Chaos to Calm

My soul only waits for the Lord. In silence I sit in anticipation for the one who is my rock and my salvation.  Draw me out of the chaos of this world and into the calm of your intimacy. I breathe out chaos and breathe in calm; breathe out the chaotic experiences of living in an uncertain world and breathe in the calm of a peace that surpasses all understanding; breathe out chaotic personalities and breathe in the calm of a changeless Christ; breathe out ignorance and breathe in the calm of your wisdom that instructs me; breathe out my will and breath in thy will be done.

Calm me just as you have calmed the winds and the waves.

Speak to me just as you spoke to the storm.

Touch me in places I’d rather leave untouched.

See me and know what I thought was hidden from you.

Cross my inner threshold so that we are one.

Here I am Lord your servant is listening...and having heard your voice clearly, I go to stand boldly before my adversaries to speak truth to the powers that be; to bring about a future, your future that is a benefit to all, not some but all.

In Jesus Name, Amen

VMM

Beloved, just as there is an eye in a hurricane, you can find calm in the midst of any chaos swirling around you. Breathe deeply inviting the presence of God to preside over your day. Seek calm centers within that keep you focused and on task even when everything seems confused. Create the calm wherever you go!

Blessings!

Soul Prospering

“ For My thoughts are not your thoughts, 
nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."

Isaiah 55: 8-9

Lord, we come to you today with all our plans held in abeyance. We look to you to guide us through the day your way without following our habitual practices and plans. We trust you to navigate us in the way we should go because your ways are not our ways just as your thoughts are dissimilar to ours.

Lord, be with our head and our understanding. Be with our heart so that love abounds. May our souls prosper today and always. In Jesus name, accomplish your purpose in our lives according to your timetable. Amen.

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PRAYCATION

Join us early Thursday morning for our Praycation Conference call at 6 AM CDT/7 AM EDT. Just call 1-218-936-2800, access code 812713. There will be prayer, praise, study, testimony and more. The Praycation conference call is the first Thursday in every month.

Pray for Our Sons

God please keep your hand on our sons….

Jesus be a fence around them and keep them from hurt, harm or danger.

Help us as we build your young boys.

Give us the strength to nurture, love and encourage them.

Give us the character to be living examples of your risen son Jesus.

Give us patience.

Give us wisdom.

Give us discernment.

Give us your power.

Give us your grace.

Bless the work of our hands and make us prosperous.

Set our sons hearts on fire for you.

In Jesus Name, Amen.

Rev. Jay Gamble

www.lifechangeame.com

YOUR MORNING, NOON AND NIGHT PRAYER ASSIGNMENT:

Pray today for our sons. Pray for our sons by birth, blood, and spiritual or by choice. Pray for the sons in your home, church, on street corners and at school.

REMEMBER:

This is the Lenten season. Strive to increase your prayer time to three times daily - Morning, Noon and Night. Invite others to follow this prayer discipline. Strive to join the Daniel Fast. Information about the fast can be found at www.thisisyourwakeupcallonline.com in the Read Section archives on the home page. Read through the Bible in 90 days or one year. If you are following the one year plan, the Bible verses are on the right side of this blogs home page. If you haven't started, start now. If you started and stopped, try, try and try again!

Prayer Power

“So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting and in sackcloth and ashes.”

Daniel 9:3

O God, who makes all things new, we come to you this morning to help us see where something new is needed. Smooth out our rough edges. Stir up the gifts that have become stagnant. Liberate what has become stuck in the muck and mire of crises.

We pray for those who are in need that they find help today: For those who are bullied, may they find the protection or the courage they need. For those who are sick, may they find healing in the hem of your garment; those who face financial catastrophe or foreclosure, may they find relief; those who are hungry may they find sustenance at your table. In Jesus name, may those who are lost find their way in you! Amen.

PRAYER REQUESTS

This morning on our special Lenten Prayer and Conversation conference call, people from California to New York shared their prayer requests. Please pray with us today for those who want prayer support for their marriages, business venture, finances, new employment, healing, recovery, employment, family, children and grandchildren, church growth, military deployment, visioning and just to hear God.

Just A Closer Walk

"Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall" Psalm 55:22

Heavenly Father, Help me to walk closer with You so I understand that Your love never fails and never fades. Help me walk closely so that I understand that I can only do what's possible and trust You to do what's impossible. Oh God, help me to walk closely so that when I've come to the end of my rope, I know that You can provide an extension. And Lord, help me to understand that I can only become closer to You by engaging in daily conversation with You; for daily prayer and continuous study of Your word diminishes many cares. For it is Your word that says, "Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall" (Psalm 55:22). For all these reasons Lord, I pray for a closer walk with You because I would rather walk with you in the dark than alone in the light. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Sister Erica Harbin , An excerpt from the book "And Then They Prayed...R.E.V.I.V.E." by Bishop James L. Davis and Supervisor Arelis B. Davis, 9th Episcopal District, AME Church

Adoration

“I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart.”

Psalm 91:1

We enter your gates with thanksgiving on our lips for what you have done for us. We gladly enter into your presence with praise on our lips for who you are. Today we will praise you in the sanctuary of our hearts and with others shout praises into the holy hush of the sanctuary at the appointed hour. We turn our total attention to you and you along giving thanks with our whole heart, the whole of our very being. Amen.

VMM

PRAYER QUOTE

“Prayer is the human response to the perpetual outpouring of love by which God lays siege to every soul. When our reply to God is most direct of all, it is called adoration. Adoration is the spontaneous yearning of the heart to worship, honor, magnify, and bless God.”

Richard J. Foster

Prayer: Finding The Heart's True Home

Is God Enough?

"Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you; All things pass: God never changes. Patience achieves all it strives for. Whoever has God lacks nothing, God alone suffices."

Those words were written on a bookmark from Theresa of Avila's prayer book. Is God enough for you?

All sufficient God, quench my thirst for the things of this world with the things that matter the most to you. When things fall apart or fail, help me to remember that you never fail and nothing is impossible to you. God, you're God enough alone. In Jesus name, Amen

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LENT: PRAYER AND FASTING

“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

People all over the country and other parts of the world will be fasting and praying together during this Lenten Season. Without listing all the troubles and conflicts affecting the world today, I am sure you will agree there is an urgent need for prayer and fasting in this hour. So, your brothers and sisters are praying that you will be a part of this international prayer team that will embrace an awesome move of God so needed in the world today.

God has laid it upon our hearts to participate in a Daniel Fast in which nearly everyone can participate. Essentially, during a Daniel Fast, you will eat vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, grains and beans. The Biblical basis for this fast is found in Daniel 1:8-16 and 10:1-3.

This fast has physical benefits, but be assured, our anticipated goals are spiritual. Daniel 6:3 tells us that Daniel had an “excellent spirit” that caused him to be distinguished from among his peers. It is no leap at all to believe that the excellent spirit in Daniel was related to his life of spiritual discipline through fasting and prayer. As such, like Daniel, we will pray three times a day seeking the face of God and interceding for our families, churches, communities, nations and the world. Additionally, Christian brothers and sisters have volunteered to write a devotional guide that will build us up throughout the fast.

The Lenten Fast begins on Wednesday, February 17th and concluding on Resurrection Sunday. Until tomorrow, remember to pray for each other to be strengthened in anticipation what God is going to do in and through us.

Rev. Roderick Belin

www.twitter.com/ibelin, www.ibelin.me

Blind Spots

" O Lord, how do I let go when I'm so unsure of things? I'm unsure of your will, and I'm unsure of myself.... That really isn't a problem at all, is it? The truth of the matter is I hate the very idea of letting go. I really want to be in control. No, I need to be in control. That's it, isn't it? I'm afraid to give up control, afraid of what might happen. Heal my fear, Lord.

How good of you to reveal my blind spots even in the midst of my stumbling attempts to pray. Thank you!

But now what do I do? How do I give up control? Jesus, please, teach me your way of relinquishment. -Amen."

Richard J. Foster
Prayer
Finding The Heart's True Home

PRAYER QUOTE

"Prayer -secret, fervent, believing prayer-lies at the root of all personal godliness."
William Cary

SHARE PRAYERS

The season of Advent begins soon. This is the season of preparing ourselves, souls and families for the celebration of the birth of Christ. You can help us do this by sharing your prayers, prayer experiences, thoughts or meditations with us. Send them to www.praycation2@gmail.com today.

THANKSGIVING

What are you thankful for this year?

Prayer Quote

The invitation to a life of prayer is the invitation to live in the midst of this world without being dropped in the net of its wounds and needs. The word ”prayer” stands for a radical interruption of the vicious chain of interlocking dependencies that lead to violence and war and for an entering into an entirely new dwelling place. It points to the a new way of speaking, of breathing, of being together, of knowing – truly, to a whole new way of living.

Henri Nouwen

Prayer Experience

Lord, I thank you for for being You. I thank you for being with me as I navigate through life with my fears, doubts and indecisions. Thank you for teaching me to depend on you.

As I spend more time with you in prayer and meditation, my fears lessen. As I study your word more, my doubts become clearer and my direction more focused. Lord, I thank you for another day with you

Pam

Prayer Thoughts

Is the Son of God praying in me, or am I dictating to Him?....Prayer is not simply getting things from God, that is a most initial form of prayer; prayer is getting into perfect communion with God. If the Son of God is formed in us by regeneration, He will press forward in front of our common sense and change our attitude towards the things about which we pray.
Oswald Chambers

The Divine Encounter

Dear God,
I cannot begin this day without spending time in your presence. I cannot rush to be with you and then quickly move away. I cannot come to the prayer place and not be ready to encounter you. I command my spirit to receive what you will give to me. Amen

Dr. Jessica Ingram
Supervisor, 10th Episcopal District AMEC
Author, The Journey Within
Journeyministry@aol.com

Prayer Quote

You have a choice between a Bag Lunch or a Banquet!

"The difference between quickly throwing up a few prayers when you have a moment, and spending a quality devotion time with God is like the difference between buying fast food and dining in a fine restaurant. With fast food, you drive up, yell into a microphone, and drive around to a window where they throw you a sack of food. But in a fine restaurant, you sit down. You spend time in pleasant conversation with your table companion, and you become nourished and refreshed". ~~~John Maxwell~~~

Rev. Tyronda

Surrounded by Love

The song, "Falling in Love with Jesus," defines my everyday experience with the Lord. It truly is the best thing that ever happened to me. I pray this morning for three families whom I know who have had young loved ones murdered - two of the murders occurred in NJ (the cities of Rahway and Elizabeth respectively) and the third one occurred in Atlanta, GA.

God, we thank you for the lives of the young people; they knew you and loved you; and we know they are at peace with you. God, we ask now that you grant their families strength and courage as they grieve the tragic loss of their loved one. They may never know why their loved one was murdered, and so we ask you to grant them peace of mind. Surround these families with your love Lord, letting them know you are with them even now. God, we love you and adore you. We worship your holy name.

In Jesus name, AMEN.

Written by Deborah Stapleton

Early Will I Seek Thee

As we begin our Praycation, I offer this early morning prayer:

"O God, Thou art my God. Early will I seek thee…" Psalm 63:1

O God, I come to you in the darkness of the morning
I come just as I am starting to hear the birds singing praise to you
I come before the phone starts to ring, before messages are texted or tweeted
I come to You, O God, before the flood of emails and voicemails
I come before I remember tasks left undone from yesterday
I come before the uncertainty of tomorrow becomes fear

I come before I try to live out my own plan
I come before temptation ripens
I come to You, O God, before competing voices can influence
I come before I can mistake my thoughts for Your voice
I come before I can remember all I want from you and all I want you to do for me

I come, early in this morning, to say I love You and I thank You for loving me
Thank you for giving me this day – now, I give it back to you: live today in me live through me love through me bless through me empower through me rescue through me give joy through me O God, I come to you in the darkness of the morning, like Jesus did, to make your will my will.

In His name, AMEN

Written by  Roderick Dwayne Belin

 www.ibelin.me