As you know, this morning is our special day of prayer for the group, for our marriages and families. With that in mind, I have written the following prayer for us today. Let's go to Father...
Father, we come before You today to praise You, for You are the Mighty One. You are holy and righteous. At Your Word all things were created. And from Your Word, we praise You with the words of Psalm 138 (NIV) today:
I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; before the "gods" I will sing your praise. I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted. May all the kings of the earth praise you, O LORD, when they hear the words of your mouth. May they sing of the ways of the LORD, for the glory of the LORD is great. Though the LORD is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me. The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever - do not abandon the works of your hands. Father, we come before You, singing Your praise. We know that when we call upon You, You make us bold, You make us strong. We sing Your glory, for we know Your ways are holy and just and righteous and true. You promise us that You will fulfill Your purpose for us.
Father as we come before You to praise You today, we remember the 270 marriages and families represented here in our group. Our needs are many, and yet at the same time, our needs are the same. We are all in need of Your healing and Your restoration in our marriages and in our families. For each of us, You have spoken a divine appointment, as we are all gathered here together by Your promises. Lord, we thank You that You are the healer of marriages, the healer of broken lives. We know that You can speak into anyone's heart at any time, and Your Word will be accomplished. Father, Your Word says:
"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD.
"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts."
"For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
"For you shall go out with joy, And be led out with peace; The mountains and the hills Shall break forth into singing before you, And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. (Isaiah 55:8-12 NKJV)
We know Your Word will not return to You void, and so we pray Your Word today. You will prosper Your Word in our hearts, in our lives, in our marriages, and in our families.
Father, we lift up all of our spouses to You, Lord. We ask that You would soften the hardest of hearts, and make that hard heart a heart filled with love for You and love for Your Word. Father, in the words of Ezekiel 36, we pray Your Word for our selves, our spouses, our marriages and our families:
'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: "'For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign LORD. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, O house of Israel!
"'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt. The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through it. They will say, "This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited." Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the LORD have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it.'
(Ezekiel 36:22a, 24-36 NIV)
We ask You Lord for Your restoration and healing, and we claim the promises of Isaiah 62 (HCSB) for our marriages:
Zion's Restoration
I will not keep silent because of Zion, and I will not keep still because of Jerusalem until her righteousness shines like a bright light, and her salvation like a flaming torch. Nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You will be called by a new name that the LORD's mouth will announce. You will be a glorious crown in the LORD's hand, and a royal diadem in the palm of your God. You will no longer be called Deserted, and your land will not be called Desolate; instead, you will be called My Delight is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land will be married. For as a young man marries a virgin, so your sons will marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices over [his] bride, so your God will rejoice over you. Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen on your walls; they will never be silent, day or night. You, who remind the LORD, no rest for you! Do not give Him rest until He establishes and makes her Jerusalem the praise of the earth. The LORD has sworn with His right hand and His strong arm: I will no longer give your grain to your enemies for food, and foreigners will not drink your new wine you have labored for. For those who gather grain will eat it and praise the LORD, and those who harvest the grapes will drink [the wine] in My holy courts. Go out, go out through the gates; prepare a way for the people! Build it up, build up the highway; clear away the stones! Raise a banner for the peoples. Look, the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth, "Say to Daughter Zion: Look, your salvation is coming, His reward is with Him, and His recompense is before Him."
And they will be called the Holy People, the LORD's Redeemed; and you will be called Cared For, A City Not Deserted.
Father, we thank You for what You have done in the lives of Judy and Paul, who so very willingly share of their lives and their hearts with all of us. Continue to use them in fruitful ministry. Help them to see their vision of our families and marriages restored for Your glory, for the sake of the Kingdom. Bless them, Father, and bless their family. May the love You have shown to them continue to grow and increase, overflowing in abundance to all they meet.
Lord, as we come before You, we know the needs are many and great, but You are mighty and able. We humbly thank You for choosing us to be Your children, the instruments of Your grace to all we meet. May we be Your light, shining in a dark world, speaking Your truth that marriage is one man and one woman for a lifetime. Use us, we pray, for Your kingdom business as we offer our lives to You.
We pray all this in Jesus' Holy and Precious Name, the Name above all Names, that at His Name, every knee should bow and every tongue confess the greatness and glory of You. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21 NKJV)
Praying with us today:
Calvary Assembly of God Jaffrey, New Hampshire Benton Church Benton, Kansas Safe Haven Free Methodist Church Port Angeles, Washington Dayspring Southern Baptist Church Hot Springs, Arkansas Members of Jessiville Baptist Church Jessiville, Arkansas Wadley United Methodist Church Wadley, Georgia First Baptist Church of Louisville Louisville, Georgia Friends and Family Home Church Pearcy, Arkansas Members of Mountain City Seventh Day Adventist Mountain City, Tennessee Fellowship Church Grapevine, Texas Masters Business Website Online Ministry House of Prayer Blairsville, Georgia Members of Victory World Church Norcross, Georgia Community Christian Church New Ipswich, New Hampshire The Power Station Troy, New Hampshire Freedom Christian Center Austin, Minnesota Friends of Glinda in Texas Praying in Georgia and Texas Rockwood Harvest Church Wildwood, Missouri New Life Community Church Chicago, Illinois
We also have prayer partners praying from the following nations:
South Africa West Africa New Guinea Singapore Germany Norway Australia Malaysia United Kingdom Canada
Remember above all else today, there is One who supremely loves you, with a love that surpasses all things.
