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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 | Awakening The Heart
Holy Spirit, I ask you to awaken my heart to everything You want to do through me...
We have left the deepest places of our hearts unattended for too long. Like an old piece of furniture coated by layers upon layers of
paint, we have buried our hearts to the point where we cannot remember what the
original looked like. Instead of something fully alive and beautiful, the deep
recesses of our hearts are full of anger, lust, disappointment, pride, fear or
rejection. And we resign that, "This is just the way things are." Or, more
tragically, we believe, "This is just me. It
is just who I am." Each agreement acts like a numbing agent, deadening our heart, our wellspring of life (Proverbs 4:23).
The hard truth is we will never live the life we were meant to live without our heart.
When we bury our heart with layers of life's
circumstances, wounds, hurts and disappointments, we deaden our ability to know in our Spirit the full life to which God is calling us. We drink of life from anywhere we can sip. We accept
counterfeits that over-promise satisfaction but always disappoint. We end up in bondage to sin,
addicted or numb to the rhythm of our own hearts and the hearts of those we
love. There is more. There is another way.
So how does the Holy Spirit awaken our heart to the life God has for us? What is our part? We must allow Jesus access. He is the way the
truth and the life (John 14:6) and He can heal our broken hearts and binds up our
wounds (Psalm 147:3). Allowing Jesus to awaken our heart is not as complicated as we might think.
- First, we
make a willful choice to acknowledge our false comforters. We forsake unhealthy
habits and put aside specific sin patterns that smother the vibrancy of our
hearts (Colossians 3:8). We turn from them, confess them as sin (1 John 1:8-10)
and give them over to God.
- Next, we invite God to heal the broken or wounded
place that our sin attempted to cover. We give him complete access to search
us, know us, and lead us in the everlasting way (Psalm 139:23-24). The issues
of life flow from our hearts (Proverbs 4:23). We yield every issue over to Jesus,
inviting Him to heal, restore and awaken us to the fullness of life in Him.
- Finally, we ask the Holy Spirit to awaken our hearts, available for His
purposes. And with a heart alive, we choose daily to walk in the new life that is ours in Christ Jesus.
Respond
Take time for yourself today, use your notes from this prayer journey and the guide above to ask the Holy Spirit to awaken your heart to all the life He has for you.
What new way of living is He declaring over your life? Where is He inviting you
to walk in a new way of truly living? Write
it down. Revisit it daily.
You should also be ready to resist the enemy who will try to steal from you any opportunity to awaken your heart. Remember, Jesus has more for you. Resist the devil and
he will flee.
(1 Peter 5:8-9)
If you have a story you would like to share about something you feel God is doing through this One Prayer Journey, click here to share it with us online.
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