“ In my distress I called upon the LORD and I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for His help reached His ears.”
“For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
“Call to me and I will answer you and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”
Have you been wondering where God is? It is 12/2019 and probably you have been trusting the Lord all this time and you have not received answers to your prayers. When the psalmist said “I called upon the Lord and I cried for help...” there is no time stated here. We are not told for how long he called, but one thing is clear; if Daniel had given up praying, he would have also given up his breakthrough. Daniel: 9:20-23 “While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the Lord my God for the holy hill of my God, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice. He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding. At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision.”
Daniel 10:12- 14 “Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.”
1 Samuel 1:6-7 “Because the LORD had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival would provoke her and taunt her viciously. And this went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival taunted her until she wept and would not eat.”
The two examples above indicate there is a reward in waiting for the Lord to hear our cry. We must choose to wait for God’s timing if we want a breakthrough.
Our prayers today are focused on a summary of individual prayer requests received.
Lord, I want to draw close to you:
Isaiah 57:15 “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.”
A broken and humble spirit
1 Peter 2:1-3 “So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
Put away sin in all its forms
Matthew 25:1-12 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps[a] and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward, the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”
Be wise and keep the spiritual lamp burning 24/7 (the word and prayer)
Zechariah 13:9 “This third I will bring through the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, 'They are My people,' and they will say, 'The LORD is our God.”
Do not fight with God when he takes you through the fire, that is the only way you will grow
Marriages:
Jeremiah 30:17 “For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the Lord because they have called you an outcast: ‘It is Zion, for whom no one cares!”
Isaiah 61:7 “Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore, in their land, they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy.”
1 Peter 5:10 “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”
Waiting for a Spouse:
Genesis 2:18 “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
Proverbs 18:22 “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.”
Immigration/Green Card:
Genesis 8:1 “But God remembered Noah and all the animals and livestock that were with him in the ark. And He sent a wind over the earth, and the waters began to subside.”
Isaiah 49:15-16 “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.”
Ministry Growth and Spiritual Direction:
Zechariah 8:12 "For the seed will be prosperous, the vine will yield its fruit, the ground will yield its produce, and the skies will give their dew. To the remnant of this people, I will give all these things as an inheritance
Protection for Children/ Process of Adoption:
2 Samuel 22:3-4 “My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.”
Fruit of the Womb:
1 Samuel 1:19-20 “The next morning Elkanah and Hannah got up early to bow in worship before the LORD, and then returned home to Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her. So in the course of time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the LORD.”
Job Security/Protection/Finding:
Psalm 91:1-2 “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say[a] to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
Isaiah 54:17 “No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.”
Calling and Assignment:
Isaiah 2:1-2 “The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills, and all the nations shall flow to it.”
Physical Healing:
2 Kings 20:5 "Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of My people, 'This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. I will surely heal you. On the third day from now, you will go up to the house of the LORD.”
Deliverance:
Joel 2:32 “And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD promised, among the remnant called by the LORD.”
Numbers 10:35 “Whenever the ark set out, Moses said, "Rise up, LORD! May your enemies be scattered; may your foes flee before you."
Salvation:
2 Corinthians 4:4 “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
Acts 20:32 “And now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.”
Ennette Heaggans