prayers

  • Grace me! (a plea to the God of all grace)

    I Peter 5:6  Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7  casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8  Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9  Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10  And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11  To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

    Grace me! (a plea to the God of all grace)

    As the devil roars, this I know:  that God is for me
    On the God of all grace I cast all my anxiety

    Though my enemies press in on every side ––
    Many devourers –– in One Savior I confide

    Truly, I am my Beloved's, and Jesus is mine
    "Have pity! Be gracious! My God, hear my cry!"

    Lifted from the ash heap to the Kingdom of His dear Son
    Covenant purchase, redeemed with the Lamb's precious blood

    My soul, 'tis God's possession –– no need to fear
    He considers my tossings, counts my ev'ry tear

    Though sifted like wheat, His favor has not failed
    My Great High Priest, the Guarantor, wholly prevails

    Whether in the valley of the shadow, Baca, or Achor
    Who can thwart Immanuel's pleasure –– Fount of sovereign favor!

    His turtledove nestling in the bosom of eternal Love
    Satisfied with Christ's favor, feasting on fat things from above!

    ~ See Psalm 56.

    Numbers 6:22  The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

    23  “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,

    24  The LORD bless you and keep you; 25  the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26  the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

    27  “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”

    Hebrews 7:11  Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? 12  For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. 13  For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. 14  For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.

    15  This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, 16  who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. 17  For it is witnessed of him,

    “You are a priest forever,
    after the order of Melchizedek.”

    18  On the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness 19  (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.

    20  And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, 21  but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him:

    “The Lord has sworn
    and will not change his mind,
    ‘You are a priest forever.’”

    22  This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.

    23  The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24  but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25  Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

    "I wish to mention to you some passages, which have been peculiarly sweet of late.... Another is the account of our Saviour's ascension, in the last chapter of Luke: 'And he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And while he blessed them,' &c. Observe 'while he blessed,' &c. The last thing he was ever seen to do on earth, was to bless his disciples. He went up, scattering blessings; and he has done nothing but bless them ever since." ~  Edward Payson writing in a letter to his mother dated April 1, 1806 from "Memoir, select thoughts and sermons of the late Rev. Edward Payson, Volume 1 by Edward Payson (1783-1827) and Asa Cummings,"  366, emphasis mine.


    Romans 8:31  What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32  He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?  33  Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34  Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36  As it is written,

    “For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
    we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

    37  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39  nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

    Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  • Jesus said to her, "... Whom are you seeking?" - John 20:15

    John 20:15
    Jesus said to her, “... Whom are you seeking?”

    Jesus is asking you...

    "Whom [or what] are you seeking?"

    From Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on John 20...

    ... we may observe, The constancy and fervency of Mary Magdalene's affection to the Lord Jesus... Where there is a true love to Christ there will be a constant adherence to him, and a resolution with purpose of heart to cleave to him...

    Those that will be content with nothing short of a sight of Christ shall be put off with nothing less. He never said to the soul that sought him, Seek in vain. “Is it Christ that thou wouldest have? Christ thou shalt have.” ...

    See how her heart was set upon finding Christ. She puts the question to every one she meets, like the careful spouse, Saw you him whom my soul loveth?

    Song of Solomon 3
    1  On my bed by night
    I sought him whom my soul loves;
    I sought him, but found him not.
    2  I will rise now and go about the city,
    in the streets and in the squares;
    I will seek him whom my soul loves.
    I sought him, but found him not.
    3  The watchmen found me
    as they went about in the city.
    “Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
    4  Scarcely had I passed them
    when I found him whom my soul loves.
    I held him, and would not let him go...

    Is your love for Christ true ––
    or is it like the dew?

    Hosea 6
    4  What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
    What shall I do with you, O Judah?
    Your love is like a morning cloud,
    like the dew that goes early away.

    Exodus 34:12  Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst. 13  You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim 14  (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), 15  lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice, 16  and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods.


    From Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Psalm 24...

    We ourselves are not our own; our bodies, our souls, are not. Even those of the children of men are God's, who know him not, nor own their relation to him. A soul that knows and considers its own nature, and that it must live for ever, when it has viewed the earth and the fulness thereof, will sit down unsatisfied. It will think of ascending toward God, and will ask, What shall I do, that I may abide in that happy, holy place, where he makes his people holy and happy? We make nothing of religion, if we do not make heart-work of it. We can only be cleansed from our sins, and renewed unto holiness, by the blood of Christ and the washing of the Holy Ghost. Thus we become his people; thus we receive blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of our salvation. God's peculiar people shall be made truly and for ever happy. Where God gives righteousness, he designs salvation. Those that are made meet for heaven, shall be brought safe to heaven, and will find what they have been seeking.

    Psalm 24
    1  The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof,
    the world and those who dwell therein,
    2  for he has founded it upon the seas
    and established it upon the rivers.
    3  Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
    And who shall stand in his holy place?
    4  He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
    who does not lift up his soul to what is false
    and does not swear deceitfully.
    5  He will receive blessing from the LORD
    and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
    6  Such is the generation of those who seek him,
    who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah
    7  Lift up your heads, O gates!
    And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.
    8  Who is this King of glory?
    The LORD, strong and mighty,
    the LORD, mighty in battle!
    9  Lift up your heads, O gates!
    And lift them up, O ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.
    10  Who is this King of glory?
    The LORD of hosts,
    he is the King of glory! Selah

    Are you of the generation of those who seek Him,
    that seek the face of the God of Jacob?

    In "An Humble Attempt to Promote Explicit Agreement and Visible Union of God's People, in Extraordinary Prayer, for the Revival of Religion and the Advancement of Christ's Kingdom on Earth," Jonathan Edwards wrote of the good (the blessing) we find as we seek God Himself...

    Zechariah 8:20-21 (KJV) Thus saith the Lord of hosts, It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before, the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts: I will go also. Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord.

    The good, that shall be sought by prayer; which is God himself. It is said once and again, “They shall go to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts.” This is the good they ask for, and seek by prayer, The Lord of hosts himself. To seek God, as the expression may perhaps be sometimes used in Scripture, may signify no more than seeking the favour or mercy of God. And if it be taken so here, praying before the Lord, and seeking the Lord of hosts, must be synonymous expressions. And it must be confessed to be a common thing in Scripture, to signify the same thing repeatedly, by various expressions of the same import, for the greater emphasis. But certainly that expression of seeking the Lord, is very commonly used to signify something more; it implies that God himself is the great good desired and sought after; that the blessings pursued are God’s gracious presence, the blessed manifestations of him, union and intercourse with him; or, in short, God’s manifestations and communications of himself by his Holy Spirit. Thus the psalmist desired God, thirsted after him, and sought him. (Psal. xiii. 1, 2, 8.) “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee. My flesh longeth for thee, in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. My soul followeth hard after thee. ” (Psal. lxxiii. 25.) “Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.” The psalmist earnestly pursued after GOD, his soul thirsted after him, he stretched forth his hands unto him, &c. (Psal. cxliii. 6.) And therefore it is in Scripture the peculiar character of the saints, that they are those who seek God. (Psal. xxiv. 6.) “This is the generation of them that seek him.” (Psal. lxix. 32.) “Your heart shall live that seek God.”

    Jeremiah 2
    31  And you, O generation, behold the word of the LORD.
    Have I been a wilderness to Israel,
    or a land of thick darkness?
    Why then do my people say, ‘We are free,
    we will come no more to you’?
    32  Can a virgin forget her ornaments,
    or a bride her attire?
    Yet my people have forgotten me
    days without number.
    33  “How well you direct your course
    to seek love!
    So that even to wicked women
    you have taught your ways.
    34  Also on your skirts is found
    the lifeblood of the guiltless poor;
    you did not find them breaking in.
    Yet in spite of all these things
    35  you say, ‘I am innocent;
    surely his anger has turned from me.’
    Behold, I will bring you to judgment
    for saying, ‘I have not sinned.’
    36  How much you go about,
    changing your way!
    You shall be put to shame by Egypt
    as you were put to shame by Assyria.
    37  From it too you will come away
    with your hands on your head,
    for the LORD has rejected those in whom you trust,
    and you will not prosper by them.

    Related posts... Please see my posts on Christian hedonism here, and seeking here.

    Scripture quotations unless otherwise indicated are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. / Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

    Work found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MaryEmptyTomb.jpg by Cadetgray / CC BY-SA 3.0

  • Palm Sunday ~ To Jerusalem ... For All Nations

    Matthew 16:21
    From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem
    and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes,
    and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

    Luke 13:33
    I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following,
    for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.

    Zechariah 9
    9  Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
    Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
    behold, your king is coming to you;
    righteous and having salvation is he,
    humble and mounted on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
    10  I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
    and the war horse from Jerusalem;
    and the battle bow shall be cut off,
    and he shall speak peace to the nations;
    his rule shall be from sea to sea,
    and from the River to the ends of the earth.
    11  As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
    I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
    12  Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
    today I declare that I will restore to you double.

    Isaiah 49
    3  And he said to me, “You are my servant,
    Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
    4  But I said, “I have labored in vain;
    I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
    yet surely my right is with the LORD,
    and my recompense with my God.”
    5  And now the LORD says,
    he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
    to bring Jacob back to him;
    and that Israel might be gathered to him—
    for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD,
    and my God has become my strength—
    6  he says:
    “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
    to raise up the tribes of Jacob
    and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
    I will make you as a light for the nations,
    that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

    Matthew 28:20
    ... the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

    Romans 3
    21  But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22  the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24  and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25  whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26  It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

    27  Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28  For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. 29  Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30  since God is one. He will justify the circumcised by faith AND the uncircumcised through faith.

    Palm Sunday
    (To Jerusalem ... For All Nations)

    To Jerusalem, Lion of Judah must go
    To acquit His flock, render them white as snow

    Last Adam lifted up on Calvary's tree
    In our place, to suffer, die, and bleed

    To become a curse, burnt offering for sin,
    Spotless Lamb, all our iniquities laid on Him

    Set His face like a flint, endured the cross,
    Not one the Father gave Him will be lost

    Zealously labored to bring His Father fame,
    Endured the cross, despising the shame

    The gladness of His seed He kept in full sight,
    His Father's will was His desire and delight

    To bruise Him was the Father's pleasure
    To redeem His elect, His peculiar treasure

    Covenant mercies flowed through His precious blood
    O! Just and Justifier! How great a salvation!

    Rejoice greatly, O! daughter, shout aloud!
    Salvation revealed, make a joyful sound!

    Fear not, hear Him, God's only begotten Son,
    Christ, our Passover: "It is finished! It is done!"

    Behold! Your King has come, lowly and meek,
    To ransom His bride, set His prisoners free

    Jesus Christ, a servant of the circumcision,
    Yea, from the Jews, redemption sprung

    Hidden mystery for ages, since before creation,
    Yet now to all nations, glad tidings are sung

    The evangel to be published by beautiful feet,
    God's dominion and glory advancing from sea to sea

    Grace given to preach to ev'ry tribe and tongue,
    Peace through His cross –– O! reconciling blood!

    This morning, as you raised your voice and palm in exaltation,
    Did you recall God's plan to gather a people from all nations?

    In Sunday worship, with your uplifted hands,
    Did you plead for the unreached in many lands?

    Today, according to the Joshua Project (http://www.joshuaproject.net/):

    Total People Groups: 16,594
    Unreached People Groups: 7,162
    % People Groups Unreached: 43.2 %

    World Population: 7.03 Billion
    Population in Unreached Groups: 2.87 Billion
    % Population in Unreached: 40.9 %

    John 10:7  So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8  All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9  I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11  I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12  He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13  He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14  I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15  just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16  And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17  For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18  No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

    John 11:45  Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, 46  but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47  So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48  If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” 49  But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50  Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” 51  He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52  and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53  So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.

    * * *

    The Way is open, prisoners far and prisoners near!
    Humble yourselves, through Jesus Christ, to God draw near!

    Put no confidence in your failing, mortal flesh,
    Receive by faith Christ's perfect righteousness

    Trust no longer in your works, but to the stronghold flee
    Justified by faith in Christ alone, be grafted to the olive tree

    Cry, "Hosanna! Save now!" and He will appear,
    The prayer of the destitute He always hears!

    John 6:37  All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38  For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39  And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40  For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.


    Related:

    Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Emphasis mine.

    Work found at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jesus_entering_jerusalem_on_a_donkey.jpg  / CC BY-SA 3.0 / Public Domain

naphtali_deer

About me...

Christian hedonist in training. Pressing on to know more and more of the joy of the LORD. Pleading with God to rend the heavens and revive and refresh my own soul, as well as His Church, to His praise, honor and glory.

Thank God. He can make men and women in middle life sing again with a joy that has been chastened by a memory of their past failures. ~ Alan Redpath

My other websites

tent of meeting: Prayer for reformation & revival

(See also Zechariah821. Zechariah821 is a mirror site of tent of meeting, found on WordPress)

deerlifetrumpet: Encouragement for those seeking reformation & revival in the Church

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