Posts by Dorci

Sunday Praise and a Prayer for Our Leaders

Posted on by Dorci

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise you. Thank you for the grace and mercy you continue to show us by giving us another day to prepare ourselves, another day to love others, another day to pray for those who have yet to come into a relationship with you.  

You know those who will be yours and we stand in the gap for them, praying you would bind the hand of the enemy, that your Holy Spirit and your truth would surround them, open their eyes, and with repentant hearts they would receive the forgiveness you gave your Son to die for. We pray they would receive your love and grace and mercy and that you would mold their hearts and character to be like yours. 

Father, we lift up all our leaders. No matter what political affiliation they’re with, no matter what their beliefs, we pray you would bless them according to your will.

For the good of our country and for your glory, we pray you would show them the right way. That even though they don’t understand it, they would move in ways according to your perfect will, to bring about the change you know we need. 

Lord, you blessed us with a land where we were free to worship you, to serve you, to work hard and make an honest living. We humbly ask for your forgiveness for using our freedoms to hurt one another, and worst of all, to push you out of our beliefs, our schools, out of every facet of life. 

Father we pray our leaders would see how much we need you, how vital your word is to us individually and as a nation if we expect to continue to be blessed by you. 

We pray for the salvation of our leaders, and for their boldness in prayer and in relying on the truth in your word to lead us as a nation as we move forward. 

We pray again for the pouring out of your Holy Spirit specifically on our leaders, that they might lead humbly and graciously according to all you still have for us. 

We give this country to you, merciful Father, and we wait for you. 

In Jesus’ holy and mighty name we pray, amen. 

Sunday Praise and a Prayer for our Nation

Posted on by Dorci

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise you.  On this Pentecost, we remember all you’ve done for us. For giving your Son in our place so we could be forgiven and reconciled to you, and then for giving us your Holy Spirit and all He does to comfort us, teach us, lead us, convict us, mature us, and fill us with your peace that passes all human understanding.  We are forever grateful.

Father, we know you’ve shown this country immeasurable grace and mercy. And because we’ve turned away from you, we are a nation that is hurting deeply. 

Father, please forgive us for how we’ve strayed from you, for how we’ve consistently denied you and removed you from our lives.

Please forgive us for the way we’ve indulged in sin and called it good, or entertainment, or our rights. And yet all it’s done is hurt us to the core. 

We pray for revival among your people. Where we’ve only had the appearance of being Christian but our hearts have not been fully given to you, we humbly ask for your forgiveness. Where we’ve been poor examples of your love and grace we humbly ask for your forgiveness. 

We repent, O Lord, and we ask for a fresh baptism of your Holy Spirit to be and say and do all you would have us to in these dark days when people are seeking an answer to their pain and suffering, when people desire rightful change but don’t know how to make it happen.

We know you’re the answer. Help us to boldly and lovingly proclaim Christ as the only way. 

We pray for revival among those throughout our country who have yet to receive you.  

We know the enemy has people blinded, so we ask that you would bind the hand of the enemy and that you would mercifully pour out your Holy Spirit and draw people to you, to open their spiritual eyes and soften their hearts toward you.

Please reveal yourself to them and show them how much you love them. Show them that you see them, you see their hurting hearts and you desire to heal them.

You know each of them by name, you know what they’ve done and what they’ve been through, and you sent your Son to die in their place, and if they will believe on Him as Lord and Savior, and receive the gift of His death that was given as payment for their sins, in that instant you will forgive them and never again remember their sins.

And that by your Spirit you will make them new creations, with new hearts, giving them peace and joy, beginning a new, lifelong relationship with them, never leaving or forsaking them. Ever.

Father, fill us up. Change us. Lead us. Empower us to live and speak the truth in love.  Please perfect your love in us so we can live through these dark days not in fear, but in perfect peace and confidence that your love for us will never waver, and you will give us all we need until you bring us home. 

May we glorify your holy and precious and worthy Name. 

In Jesus’ Name we pray, amen.  

Tongues of Fire

Posted on by Dorci

“I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” 
Luke 24:49

Luke records these as some of the last words spoken by Christ before He ascended into heaven.

Other apostles recorded some of the acts Jesus said they would do in their ministries, but they could go nowhere and do nothing until they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

And once the Holy Spirit filled them – watch out.

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”
Acts 2:1-4

This ragtag group of people who had hid in the upper room, afraid that the soldiers who came after Christ might also come after them, suddenly changed into a group who immediately began speaking “great things of God” in languages from all over the region. 

The sound was so loud that people came to see, and hear, what was happening, and hearing the Lord being glorified each in their own language, they were amazed.

Peter, who had just weeks before claimed he didn’t know Christ as He hung on the cross, now stood as he was filled with the Holy Spirit, “raised his voice and addressed the crowd,” proclaiming the prophecies of Joel, confronting them with putting the Messiah to death, witnessing to His resurrection, speaking the prophecy of David, and declaring that this Man – the Lord – was now at the right hand of God. And because of the power of the Holy Spirit, the people were convicted, and the Church grew by 3000 that day.

That first Pentecost was a small seed of what God would do through the disciples and the early church as they were empowered by the Holy Spirit.

In the Spirit the disciples were one in heart and mind, witnessed boldly, spoke with authority, prayed in faith, saw visions, prophesied, healed the sick, cast out demons, time-warped, performed signs and wonders, gave glory to God, and remained steadfast in their obedience to Him even when faced with jail, flogging, and death.

And when they were punished they entrusted themselves to their Lord.

On at least one occasion while in jail they prayed and sang hymns to God (Acts 16:25), and on another “left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.” (Acts 5:41)

And all these years later, nothing has changed. We still need the empowering and leading of the Holy Spirit to accomplish God’s will.

So why don’t we see the magnitude of the miraculous works the early church experienced?

Have we run ahead of the Lord, instead of praying for and relying on the empowering of the Holy Spirit to do His work, His way, and in His time? 

Are we trying to do spiritual things in our own strength, using only talents and human knowledge instead of our Spirit-given gifts and godly wisdom? 

Have we been grieving the Holy Spirit by some ongoing sinful attitude or behavior?

If there’s ever a time we need the Holy Spirit to move in us and among us to do a mighty work, it is now.

On this Pentecost, I pray again for revival of my own heart and for the hearts of all God’s people. That as fellow citizens of the household of God we will recognize the gift we’ve been given in the Holy Spirit and wholeheartedly recommit ourselves to the Lord, praying our way through each day and night, yielding our wills to our Lord and Savior, putting aside the flesh and walking in the power of the Holy Spirit.

That as one we will burn with a Spirit-driven holy passion of faith, trust, and boldness in our witness of Jesus Christ and the hope we have because of Him.

* * *

Heavenly Father, for the sake of the lost and for your glory, we put aside confidence in anything of ourselves, and we give our lives to be walking, breathing manifestations of the Holy Spirit, that we might move, serve, and worship as one body.

* * *

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

The Saturday Song – Remind Me Who I Am

Posted on by Dorci

“…beloved of God, called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Romans 1:7

Many times in my life I’ve watched the genuine friendship and love among others and wondered what that must be like. Just this morning as I was thinking about dear Ravi Zacharias who will soon be hearing those words from the Lord “Well done, good and faithful servant,” I thought about the love pouring out to him from so many, and was thinking, he’s not only loved, he is beloved. What must that be like?

And not two hours later, the Lord led me to this song and reminded me that I am beloved.  And so are you.