A Prayer to the Lord of the Harvest

“Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.’”
Matthew 9:35-38

 

Dear Heavenly Father,

We praise you, Lord, that you are a God of compassion. Your compassion for the world caused you to send your Son to die on the cross for our sins. Then it was your compassion for each one of us that caused you to draw us out of the world to Yourself that we might live as your children, reflecting your bright light of love and truth to those around us.

Lord of the harvest, we ask you to send out workers into Your harvest field. As the world grows darker and evil becomes more apparent every day, we pray you would equip us with your eyes of compassion that we might see people around us as you see them: lost and in need of a Shepherd. Give us your heart of love, grace, and mercy, and let our words be the words of your Holy Spirit, filled with His power to soften hearts and open eyes to the truth so that there will be a harvest of righteousness in abundance.

Give us wisdom, discernment, and boldness as we walk in faith to whatever harvest field you call us, whether it’s to our next door neighbors, our friends, our family, across town or across the world, to share your truth in love with anyone you would have us. Prepare their hearts, Lord, and ours.

May you bind the work of the enemy, and keep us in prayer, as you open eyes, hearts, and doors for us, Lord, and give us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  

In His mighty name we pray, amen.

Sunday Praise and a Prayer for Peace

 

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise your mighty name, oh LORD. We ascribe to you all glory and strength. Holy and Righteous is your name.

“I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip—
    He who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, He who watches over Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.”
Psalm 121:1-4

Father, we lift up Israel to you and pray for the salvation of your beloved people. May you deliver them from their enemies, both seen and unseen. May you pour out your Holy Spirit that He might give ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to receive Yeshua Ha’Mashiach, Jesus the Messiah. It’s in His name we pray, amen.

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
    His love endures forever.
Cry out, ‘Save us, God our Savior;
    gather us and deliver us from the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name,
    and glory in your praise.’
Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
    from everlasting to everlasting.”
1 Chronicles 16:34-36

If you need prayer, please let me know.

In Him Who Saves,
Dorci

Sunday Praise and a Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, there is nothing so important in this life than to praise you for all you are, all you’ve done, and all you will do. Our praise begins and ends with you for your love, your forgiveness, and your faithfulness and goodness toward us. There is nothing we could ever do to deserve it, but the sacrifice of your Son paved the way for us to receive it, and the indwelling of your Holy Spirit generously portions it to us.

We are in awe that you would do this for us.

Father, you are the Great Gardener, and we thank you for tilling the soil of our hearts that we could receive the Word of Truth and believe in Christ, for the softening of our hearts when we allow the world and our own sin to harden them, and that you might continually plant new seeds of truth, watering them, growing them, producing in us fruits of righteousness, peace, and joy, and bringing our faith to maturity as only You can.

Help us to be diligent to continually abide in the Vine so you’re free to do in and through us all you have planned that we might bring forth a harvest that glorifies You. 

In Jesus’ Name we pray, amen. 

 

 

 

Lesson From a Rescue #3 – A.S.K.

I’ve been eating eggs for breakfast for years, and since shortly after we rescued our dog six years ago, he’s virtually insisted I share my eggs with him every morning.

The routine is nearly always the same: he waits for me to get out of bed, dutifully watches as I get out the ingredients, utensils, plate…maybe paces a bit as I cook it up (depending on whether or not he’s deferred eating his own breakfast until he’s had some of mine), walks with me over to my seat, sits as close as he can get, and begins to remind me, repeatedly, that he’s there.

He stares deep into my soul, and if that’s not enough, he accentuates it with some serious begging, or he’ll whimper as pathetically as he knows how. And every once in a while, when he’s especially desperate and I’m not paying close enough attention, he’ll resort to a chest bump to the leg.  

Every day, week after week, month after month, year after year, he thinks he has to remind me all over again. That somehow I’ve forgotten him. Like I could.

All the while I’m reminding him, again, that I know he’s there, just like yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that. I cut off his little pieces and save them until I’m finished, or at least almost. I can’t forget. There’s no way he’d let me. Yes, he’s a dog, but he’s part of my family. He’s my furry little child, and I love him.

“Yes, I know, I remember, you’ll get your eggs when it’s time.”

And so many times during this exchange I think of us.

We have needs and there may be times we’re not sure if God’s going to provide. Has He forgotten me? Does He see me? How is He going to get me out of this situation?

But Jesus tells us our Father knows what we need before we ask Him. (Matt. 6:8)

Yes, we ask for our daily bread (or eggs) and all our needs, but we don’t need to wonder if our Father’s heard us or has forgotten us.

We’re His children and we’re always on His mind and in His heart.  

Still, Rocky reminds me of a command Jesus gives us:

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Which of you, if your son asks for bread (or your dog asks for eggs), will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil (hurtful), know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!”
Matthew 7:7-11


Rocky’s got it down. He asks, he seeks, and when needed, he knocks his chest right up against my leg. And in the right time, he gets what he’s asked for.

We are invited by Christ Himself to go to our Heavenly Father and A.S.K. – ask, seek, and knock, but not from a place of doubt, not afraid He’s forgotten us, or worse, believing He doesn’t care about us.

We can and must go to Him firmly seated in the foundation of our abiding faith in Him who sent His Son to die for us, who loves us with an everlasting love, and who called us by knocking on the door of our own heart to bring us into relationship with Himself. 

 

Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from Him anything we ask, because we keep His commands and do what pleases Him. And this is His command: to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us.
1 John 3:21-23

 

With His Love,

 


Related blogs:
 

Lesson From a Rescue

Lesson From a Rescue – #2

 

Sunday Praise and a Prayer – Grace, Grace, God’s Grace

 

Dear Precious Heavenly Father, we come to you today in praise of your glorious name. You are more wondrous and greater than we can ever fully grasp, and still, you live in our souls.

You reside in our hearts, and inhabit our praises. You sit with us and weep when we weep; you’re near to us when our hearts are broken. There is no where we could ever go where you wouldn’t go to bring us back.

Thank you for the grace you give that allows us to believe in your Son, to receive forgiveness through Him, and to live a brand new life – His life, His love, His joy.

You’ve taken us from darkness to light, and continually pour out your grace on us. In place of aimlessness, you’ve given us a maturing faith; in place of fruitlessness, you’ve given us spiritual gifts; in place of brokenness, you heal our hearts; in place of an empty life, you’ve given us an abundant life in you.

Father, may we never take your grace for granted. May we live this life for you to the fullest, obeying you at every turn, remembering the great scope of your love. May we remember how far you went to redeem us so we could know you and walk with you, and some day live in your very presence, the place your grace is preparing for us now.

With all our hearts, we thank you, Precious Lord. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

2023 National Day of Prayer

 

Hello Friends. Well, today is our National Day of Prayer. It seems each year we need it a little more than the last. This year’s theme is Pray Fervently in Righteousness and Avail Much, taken from James 5:16b – “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”

When we ourselves are walking uprightly in the Holy Spirit, not grieving Him, but being sensitive and obedient to His leading, and actively praying according to His will, our prayers will be powerful and we will see the Lord work mightily to move mountains.

You can find all the information on this year’s Day of Prayer, its history, events, livestream, and more, here.

Our Dear Heavenly Father, we come before you today, exalting and praising the mighty name of Jesus the Christ, the only name under heaven by which we can be saved. LORD, we pray for ourselves first. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 23-24)

I repent of my sins and ask you to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. I lay down those sinful deeds and thoughts and take up your righteousness, and with it your peace and joy. May my life be salt and light to those around me that you would be glorified in all I say and do. Fill me with your love and compassion for the lost and all those you put in my life.

We lift up our nation to you, LORD, its churches’ leaders, government leaders, schools’ leaders, and leaders at home. We pray for the pouring out of your Holy Spirit to open the eyes and hearts of those who’ve been blinded, to convict of sin and bring about a revival for the salvation for many, and revival among those who have known you but have been drawn into the world and become complacent.

We pray for your mercy, that you would bind the enemy and his lies and deception. We pray for the healing of those who would answer your call, believing on the Holy Name of Jesus Christ.

May we humble ourselves and turn back to you as a nation, looking to you in all we do. May you heal us that we would again be a light to the world of your goodness and faithfulness when a people put their trust in you and in your Holy Word.

Thank you for hearing our prayers, and we thank you in advance for what you’re going to do.

We pray it all in the name of our Lord Jesus, our Savior, amen.

Sunday Praise and a Song – The Beautiful Letdown

Our Dear Heavenly Father, we praise your holy and precious Name. We lift up high the Name above all names, our Savior, our Messiah, our King, our Lord Jesus. Thank you, Lord, for giving us eternal life through the power of your shed blood and for preparing a place for each of us who have believed on you. 

May we never be satisfied with this world. May the disappointments and letdowns we have here remind us that we live for something, Someone, more, and may we find our satisfaction in a constantly abiding relationship with you.

I pray we remember we’re only passing through here as foreigners and strangers, and that we live for the day when we are completed in your presence and live in joy with you forevermore.  In the mighty name of Jesus we pray, amen.


The Beautiful Letdown

by Switchfoot

It was a beautiful letdown
When I crashed and burned
When I found myself alone
Unknown and hurt
It was a beautiful letdown
The day I knew
That all the riches this world had to offer me
Would never do

In a world full of bitter pain
And bitter doubts
I was trying so hard to fit in
Fit in, until I found out

I don’t belong here (I don’t belong)
I don’t belong here (I don’t belong)
I will carry a cross and a song
Where I don’t belong
I don’t belong

It was a beautiful letdown
When you found me here
Yeah, for once in a rare blue moon
I see everything clear
I’ll be a beautiful letdown
That’s what I’ll forever be
And though it may cost my soul
I’ll sing for free

We’re still chasing our tails
In the rising sun
In our dark water planet still spinning
In a direction no one wins
No one’s won.

See, I don’t belong here (I don’t belong)
Well, I don’t belong here, I don’t belong
I will carry a cross
With a song where I don’t belong
I don’t belong
I don’t belong here (I don’t belong)
No, I don’t belong here, I don’t belong
I’m gonna set side
And set sail
For the kingdom come, kingdom come
Your kingdom come
Won’t you let me down, yeah
Let my foolish pride forever let me down

Ah, easy living, you’re not much like the name
Easy dying, you look just about the same
Would you please take me off your list
Easy living please c’mon and let me down

We are a beautiful letdown
Painfully uncool
The church of the dropouts
The losers, the sinners, the failures, and the fools
What a beautiful letdown
Are we salt in the wound
Hey, let us sing one true tune

I don’t belong here (I don’t belong)
It feels like I don’t belong here, yeah
It goes like I don’t belong here
I don’t belong (I don’t belong)
Won’t you let me down (I don’t belong)
C’mon and let me down (I don’t belong)
You always let me down (I don’t belong)
So glad that I’m let down (I don’t belong)
C’mon and let me down (I don’t belong)
Cause I don’t belong here
Won’t you let me down!

Sunday Praise and a Prayer For the New Year

Hello! I pray your new year is off to a good start. And whether it is or isn’t, let us remember that the Lord has promised to never leave us or forsake us. He is with us no matter how deep and dark the trial may be.

He will give us the strength and courage to endure, and not only to endure, but as Jesus tells us in John 10:10, He came to give us not only life, but an abundant life. That word for abundant, perissos, means beyond, superabundant, superior, excessive, exceeding abundantly above, beyond measure…   You get the idea. 

This is God’s will and promise for us who walk with and in His Spirit. 

So let us set our hearts and minds on Him and let Him be the very reason we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28) and watch what He will do!

I’d love to hear from you throughout the year what God is doing in your lives so we can praise and glorify Him together. And if you ever need prayer, please do not hesitate to leave a comment, email me, or contact me through the blog’s pages on Facebook or Twitter. 

In Christ,

 


“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 15:13

***

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise your holy and precious name. As we seek you each day, may we make choices that glorify you. We thank you in advance for what you’re going to do, how you will provide for us in every situation, and for the abundant life of your Spirit, your love, joy, peace and all the fruit we bear as we hold onto you through our Lord Jesus Christ, and may the world sit up and take notice so much that they, too, will know that in you and you only is life. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. 

Saturday Song – In Jesus’ Name (and a little something extra)

Good morning (or afternoon or evening!), everyone. I wanted to share a couple of things with you today.  

First, I came across a message this morning I wanted to share with you light of yesterday’s blog. It was written in 1980 by a man in Rwanda who was killed for not renouncing his faith in Christ. After his death, this statement was found posted on the wall in his room. He had written it the night before. 

I’m a part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I’m a disciple of His and I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.

My past is redeemed. My present makes sense. My future is secure. I’m done and finished with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, or first, or tops, or recognized, or praised, or rewarded. I live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by Holy Spirit power.

My face is set. My gait is fast. My goal is heaven. My road may be narrow, my way rough, my companions few, but my guide is reliable and my mission is clear.

I will not be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed.

I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice or hesitate in the presence of the adversary. I will not negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won’t give up, shut up, or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and preached up for the cause of Christ.

I am a disciple of Jesus. I must give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes. And when He does come for His own, He’ll have no problems recognizing me. My colors will be clear!

We are the Fellowship of the Son!

And second, because of my fellowship with a beautiful sister in the Lord at church last Sunday, she reminded me of this song that so encouraged me, and I thought was also appropriate to share with you today. 

This life is hard, and sometimes it’s even harder for us who are trying to walk the walk of faith because that makes us a target of the enemy, like the man in Rwanda. I know there’s pain, I know there’s suffering, believe me, I know. But I also know there’s healing in Christ. He wants to heal your heart and mind. It doesn’t usually happen overnight, but if you’ll begin, in faith, offering Him the pieces of your heart, He’ll begin putting them back together. If you’re hurting today, I pray for your healing, in Jesus’ Name. If you would like specific prayer, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment or send me an email. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

For Him,
Dorci


In Jesus’ Name (God of Possible)

by Katy Nichole

I speak the name of Jesus over you
In your hurting, in your sorrow
I will ask my God to move
I speak the name ’cause it’s all that I can do
In desperation, I’ll seek Heaven
And pray this for you
 
I pray for your healing
That circumstances would change
I pray that the fear inside would flee in Jesus’ name
I pray that a breakthrough would happen today
I pray miracles over your life in Jesus’ name, in Jesus’ name
 
I speak the name of all authority
Declaring blessings, every promise
He is faithful to keep
I speak the name no grave could ever hold
He is greater, He is stronger
He’s the God of possible
 
I pray for your healing
That circumstances would change
I pray that the fear inside would flee in Jesus’ name
I pray that a breakthrough would happen today
I pray miracles over your life in Jesus name
In Jesus’ name
 
Come believe it
Come receive it
Oh, the power of His Spirit is now forever yours
Come believe it
Come receive it
In the mighty name of Jesus, all things are possible
 
I pray for your healing
That circumstances will change
I pray that the fear inside will flee in Jesus’ name
I pray that a breakthrough
Would happen today

I pray miracles over your life in Jesus name
I pray for revival
For restoration of faith
I pray that the dead will come alive in Jesus name
In Jesus’ name

The Fellowship of the Son

Many Christians think of fellowship with other believers as just getting together on Sunday morning, maybe mid-week, maybe at a Bible study, and hanging out. I’ve heard so many say they don’t need the church.  They don’t need to be with other Christians. They can hear a teaching online, they can worship God by themselves. They can do their Christian faith alone.

My guess is a lot of those people have been hurt by others in the church, and I understand that hurt, but I also know God desires to heal our hearts and bring us back into fellowship, a deep, meaningful spiritual fellowship, something that is far greater than simply getting together. 

“God is faithful, and by Him you were called to the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:9

The word for fellowship here is koinōnia – partnership, participation, communion. 

At the moment of salvation, we’re called into partnership with Jesus Christ, to commune with Him, to participate with Him in our own spiritual growth, as co-laborers of His work here, and as co-heirs of our eternal inheritance.

This same word, koinōnia, is used to describe the early church: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (Acts 2:42)

Because we’re called into a partnership with Christ, and we are filled with His Holy Spirit, we are called into a partnership, a fellowship, with one another. 

You might have heard of another fellowship, one solely built around a ring. Its purpose wasn’t just to socialize (although they did do that), but to fulfill a singular vision, a mission. This fellowship of nine banded together to see that a ring and its evil power was destroyed, saving their world.

Each member had a different position with its own responsibility, its own strengths, none less important than another. They worked together as one, realizing that no one member can fight the evil power alone. 

Like that fellowship, God’s given us different gifts to use and we need each one.

“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” 1 Corinthians 12:27

We’ve been called to come together as one body, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, to use our God-given gifts “for the equipping of the saints, for the work of service, and for the building up of the body of Christ (each other), until we all come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God…”  (Eph. 4:12-13a)  

We are each members of a fellowship, not to destroy something, but to lift up and glorify the Holy and Righteous One as we journey through this life, maturing in Christ, doing the good works God prepared for us to do, leading others away from the enemy and pointing them to Christ and to salvation, and battling side by side in spiritual warfare through prayer, until the day God destroys the evil one. 

The Bible says the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour, and a lion loves nothing more than to get his prey alone. 

The enemy of Christ can and will attack us with lies, discouragements, temptations, misdirection, anything to try to separate a believer from the truth, and that is so much easier to do when a person is not surrounded by the fellowship, the partnership, the ministry of other believers.

“…you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of His household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” Ephesians 2:19-22

This is who we are.  Christ is the cornerstone and each of us is added as a brick to be built together as the living temple of God.

This is our fellowship with one another, the Fellowship of the Son. 

***

Heavenly Father, thank you for this amazing and blessed calling to partner with Jesus. I pray for not only a clear vision of your will for us corporately and individually, but a passion to carry it out. Help us know the gifts you’ve given us and to partner with Jesus in using them according to your will to serve you and our brothers and sisters in Christ.  For those who are without a church right now, I pray you would lead them to a Spirit-filled group of believers where they can minister and be ministered to. And for those who have been hurt, I pray you would give them the ability to forgive for the healing of their hearts. Give us the will, the strength, and the courage to not allow the enemy to keep us from our calling, our purpose, but to fulfill it for your glory. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.