Pray
Heavenly Father, I come to You now to renew my place in
You. I acknowledge that You are the Creator of all things and the Provider of all I
need. You are the Great I AM. The First and the Last, the King of kings and
Lord of lords. You alone are life. No one comes before You, and today, I will
pursue life in You as my greatest passion.
Father, thank You for ransoming me with the life of Your
Son. Jesus, thank You for being my substitute and paying for all of my sins. I
believe in Your resurrection, and it is through my faith in You that I can now
approach my Heavenly Father with freedom and confidence. I claim the power of
Your resurrection in my life and I now bring every aspect of my life, including
my family [name your spouse and/or children] and my work under Your authority
and Your Kingdom.
In You, Jesus, I have received a new life and have been
raised to walk in the newness of that life. I ask that Your Holy Spirit search
me, know me and reveal to me any aspect of my life that is not pleasing to You.
Show me the things in my life that prevent me from knowing Your will, and give
me the strength to repent. Holy Spirit, I also ask you to awaken my heart to
everything You want to do through me and the steps You want me to take for You.
Jesus, I believe You have new things to declare for my life and I ask in Your
name that You make them known to me.
Jesus, I
also ask You to reveal to me in every way possible those in my current
relationships for whom I should intercede in prayer and reach out to in Your
name. I pray today for opportunities to be Your light in their life so they
will grow in the knowledge of You.
Father,
I pray for all of the leaders at Stonecreek Church who join with me for this
time of prayer. Search us, break us and unify us as men and women of the one
true living God so new things can be accomplished for Your Kingdom in our
homes, our community and around the world.
Holy
Spirit, fill Your church with the strength and endurance to bring spiritual
revolution in these times. Stir our hearts to pray as never before and to have
discernment and a boldness to share the life we have in Jesus.
Now,
Father, I pray for 10/10/10 and every new thing You will bring about in me, my
community and our church. You are able to do immeasurably more than all I
can ever ask or imagine. To You be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
throughout all generations, forever and ever!
Amen.
Reflect | Overcompensation
Search us, break us and unify us as men and women of the one
true living God...
In his book, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, Mark Batterson writes about the process of remodeling:
When an athlete is pushed beyond
the threshold of pain and exhaustion, the body overcompensates. The more a
muscle is broken down, the more it builds back up. The same is true of our
bones. The two hundred and six bones in the body are constantly going through a
process called remodeling. They are being broken down by osteoclasts and built
back up by osteoblasts. The process of remodeling is intensified when a bone is
broken. Extra osteoblasts help rebuild the bone. There is a period of weakness
where the bone is more vulnerable to re-injury. That is why we wear casts. But
eventually the bone ends up stronger than it was to begin with because the body
overcompensates. Very rarely does a bone break in the same place twice because
the bone is thicker and stronger than it was before the break.
Almost like a broken bone that
needs to be reset, God searches us and breaks us where we need to be broken. He fractures the
pride, lust, anger and other harmful parts of our lives. Then He uses the process of remodeling to build us up. If we will walk with God through this process, our faith will grow and we can end up stronger than we were before.
The spiritual process of being searched, broken and unified
(or built back up) can be a painful process. This process requires us to trust God's plan and His timing. It also requires us to trust that God in His infinite
wisdom and loving kindness knows where, when and how we need the strengthening the most in order to build us up better than before.
Respond
Go back over any notes you have taken during this prayer journey. As you do, watch for former things that keep coming up. What questions keep rolling over in your mind? What daily circumstances seem to be testing your trust in the new things God has for you?
Take time as you go through your day to think through these questions. These may be difficult areas in which God wants to help you break free, build back up and move into a new aspect of your relationship with Him.
If you have a story you would like to share about something you feel God is doing through this One Prayer Journey, please share it with us online.
