MY HOME
A house of prayer
PRIORITIES ~ I
If we watch seven hours of television each week (two movies, the news, and weather), on our fiftieth birthday, we will have spent over two years of our lives on this pastime! I’m not suggesting there’s anything wrong with TV as a source of information and entertainment, but rather demonstrating the value of a single moment.
I think I’ve recorded more prayers for assistance in guiding my priorities than any other type of prayer. For me, this isn’t day-by-day, but rather moment-by-moment.
If you need help in this area, join me in the closet…
Father Lord,
we desire that You be well pleased by the manner in which we spend the time You give us throughout the course of each day. May every effort communicate a level of excellence reflecting a profound appreciation for Your personal sacrifice and immeasurable investments into our lives. When tempted to waste precious moments, please quickly remind us of the significance and brevity of life. And while it’s necessary to labor over things that will ultimately perish with time and testing, may our greatest work be within the fields of human hearts. Thank You for the talents and abilities You've given us. May You be delighted by every feeble yet faithful effort to serve You.
With love and honor we pray…
Slack habits and sloppy work are as bad as vandalism.
Proverbs 18:9 MSG
From Your Throne You smell the stench of rotting carnage – the nauseating odor of sin and death. You Weep with every tear that is shed over every form of evil that is committed. Your Eyes witness every drop of blood that is spilled in violence against the lives You have created. Your Ears keenly hear the torment of every victim’s desperate cries. Nothing is hidden from You…
How I long to bring a Smile to Your Face, and so I offer myself entirely to You as a living sacrifice. I long to smell like Your Love-drenched Garments claimed at the foot of The Cross and so bear Your Fragrance into the world. Do what it takes to make me a holy vessel filled with Your most fragrant perfume. I give You permission to break me that I may be spilled out at all times and in all places for Your honor and glory
I plead, I pray…
Father God,
we long to serve You with all humility, through every tear and trial that may ever come our way. We do not want to hold anything back that may be helpful to others, but rather be faithful to proclaim repentance of sin and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ at all times, in every place, and to every person to whom You send us. May we be moved by Your Love and bound by the Holy Spirit to go wherever You send us - walking in complete confidence, although we cannot know the things that will happen to us as we walk through the moments of each passing day. May chains and tribulations not move us, and may we refuse to cling to our earthly shells so that we may finish the race You have set before us with joy, completing the ministry and purpose to which You have called us. Help us to walk resolutely, innocent of the blood of all humanity. Help us to never shun any opportunity to completely declare the entire counsel of God. This is our calling and act of worship. For Your glory, we live and pray…
(Inspired by Acts 20:19-27)
Father,
grant me a burden for the manner in which You choose to do Your Work and Your Will both in me and through me. Help me to never allow the criticism of others to hinder my obedience, for what You desire of me is far more important than what others think of me. You are my Father, I am Your child. I delight to do Your Will Your Way.
Father,
grant me a burden for the manner in which You choose to do Your Work and Your Will both in me and through me. Help me to never allow the criticism of others to hinder my obedience, for what You desire of me is far more important than what others think of me. You are my Father, I am Your child. I delight to do Your Will Your Way.
Father God,
we often find ourselves rushing here and there - constantly racing to accomplish a multitude of tasks. Please guide our attentions and limited time and energies toward those things that are in harmony with Your holy Will for our lives. With hands and hearts lifted high in surrender, we invite You to reign as Lord over every detail of our destinies. May we not be bound by insignificant details and distractions that hinder our progress. Help us to keep our relationships with You, our families, friends, and those You strategically place within our lives, of highest priority.
May we be repulsed by activities bearing fruit that will be destroyed in the final fires of Testing and Judgment. Equip us with Your Perspective regarding these activities. Please keep us fully focused on Your mission for our lives so that in each day Your decisive Will is executed. May Your strong and mighty Name be honored in our love and labors. Be glorified in our hearts and by our hands.
It is for Your honor and Love that we live and move and have our being...
Father God,
each day is a precious and priceless treasure – a gift from Your Hands. Please give our hearts Wisdom that we might not squander any opportunity to enjoy and nurture our families, to encourage one whose hope is dim, to share Your Love with those who are hurting - to wipe their tears and embrace their suffering, to share Your Peace with those who walk in fear, to share Your Wisdom with those who lack understanding, to share what You have placed in our care with those who are in need, to share Your Truth with those who have been deceived, to labor fearlessly in the warfare of prayer and activities to rescue those who are perishing, to warn those who have strayed, and to share The Good News of Redemption and Resurrection with such a desperate desperation that vast multitudes might fall deeply in love with You.
All life is fragile and every breath comes from You and returns to You. Father, help us to purpose our hearts to be steadfast and immovable at all times flourishing in the work You assign us, recognizing daily that nothing we do for You and Your Kingdom will be deemed insignificant.
(Inspired by 1 Corinthians 15:58)
Father God,
we ask that You grant us a complete understanding of what You want us to do in each day of the lives You have given us to live for Your glory. Please make us wise with spiritual Wisdom that the manner in which we conduct ourselves will always honor You.
We long to move deeper into relationship with You - to know You better with each passing moment. We also pray that we will be strengthened by Your glorious Power that we may have all the patience and endurance we need to run the race You have set before us. May our lives overflow with peace even in times of great turmoil – always thinking of You, with thanksgivings and praises continually overflowing from our hearts.
As we labor for the expansion of Your glorious Kingdom may we fully rely on You, looking past our limited abilities to Your Power that works within us, for we desire only Your Love and Honor to be established and acknowledged among those You have created. In the mighty and wonderful Name of Jesus, we live and breathe and pray…
Father,
we ask for a fresh revelation as to Your timing regarding the goals You have placed within our hearts. Help us to more clearly perceive the Sound of Your Voice, to know what to say and when to say it, what to do and when to do it, and when to be silent and wait. We give You a servant’s heart.
Please do what it takes to keep us firmly within the boundaries of Your perfect Will. May we not hinder what You desire to do within us or through us within the course of this and every day, for we are wholly devoted to You.
Father Lord,
how we long to be Your sanctuary wherein Your Soul finds great delight to dwell. We want Your Love to flow through our hands and tongue, bringing comfort, hope, and joy to those around us so that in the midst of all circumstances they will place their trust in Your unfailing Love. We long to be agents of deliverance, rescuing those in bondage from the strong forces of the enemy of all souls. Above all, we each want to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice, an offering of praise to You. With great adoration and appreciation, we pray…
Father God,
do not cease to haunt us with the Purpose for which You have created us. Please be so near that we might clearly recognize Your Voice throughout the busyness, distractions, and quiet times of each day. Please open doors of opportunity for us to strengthen and use the gifts You have given us to invest in the advancement of Your eternal Kingdom.
Father, we want only to be Your servants. We desperately desire to be faithful to Your calling. Help us, O God - not that we might receive any Heavenly reward, but that You might be honored in the eyes of every living being and well pleased by our motives and activities for this Cause.
To You Alone every knee will bow. Be exalted, O God, above the Heavens. Let Your awesome Splendor fill and overflow the earth!
Father Lord,
please keep us keenly alert to satan’s every strategy against us and those we love or pray for. Lift us up to stand firm that we might not stumble or fall. Prompt us clearly that we might not wander from Your Will or fail to live out Your complete calling upon our lives. Fill every moment of our days and nights with profound and wonderful Thoughts of You. We bind our hands to Your Hands, our feet to Your Feet, our hearts to Your Heart, and our hopes and dreams to Your Plans and Purposes…
For Your eternal Honor, we pray…
Father,
there is so little time and so much to do. Please guide every plan of our hearts this day, granting us a sense of urgency and destiny according to Your Desire. Open wide every door of opportunity through which You desire us to walk, and close all that would hinder or lead us beyond the scope of Your holy Will. Please remove every distraction that we might enjoy much needed rest and focused time with You. Thank You for this desperate desperation to be near You at all times and for Your faithfulness to meet this need. Thank You for Your all-consuming Love that binds us to Your Heart.
For Your eternal glory, we pray…
Lord God,
help us to work faithfully for the day when we will be all that You’ve ever longed for us to be. We want so much to accomplish the Purpose for which we were created, focusing all of our energies on forgetting the past, and looking forward to all that lies ahead. When we complete this race here on Earth, we want nothing more than to look into Your Eyes and see You Smile and say, “Well done. You’re a good and trustworthy servant, as well as a faithful friend.”
(Inspired by Philippians 3:12-21)
Lord of the Harvest,
move us with great compassion for the weary and scattered masses who wander aimlessly as sheep without a shepherd. The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. According to Your Word and Your Will, we ask that You send out laborers into Your Harvest. According to Your Word and Your Will, Here I am, send me and spend me.
(Inspired by Matthew 9:36-38 and Isaiah 6:8)
Father Lord of all Creation,
all things belong to You, and to You we will someday be required to give an account as to our stewardship of Your precious gifts. Grant us Wisdom in all our decisions whether of relationships or resources. Teach us to fully make the most of every moment and every opportunity that none may suffer because of our actions or inaction. Guide us in every detail of our lives, and protect us from errors that move the enemy of our souls to rejoice.
O God, we so long to please You that as we someday stand in Your Presence we may hear You say, “Well done, my faithful one.”
Breathe on me Breath of God.
Please rekindle the embers of passion that I have allowed to grow cold. How I long to burn with fierce enthusiasm for knowing You and for pursuing that which will fulfill the Plans You desire to complete within me and through me. How I long that all my life’s energies perfectly humiliate the enemy of all souls and those powers which exalt themselves against You and Your Kingdom. I long to deliver light into the pathways of those who walk in darkness and to help stir and fan the flames of hearts that have grown cold that together we might generate a spiritual blaze of such magnitude that it cannot be quenched by the powers of complacency or evil. May my personal motives and agendas be fully consumed, my soul purified – refined by The Touch of Your holiness.
Father, The Flames of Your Love are Eternal, as are The Flames of Hell and darkness. Please keep this picture ever before me that I might be moved at all times to minister in ways that will move the hearts of those around me to exchange the Fires of death and destruction for the fragrant sacrificial flames of Love and Surrender that rise into Heavenly realms as an offering before You.
For Your honor and delight, I come boldly to Your Throne of Grace and pray…
Father God,
please guide our hearts and stir us to guard every thought that we think - both day and night - that we may be vigilant to discern Your Voice and remain fully obedient to execute Your sovereign Will. Help us to respond to You as Lord in every moment – not exercising vain religious externals, but honoring You from the very depths of our innermost beings. May our greatest desire always be to love and serve You with all of our hearts, minds, souls, and strengths. O God, my God, You are our passion!
Almighty God,
please renew our strength and increase our power as we wait upon You. Breathe upon us with Your Holy Spirit, lifting us up as on eagle’s wings into spiritual realms, high above every distraction as we soar, delighting in Your Presence. We seek to run the race You have set before us with great energy, endurance, and enthusiasm. We cling to Your faithful Promise that as we labor we will not faint for we walk in the power of Your Might. How we praise You that in our weakness Your Power is perfected within us.
With profound and reverent thanksgiving, we pray…
(Inspired by Isaiah 40:20-31)
We want to smell like You, and to faithfully bear Your Fragrance into all places - wherever You choose to send us. May we dynamically overpower the stench of the enemy causing others to desperately desire to see Your Glory, taste Your Goodness, feel Your Love and Presence, recognize The Sound of Your Voice, and touch the Hem of Your Garment that they might find Healing for their hurting hearts and lives.
In Your holy and wonderful Name we praise You, O magnificent God, Who always leads us in Victory through Christ Jesus…
(Inspired by 2 Corinthians 2:14-16)
Father God,
I desire to help bear Your burden for those who are lost deep within the darkness of this world. May my intercessions and activities ceaselessly and enthusiastically strive for their deliverance that You may receive, enjoy, and celebrate their appreciation and adoration as they bow before Your glorious Throne of holy Grace.
The Lord isn’t really being slow
about His promise to return,
as some people think.
No, He is being patient for your sake.
He does not want anyone to perish,
so He is giving more time for everyone to repent.
2 Peter 3:9 NLT
Jabez
Oh Father God,
that You would bless us indeed, enlarging our passion for You, our relationship with You, our knowledge of You, and the realm of our influence in the world for You. We ask that You turn our hearts from all evil that we might not cause pain to those within our lives or to You. Grant us discernment of all strategies of the evil one, that we might not be deceived or distracted that Your Plans for our lives might not be hindered in any way. May our thoughts and conduct give You reason to smile.
For Your Honor and Glory alone, may we daily live and love and pray…
(Inspired by 1 Chronicles 4:10)
Father,
I thank and praise You for every answered prayer, for Your Presence, and for Your Spirit’s guiding. Please walk before me throughout this and every day. May all my thoughts be directed toward You and by You. Consume all of my personal motives upon the altar of Your holy Will that You may take pleasure in the devotion of all my heart. Teach me Your Way that I might faithfully walk in it. May I be a sanctuary where You are pleased to dwell. In my life, Lord, be glorified.
Father,
I thank and praise You for every answered prayer, for Your Presence, and for Your Spirit’s guiding. Please walk before me throughout this and every day. May all my thoughts be directed toward You and by You. Consume all of my personal motives upon the altar of Your holy Will that You may take pleasure in the devotion of all my heart. Teach me Your Way that I might faithfully walk in it. May I be a sanctuary where You are pleased to dwell. In my life, Lord, be glorified.
My heart,
my mind,
my mouth,
my hands,
my feet,
all of my life,
and all of my energies,
my personal agenda,
my past, my present, and my future,
my dreams, my desires, and my destiny…
Each day I lay the pieces of my life upon Your Altar
and wait
for the fires to descend.
(Inspired by Psalm 5:1-3 The Message)
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Priorities ~ I
