Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

Father,

Praise You for this day and all that You have already accomplished in my life. Thank You for who You have created me to be, though I haven't always understood all that has been happening around me. Watch over and guide me today, and throughout the week. Show me who to share Your love with, and give me the courage to give it. You tell us that we have freely received, and are to freely give. Therefore, O Lord, help me to give Your love away this week, for Your glory in Jesus' name. Thank You, O Lord,
Amen

Tuesday Quotes

Imagination is the road less taken, but it is the pathway of prayer. Prayer and imagination are directly proportional: the more you pray, the bigger your imagination becomes because the Holy Spirit supersizes it with God-sized dreams.

Mark Batterson

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

Father, we come before You today seeking Your face on behalf of our country. We know that You are in charge and that Your eyes are on us all. Give us peace, and grace. Forgive us for that which has been atrocious in Your sight, and wash us clean, O Lord. Wash our land in the Word of God, and help us to do our part. Give us a great LOVE for Your people here and abroad, and help us to know where to work with You today and throughout the week. Thank You, Lord, for You are faithful, in Jesus' name,
Amen

Tuesday Quotes

In the midst of contending for breakthrough, there comes a point when it is inconvenient to pray again.... this is commonly the tipping point when God loves to move.

Chad Dedmon

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

Today's prayer is as follows...

O Father, our heavenly Father,

We adore and love You today and come before You with praise! We thank You for all You have done for us this week, and for the growth Your Spirit has accomplished through and in us. Continue to guide and direct us and draw us to You as we become closer to who You have created us to be. We thank and praise You, for we know You are faithful to do this, in Jesus' name!

Amen

Tuesday Quotes

When people are full of faith and vision, they can see what is possible in the unseen realm. They will always contend for God-sized possibilities to become manifested in the present moment.... Tenacity is an attribute of faith.

Chad Dedmon

The Gifts of the Spirit

"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills." - 1 Corinthians 12:4-11

1 Peter 4:10-11 tells us, "God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen."

^"And His gifts were [varied; He Himself appointed and gave men to us] some to be apostles (special messengers), some prophets (inspired preachers and expounders), some evangelists (preachers of the Gospel, traveling missionaries), some pastors (shepherds of His flock) and teachers.His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ’s body (the church),[That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the [full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ’s own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him." - Ephesians 4:11-13

What do we learn here of the Gifts of the Spirit?

1) They are varied.

2) They are all to edify the body, and to glorify God.

3) There are some gifts which are higher than others. There is to be an ORDER to the Church.

 Recently, I was reading Culture of Honor, a book by Danny Lee Silk, where he was discussing how the Church at large is out of God's divine order of operation. that wasn't the main topi, no, but it caught my attention nonetheless, because of how true it is. When we place those with pastoral and teaching gifts ahead of those with apostolic, prophetic, and evangelistic gifts, there is a problem. ALL are used of God, but not all are equal in terms of heirarchy.

Most people don't ant to think of there being hierarchy in the Church. Why, it's just UN-American!! Yet, God isn't from America, He is from Heaven... and Heaven is to be reflected in the earth. The gifts and callings of the Spirit are one way that we are to reflect His nature and our true home here on the earth, where we live. We as the Church are to CALL HEAVEN DOWN to "invade the earth," as Pastor Bill Johnson of Bethel Church at Redding, California puts it.

The Word of God calls us to ASK, SEEK, and KNOCK. We are to walk by faith, and live by faith. We are called to live out God's divine order here on earth, regardless of what the world's systems say.

As Danny points out, we are to live in a culture of honor, where each person is honored for who they are in Christ, in the roles that God has assigned for them, and the placement they have within the Church at large. But if we have things OUT of ORDER, how is that an honoring thing? Those with apostolic and prophetic giftings are to be honored because they help bring Heaven's perspective and thoughts to earth and SPEAK FOR GOD that which He wills us to hear! Yet in much of the body of Christ, they are not honored, but set aside. Many fear the very gifts God has given us because they have believed the lies of the enemy and see only the potential for harm when they are misused, and throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater.

When we ALIGN ourselves to Heaven - it's priorities, giftings, heirarchy, and rule - we ALIGN ourselves with God Almighty! To align with anything else would be a travesty...

Wonderful Wednesday Prayers

Like the Tuesday Quotes, I decided to add a Wonderful Wednesday Prayers feature, too... so, when I am online on a Wednesday, I will add a prayer...

Today's prayer is the first of them.

Our Father in heaven,

Guide and bless us throughout the day, and watch over our thoughts, words, and deeds. Draw us closer to You in the way You see is most fitting to my life right now this week. Thank You, Lord, in Jesus' name.
Amen

Tuesday Quotes

I've decided that, at least when I'm here on a Tuesday, to just give you a quote. Something to chew on for the week... So, without further ado, here is the first:

"God isn't offended by your biggest dreams or boldest prayers. He is offended by anything less. If your prayers aren't impossibly to you, they are insulting to God."
Mark Batterson