Dear Praying Friend,
We are all familiar with the model for how to pray as it is captured in the acrostic: ACTS - Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. When the Lord identified this years' focus as "The Year of Adoration" I expected we would devote our time to just that - the praise and worship of who God is. However the desire to express my adoration and devotion to the Lord in words was apprehended with a revelation of the truest expression of adoration as found in the prayer life of Jesus Christ. His entire life was one of adoration and devotion to the Father. From the way that He lived and interacted with the people, to His absolute dependence upon the Father in prayer, and ultimately His willingness to lay down His life as a sacrifice in obedience to the Father, His life exemplified true adoration. "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work" (John 4:34).
Jesus Christ is the Word become flesh. His entire being was the Word put into action. His was a life of total obedience to and dependence upon the Father. He loved the Father with His whole life. Not one fragment of His life was held back from the Father. He loved completely with His whole mind, soul, and body. He gave all of Himself to the will of His Father. "Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will" (Mark 14:36, NKJV). His was a life of total surrender. He loved the Father deeply, and He loved us all with that same depth of love, so much so that He gave His life in obedience to the Father for us. "...I lay down My life for the sheep" (John 10:15b).
The most profound expression of adoration is what the Heavenly Father did for His creation when He sent His Son into the world to die for us (John 3:16-17). And the greatest utterance of adoration was demonstrated in the sacrificial and atoning death of Jesus Christ on the cross for the sins of mankind. It is certain that God loves us deeply. "I have loved you with an ever-lasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness" (Jeremiah 31:3). Oh, to give back to Him a portion of the love He has lavished upon our lives (1 John 3:1)!
One of the surest ways to express our adoration for God is found in the place of prayer - He is our starting point. Jesus expressed His adoration in the sacrifice of His life on the cross, but He first expressed His adoration in the sacrifice of His life in prayer. Our acknowledgment of our dependence upon the Father in prayer and our desire to spend time with Him in the prayer closet brings Him great delight. The life of adoration is found first and foremost in the life that prays. The heart of true worship comes out of the heart that prays most. Jesus exemplified this for us while He lived on this earth in human flesh. He cultivated a life of adoration and obedience in the early morning hours on the mountainside, in the quiet places away from the crowds, and in the desperate hours of anguish in the garden. "During the days of Jesus' life on earth, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission" (Hebrews 5:7).
A life of adoration is one that is expressed in laying down your life for another. There is no greater expression of a life of surrender and sacrifice than in the place of prayer and intercession for others. It is in the place of intercession that our great Mediator delights to take us and meet us. What He lived out on earth is now His eternal occupation before the throne of Heaven. He dwells in the position of power and authority and He invites us daily to join Him in His great work of intercession. This is where the missing power of the Church lies. It is because we have neglected our high and holy calling of prayer that the Body of Christ has become feeble and weak in spiritual matters. God is showing us our weakness; we are being confronted with greater battles, and faced with impossible circumstances so that we will acknowledge our great need of His power. "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).
How blessed we are that His is a throne of grace. How desperate is the hour for us to wake from our slumber and stand watch with our Lord. Darkness is engulfing the land and evil is claiming the spotlight. If there was ever a time we needed step into our high and holy calling of prayer - it is now! All the power that gave our Lord Jesus strength to endure the suffering and shame of the cross, to defeat sin and the enemy, and to resurrect Him from the grave is at our disposal. Prayer is our golden key to the power of heaven. Let us enter into His glorious presence and grab hold of the hem of our Great High Priest's garment and not let go until we lay hold of every precious promise He has given us in His Word. "At once Jesus realized power had gone out from Him" (Mark 5:30a). There is much work to do in the secret place of prayer. Let us begin today in the spirit of adoration by worshiping the Lord with our whole being and laying ours lives down in prayer for others:
"Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications,
prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,
for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet
and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
who desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men,
the Man Jesus Christ, who gave Himself as a ransom for all..."
(1 Timothy 2:1-7)
Our greatest influence and power in this world comes through prayer. The Lord Jesus gave us His life so we could pray. This power is not meant for ourselves alone, it has been given to be a source of blessing and strength for others. "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask for anything in My name, and I will do it" (John 14:12-14). How much blessing and power we have robbed from this generation because we, the Church, have failed to pray as we ought; and how much life and health we have allowed to be drained from the Body of Christ because we have lost connection with our Faithful Head (Colossians 2:19). If the present aggressive attacks on our religious liberties, natural marriage, and the family have any effect on the Church, may it awaken us to no longer remain silent, but to voice our petitions before the One who hears us when we pray. "Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for Himself; the LORD will hear when I call to Him" (Psalm 4:3).
"In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks.
I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth,
nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled."
-Daniel 10:2-3 (NKJV)
Throughout the Scriptures we find God's faithful servants so often overcome by alarming news of their people's impending disaster and destruction that they wept, mourned, fasted and prayed for days (2 Chronicles 20:3-4; Nehemiah 1:4; Esther 4:14-16; Daniel 10:1-3). Impossible circumstances put them in a position to seek the hand of the only One that could save them. "What is impossible with men is possible with God" (Luke 18:27). The Old Testament saints knew the power of prayer and fasting and experienced God's deliverance, and the early church believed in prayer and wielded its' powerful sword in the face of intense opposition and the church flourished. "With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all" (Acts 4:33). What victory and power awaits the Church that prays!
Please join the
Family Research Council
as they "Blow the trumpet...and declare a holy fast"
for the next 21 days to intercede in prayer for the Court and our Country
April 7th through April 28th
in preparation for the Supreme Court to hear
oral arguments for and against redefining marriage in America
on April 28th.
We are standing at a critical crossroads in our nation's history:
"If we remain silent at this time,
relief and deliverance...will arise from another place,
but you and your father's family will perish.
And who knows but that you have come to royal position
for such a time as this?"
(Esther 4:14)
May we unite together in fervent prayer and exercise our royal right
to be heard before our King.
Begin now to lay hold of the blessings that are available to us for the nation when we pray!
"To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood,
and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve His God and Father -
to Him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen."
(Revelation 1:5b-6)
- Click HERE to read more about this important season of fasting.
- Please sign up to receive the FRC Prayer Team Targets HERE.
- Visit the FRC Call2FallBlog for the daily prayer focus for the next 21 days!
Watch this short video for
MARRIAGE - Watch Now!
- If you would like some spiritual sustenance while you fast please consider using the 40 HOLY Days for Marriage devotional journey (click on the titles below to access the first 21 days, or to select the days you would like to feast upon):
COVENANT (days 1-14)
Video introduction
CONSUMMATION (days 15-28)
Video introduction
CELEBRATION (days 29-40)
Video Introduction
Blessings for the journey!
Traci Alexander
Trumpet and Torch Ministries
traci@trumpetandtorch.org
www.trumpetandtorch.org
