Our Prayers, God's Miracles

SCRIPTURE

 

1 Kings 16:41- 45 (selected)

 

Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go get something to eat and drink, for I hear a mighty rainstorm coming!”

So Ahab went to eat and drink. But Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and bowed low to the ground and prayed with his face between his knees.

Then he said to his servant, “Go and look out toward the sea.”

The servant went and looked, then returned to Elijah and said, “I didn’t see anything.”

Seven times Elijah told him to go and look.

Finally the seventh time, his servant told him, “I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.”…And soon the sky was black with clouds. A heavy wind brought a terrific rainstorm…

 

James 5: 16-18

 

The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. 17 Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! 18 Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.

 

 

PRAYER

 

Lord, ______ has many things in his heart for which he prays, actions he would like you to take, situations he would like you to influence, hopes and dreams for his tomorrow, longings for today, desires on other’s behalf. He asks for strength, faith, hope, love, peace, and joy. He would have you effect growth in him and others. Lord, I ask that you would make ______’s prayers earnest. May he pray with a depth of passion that moves the angels to take wing and deliver his requests to you in haste. I ask that you would clothe him with the righteousness of Jesus so that his prayers come to you in power and produce results. I pray that he would fall down before you in humility and dependence, pleading his heart day and night. And Lord, I ask that you would hear his prayers, and answer them in your grace. As he delights herself in you, may you grant him the desires of his heart for which he pleads. Amen.

 

 

ENCOURAGEMENT

 

Elijah was no different that you. Allow your prayers to flow from a deep earnestness and powerful righteousness. Then stand back and watch God work miracles indeed.

 

God's Protection from Enemies

SCRIPTURE

Psalm 138:7-8
7 Though I am surrounded by troubles,
      you will protect me from the anger of my enemies.
   You reach out your hand,
      and the power of your right hand saves me.
 8 The LORD will work out his plans for my life-
      for your faithful love, O LORD, endures forever.
      Don't abandon me, for you made me.

PRAYER
[Pray this for yourself]

I am surrounded by troubles some days Lord. My enemies seem to sense when I am low, and under the pretense of seeking to understand, their anger lashes out with accusation. I feel unheard, misunderstood, and judged. They know well what to say, and how to strike. I sometimes feel in need of a Samaritan who will render emotional care and healing. Yet there is none, Lord, but you. Thank you that the power of your right hand reaches out and saves me. Thank you that you will work out your plans for my life with a faithful love. And most of all, thank you that you will never abandon me. I rest in your strong arms. Amen.

ENCOURAGEMENT

Hear well the promptings of our Lord, yet deafen your ear to the anger of your enemies. If they spoke the words of God, they would also emulate their Lord's faithful love. Though many may abandon you, our Lord will ever be with you.

Unfair Criticism

SCRIPTURE

 

1 Peter 3:13-17

13        Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good?

14        But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED,

15        but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;

16        and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.

17        For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong.

(NASB)

 

PRAYER

 

Lord, there are times when ______ suffers the harshness and accusation of a critical crowd. Sometimes hidden in the refuse of their words are small nuggets of truth, but mostly they are the judgments of small people who prefer the delicacies of slander to truth. Assumptions prevail over honest inquiry. They squint from a distance, choosing the facts they prefer, but never seeking a clear view of the whole. They purport to know the intentions of ______’s heart, but their ears are clogged with their preconceptions. And worst of all, they sometimes cloak their judgments with religiosity. Lord, thank you for ______’s openness to your promptings, for his quickness of confess, repent and obey. And in that, I ask that you would help him to feel the cleanness of a good conscience before you. I pray that you would remove from him any fear of their intimidation. Calm his heart so that he may rest in your smile upon him. And Lord, as he continues to walk closely to you, I pray that you would reveal the shame of his accusers. Amen.

 

 

ENCOURAGEMENT

 

Your Lord knows you. He sees right down to your very soul, and understands your heart. Don’t allow these small people to steal your peace or direct your paths. Walk with our Lord, and follow your deep heart.

 

 

Rebuilding

SCRIPTURE

 

Psalm 147:1-6

 

Praise the Lord!

How good to sing praises to our God!
How delightful and how fitting!
2 The Lord is rebuilding Jerusalem
and bringing the exiles back to Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted
and bandages their wounds.
4 He counts the stars
and calls them all by name.
5 How great is our Lord! His power is absolute!
His understanding is beyond comprehension!
6 The Lord supports the humble,
but he brings the wicked down into the dust.

 

 

PRAYER

Lord, it brings such hope to know that you are the re-builder. You rebuild broken hearts, broken worlds, broken spirits and broken dreams. I pray for ______ this week Lord that he would feel the power of your attentive care. I ask that you would bandage his wounds, and begin the healing. I pray that your power would be displayed in the reconstruction of his life. May your understanding so penetrate his life that he feels known, understood, accepted and loved by you. And as he feels hid back begin to bend under the load of life, may your support be powerful and sweet. May his hope rest completely in you, Lord. Amen.

 

 

ENCOURAGEMENT

He calls the stars by name, and yet you are more brilliant and more important still. He knows and understands you. He heals. He has both the power and the understanding to do whatever it takes to re-build you. Trust him today, and walk closely with him into tomorrow.

 

Feast Upon His Word

SCRIPTURE

 

Matthew 4:3-4

During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”

But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say,

‘People do not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

 

Psalm 119:103

How sweet your words taste to me;

      they are sweeter than honey.

 

 

PRAYER

 

Lord, I pray that you would nourish ______’s soul with the sweetness of your word. I ask that when the temptations come to divert his focus to the temporal, you would feed him with the eternal. I pray that when his is pulled to worry about his needs, you would give him what he truly needs. Strengthen him with truth as it flows from your heart to his Lord. Make his mind simmer on that truth, pondering its application to his life this week. Bring to his remembrance the bread of truth you have given his soul in days past, and nourish him again as he presses its beauty into his everyday. And Lord, I pray that, as he tastes the sweetness of your word, his soul would be satisfied. May ______ live indeed by every word that comes from you to him. Amen.

 

 

ENCOURAGEMENT

His words to you are words of true love. Dine upon them. Savor them. Feast generously. They are food for your soul.

 

 

Embrace His Love

SCRIPTURE

Romans 8:35-39

 

35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

 

 38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

 

PRAYER

 

Lord, I pray that you would reach into the tender parts of ______’s heart and make him know your lavish love. The part of his heart that is broken, I pray your love would heal. The part of his heart that is desperate, I pray your love would comfort. The part of his heart that longs, I pray your love would fill. And the part of his heart that hurts, I pray your love would sooth. Lord, ______ needs you, he needs to know that he is important to you and loved by you. He needs to know that your love will never fail him, no matter what trouble swirls around in his life. He needs to know that your love makes life worth living Lord. Fill ______ with your love today I ask. Amen.

 

 

ENCOURAGEMENT

 

He loves you. When all others fail you, He will not. Embrace his love in the midst of your pain. It is sweet and sure.

 

 

Live Close to Him

SCRIPTURE

 

Psalm 27:4-6

4 The one thing I ask of the Lord—
the thing I seek most—
is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
delighting in the Lord’s perfections
and meditating in his Temple.
5 For he will conceal me there when troubles come;
he will hide me in his sanctuary.
He will place me out of reach on a high rock.
6 Then I will hold my head high
above my enemies who surround me.

 

PRAYER

 

Lord, I pray that you would put within ______’s heart a passionate desire to live his life in a continual place of connectedness with you, as if he were living in your house. I pray that he would think deeply upon your perfections, your attributes, and your beauty. And as he sees you, may his heart leap with delight, as seeing his best friend and the object of his deepest affections. May he long for closeness with you Lord. And I pray that when those moments of inevitable trouble come, you would hide him in that place of closeness with you, protecting him from the harm his enemies would seek. May he feel so loved and cared for by you, that he can hold his head high as a valued son of the King. Amen.

 

 

ENCOURAGEMENT

 

The place of secure protection in times of trouble is to be near our Lord. Live close to our Lord as the dwelling place of your soul, and delight your heart in his beauty. He will never let you down.