitment into the year.  Write down your plans and do your best to stick with it. Remember that communicating is more than talking; it also involves listening. Train yourself to spend time before the Lord listening to what He has to say to you.

Often we make prayer so difficult, but refocus on making prayer more like a conversation with your best friend. Tell your best friend how wonderful he is, ask about his plans for your life, ask for his help and protection, then listen and follow his advice.

This may seem oversimplified, but it is a very basic outline of the prayer Jesus demonstrated in the passage below.

Sunday Scripture Focus

Luke 11:1-4 NKJV

Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

Psalm 27:7-8 NLT

Hear me as I pray, O Lord. Be merciful and answer me! My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”