God, give me the boldness to be who I am wherever I am.
Category / Spiritual Warfare
My #Instaprayer Project…. Join me??
Today I started posting on Instagram a short prayer to go along with the Scripture focus on my heart for the day. Feel free to join me in applying God’s Word and praying it back to our Good, Good Father. Here’s today’s post:
Today’s #instaprayer is inspired by James 2:1-4. “My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ while you say to the poor man, ‘You stand over there,’ or, ‘Sit down at my feet,’ have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?”
Abiding Prayer: The Peace & Power of Praying IN Him – Not Just TO Him
(Breakout Session from #ConquerConference2016)
I was so blessed to participate in #ConquerConference2016 and spend an afternoon with some beautiful women as we learned together how to better hear the voice of our #GoodGoodFather through #AbidingPrayer. And the beautiful church we were in recorded our breakout session – so you are more than welcome to join us through the power of technology.
(The information below was included on the handout mentioned in the conference video).
Thank you for joining me in this journey of learning to pray and live from a position of “pre-paid” connection with the only source of Truth and LIFE rather than from a position of constant seeking and chasing for blessings and answers from God.
Key verse:
Key Verse: “If _________________ abides in me, and my words abide in _________________, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for _____________.” –John 15:7
(Write your name in the blank instead of “You”)
Abiding Challenge:
- Meditate daily on Key Passage, John 15:1-11.
- Also, dig deep into the whole “root system” of God’s word by finding other passages referencing the same or similar concept of abiding, staying, or uniting with God.
- Commit the passages that touch you most deeply to memory. Write personalized confessions based on these passages and speak them out.
Key Concept:
- Checking where you are praying from is just as important as how you pray. Visualize your position in Him (whatever reminder picture He puts on your heart that helps you see yourself as a much loved daughter who has always had her Father’s ear).
- Don’t be afraid of imagination and visualization in your Prayers. God is the author of these concepts – not the new age movement. Consistency combined with a passionate listening style of prayer that incorporates all of the senses God gave you will change prayer from a task that may or may not produce results to a lifestyle of powerful connection with your Creator.
Recommended Reading:
- Abide In Christ: A 31-Day Devotional for Fellowship with Jesus – Andrew Murray
- The Practice of the Presence of God – Brother Lawrence
- God Is Closer than You Think – John Ortberg
- Fervent – Priscilla Shirer
- Hosting the Presence – Bill Johnson
- Seeing is Believing: Experiencing Jesus through Imaginative Prayer – Greg A Boyd
- 10 Confessions for Living – Ilya Golden
It’s Time for the Dead to Be Raised
We all know people who are breathing but are so very far from alive. Maybe we’ve even lived that way ourselves for a season – in a kind of sleepwalking state where we are practically corpses but still forging through the motions of life. In some ways, this is more heartbreaking than actual physical death because it doesn’t have to be that way.
Jesus died and lives again so it doesn’t have to be that way….
Today my heart is heavy for people living but not fully alive. I am praying for the “same power that raised Christ from the dead” to resurrect the living dead from the spirits of lethargy, apathy, and hopelessness that have been preventing them from living the abundant, powerful, hope-filled life Christ died to give them.
May we all live as ones fully alive so the life in us can resurrect others who so desperately need to experience life… real LIFE (Living In Freedom Everyday).
As the prophet Ezekiel did when he was faced with a vision of of hundreds of corpses (Ezekiel 37:1-14, I speak life into “dry bones”. And, in Jesus Name, those weary souls will have no choice but to dance with joy again because my God has given me power to raise the dead!
So if you’ve been feeling dead inside, you’re not reading this blog by I accident. I speak life to you now in Jesus Name. And open your mouth and use your own words to speak life to yourself. No more corpse-like living! It’s time for your resurrection.
“Spirit Break Out – Tear Our Walls Down”
This Sunday at Amazing Church, we are going to sing these words loudly as a prayer over our communities, our families, ourselves.
If you’re in North Texas, please feel free to gather with us in person:
AmazingChurch.com
300 Ridge Road
Mckinney, TX 75070
But, around the world, please gather with us in spirit by singing out the powerful prayer:
“Spirit Break Out – Tear Our Walls Down”
Not Just #ShadowBoxing
Learning to live, love, and pray #strategically….
“Have It All [Song] // Brian Johnson // Bethel Music
You simply can’t go wrong by starting your day off with the prayer in this song.
What If We Sang These Words With Our Lives??
“God, Your words – my mouth.
Your thoughts – my mind.
Your love – my heart.
Here’s all of me!”
The words of this song that my Amazing Church will be opening this Sunday’s Weekend Experience with are playing over and over in my head and heart. Imagine how different our world would look if we not only sang these words, but lived them.
Be a Rebel… WITH a Cause
Do you ever wonder why when you try to live selflessly, thankfully, and authentically it seems like every element in rhe entire universe is aligning to try stop you from doing so?
The answer to that question lies in some ancient words….
Centuries ago, the Apostle Paul was mentoring Timothy and wrote him a letter. In that letter – now a part of the Bible – God was giving His Church a glimpse of what life would be like in our modern times.
Paul was telling Timothy that the “latter days”, a.k.a. our modern age, would be characterized by people who are relentlessly greedy, self-seeking, lazy, and ungrateful… among other things. In essence, this passege tells us that the spirit of our modern times is selfish pride. So, when we strive to live beyond ourselves to walk out a lifestyle of kindness and humility, we are actually rebelling against the evil “spirit of the age” that Paul wrote to Timothy about so very long ago.
No wonder it feels like all hell itself is coming against us when we strive to live beyond ourselves! Does this mean we shouldn’t live in the beautiful love-led way Jesus modeled for us when He walked our streets? Of course not! That kind of selfless love-driven life is exactly what He made us for. So keep going for that kind of life, friends…. a life so much bigger than what you see around you and the pretense on your TV and computer screen.
But, keep in mind… When you live like that you are being a rebel against our very times for the cause of Christ. So don’t you dare do it without Him. And don’t you dare do it alone. Depend on God’s strength – not your own. And stay in community, a Bible-based church (like my Amazing Church) where you’re surrounded and supported by other “rebels” against the spirit of this selfish age.
It won’t be easy, but it wiil be worth it!
Settled
If your heart hasn’t settled on the truth that God is good, He loves you, and He is more than enough – you are likely to settle for less than the beautiful and abundant life God designed just for you.
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” – Jesus (John 10:10)
Ragamuffin Oasis: Finding Our Places to Just Be 