Month: October 2015

Day 21 – The Prayer Cafe “31 Day Challenge”

October 27, 2015

love_poem_400x400

 

Day 21

  

Hear, O LORD, my righteous plea; listen to my cry. Give ear to my prayer — it does not rise from deceitful lips. – Psalm 17:1

 

As yet my love is weak,

my heart imperfect,

and so I have great need

of your strength and comfort.

Visit me often, I pray,

and instruct me

in the way of your laws.

Set me free from

all evil passions,

and heal my heart from

all immoral desires.

And thus,

healed and cleansed in spirit,

may I learn how blissful it is

to plunge into

the depths of your love.

Let your love dissolve

my hard heart.

Let your love

raise me above myself.

Let your love

reveal to me joy beyond imagination.

Let my soul

exhaust itself in

singing the praises of your love.

Let me love you

more than I love myself,

and let me love myself

only for your sake.

And let me see your love

shining in the hearts of all people,

that I may love them as I love you.

– Thomas Kempis

 

Let us pray:

Lord hear our prayers.

 

#Love #Heal #Candid

 

Day 20 – The Prayer Cafe “31 Day Challenge”

October 26, 2015

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Day 20

  

In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. – Psalm 5:3

 

“PRAYER, in the preacher’s life, in the preacher’s study, in the preacher’s pulpit, must be a conspicuous and an all-impregnating force and an all-coloring ingredient. It must play no secondary part, be no mere coating. To him it is given to be with his Lord “all night in prayer.” The preacher, to train himself in self-denying prayer, is charged to look to his Master, who, “rising up a great while before day, went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” The preacher’s study ought to be a closet, a Bethel, an altar, a vision, and a ladder, that every thought might ascend heavenward ere it went manward; that every part of the sermon might be scented by the air of heaven and made serious, because God was in the study.” – Oswald Chambers

 

Let us pray:

May our life be the sermon today. May our prayer-sacrifice make that sermon clear to others.

Lord, show Yourself strong.

 

#Clarity #SecretPlace #Scented

 

 

Day 19 – The Prayer Cafe “31 Day Challenge”

October 25, 2015

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Day 19

 

Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer. – Psalm 4:1

  

“If prayer puts God to work on earth, then, by the same token, prayerlessness rules God out of the world’s affairs, and prevents Him from working. And if prayer moves God to work in this world’s affairs, then prayerlessness excludes God from everything concerning men, and leaves man on earth the mere creature of circumstances, at the mercy of blind fate or without help of any kind from God.” – E.M. Bounds

 

Let us pray:

Help us O Lord from the fate of prayerlessness and the occupation of prayerlessness. Keep our hearts and minds focused on you. Lead us today in our prayers. May we hear the cry of your heart and pray Your kingdom be made manifest on earth in every situation. Amen.

 

#Prayer #Fate #Worldchanger

 

 

Day 18 – The Prayer Cafe “31 Day Challenge”

October 24, 2015

4am

Day 18

 

But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. – James 1:6

  

“Mr. Wesley spent two hours daily in prayer. He began at four in the morning. Of him, one who knew him well wrote: “He thought prayer to be more his business than anything else, and I have seen him come out of his closet with a serenity of face next to shining.” – E.M. Bounds

 

Let us pray:

I can say nothing but “Thank You Mr. Wesley for raising the bar”.  Point well noted. 

Lord, continue to teach me. 

 

#Believe #Prayer #MainBusiness

 

 

Day 17 – The Prayer Cafe “31 Day Challenge”

October 23, 2015

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Day 17

 

‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ – Jeremiah 33:3

 

“For prayer is of transcendent importance. Prayer is the mightiest agent to advance God’s work. Praying hearts and hands only can do God’s work. Prayer succeeds when all else fails. Prayer has won great victories, and rescued, with notable triumph, God’s saints when every other hope was gone. Men who know how to pray are the greatest boon God can give to earth—they are the richest gift earth can offer heaven. Men who know how to use this weapon of prayer are God’s best soldiers. His mightiest leaders.” – E.M. Bounds

 

Let us pray:

Father we desire to be weapon experts when it comes to prayer. As female and male soldiers we want to be ready and well prepared for the battles that lie ahead.

Thank you for the experiences, trials, tribulations, and victories we have experienced so far through, with, and in prayer. Thank you for fashioning us via Your grace to be soldiers of valor.

Although it may be tough, we look forward to the future training challenges. We know they will force us to grow as prayer weapon experts. May Your plan and purpose for our lives be made manifest. This is our prayer today. We love You. Amen.

 

#Call #Weapon #Expert #Soldier

 

 

Day 16 – The Prayer Cafe “31 Day Challenge”

October 22, 2015

prayer-bear

Day 16

 

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. – 2 Chronicles 7:14-15

 

“The praying of Jesus Christ drew on the mightiest forces of His being. His prayers were His sacrifices, which He offered before He offered Himself on the cross for the sins of mankind. Prayer-sacrifice is the forerunner and pledge of self-sacrifice. We must die in our closets before we can die on the cross.” – E.M. Bounds

 

Let us pray:

Coming to the prayer closet is something I am trying to make my MAIN business, above my businesses. And E.M. Bounds writes about dying in the prayer closet. Wow. I have so much further to go.

It is so easy for me to sacrifice myself for the sake of others. I have seen that my whole life by my family’s example. Doing that is normal to me. But what about this “prayer-sacrifice” as the forerunner? What do I make of that? Have I been doing it at all? If so, has it had the same weight as my self-sacrifice? Do I have the cart before the horse? What would my service to others look like if I offered this “prayer-sacrifice” just as much and with the same passion? This is so intriguing.

Thank you Lord for stirring me up this morning. “Prayer-sacrifice” is my word for today. And may it guide me in my prayer closet ever more. Amen.

 

#Prayer #Sacrifice #Intimacy #Intentionality