Prayer Starter

  Good Morning, Friends: We have been focusing on praying this week using a little tool called an acrostic.  We are spelling out words to help us refocus our prayer on God rather than ourselves.  The acrostic is A.C.T.S.  First we ADORE our God, heaping praises and adoration on Him. Then we CONFESS, His Name because Jesus is lord of Lords. Today, we focus on the T. The T reminds us to be THANKFUL. I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.  Psalm 69:30 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!   I Chonicles 16:34 As we focus on improving our prayer lives, which strengthens our entire spiritual life, we pray with adoration, confessing His Name, and being thankful to Him for all He does for us. Dear Heavenly Father, I am thankful for all the blessings You have given me. I sing Your praises for all You have given me.  You are my King of all Kings. I love You and want to serve ...

Still struggling to pray?  Let's work on allowing God's power and peace to flow into our heart, mind and spirit.  Yesterday, we began by focusing on Praying with an acronym  A.C.T.S.   When we pray to God we will concentrate on using these four steps as we pray:  Adoration * Confession  * Thanksgiving * Supplication. Philippians 4:6-7, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Yesterday, we learned when we give God adoration , it take our minds off ourselves (thereby relieving us of anxiety). Today, think about the C in A.C.T.S.  The C reminds us to "confess."  Yes, we should confess our sins, but I want you to focus on confessing Jesus as Lord. Paul told the Roman Church,   9   If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” a...

Do you still struggle to pray?  Especially in hard times?  Let's work on allowing God's power and peace to flow into our heart, mind and spirt.  This week we will focus on Praying with an acronym  A.C.T.S.   When we pray to God we will concentrate on using these four steps as we pray:  Adoration * Confession  * Thanksgiving * Supplication. The Holy Spirit guided Paul to write in Philippians 4:6-7, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehensiion, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. So this morning focus on the A - Adoration. When we think about adoring our God, it takes the focus off of ourselves.  We wont' be as "anxious" when we focus on adoration of God.  However, that is easier said than done. How do we adore God? Look at the scriptures:  1  Praise the  Lord , my...

  Good Sunday Morning  - Psalm 118:24 This  is   the day the   Lord   has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. Dear Lord, Sunday is here! Thank you for making this day, so we can share as a church in worship to you. We will rejoice and be glad today! In His Name, Amen! * * * You may always email prayer requests to:  prayerstarter@gmail.com or reply on Remind. I will post prayer request  here .

Good Morning Friend - Van Gogh's picture "The Prayer" (1882) was a tribute to the area's coal miners.  Looking at the picture, we can't tell if the elderly man is crying or exhausted or both.  The artist titled the picture, "Enternity's Gate" and wrote that his portrait was of a peasant in prayer, stating, "This is far from theology, simply the fact the the poorest little wood-cutter or peasant... or miner can have moments of emotion and inspiration which give him a feeling of an eternal home to which he is near." Vincent Von Gogh understood that prayer  is powerful and it is for simple and ordinary people. It is for the poor. It is for children. Prayer is not only for ministers or the powerful. A simple prayer for food, safety, or thanksgiving offered in true dependency is always preferred over the fancy words offered in self-righteousness.  It is the type of prayer Jesus taught His disciples. Luke 11:1  One day Jesus was praying in a cert...

Prayer Warrior, Good Morning! "For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your  words be few"  Ecclesiastes 5:1-3  (Read the whole passage later). Good morning, Some of us like to talk (and boy we can talk). Others appreciate a good conversation, but despise chit-chat. Those that believe prayer is just talking to God tend to add a lot of words.  This causes us to pack our prayers with "filler" words like a bad hotdog.  To commune with the Lord, we don't need to tell Him everything we know; neither do we need to inform Him on what He needs to do.  He is God. He knows everything. Prayer is about relating to God even when words are not used.  This is hard to describe, but I want you to try this. Sometimes it means just bringing a person or situation to mind and saying to God, "Have mercy."   Then listen... And rest in His presence. “This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: ‘In repentance and rest is your s...

Good Morning, For some of us the greatest challenge to praying is silence. We live in this temporary world with too many noises trying to attract our attention. We are bombarded by commericals, phone beeps and chirps, and interuptions from loved ones, co-workers, or just humanity. So we go to our private place to pray and our mind is distracted by the noise. As we are "being still and..." our prayer is interupted with one or more thoughts.  In our peacefulness, we may think, "Oh, I should check on my friend, my child..." or we recall a task we failed to complete yesterday. Suggestion: Don't let these distractions interupt your prayers. Instead, present to God whatever tasks, images, ideas are flooding your mind. Start praying whatever is in your mind. If you wait for total peace you might not ever pray. Let's pray together this morning. When you see the red dots ( ... ), just allow your spirit to listen to His spirit and keep praying. Dear God,   Sometimes, ...

  Good Monday Morning, Yesterday's scripture reminded us not to babble on with fancy words in our prayers, especially to impress others, but rather pray in secret or in private   Matthew 6:5-8 . This Tuesday morning as we begin our day in prayer, we will continue to pray and ask God to help us understand Him better by building a relationship with Him.  As we go to our private place to pray, we are reminded of the Psalm, " be still and know, that I am God. " Psalm 46:10 .  One version uses the phrase, " Let go of your concerns - Then you will know that I am God. I rule the nations. I rule the earth." Let's pray together this morning. When you see the red dots ( ... ), just allow your spirit to listen to His spirit and keep praying. Holy Father,  Help me to let go of my concerns, to stop fighting, to be still and know YOU ARE MY GOD!.  Thank you Lord, for being patient with me. Thank you, Lord for loving me, even when I am unlovable by human standards.  ...

  Good Monday Morning, Matthew 6:5-8 5  “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.   6  But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.   7  And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need  before you ask him. Praying to God is not only a act of communication, but it  is deeper than that - it is communion.  It is about building and maintaining a relationship with God.  This week our prayer starters will help us to realize it is not about the words we say to God, but about our relationship with Him. This morning, let's...

Prayer Starter for Easter Sunday Heavenly Father, this resurrection morning, I seek Your healing and comfort for those who are suffering. Whether it be physical, emotional, or spiritual pain, surround them in Your loving embrace.  As we celebrate the victory of Jesus over death, let us remember those in need of Your healing touch. Bring comfort to those who are grieving, strength to those who are weak, and peace to those in turmoil. I pray for a renewed hope in Your Son, Jesus. In His Name, Amen You may always email prayer requests to:  prayerstarter@gmail.com or reply on Remind. I will post prayer request  here .

Good Saturday morning Prayer Warriors, Reading from  Psalm 91 : Verse 9 and 10, " If you say, “The   Lord   is my refuge,”    and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no distaster will come near your tent." Our Saturday morning prayer starter: Dear Lord, You are my refuge.  I want to make You my dwelling place. Provide me protection from the fallen one and prevent harm from overtaking me.  Dear God, help me to walk close to You and not stray. Help me to... Forgive my transgressions and help me to avoid the evil one. Bless my walk in Christ. Bless my ___________________( friends, family, name names). Prepare my heart for tomorrow's gathering of the saints. Let me come to worship with a pure heart ready to worship You. In Jesus' Name, Amen 1 You may always email prayer requests to:  prayerstarter@gmail.com or reply on Remind. I will post prayer request  here .

Good Morning! Traditionally, Good Friday is the day the world thinks of Jesus being crucified on the cross for our sins. Wow, there is a powerful thought on what we can pray for. We can pray "Thank you, Lord, for loving us - even before we came into existence." This morning as we continue to focus our prayers on praying for one another, let's look at Jesus' words while on the cross. Reading the entire chapter   John 19 (NASB)   later. John 19:26 (Amplified)   So Jesus, seeing His mother, and the disciple whom He loved (esteemed) standing near, said to His mother, “[Dear]  woman, look,  [here is]  your son!”   27  Then He said to the disciple (John),  “Look!  [here is]  your mother  [protect and provide for her]!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own  home . Picture this: on the cross dying for our sins, Jesus focused on others. His will was to give support to his best friend, John, and His mother, Ma...

Good Morning Friends, In the Church, praying for one another is a potent way to show love, community, and faith.  When we pray for one another we build a strong bond that benefits both the person of prayer and the recipient of prayer. When we pray we are inviting God’s presence and involvement into our lives.  Today's scriptures are about praying for one another. These Biblical passages remind us that God hears and appreciates our intercession and show us the beauty of unselfish love. Links all go to NIV. I have used other translations in the blog for emphasis. James 5:16 (NIV)   Therefore confess your sins  to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.  The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. 1 Timothy 2:1   (NIV)   I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers,  intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— Romans 15:30 (NKJV)   Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, an...