Tag: Compassionate

Sunday Praise and a Prayer for the Body of Christ

Posted on by Dorci

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise you. Thank you for your unending, merciful love that brings healing and goodness into our lives. 

Lord, we pray for the body of Christ, for believers whose spiritual walk has been lukewarm, who have allowed themselves to be pulled into the world and the love of things in it, who have been lured into the belief that they have just enough faith to save them, but are missing out all you have for them.

We pray that in your mercy you would open their eyes, soften their hearts, and bring them to repentance and a desire for spiritual things.

We pray our brothers and sisters would be unfulfilled by all the world has to offer, and know that what is missing is you.  We pray you would give them a hunger and thirst for righteousness, that they would seek hard after you, and that you would fill them with the peace and joy they long to have.

We pray you would show them the way to true and lasting faith as they give their whole hearts and lives to you. 

For those who have believed at one time, but whose hearts have grown cold, LORD, please reveal yourself and show them your desire to love and forgive them, to gather them under your wing and heal their hearts and minds, and to make known to them the plan you have for their lives. 

For those who are abiding in you, but maybe there are some areas of their lives they have kept from you, please give your strength and courage to let you have it all. That we would give you our whole hearts, even the hard things, the things we can’t face alone, and face them with you, knowing you are compassionate and full of grace. 

Father, help all of us yield our whole selves to you, that we can experience all you have for us, every healing, every blessing, every gift, and every bit of spiritual growth while we have time. And may we be a light, Lord, for the whole world to see how great is your love. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. 

Sunday Praise and a Prayer for the Sick

Posted on by Dorci

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise you. You are the omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent God. You are faithful to hear our prayers, and we thank you for hearing our prayer today. 

Father, we lift up to you those who are facing life-altering and life-threatening illnesses.

For those who know you, we ask that you would renew their strength and hope. We pray you would comfort them and fill them with your peace that passes all understanding. We pray you would surround them with people who support them with love and friendship. We ask that you would also give strength and hope for their loved ones and caregivers. 

For those who don’t yet know you, we pray you would reveal yourself to them in a very personal way. Maybe they’ve blamed you for what they’re going through. Maybe they’re angry, or lost and just don’t know where to turn. We pray you would not allow the enemy to fill their minds with lies.

Father, we know what a personal and compassionate God you are, and we ask that you would show them that you know them and you love them.

We pray you would open their eyes and turn their hearts toward you, that they would receive you as their Lord, their Savior, their Hope to walk with them through this time, giving them all they need and more. 

We pray you would remove all fear and help them keep their focus on You, the God Who is bigger than anything they’ll face here on earth. We pray you would give them strength and courage to walk in confidence with you each day. 

Father, you are also the Great Physician. You created our bodies and you can heal them. If it be your will, Lord, we ask that you would do miracles and grant healing and restoration. We pray you would open doors and move mountains to do those things that need to be done.

We pray you would give the doctors and nurses your wisdom, your skill, and your compassion. 

We pray, Lord, that you would also open doors to provide financially, and that all debt is paid. 

Father, we pray you would be glorified in all these circumstances. What the enemy has meant for evil, we pray you would use for your good. We lay it all at your feet, trusting you, and we thank you ahead of time for what you’re going to do. 

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

 

The God Who Hears Us

Posted on by Dorci

“Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts.” Luke 2:25-27a

We don’t always hear a lot about Simeon, and there’s only a small paragraph about him, but there’s a lot behind those few words. 

His name was Simeon, and names held a lot of meaning in the Hebrew culture.

The name Simeon was first used in Genesis as the name Leah gave the second son she conceived with Jacob.

“She (Leah) conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, ‘Because the Lord heard that I am not loved, He gave me this one too.’ So she named him Simeon.” Genesis 29:33

So, why did Leah name him Simeon?  Because in the Hebrew Simeon means “hearing.” 

The Lord heard (same root word) that Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah. He heard Leah’s heart grieve and groan, had mercy on her, and gave her another son. 

Jesus’ birth was the end of 400 years of silence from the God of the Israelites. 

The Israelites had largely turned away from God and His ways, and they endured much persecution, the desecration of the Holy of Holies, and the capture and recapture of Israel by multiple peoples.

God might have been silent, but He was not unseeing or unhearing. 

So “when the set time had fully come, God sent His Son…” Galatians 4:4

God had heard the grieving and groaning of His people and gave the world a Son.  

As Joseph and Mary took the baby Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem to consecrate Him to the Lord, the Holy Spirit led Simeon, whose name means “to hear,” to see the Savior of the world. 

God hears. He is attentive to our cries. He is ever discerning and perceiving of the needs and concerns and trials and tribulations of one person as well as an entire people. 

We need to remember that. Deep down in our hearts we need to believe that because if we don’t we won’t pray. If we think all is lost, if we think it’s useless, that God isn’t hearing us, we’ll give up hope and we’ll stop praying.

Have hope, take courage, we have a God who hears.  

God’s Word shows us, through Leah and through Simeon, that God is a hearing, compassionate, and loving God. 

So as we start this year, let’s remember that God hears our prayers and continue to pour out our hearts to Him who hears us and will answer when the set time has fully come. 

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him.”  1 John 5:14-15

Guard Your Heart

Posted on by Dorci

The Saturday Song – Give Me Your Eyes

Posted on by Dorci

If there’s anything God shows us about Himself in His word it’s that He is a personal God. Yes, He loves the whole world, but He also sees and loves the individual. 

He saw Hagar and her son a distance away, alone in the desert, waiting to die, and had compassion on them. 

He saw Hannah, alone in the temple, weeping and praying for a son, and granted her request.  

He saw Mary, a humble worshipper of God, and made her the mother of the Messiah. 

He saw the Samaritan woman, sitting alone by the well, and gave her hope through the greatest message of all time. 

He saw the man with leprosy, and having compassion on him, healed him, restoring his life.

He saw the woman who had bled for twelve years when, in faith, she touched His cloak and was healed.

He saw John, alone on the island of Patmos, and gave him a vision of the Son and of His coming kingdom to give the world.

He sees you right now, too, and whatever you’re going through He has compassion for you.  

 

Father, give me your eyes.