Imperious

In Your hand are power and might (1 Chron 29:12).

You are the victor—
the winner in battle—
the conqueror (ref#110, p1487).

You distinguish Yourself;
having great fame and glory (ref#110, p806).

You are powerfully attractive—
magnetic (ref#110, p813).

Too great to be counted,
You are incalculable (ref#110, 681).
You are Master of being many-sided,
having qualities and accomplishments innumerable (ref#110, p825).

You are imperious, skillful—an expert— (ref#110, p833).

Masterful when You thunder.
As the GOD of glory,
You are full of majesty (ref#110, p833) (Ps 29:3-4).

Grateful Worship

FATHER, it must have seemed like a dream, too good to be true, to the exiles given permission to return to Zion (Ps 126:1). Or when the angel woke Peter in prison and his chains fell off. He thought he was seeing a vision it was so unreal to him (Acts 12:7,9).

With the work You’ve done in my life, FATHER, I should have the same reaction. As I remember Your holy activity toward me, I should feel like I need to pinch myself.

Do not thoughts of You set my hearts vibrating? Is there not a sound of song in the distance? If I ponder long enough, doesn’t the music grow louder?

Nehemiah dedicated the wall around Jerusalem with gladness, with thanksgivings, with singing, with cymbals, harps, and lyres (Neh 12:27). The people gathered offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for GOD had made them rejoice with great joy (Neh 12:43). Doesn’t GOD make me rejoice because of all He’s done?

FATHER, stir me to rejoice; rivet my attention to the rising music in my soul which is the response to Your blessings to me. Lift my eyes to You—You, Who did all for me. Oh soul, rejoice in the LORD, again I say, rejoice (Phil 4:4). Shout for joy (Ps 66:1). In grateful worship, break forth into joy oh my soul!

And LORD, continue to do great works in me. I need Your rain in my drought-stricken life (Ps 126:4). I am like Isaiah looking at You high and lifted up (Isa 6:1). Realizing I am Yours, yet unclean (Isa 6:5). I weep because of my sin, I cry under Your discipline. I plant my crops in sin’s entanglement and despair but in the end I’ll shout hurrahs at the harvest (Ps 126:5).

With pleas for mercy I shall come, and You will lead me back to You (Jer 31:9). So my heavy soul will come home laughing, with armloads of blessing. (Ps 126:6). For all this, LORD, I shout again for joy in grateful worship to You,

Revival for Backsliders

FATHER, presently I fear that ____ does not seek You (Rom 3:11). Look down from heaven and see, from Your holy and beautiful habitation. O LORD, why do You make ____ wander from Your ways and harden (his/her) heart (Isa 63:17)? Please return for ____’s sake.

____ is like those over whom You have never ruled, like those who are not called by Your name (Isa 63:19). Stagnant (he/she) is until You rend the heavens and come down, the mountains quaking at Your presence (Isa 64:1).

____ is the clay, and You are the potter; (he/she) is the work of Your hand. Be not so terribly angry, O LORD, and remember not iniquity forever. Behold, please look, attest that (he/she) is Yours (Isa 64:8,9).

Incite (him/her) to remember You in Your ways, for You meet the ones who joyfully works righteousness. You act for those who wait for You
(Isa 64:4,5).

From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a GOD besides You. You came down and did awesome things that no one looked for (Isa 64:4,3). Come again, stir ____, move (him/her) ahead, grow (him/her) like a beautiful flower seeking the sun.

Consider the Tragedy of GOD

FATHER, inspire ____, when speaking of the spiritual world, to speak only about JESUS CHRIST. Make (him/her) able to make a distinction between what CHRIST did and the result of what CHRIST did.

“The effect of the Cross is salvation, sanctification, healing, etc., but we are not to preach any of these, we are to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (ref#7, Nov 26th).

Give ____ the ability to make CHRIST, and not man, the center of all things. It is easy to personalize what CHRIST did. “He died for my sins out of sympathy for me.” “It is a travesty to say that Jesus Christ travailed in Redemption to make me a saint” (ref#7, Feb 1st). In my natural depravity it’s easy to get mushy.

“We are acceptable with God not because we have obeyed, or because we have promised to give up things, but because of the death of Christ, and in no other way. We say that Jesus Christ came to reveal the Fatherhood of God, the loving-kindness of God; the New Testament says He came to bear away the sin of the world” (ref#7, Oct 29th).

Impassion ____ to speak from Your prospective. “We have not brooded enough on the tragedy of Calvary or on the meaning of Redemption” (ref#7, Nov 26th). The great point of Your spiritual energy is the cross. JESUS-talk may seem abrupt and even harsh but it will do its own work. FATHER, give ____ the ability to hash over and over all the effort You have put forth in Redemption. Captivate (him/her) to brood over Your tragedy in giving Your Son to die (ref#7, Nov 26th)