Tag: prayer

Sunday Praise and a Prayer to Live Unafraid

Posted on by Dorci

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise your most holy name. We praise you for your faithfulness and goodness. We praise you for your love and for the plans you have that are so great, so glorious, so miraculous, that we cannot even begin to conceive of them. 

Father, when your servants, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were faithful to you and trusted you even in the furnace, you protected them, and because they chose to live unafraid, even King Nebuchadnezzar praised your name.  

Lord, we ask that you would give all of us who believe in Christ the kind of courage and strength and conviction to live unafraid and that the world will see your faithfulness in and through us and have no choice but to praise your name. 

No matter what we’re going through, whether it’s physical, emotional, financial, or even persecution for our faith in you, may we live unafraid, filled with the sure hope we have because of what Christ did for us on the cross and because the Holy Spirit indwells us, knowing that you are an ever-present help in time of need and that you promise to be with us and love us to the end.  

Thank you for giving us all we need to walk victoriously. May we daily avail ourselves of all the riches of your glory in Christ Jesus. It’s in His blessed name we pray, amen. 

Sunday Praise and a Prayer as We Stand Upon the Rock

Posted on by Dorci

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise you. You, Lord, are our Rock, and on you we stand. We declare that as we stand upon You, the Rock of our salvation, we will not be shaken; we will not be moved. You are our Mighty Fortress, our Protector, and we will not fear. 

You are our Strength, our Courage, our sure Hope. No matter what storms rage around us, you are our Peace, and our Light in the darkness. 

You are our Sustenance, our Fountain of living water. 

As we stand upon you and walk in faith, may our lives be a reflection of your great love and grace, and may all we go through magnify and glorify the holy and precious name of Jesus Christ. 

In His name we pray, amen.

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If you would like prayer, please feel free to contact me. 

For His glory, 

Effective Prayer Life

Posted on by Dorci

“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous one avails much.” 
James 5:16b

If there’s anything we need right now, it’s active and powerful prayer by God’s people that produces results.

But a lot can get in the way of that, and that can be confusing and discouraging. 

There’s an easy-to-read booklet, though, that addresses many of the concerns we all have. It’s called Effective Prayer Life, written by Pastor Chuck Smith, founder of Calvary Chapel. 

It’s simple and to the point, and very encouraging. 

The chapters start with the basics: What is Prayer?, and continues with The Purpose of Prayer, The Privilege of Prayer, Effective Prayer, Strength in Prayer, Pray, and I will Answer, and Sin of Prayerlessness. 

The book’s been around for decades so a paperback can be found for as little as 3 or 4 dollars, $0 for kindle. 

I hope (and pray!) that whether it’s through this booklet or something else, the Lord will fan the flames of our faith, and we would each grow in our desire to pray, in the Spirit, prayers that would move mountains. 

For Him, 

 

Sunday Praise and a Prayer to Walk in the Spirit

Posted on by Dorci
People photo created by jcomp – www.freepik.com

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise you, and we are so grateful you’ve called us to walk the journey of life with you. 

Thank you for knowing what this week holds and already making a way for us through it. We pray you would remind us to be intentional every moment of every day to walk through it, not in our flesh, but in your Spirit and His power. 

Help us remember to think with the mind of Christ, to see others with His eyes, and to love, forgive, and show grace and mercy with His heart. 

We are yours. “If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” 

May all we do, say, and think glorify and magnify the Name above all names, until we meet you face to face. 

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

***

Please let me know if I can pray for you in any way. 

For Him,

Sunday Praise and a Prayer to Remove the Boundaries of Our Minds

Posted on by Dorci

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise you today and glorify your holy name. Lord, we confess that we can, even unintentionally, limit how or for what we pray because of the boundaries of our own human minds and the limitations we can place on you.  

Father we ask that you would give us great faith and boldness in our prayers. Help us pray not just big prayers, but “impossible” prayers. Remind us to enter into prayer by acknowledging your greatness and praying in the power of your limitless Holy Spirit. 

Father, lead us in the kind of prayer that would change us, empower us, embolden us, enlarge the territory of what you desire to do in and through us. 

With Paul we say “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” 

And we also know your word says “…you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”

Father, thank you that in Christ we have every spiritual blessing. We pray that none of those blessings goes unrealized in our lives because we fail to ask for it, or we ask amiss. 

We humbly pray that in Christ you would pour out your blessings, your gifts, your wisdom, your light, your love, so that we can build up the kingdom and see many come to Christ. 

We thank you in advance for what you’re going to do. In Jesus’ holy name we pray, amen. 

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Please let me know if I can pray for you in any way.  Lord bless you!

Knowing God’s Word and the New 2011 NIV

Posted on by Dorci

Hello Friends,

Because so many of us use the NIV, I wanted to make sure you were aware that a new NIV translation was published in 2011 and is now being used exclusively online and sold in stores and there are some noted changes between it and the previous 1973/1984 NIV translation.  

 

The version I’ve carried for 23 years is the first NIV, the New Testament having been originally published in 1973, and the Old Testament in 1978, although I do like to compare translations in various versions, and frequently look up the original Hebrew and Greek meanings to get a clearer understanding.

Not all the changes are bad, but I want to share just a few of them and how they alter the meaning of scripture. Words are important.

Psalm 51: 6 –

NKJV – “Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.”

1978 NIV – “Surely you desire truth in the inner parts, you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.”

2011 NIV – “Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.”

The Hebrew word for “inmost parts” is ̣ṭûchâh, which means overlaying, the kidneys (as being covered), the inmost thoughts. (The word for womb is beṭen, meaning to be hollow, the belly, the womb.)

The original language tells us that God desires us to have truth, or trustworthiness, in our innermost beings, our hearts. Not just pretending, but being of truly trustworthy character. But the 2011 NIV translates it in a way that would cause us to think God desires us to be faithful in the womb, before we’re born. The meaning is completely different.

Matthew 21:7 –

NKJV – They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.

1973 NIV – “They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them.”

2011 NIV –  “They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on.”

The 2011 NIV is worded to imply Jesus is sitting on the cloaks rather on the donkey and colt.

The significance of emphasizing the fact that Jesus sat on the donkey and colt is that by doing so He is fulfilling prophecy given to them in Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

A humble king of peace rode donkeys; a man of war would have ridden a horse.

Rather than entering as a conqueror coming for war to overthrow the Roman government as they expected Him to, He is showing them He was entering Jerusalem as a humble King of peace, the coming Messiah, the Savior of their souls.

The 2011 NIV also changes gender references to gender neutral which is not always bad, but sometimes that nuance changes the interpretation. 

John 6:44 – 

NKJV – No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

1973 NIV – “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

2011 NIV – “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

The 2011 change from singular to plural implies the Father will only draw a group of people rather than the fact that He sees, loves, and draws an individual.  

There are many other changes to this new translation as well.  They may seem small and insignificant, but as I’ve written about before, the enemy will use small, seemingly insignificant changes to confuse us, put doubt in our minds, and trip us up. He did that very thing with Eve in the garden, and it’s still a main tactic he uses today. 

This is why we all need to not just read God’s Word, but prayerfully and with discernment, study it to know it like the back of our own hand so the enemy can’t use our ignorance to keep us from understanding the truth and leading us to believe something God’s Word doesn’t mean.

“I have hidden your word in my heart 
that I might not sin
against You.”
Psalm 119:11


Heavenly Father, thank you for your enduring Word. Please give us a love for it as we read and study it daily that we might live according to your way that leads to life and joy. Please lead us by your Holy Spirit as we do to give us understanding and wisdom so we can abide in you and your truth always. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

Sunday Praise and a Prayer for True Freedom

Posted on by Dorci

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise your holy and precious name. Lord, we are forever grateful for this free nation you’ve given us. Thank you for giving those who founded it a desire to have a land where we have a right to freedoms, including a right to freely seek you, and that their vision was based on their belief in you and your word. 

Thank you for blessing us so abundantly. 

Father, all these years later, as a nation we’ve forgotten you. What’s right is wrong, and what’s wrong is right. We’ve removed you from schools and courts and in many cases, churches. We humbly ask for your forgiveness, and we beseech you, on your great mercies by the blood of Jesus Christ and by the power of your Holy Spirit, we pray for revival. 

We pray you would pour out your Spirit for an awakening to our sin leading to repentance. We pray you would come against the forces of darkness at work among us, that you would bind the hand of the enemy, pour out your grace, and heal our land.

We pray for churches that are led by unsaved people that you would bring salvation. We pray for churches that are led by people who have forgotten you that they would turn back to you and allow you to lead them. And we pray for churches that are led by those faithful to you, that are led by your Holy Spirit, that you would strengthen them and give them boldness and courage to continue teaching your word and praying with boldness.

Father, I ask for forgiveness for my own sins. Where there is sin hiding in my heart, please reveal it to me and help me confess it before you and walk uprightly, and be holy – set apart for you and your work. May you use the struggles in our lives to draw us ever closer to you and make us more faithful and more useful in your hands. 

We pray for those who love you but have been hurt by the church and have left it. Please heal their hearts and lead them to a church that is Spirit-led where they can be loved and grow. 

In all this, we pray you would strengthen the church to become a beacon of your light and holiness, examples of love in all we do to a lost and dying world that needs you so much.

Thank you for the true and lasting freedom you give us in Jesus Christ, and we pray you would move upon countless hearts to desire that same freedom, and through the salvation of many, our land would be free from hatred and violence, free to serve a Holy and loving God, and live with you, and one another, in peace. 

We give you our hearts, Lord, and pray your perfect will is done. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen. 


If you need prayer, please feel free to contact me.  

The Full Armor of God

Posted on by Dorci

After the LORD reminded me, I wanted to remind you to put on and keep on the full armor of God. Not one or two pieces. All of it. We never know when the enemy will come, and we can’t afford to get lazy or be found unprepared, caught up in the world. 

And once we’re outfitted and ready for battle, we must pray in the Spirit.

Just as we’re called to now walk in the Spirit, by the renewed hearts and minds given to us by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that we might obey Him and do all things in His power, so we are called to pray in the Spirit, asking Him to reveal to us the will of the Father, and then pray. Because without Him we can do nothing, but in Him we can do all things.

“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


“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 

Stand firm then, with the

belt of truth buckled around your waist, 

with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 

and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 

In addition to all this,

take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 

Take the helmet of salvation 

and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” Ephesians 6:10-18 

 

 

Sunday Praise and a Father’s Day Prayer

Posted on by Dorci

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise and glorify you. Thank you for the blessing of calling us to be not only worshippers, not only your kingdom and your church, but your own sons and daughters. Help us grasp even more of the magnitude of what that means not just eternally but in our lives every day. 

Help us daily remember that you are our Heavenly Father and you desire to be and do all a good Father does in the life of His child, so that we never hesitate to call on you for every need, big and small. 

For those who might have had a difficult or even non-existent relationship with their fathers, please show them you are not like that. You are always full of love and forgiveness and compassion and faithfulness, and that you desired a relationship with us so much that you sent your own Son to bridge the gap between us through His death and resurrection. 

Lord, we lift up our fathers to you. First, we pray for those who know you, that they would know the joy of abiding in you and being filled with the knowledge and wisdom that fathers need for their children. Please teach them how to be the dad you’ve called them to be so that they bless each of their children in the way they need. 

Second, we pray for the fathers who have yet to know you. Lord, we ask that you would pour out your Holy Spirit to draw fathers into a saving relationship with you, so you can heal hearts and break the chains of generations of sin, beginning new and godly relationships between dads and their children. 

We are immensely grateful, Heavenly Father, for all you’ve done and all you will do. May we glorify you today and every day. In Jesus’ holy name we pray, amen.

 

Sunday Praise and a Prayer For Strength in Our Brokenness

Posted on by Dorci

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise your holy and powerful name. 

Lord, so many times we try to run from our brokenness and our weaknesses and perceived flaws by ignoring them or hiding them or trying to right them ourselves. 

Instead, we offer them up to you today and ask that you would fill those places with your strength and power and make our faith even stronger, our character more beautiful, than we ever would have been without them. 

We give you all the glory and honor and praise in advance for what you’re going to do. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. 

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If you have any prayer requests, please leave a comment, message, or email me. I’d be honored to pray for you.