You Hold All Power and Authority

SERVING

Here am I,

spend me…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Almighty God,

You hold all Power and Authority.

Everything originates from You,

belongs to You,

and returns to You.

With faith,

fully trusting You with every detail of my destiny

and the destinies of those I so deeply love,

I make myself available.

~~~~~~~

Shepherd Savior,

give me a heart that is willing to leave the ninety-nine

to seek out the single lost sheep –

alone, wandering,

desperately searching for love and affirmation –

despised, broken, and forgotten,

though not by You.

Please grant me eyes to recognize them,

a heart that discerns both their physical and spiritual needs,

feet that run swiftly to comfort them,

hands that willingly embrace them

though they be covered with stench and grime,

a tongue that speaks words of encouragement,

and a gentleness tempered with tenacity

that leads them safely into Your Presence.

Let me be as a human shield that stands ready

to protect them from the potential destruction

desired against them by the enemy of our souls.

May my life and breath be spent for this

and for Your eternal Glory…

~~~~~~~

Father,

I cannot begin to contemplate

the splendor of Your awesome Imagination

and Your Passion for Your creation.

Yet inasmuch as I am capable,

within the restrictive boundaries of my humanness,

please grant me understanding of Your Thoughts and Ways

that I may better serve and honor You.

Teach me what You desire for me to know about You,

and anoint me to communicate Your Truth to others.

Do not permit me to disseminate my human perception,

but rather help me lead others to recognize and respond to

the authentic Glory of Your awe-inspiring Majesty.

May the world desire to know You intimately

and not be hindered by my limited and personal perspectives.

Let me live in Your Love and for Your Love.

For Your Honor alone may I live and breathe and pray.

(Inspired by Isaiah 55:8-9)

~~~~~~~

Father God,

You designed all people in Your glorious likeness

and remain forever faithful

to pour out Your amazing Love

and excellent provision upon all You have created.

Help me to be diligent in protecting the helpless victims

of satan’s vicious schemes.

As You are near to those who suffer physical, verbal,

and spiritual abuse,

please expose their needs to me that I may labor with You

to bind up the brokenhearted, feed the hungry,

rescue the lost and the perishing,

and to set the captives free.

Let this be the focus of all my life’s ambitions.

For Your Glory Alone, may I forever live...

~~~~~~~

He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord,

and He will pay back what he has given.

Proverbs 19:17 NKJV

Father,

grant us eyes to recognize the needs of others

and ears to hear their cries for help.

When material resources are required,

quicken us to be faithful and responsive

for we cannot give them anything

that does not truly belong to You.

But may our charities not overlook the poor in spirit,

even when they may seem as our enemies –

those who need a simple word of encouragement

or prayer.

Bind them to every beat of our hearts

as they are bound to Yours.

In partnership with You, we pray…

~~~~~~~

Father,

please fill this vessel that I am with Your most tender Love

that I may be spilled out into a lost and hurting world.

~~~~~~~

Father,

I have walked in complacent satisfaction,

safe within Your holy Light

while so many struggle deep within the darkness

of this present age.

I have not always reached out in prayer and ministry

to snatch them from the cruel and unyielding grip

of the enemy of our souls.

Move me into faith-filled action.

Strategically position me deep within the fields

wherein they have wandered.

Use me to bring Your lost sheep back to the fold, Father.

Use me to bring them home

so that You may delight in their presence, love, and praise.

For Your honor and glory alone,

I plead…

~~~~~~~

Awesome Lord,

I long to smell like You and to faithfully bear Your fragrance

into every place You lead me.

May it overpower the stench of the enemy, satan,

causing others to long to see Your Glory,

taste Your Goodness,

desire Your Love and Presence,

recognize the sound of Your Voice,

and touch the Hem of Your Garment

that they might find healing in Your spectacular Name.

I praise You, holy God

who always leads us in victory in Christ Jesus.

(Inspired by 2 Corinthians 2:14)

~~~~~~~

Father,

we ask that You daily renew our passion

for worship, intercession, and service.

As we draw near to You,

we come with repentant hearts

that our sins and our personal agendas

not eclipse the Light You desire to shine

within us and through us.

We desire to be completely spent

for Your Purposes, and not our own

that we might bring You pleasure

as servants of The Living God.

Our only desire is to see You honored and exalted,

and for this cause we pray

and we live…

~~~~~~~

O Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world -

I am not worthy to be Your slave.

Thank You for the Baptisms of the Holy Spirit

and of Fire.

I long to be Your disciple -

to follow closely wherever You are.

I desperately desire to touch the hearts of vast multitudes

in Your Name and for Your glory

that they might know and follow You also - and

that they might introduce even greater multitudes to You -

that these too, might love and follow You.

May Your Kingdom explode with expansion,

here on Earth,

that You may be highly exalted in the hearts of all humanity

as You are in the highest of Your Heavens.

(Inspired by John 1:17-51)

~~~~~~~

Father,

help me to be very careful not to make excuses

to keep from doing good when it is in my power

to make someone else’s life better.

When anyone seeks to borrow something

or as I recognize a need,

I want to be faithful,

fully understanding that You orchestrate circumstances

to test my heart,

and the resources I claim as my own truly belong to You.

Move me to release them according to Your Plans and Purposes.

I do not want to delay in responding,

but rather exercise diligence and selflessness,

taking action in every possible circumstance.

And while I cannot meet the physical demands

of all that move me,

may I be faithful in prayerful intercession

and thereby participate in needed ministry to many others.

Keep my heart steadfast that I might always remember that

Your Gifts are Priceless, Precious, and Free

and that the Gift of Jesus

- Perfect and Most Wonderful –

was a Heart-rending Expression of Your Grace and Generosity.

Everyone who crosses my path

has been placed there by You for a reason – and for testing.

I long to be found faithful.

(Inspired by Proverbs 3:27-28)

(The evening after writing this: a woman approached me in a parking lot – her mother had had a stroke. She needed gas money to get to the hospital to see her. Week of December 8, 2003)

(Train Whistle is blowing as I type this in –

and again September 16, 2006.)

~~~~~~~

Father Lord,

please reign over every decision that I make.

May I feel Your Presence and the quickening

of Your Holy Spirit

as I walk through the course of each day,

for every choice bears many consequences.

Help me to control the spending of the resources You give me.

May each transaction not be selfishly squandered

that I may lavishly bless those who are less fortunate than I,

or that I may more faithfully contribute to Your activities –

ministries within my church or around the world.

I want desperately to be a wise steward.

As I confront the issue of how to spend the moments of each day

may I be quick to remember that my time here is very brief,

and once spent,

a minute can never be recaptured and relived.

May I be faithfully moved to invest in my experience with You

and the people around me

so that my life is not wasted on that which is worthless.

No material obsession can satisfy my greatest human need

nor can it be carried with me when I die.

May I see every aspect of my life as a ministry opportunity,

and so guide my decisions

according to Your design and desire for my life.

May my choices honor and bless You,

my Father, my Savior, my Friend...

~~~~~~~

Father in Heaven,

You assign each person’s labors

for the purpose of Your Kingdom’s expansion.

Fill me with an all-consuming passion

to complete the mission for which I was created.

As I work, may others see You and You alone.

May I not get in the way -

blocking their vision or personal experience with You.

May I decrease, as You increase.

May they hear Your Voice above my own

and know that You are faithful and true.

May I be filled with joy over the success of others.

And Lord God,

thank You for every opportunity to serve and glorify You.

~~~~~~~

O God,

You are The Word,

ever-present before the beginning of time.

There is nothing that exists that You did not create.

Our life is in You and sustained by You.

From Your Being, Life and Light are granted to all.

Your Light pierces through the darkness

and the darkness can never diminish Its brilliant intensity.

I come as Your servant,

a witness to The One True Light.

Lord, shine through me

so that everyone I encounter might believe

and surrender their love before You.

As Sara was the mother of nations,

so multiply the seed that I sow

that vast multitudes will believe and become

Your children.

You continue in unfailing, everlasting Love and Faithfulness.

I want the world to know

the Love of my Father,

the Forgiveness of my Savior,

and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

(Inspired by John 1:1-16)

~~~~~~~

Father God,

please pour the oil of Your holy Love over me

so that as I extend my hand to others

it may leave an indelible Print on

all whom I touch in Your Name.

Connie

My Home, a House of Prayer for All Nations