Let Us Pray
THE ORDER OF PRAYER
I want to pray for you in a manner in which I would go into my prayer closet and spend one-on-one time with God in prayer. We always want to start with praise. What is praise? It's simply talking about God. It's acknowledging before Him who He is. It's recognizing who God is. It's not you thanking God for what He has done for you. It's not about you. It's about getting a fresh look at God and who God is. When we start with praise, we get a true vision of God and who He is. It's not about asking God for something at this point; it's about praising God.
PRAISE:
Lord, we just come before Your throne at this moment. We acknowledge that You are the God most high. We acknowledge that You are sitting on Your throne in the heavenlys and You are the God of love. You love us with everlasting love because You are God. You are sovereign. You are the God of judgment. You are the God of mercy. You are the God of patience. You are the living God. You are the God from everlasting to everlasting. You were the God, the Creator. You created us. You created this world. You created it for your glory. You created us, God to have fellowship with You, to be intimate with You, to love you because You are love. You created us, God, with eyes, ears, and hearts to seek after You. You created us, oh God, in a way that would bring You glory. So we praise you for who You are. Lord, we praise You, oh God, that You have not given up on Your creation. You are a God of steadfast love.
Lord, we praise you today through Your word. In Psalm 90, Your word says "You, God, have been our dwelling place in all generations before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth or You formed the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. You turn man to destruction and say 'Return, O children of men.' For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night. You carry them away like a flood; they are like a sleep. In the morning they are like grass which grows up: In the morning it flourishes and grows up; In the evening it is cut down and withers."
In Psalm 91:1, You said, "He who dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."
I say this of the Lord, God, You are my refuge. You are my fortress. You're my safety, my God. You are my God. And in you, oh God, I will trust because of who You are. Oh God, I stand to praise You all day and I'll not be moved by what I see. I praise You, oh God, for who you are. I praise You for this word. I praise You for the works of your hands. I praise You for Your estates.
PURIFY THE HEART:
After I praise God in my prayer, I move to the next phase where I want to purify my heart. And I use the word to purify my heart.
Psalm 24:3-4 says, "Who can ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who can stand in his holy place? It is only he who has clean hands and a pure heart."
The prophet Isaiah said in 59:2; it is my sin that separates me from God. It's my sin that causes God to turn His face from me. So God, I cry out today, Psalm 51:10-11, "create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me." God, would you take Your flashlight and shine it on my heart? And may the light of Your word, may the light of Your presence expose any darkness, any pride, any jealousy. I confess it! I confess any envy, anger or bitterness, any unforgiveness in my heart toward anyone or anything, or even toward You, God, I confess it. I acknowledge my sin before You and God, I agree that You say it's sin and if You say it is sin, it is sin. And it's caused You to turn Your face from me. So I confess it today. I confess all offenses, people that have offended me, and I have taken offense. God, I confess each one of those right now. I confess my ungrateful heart. Lord, I confess before You today that I have not been thankful in all things. Lord, I confess the rejection, rejection that I have for myself, and rejection that I have for others. I confess it, oh God, confessing all slander or mean words or gossip that I have spoken. I confess that before You today, Lord, confessing, selfishness, confessing self-centeredness where I have centered everything around me and my comfort, my pleasure, my happiness, my getting even before you, Lord and even before others. I confess that self-centeredness, Lord, I confess my worldly passions seeking after pleasures of the world before I have sought to put it above the word of God. I confess wrong thoughts, wrong motives. I confess that I have a greater fear of man than I have of the fear of God. I confess rebellion. God, I know there are things that you have told me to do and yet I have rebelled and neglected to be obedient. God, I recognize that is wrong. That is sin. And it has separated me from my fellowship with You, God. So Lord, I confess all my sin before You where the Holy Spirit is convicting me. I confess it.
I ask You, Lord to cleanse my heart and to make it whole. Circumcise my heart, God and the heart of my descendants, so that we will love You with all of our heart, all of our soul, and all of our strength that we may live. God, we give you permission to work with us through the Holy Spirit, to cut away the flesh, to cut away the worldly passions, to cut away the things that are bringing dishonor, to cut away the things that do not bring you glory, to cut them away and out of our life, and to replace it with holiness and righteousness.
POWER OF THE BLOOD:
And now having purified the heart, aligning my heart, you aligning your heart with God, we need the power of the blood of Jesus to cover us, to stand clean, holy, and pure before God. We're now in a position to seek God with all of our heart, all of our soul, and all of our strength.
Invite God now to come and be a part of our life, to be a part of our situation, to be a part of our home and our family as we petition him according to the Word of God, according to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
We petition You, Father, to come and be involved and to walk with us.
The next thing I do in my prayer closet is I pray on the power of the Holy Spirit. I pray Ephesians 6:10 "...to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might." So we ask You now, Holy Spirit, fill us. Fill us with Your power so that only Your power is moving through us to align our hearts; our desires; our motives; the works of our hands; all of us with You, God. May all we do today be under the power and the leading of the Holy Spirit of God so that we truly do what pleases You, Father. We desire to truly accomplish our purpose today for the purpose that You, God, have ordained.
PUT ON THE ARMOR OF GOD:
Now we want to pray on the armor of God because there is an enemy, Satan and his kingdom, who does not want us to walk under the power of the Holy Spirit. So I pray on the armor of God because realizing that we're not wrestling against flesh and blood, but we're wrestling against principalities, powers, and rulers of the darkness in this age, and against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places. So we put on the whole armor of God that we can stand against the wiles of the devil. We gird our loins with truth. We put on the breastplate of righteousness. We shod our feet in the preparation of the gospel of peace, taking up the shield of faith to quench every fiery dart of the enemy, putting on the helmet of salvation that the blood of Jesus continues to cover us. And we take the sword of the spirit that is the word of God, always being watchful to the end with all prayer, perseverance, and supplication for all the saints. And so Lord, we want to pray specifically what you are ready for us to pray, oh God, where you're ready to work, where you are ready to be glorified. So now we bring our petitions to God, our specific requests.
PETITIONS:
So God, we call on You. We call to You because You are our help. We cast all our cares upon You because You care for us. God, You are our strength. When we're weary, Lord, we cry out for the grace of God. We need Your grace, God. God, we need You to send grace that will give us the desire to do what we know to do is right. We need the desire to combat darkness. We need the desire, oh God, to live Your word and not to gossip, not to walk in our pride. We need Your grace today, oh God, not to be haughty, not to be self-centered. We need Your grace to have the desire to walk with humility, to do justly, and to have mercy toward others. We need Your grace to have the desire, oh God, to lay down our life.
We need Your grace, oh God, to have the desire to die to ourself, take up our cross and follow You. We need Your power. God, we are not strong enough in ourselves to do this. We need the power of the Holy Spirit. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to overshadow us today, to surround us, the north, the south, the east and the west, that You oh God, may do the glorious impossible through our life today, through our family, through our home today. Lord, that You be honored, You be glorified, You be lifted up that others see You, oh God, that You would look down and smile upon us today because You are satisfied with us. So Lord, give us grace. Not that we're sufficient of ourselves to think anything of ourselves, oh God, but our sufficiency is in You today.
We cannot live this life apart from You. Will You make Yourself more visible, reveal Yourself more powerful in our lives today than you did yesterday because, God, we need You. You said, call to me and I will answer...cry to me and I will say, here I am. So God, we are calling to You. We are crying to You because we need You. God, we need balance in our life. God, we need balance in our homes. God, we're reminded in Leviticus 19 that we find balance when the spiritual righteousness is balanced with our physical righteousness. May the righteousness in our hearts and the righteousness that we do physically as we go about our day, be in alignment so that our hearts and our homes are balanced. God, today empower us with a heart of righteousness to do what's right, according to Your word.
May we not seek after our rights, the right to be heard, or the right to stand, but for Your righteousness, God. That's what we want. So Lord, help us to know what is in Your heart and then live it out wherever we go today. Let it reflect You, oh God. Lord, may we restore righteousness in the land. And God, we know that when righteousness is restored in our hearts and in our homes, that's when we truly have peace.
And God, we're all seeking peace in our home, and that demands righteousness. God, we've got situations in our hearts, in our homes, and in our relationships where it's going to take a "but God" moment. Lord, these relationships that are broken, these relationships that are bent, these relationships that are not bringing you glory, these situations, God that are heavy on our heart, we ask for a "but God" moment. We ask you, God, to show up, intervene, and take action so that You may be glorified. God, help us today to fear You! Whatever is on our heart, we submit it to You. We humble ourselves before You, and we hand it over to You. We trust You to take care of that matter in a way that only You know how.
Help us not to fear man, because You said blessed is everyone who fears the Lord. And today, God, we acknowledge, we fear You. And by fearing You, we just handed it to You. And by trusting, we hang onto Your coattail. Lord, it's in Your hands now and we're hanging onto You. We are walking along with You as You guide us and navigate us through it, so that righteousness be the end result. God, we are mindful that we are to keep fellowship with holiness. We know God, that our fellowship with You is first and foremost. So help us today to be mindful of Your presence with us, Your presence among us, with your breath constantly being breathed on us, that we might inhale the breath of God.
Lord, we know we're not to keep company with fools, that we're to be wise in all that we do. Lord, You said that we're to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but to reprove it. So Lord, give us wisdom to see, to recognize, to discern foolishness around us and not to tolerate it, not to keep company with it. Help us to reprove the darkness. Show us how you want us to reprove it.
God help our motives to be pure. You said that we're to do everything with a pure heart. And you know the secrets of our heart and God, I'm reminded You said it's truth that You desire for us to have in our inward being. So Lord today, would you put truth on every one of our circumstances? You desire truth in the inward part and in the hidden part, You will make us to know wisdom. Give us wisdom not only to know what to do, but the power to do it. Lord, may Your statutes become our songs today in the house of our pilgrimage, wherever we find ourselves today, Lord, may we rise up and put Your statutes, put Your word, make it the song of our heart as we go about the day.
Lord, help us to remember Your word that You have spoken to us, Your servants. Because God, it is Your word that causes us to hope today. So bring Your word that's deep down within us and cause it to rise up through us today. Oh God, and give us hope. Lord, many around us, some in our families are sick, physically sick, and emotionally sick. God, would You heal us because You are our healer? Would You send Your word and heal us and deliver us from these sickness? Heal our spirit man. Heal our soul, oh God, and heal our bodies. Would You grant us life and favor and by Your providence, by Your care, preserve our heart. Preserve our spirits. Oh God, empower us to diligently seek Your statutes, Your commandments, Your word. And in keeping it, God, in all that we do, we can be healed, we can be made whole.
PRAISES:
So Lord, as we leave our time with You today, we leave with praises on our lips. We want to praise You for who You are. Praise You, that You are now on the scene. You are now working in each one of these situations that we have brought before You, oh God. And we are trusting You, oh God, that You know how to bring what is out of balance into balance. That which is crooked, You know how to make straight. That which is confusion, You know, God, how to bring peace. We trust You, oh God, that You have it now. Because we have petitioned You according to the breath of God, according to the Word of God, you have now brought Yourself into the matter. And because of Your character, You are making everything righteous. And we trust You for that! And we praise You!
And we go out now, oh God, with strength, victory, and praise on our lips that You, God will be glorified. We manifest You, oh God, in everything that You are in our life. And praise you, oh God, that for Your namesake, You will be exalted in our life. In Jesus' name, Amen.
