Prayer for Employment

‪#‎SpeakLife‬

Our Heavenly Father is very interested in you and desires the very best for you. It is His will that you prosper and be in health as your soul prospers (III John 1). Be aware that God is not limited to meet your need or bless you through a paycheck, although He can certainly use a paycheck to do so. Always remember that God is your source and you are His very own child.
Keep the Word first place in your life. Do what God told Joshua in Joshua 1:8: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”
We join our faith with yours as you pray this prayer:
“Father, in Jesus’ Name, I seek Your wisdom and trust You to direct me in seeking the job that is best for me. I will walk in mercy and truth and lean not unto my own understanding. Thank You for opening wide a door which no man can shut and for giving me favor.

“It is my desire, Father, to be debt-free and owe no man anything except to love him, according to Your Word. I am willing to work with my own hands, so that I lack nothing. I praise You that it is Your will that I am self-sufficient financially and have an abundance to meet all of my needs, with enough left over to give generously to others.

“I will not fret or have anxiety about anything, Father, for Your peace mounts guard over my heart and mind. Because You are my source, I have confidence, comfort and encouragement in Your provision. I thank You, Father, for supplying my need of employment according to Your riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

Scripture References: Proverbs 3:3-5; Revelation 3:8; Psalms 5:12; Romans 13:8; I Thessalonians 4:11-12; II Corinthians 9:8 (The Amplified Bible); Philippians 4:6-7 (The Amplified Bible); II Corinthians 1:3 (The Amplified Bible); Philippians 4:19.

Tasha Dewalt

A PRAYER FOR OUR GOVERNMENT

‪#‎SpeakLife‬

I Timothy 2:1-3 says that we are to pray, intercede and give thanks for kings and all people in authority. This is God’s command to every believer today. Praying for godly leaders is productive toward God’s plan and purpose for our nation. The Bible says the heart of a king is in the hand of the Lord. He can turn it however He wants, so your prayers are important. Here is a confession for you to use in prayer for our nation and its leaders. Pray it in faith, believing, and remember God watches over His Word to perform it (Jeremiah 1:12, The Amplified Bible).

Father, I bring the needs of our government before You and ask You to bless our nation through godly leaders. I magnify the Name of Jesus and declare that He is Lord over this nation.

Father, I pray according to I Timothy 2:1-3 which says, “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour.”

I pray, in the Name of the Lord Jesus, for our president, the vice president, all the Cabinet and the chief justice and associate justices of the Supreme Court to receive the wisdom of God, to act in obedience to that wisdom and for the power of God to flow in their lives.

I pray for the members of the Senate and the House of Representatives to find Your peace and direction, and for these men and women to act and lead according to Your Word. A house divided against itself cannot stand, therefore, I pray for them to be unified in righteousness for the sake of the nation.

I pray for Your protection to cover all our law enforcement officers and the men and women of the military. I ask for godly counsel and wisdom for judges across this land. In the Name of Jesus, I pray that You and your kingdom of righteousness be manifested in the hearts of all those who are in authority in any way.

Father, Your Word says to pray for the peace of Jerusalem because those that love Jerusalem shall prosper. Lord Jesus, because You love Jerusalem and wept over it, I love it also. I pray for Jerusalem to receive the Shalom of God, which brings wholeness—nothing missing, nothing broken. I pray that no leader of our nation will make any decision that will harm Jerusalem in any way. And in the Name of Jesus, I pray that You reveal Your perfect will to all the leaders of Israel. I ask You, Lord, to reveal Yourself to each person. Thank You, Father, for hearing my prayers that are in accordance to Your will. I receive the answers, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Scripture References: I Timothy 2:1-3; Psalms 122:6; Mark 3:25; Proverbs 21:1; I John 5:14-15.

Tasha Dewalt

Rhapsody Of Realities - Thursday, July 31st .

The Virtues Of Faith, Hope, And Love .

.
Pastor Chris

And now abideth faith, hope, charity (love) these
three; but the greatest of these is charity (1
Corinthians 13:13).
Faith, hope and love, are three important principles
revealed to us in the Word. All three of them work
together, but love is revealed as the greatest of the
three. Anyone who comes to Christ immediately
learns the value of faith, because faith is imparted to
your spirit when you hear the Gospel. With that faith,
you receive the Holy Spirit, and begin to walk in
newness of life.
As you mature spiritually, you learn something about
hope. Hope ministers patience. The more you grow
in the things of God, the more you realize that
though your faith can do anything, some things have
to wait. At this stage, you start learning how to trust
God.
Trust is the mixture of faith and hope. When the
Bible says Abraham believed God and it was
accounted to him for righteousness, he trusted
Jehovah with his life.
The reason love is the greatest is that love
encapsulates both faith and hope. When you walk in
love, you walk in faith and hope. To walk in the
greater levels of the anointing of God’s Spirit, you'd
have to understand the power of God’s love, and
walk in it.
The Lord Jesus explained something beautiful about
love in Matthew 22:35-38, when a certain lawyer,
wanting to test Him, asked, “Teacher, which is the
great commandment in the Law?” Jesus answered
him thus, “…Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the great and first commandment” (ASV). If
you ask people to list the Ten Commandments, they’ll
most certainly not start with this. They’d say, “Thou
shall worship no other God before me.” But Jesus
brought love before worship. He knows that if you’d
love Him, you’d worship Him.
It’s not so much what your faith or hope can do; God
is more concerned about what your love can do. Go
beyond faith and hope, and function in the arena of
love, where your words and actions are motivated
only by love.

PRAYER
Dear Father, I thank you for filling my heart with your
love by the Holy Spirit. This love overwhelms me
today, and many experience the joy and genuineness
of your love-power through me, in Jesus’ Name.
Amen.

Further Study: John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth. ;
Deuteronomy 6:5 And thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and
with all thy might.

Daily Scripture Reading
1 Year Bible Reading Plan: Romans 5:12-21,
Psalm 52-55
2 Year Bible Reading Plan: Ephesians 4:25-32,
Isaiah 51

How Do I Let It Go? By SUZIE ELLER

"Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness, And rivers in the desert." Isaiah 43:18-19 (NKJV)

Three-year-old Elle arched her arm and pointed her fingers. "You're frozen, Gaga!"

I stopped in place, one arm behind me, the other in the air. She giggled, then quickly unfroze me.

If you are in the vicinity of anyone under the age of 6, you're familiar with the movie, Frozen. In it, two sisters struggle in their relationship with each other and in finding acceptance.

At one point Elsa, the older sister, sings these words:

"Let it go, let it go ...
"And I'll rise like the break of dawn ..."

Let it go.

Those are words I sensed God speaking to me years ago.

Let go of the past that you cannot undo.

Let go of the warped view you have of yourself. It doesn't match the one I have as your Heavenly Father.

Let go of the hurts that hold you too tightly.

Just as I playfully stood frozen while my granddaughter giggled, there was another time when I felt frozen. I couldn't take a step toward healing.

"Let it go, sweet daughter," was a whisper I heard from God to discover the Suzie He saw me to be.

Maybe you've sensed God asking you to let something — or someone — go.

Let go of the mistakes you once made. I've forgiven you.

Let go of the anger that's consuming your thoughts.

Let go of condemnation, so you can live free.

You want that desperately, but it can be hard to let go when you don't know what that means. May I share the definition of letting go with you? It was freeing for me when I finally understood it.

Letting go is giving up what is beyond your control to embrace what you can change.

In Isaiah 43:18-19, God spoke to His people through the prophet Isaiah saying: "Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness, And rivers in the desert."

The people held so tightly to the past that they missed the new things God wanted to show them.

God speaks the same warning and truth to us. We can't control the past, but we can focus on the miracles around us today.

We can't control the words that once shaped our hearts, but we can replace them with truth from Scripture.

We can't control negative people, but we can choose joy for ourselves.

Letting go isn't easy in the beginning, because holding on is our natural response. But there's so much hope! Just as the prophet Isaiah describes new roads in the desert and rivers in the wilderness, as we give up what we can't control to embrace what we can change, new ways of thinking, relating and living are carved into our very being.

And the beautiful thing about letting go?

It doesn't just change us.

It has the power to alter the next generation, and the next after that, like the cute little blonde-haired, blue-eyed darling chasing her Gaga through the house, singing, "Let it go!"

Dear Jesus, I've wanted to let go for a long time, but I didn't know how to do that. Now that I do, I'm ready to take that leap of faith. I give up what I cannot control to embrace what I can. Thank You for carving new roads in the desert of my heart and new rivers in the wilderness of my life. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Philippians 3:12-14, "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (ESV)

RELATED RESOURCES:
Suzie's newest book, The Mended Heart: God's Healing for Your Broken Places is a powerful resource to help you as you heal from past heartaches.

Would you like to bring Suzie Eller to your church? Click here to learn more about Suzie as your next retreat or keynote speaker. You can also visit Suzie's blog today, where she takes this topic deeper.

You might also enjoy Karen Ehman's book, Let. It. Go.

REFLECT AND RESPOND:
Write down one thing you've been trying to control. Now, list those things that are within your influence.

Write one way you can give up trying to control what you cannot change to embrace what you can.

ARE YOU A HYPOCRITE?

MEMORISE

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Matthew 6:5

READ

Mark 7:1-6

1 Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem.

2 And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault.

3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.

4 And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables.

5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?

6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

MESSAGE

Hypocrisy is a type of behaviour in which a person pretends to have moral standards or opinions, but does not actually live by them. Hypocrisy is a decadence condemned by the church and society. Paradoxically, its manifestation is commonplace in both the church and the society. The Bible warns against and condemns hypocrisy in the strongest terms. Luke 11:44 says,

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.”

Hypocrisy is manifested in many ways. First, it is manifested in giving (Matthew 6:1-4). Giving is good and scriptural. A Christian is expected to give cheerfully, abundantly, sacrificially and lovingly. We should give our time, money, talents and energy for the expansion of the kingdom of God and the furtherance of His work on earth. However, when giving, a hypocrite is pretentious. He either gives sparingly while giving the impression of abundant giving, or refuses to give while at the same time passing off as the best giver. A hypocrite wants every act of his giving to be acknowledged in public. He engages in charitable work simply for self-aggrandizement. Are you a hypocrite? How do you give? What motives are behind your acts of charity?

A second area in which hypocrisy finds expression is in prayer. Prayer is an obligation, and God answers prayers. He enjoins us to ask and instructed us to pray without ceasing. The hypocrite prays. He however has a wrong motive for praying. He cannot be said to be praying to God. A hypocrite prays to be seen of men (Matthew 6:5). Hypocrites do not engage in secret prayers; they will only pray where men can see and acknowledge them as prayerful persons. What is the motive behind your prayers? When do you pray? Why do you pray? How do you pray? Do you limit your prayers to places where men can see or hear you pray? Do you pray to be acknowledged by men as a prayer warrior? A third area in which hypocrisy finds expression is in fasting. Fasting is scriptural. Christians should however not be hypocritical in fasting (Matthew 6:16). A hypocrite fasts in order to be seen by men. He announces his fast and does things to make men acknowledge the fast. This is unscriptural. Whenever you fast, let it be between you and God. Finally a hypocrite is fraudulent. He is dubious, exploitative and through pretexts appears to be religious. Are you a hypocrite?

ACTION POINT

If you notice any act of hypocrisy in your life, repent and turn a new leaf.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR

Matthew 19:1-21:27

Job 14:7-17