Prayer Facts:

“We do not need to be concerned that persistent prayer will offend God or betray a lack of faith. Jesus commends persistent prayer because he works through prayer offered over time to improve our prayers, to further his kingdom, to change us—and to answer” (ref#66, p138).

Reasons for Waiting for GOD:

Because You have sound knowledge and understanding and might and power (Prov 8:14), I will wait for You.
Because You are alert and active watching over Your Word to perform it (Jer 1:12), I will wait for You.

Because You are a GOD at hand and not a GOD afar off (Jer 23:23), I will wait for You.

Psalm 66

I will make a joyful noise to You, GOD—
sing the glory of Your name—
give You glorious praise!
say, “How awesome are Your deeds” (Ps 66:1-3).

Great is Your power;
all the earth worships You;
they sing praises to You;
we all sing praises to Your name (Ps 66:3-4).

I see what You have done;
You are splendid in Your deeds;
You rule by Your might forever—

keeping watch on the nations (Ps 66:5,7).

Though You have tested me and tried me—
bringing me into Your net—
laying afflictions on my back—yet…
You have brought me out to a place of abundance (Ps 66:10-12).

I shall bless You—
letting the sound of my praise be heard.
Come and hear, all You who fear GOD,
and I will tell You what He has done for me (Ps 66:8,16).

If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
You LORD, would not have listened.
But, truly You have listened;
You have given heed to the voice of my prayer (Ps 66:18-19).

I cry aloud to You,
high praise is on my tongue.
Blessed be my GOD—
He has not removed His steadfast love from me (Ps 66:17, 20)!

Purposeful in Conversation

“Believers do not need to wait for the Holy Spirit’s filling, because He has descended already. What they need only wait for is for themselves to fulfill the condition for His filling, which is, they must let the cross perform a deeper incision upon them” (ref#101, p27).

I pray for ____ that (he/she) fulfill the above condition (himself/herself) so (he/she) is able to be guided by the SPIRIT to lead others to the cross.

FATHER, we are all blinded to our sin unless it be revealed by the SPIRIT. ____ has the opportunity with (his/her) witness to lead others toward recognizing their sin.

May ____’s goal be to work toward a heart change for the one (he/she) speaks to, and not just a change in the situation (ref#5, p223). With much occasion in prayer, and armed with the SPIRIT, prevail upon ____ to go out to help one specific person at a time.

Everyone must see their need before they seek “the forgiving and empowering grace of Christ” (ref#5, p181). When ____ is listening to a person remind (him/her), LORD, of the importance of guiding them to see that “circumstances did not force them to do what they did” (ref#5, p224). Enable ____ to convey:

1. (1)  In all circumstances they have choices. No one but GOD puts them in the situation.
2. (2)  They have created the situation by their interpretation of it which then fuels their actions (ref#5, p224).
3. (3)  Their thinking and doing revolve around their wants. Some common wants are peace and comfort for themselves or maybe acceptance or independence for themselves—everything for themselves.
4. (4)  Dissatisfaction comes when they can’t have what they want. This leads them away from CHRIST for they desire the people in the situation or the situation itself to change to satisfy their wants (ref#5, p225).
5. (5)  They are oblivious to their sin of selfishness. They must change, not the situation.

Aid ____ in communicating how to change. Provide ways, LORD, that ____ can flesh out Matt 6:33.

“Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find
all your everyday human concerns will be met. ‘Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now,
and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with what-
ever hard things come up when the time comes” (Matt 6:33-34 MSG).

Trials Refine Faith

“Not believing that God has a wise purpose for every event helps conceal our idolatries” (ref#124, p115). And usually the idolatry is wanting things to be like they were before the tribulation (ref#124, p115). The idol is ourselves—our agenda—desiring to make ourselves happy.

Just as You humbled the Israelites in the wilderness and let them go hungry, You have created this adverse circumstance to test ____ —to see if ____ has faith enough to trust You (Deut 8:2-3). FATHER, I would never pray You send ____ tribulations, but I do pray You always strengthen (his/her) faith. How else can (he/she) prove to You that (he/she) really trusts Your wisdom, grace and power (ref#124, p115)?

____ is actually to be envied in situations where You discipline and instruct (him/her). Not only do You test (him/her), but You give (him/her) power to keep (himself/herself) in the midst of the adversity (Ps 94:12-13). Tribulation struggles are much better than no struggles at all.

FATHER, may ____ trust You completely in this trial—to the point of rejoicing in it. Let (him/her) consider it a matter of “…unadulterated joy [without any admixture of sorrow]…” whenever (he/she) “…falls into the midst of variegated trials.” Make ____, FATHER, through the testing of (his/her) faith, be a recipient of “…patience which bears up and does not lose heart under trials” (ref#37, p539, [James 1:2-3]).

Hollering Help

FATHER, forgive me for allowing my natural thoughts to ravish my body. I know I can’t successfully navigate my circumstances so I worry, and worry hurts me instead of helps. O LORD, turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am afflicted.

The troubles of my heart are multiplied; bring me out of my distresses (Ps 25:16-17). I need You to lead me toward taking control of my mind; give me the wherewithal to renew it (Rom 12:1,2)—stopping natural thought and turning toward You.

I admit my lack of strength in my present circumstances (Ps 71:9). In the multitude of Your mercy and the abundance of Your loving-kindness, hear me and answer me. Rescue me, do not let me sink, I plead (Ps 69:13-15).

In You, I take refuge. In Your righteousness deliver me and liberate me; incline Your ear to me, and save me. Be to me a shelter to which I may continually come, for You are my fortress (Ps 71:1-3).

My human mind attempts to accomplish its will with brute strength, but LORD, I ask You to strengthen me by Your SPIRIT so that my strength is accomplished with no physical exhaustion but with spiritual strength that is a glorious inner strength (Eph 3:16).

LORD, I know You will not restrain Your mercy from me; Your streafast love and Your faithfulness will ever preserve me (Ps 40:11). You say in Isaiah 41:10 that You will strengthen and harden me to difficulties, yes, You will help me. You will hold me up and retain me with Your victorious right hand. Because You are my help, I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and on Your wondrous works (Ps 145:5). Help me now set my thoughts on all You have done for me.

All Your deeds, LORD, are awesome. They pour forth the fame of Your abundant goodness; they sing aloud of Your righteousness (Ps 145:6-7). What hope and peace Your Words have brought to me. What joy they will always bring, for CHRIST is eternal and my renewed mind is a result of being dead to sin and alive in CHRIST—a position that You graciously and freely give me (Rom 6:9-11).

I will attest with vigor—my peace comes by being alive in CHRIST. I can do all things by being in CHRIST who strengthens me (Phil 4:13).

Planning My Own Itinerary

FATHER, if I say I have things in common with CHRIST—if I say I have fellowship with Him, yet plan my own itinerary, I speak falsely and do not live and practice the Truth (1 John 1:6). If I claim that I experience a shared life with CHRIST and continue to stumble around in the dark not knowing if I am walking by my agenda or the SPIRIT’s, I am not living what I claim (1 John 1:6).

But, if I walk in the light, as CHRIST is in the light, we have fellowship (1 John 1:7). If I habitually plan my agenda as You Yourself plan it, I have things in common and thus fellowship with You. “God and a holy heart are in continual correspondence” (ref#15, [1 John 1:7]).

In fellowship Your light is continually showing me the truth about myself and my sin (ref#100, p111) and if I confess my sin, CHRIST will be true to His own nature and promises and will forgive everything not in conformity to His will (1 John 1:9). So walking with JESUS is not only walking in faith but also walking in repentance (ref#100, p117).

Let me examine my itinerary. FATHER, I confess I walk too much in the darkness. In fact it is such a habit I do it without thinking, especially when You let me accomplish my plans without intervention.

On earth every one knows who is head over them. Leaders of countries demand from their subjects. But You, FATHER, are silent. You do not show Yourself to me until I turn and wait for You. You do not come to fellowship with me until I invite You— then You come in haste—with abandon—as a father rushing to the panicked cry of his child. I easily forget that the joy I find in my own accomplishments in the dark does not compare to the joy of walking in the light with You.

“Gratitude is an inward expression of the soul, involuntarily arising therein, while thanksgiving is the voluntary expression of gratitude” (ref#64, p37).

GOD All-sufficient

“KING OF GLORY, DIVINE MAJESTY,
Every perfection adorns thy nature and sustains thy throne;

“The heavens and earth are thine,
The world is thine and its fullness.
Thy power created the universe from nothing;
Thy wisdom has managed all its multiple concerns,…” (ref#76, p216).

Thy goodness is unlimited;
so I will wait on thee.
I have everything supplied by thee,
and I am satisfied in thee (ref# 76, p 216).

“GLORIOUS GOD,
It is the flame of my life to worship thee,
the crown and glory of my soul to adore thee.”
It is “…heavenly pleasure to approach thee…” (ref#76, p196).

Give me thy Spirit to help me worship,
that I may overlook the world—
so You can bring me into fullness of life—
that I may be refreshed, reassured and set apart (ref#76, p196).

“KING OF GLORY,
DIVINE MAJESTY,
Every perfection
adorns thy nature…” (ref# 76, p 216).

Covenant of Works

“Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners….” (Rom 5:19 NLT). “This divinely chosen arrangement whereby Adam determined the destiny of his descendants, has been called the ‘covenant of works,’…” (ref#56, p13, “The Fall”).

My natural-born condition of wanting to decide for myself what is good or bad is the reason this covenant exists. FATHER, I am prone to establish for myself a collection of activities I consider good and bad and then work to do the good. Left to myself, without Your input, FATHER, it makes sense to me that if I work at being good You will bless me; this is the “covenant of works.” My part is to be as good as I can, Your part is to bless me and invite me into heaven—I hope—if I can just do enough good to satisfy You…

You, FATHER, established the “covenant of works” with Adam and Eve in the Garden. You were to be their GOD and they were to be Your people; You gave commands and they were to follow them. And You warned them about the consequences if they did not follow Your commands: “…you shall surely die’” (Gen 2:17 ESV).

The “covenant of works” requires obedience (Lev 18:5); perfect obedience leads to life (ref#63, p517). But now, as with Adam, if I break this covenant “the punishment…is still in effect…death” (ref#63, p518).

Since I do not have the ability to obey every one of Your commands, my only choice is to give up directing my own life and put myself under the Lordship of CHRIST. If I trust Him to fulfill all Your covenant requirements for me, then I shall live forever and never die. For this I am humbled, LORD GOD; JESUS is my escape from the covenant of works that I cannot keep. You are Jehovah-Jireh, my Provider.

“O HEAVENLY FATHER,
Teach me to see…that Christ does not desire me…to live in self-confidence in my own strength…” (ref#76, p57).

“…the human heart would much rather offer to God its works, no matter how costly, than humble itself to confess sin. That is the reason why man is always predisposed to go the way of works;…” (ref#100, p 80).

Prayer Facts:

“As the Son began His prayer by making clear His relation to the Father, pleading His work and obedience and His desire to see the Father glorified, do so too. Draw near and appear before the Father in Christ….Say that you too have given yourself to finish the work the Father has given you to do, and to live alone for His glory….” (ref#19, TWENTY-SEVENTH LESSON).

Reasons for Waiting for GOD:

Because You do not faint or grow weary (Isa 40:28), I will wait for You.
Because You are faithful to sanctify me completely (1 Thes 5:23-24), I will wait for You.

The Bride of CHRIST
“My beloved is mine, and I am his;…” (Song 2:16 ESV).

FATHER, CHRIST is mine, “I possess him, I have interest in him, as my head and my husband; and I am his, possessed of him, owned by him, given up unto him: and that as to my Beloved in a conjugal relation” (ref#35, p153). CHRIST and I are far from equal— He never sins, I do—but I am part of His bride, the church, and will attend the “marriage supper of the Lamb” (Rev 19:9).

FATHER, remind me that CHRIST and I always stand facing each other holding hands in mutual resignation like couples in a marriage service. He takes me to be His, to love and care for me; I take Him to be mine giving myself up to be His in obedience.

He says, “…I know by experience those that are mine, and those that are mine know me by experience, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father…” (ref#37, p238, [John 10:14-15]). And so, CHRIST, if I love You, then I am known by You (1 Cor 8:3). You make rich provision for my needs, You pay all my debts and I can share in Your wealth and You even allow me to assume Your name (ref#34, July 22nd AM). My sin is covered by my Bridegroom. His puts on me His very own comeliness that makes me beautiful—even perfect (ref#35, p156).

And, on my part it is to consent to accept all He gives—to “receive, embrace, and submit unto the Lord Jesus, as…husband, Lord, and Savior—to abide with him…and be ruled by him forever” (ref#35, p157).

FATHER, I thank You that You have made me prefer CHRIST counting everything else as rubbish compared to Him (Php 3:8). Thank You for my heart change so I am willing to give myself up to Him. I desire He see my face and hear my voice and count it as sweet and lovely (Song 2:14).

“He is…your Husband, never seeking a divorce; your Friend, sticking closer than a brother; your Shepherd, with you in death’s dark vale. He is your help and your deliverer; your castle and your high tower; the horn of your strength, your confidence, your joy, your all in all…” (ref#34, April 19th PM).