40 Days of Prayer Day 9

Responding to a Desire to Meet With God
The Day 9 - Monday, September 9

His Word
"The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent" (Joshua 33:11).

Thoughts on His Word
Joshua refused to leave the tabernacle. God had been there speaking face to face with Moses, and the glory that Joshua sensed in that place drew him.
Up to this point, he had been following Moses, but something about the presence of the Lord attracted him. In the verse above it appears Joshua thought, I am not going to leave this place of God's presence. I want to be where God is.
Moses had taught him that the glory came after spending time with God. He had been privileged to see Moses experience times of intimate fellowship with God. During those times, Joshua began developing a longing for the glory he saw on Moses. Perhaps a hunger was being borne in him for a personal visitation of God.
Do you sometimes feel a longing to be in God's presence? Have you been challenged to make prayer a more significant part of your life when you've observed someone who has the peace and confidence that comes from having been alone with God?
Sometimes the Holy Spirit gives a gentle prompting, a desire to be in God's presence. Martyn Lloyd-Jones cautions, "Always respond to every impulse to pray. I would make an absolute law of this--always obey such an impulse."
Joshua lingered at the Tent of Meeting where God had promised, "There I will meet you and speak to you" (Exodus 29:43).

Come to the Fire Prayer Request
Give thanks for every time you feel drawn by the Spirit to pray. Please pray that every speaker and musician involved in the conference will see the necessity of spending much time in the "Tent of Meeting"--the place where God promises to meet and to speak to us.

40 Days of Prayer Day 8

Day 8 Sunday September 7

His Word
"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the Lord. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people" (Jeremiah 3:33).
"I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them . . . so they will obey my laws and regulations. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God" (Ezekiel 11:19, 20 NLT).
"I will put my Spirit in you so you will obey my laws and do whatever I command . . . You will be my people, and I will be your God" (Ezekiel 36:27-28 NLT).

Thoughts
God's promise to put His Spirit within us became a central hope in the Old Testament.
Repeatedly God promised that the result of His Spirit within us would be, "I will be your God."
When I read "I will be your God" I hear God rejoicing! Finally, He, not idols, not lesser things, but He alone will be our God-the One we adore, the One we surrender to in everything. When we receive His Spirit we receive the ability to have "singleness of heart." We long to know what He wants and once we know, it is our joy to do it. A god is anything that has our allegiance, that we base our decisions on, that we attend to more than another.
Trying to live a consistently obedient life for many Christians is like trying to go up the down escalator. When God fulfills His promise to put His laws in our minds and to write them on our hearts, though, we find it is as though the escalator is reversed.
The Psalmist described it perfectly: "I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your law is written on my heart" (Psalm 40:8 NLT).

Come to the Fire Prayer Requests
Pray that God's promise to put His law in our hearts will become a great longing. Pray that women will have faith to receive what God wants to give them. Pray that God will be able to fulfill His desire to give women singleness of heart so He can be their God.

Lord, I so very much want to women that attend Come to the Fire to have the faith to receive what God wants to give them! What an awsome thought - for enough faith to receive ALL that God want to give us! I pray that You will help me, if no other, open up completely to You without reservation - without holding anything of myself back. I want to have no idols. I want to base all of my decisions upon You and Your Word. Please send Your Holy Spirit as my guide every moment of every day! Amen

40 Days of Prayer Day 6

Day 6 - Friday, September 5

His Word
"For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him" (2 Chronicles 16:9 KJV).

Thoughts
God seeks those whose hearts are perfect toward him so He can use His power in their behalf. The perfect heart
--is not satisfied with people's affirmation and approval. Once we've tasted God's endorsement and His pleasure, we realize how the other fades into insignificance.
--has a growing hunger to be all for His glory. We realize the pure joy of sensing God's pleasure. A great longing to do all for His glory begins to direct our lives and we increasingly seek only to please Him.
--has discovered that nothing is as totally fulfilling as knowing God receives our efforts and says, "I'm pleased."
--finds that cultivating this hunger to please only him begins to free us. Little by little Satan's lies such as "But others won't understand," or "You won't make as much money" become words that we are free to ignore.
--discovers that a deep inner knowing that this is what pleases God becomes our guide to selecting what to say, how to spend our time.
--is concerned not about our popularity or others admiration, but am I faithful so He can accomplish all He desires? It doesn't matter if the Lord places us in a position where others see us or in an obscure position. Our desire is to be faithful.
God seeks those whose hearts are perfect toward him. And when He finds them, He offers to give them the desire of their hearts. He can trust their desires to be the same as His.

Come to the Fire Prayer Request
Pray that women who attend will see their need. God won't meet our need until we realize we have one. Pray that they will be willing to acknowledge before God their deepest needs as He reveals them.


Lord, I do pray for our needs - both known and unknown. Lord I pray that you will search each heart fully and completely - making our true and deepest needs known to ourselves. I pray that each of us will break before you - that we will recognize our inability to 'do' it ourselves - and that we will find ourselves before you begging for help. Break each of us, Lord. Break us so that you can fix us and put us back together whole and able to serve you with all we have. Amen

40 Days of Prayer Day 5

DISCOVER YOUR PROMISE

Day 5 - Thursday, September 4

His Word
"O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my every thought when far away.
"Test me and know my thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life" (Psalm 139:1-2, 23-24 New Living Translation).

Thoughts
Jesus told the disciples to go into Jerusalem and wait for the promise of the Father. (Luke 24:49)
As we wait, God shows us our hearts. Generally, we do not see ourselves as He does. We must depend upon the Spirit to show us our selfish ambition and arrogant attitudes.
Dr. Pamela Reeves said, "Only the Holy Spirit can open our eyes to point out to us where pride, where self-glory is entering our service, our reactions and thinking. When we aren't given credit for what we have done, when we are overlooked for advantages or when place is given others, our reactions to these and similar situations are red flags the Spirit may use to signal pride at work."
If we allow Him, God will expose what He sees in our heart. When our son Gregg was a boy, his thumb got infected. He decided to take care of it himself, and he carefully kept it bandaged for weeks. One day this badly infected thumb got so painful Gregg decided to show it to his dad. His dad is an infectious disease specialist, so he easily cured it once Gregg allowed him to see it.
God is a specialist in purifying hearts. We are prone to want to keep our sinful nature covered and act as though other people are the problem. When we give Him access to our heart we will begin to realize what a stench our selfish nature is to God.
"Change my heart, O God, make it ever true
Change my heart, O God, may I be like You."

Come to the Fire Prayer Request
Ask God to deepen women's hunger for a pure heart. Pray that they will begin to see how utterly bankrupt they are of goodness and of their inability to always desire His will above their own. Pray that they will hunger for His holiness in their lives.

Lord I come to you this morning asking that You will work and walk before us as we plan to go to the CTTF conference. Work in our hearts - purifying them as we prepare. Open our eyes to see how little we have to offer without You - help us to always look to You for our strength and endurance. Create a hunger in all of us - a hunger for Your holiness. Again, please go ahead of us and prepare our way! Amen

40 Days of Prayer Day 4

Day 3 Wednesday September 3

His Word
"The prince (evil genius, ruler) of the world is coming. And he has no claim on Me - he has nothing in common with Me, there is nothing in Me that belongs to him, he has no power over me" (John 14:30 Amplified).

Thoughts
Satan could find no attitude in Jesus that was unlike a holy God. When we are being continually filled with the Holy Spirit, Satan finds the same attitude in us that He found in Christ. There is nothing in us that belongs to him. Instead, we have the desire Jesus mentioned when He said, "I seek not to please myself but him who sent me" (John 5:30).
To constantly live to please God means that
-we grieve when we realize we have displeased God.
-we don't get offended. Getting offended is often a sign of a proud heart.
-we are happy when others are honored even if it is at our expense.
-we wait on God rather than trying to force things to go our way.
-we trust the still, small voice, not our own plans.
The author of The Kneeling Christian said, "Believing prayer from a totally cleansed heart never fails."
Search me, O God, and know my heart today.
Try me, O Savior; know my thoughts, I pray.
See if there be some wicked way in me;
Cleanse me from every sin, and set me free.

Prayer
Pray that every speaker and every musician involved in the conference will have a heart that is cleansed of all desires but the desire to please Jesus.

Lord, today I lift up the speakers and musicians preparing for CTTF in just 36 days. I ask you search each heart, cleansing it from personal desires toher that those that please You. Walk with them and plant the ideas in their hearts and minds that you want to find at the retreat. Use these ladies to help each woman who attends to walk away living closer to You. Amen

40 Days of Prayer Day 3

Day 3 - Tuesday, September 2

The Boldness of an Honest Heart

His Word
"Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him" (1 John 3:21-22).
"Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life" (Psalm 139:24).

Thoughts
Because of Moses' pure heart that sought no personal glory, he could enter the presence of God unafraid.
The Israelites, though, were terrified to go near God. Moses reminded the people that when the Lord appeared as a consuming fire, "At that time I stood between the Lord and you to declare to you the word of the Lord, because you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain" (Deuteronomy 5:5).
"Why should we die?" they said. "This great fire will consume us" (Deuteronomy 5:25).
So they told Moses to listen to God. "Then tell us whatever the Lord our God tells you. We will listen and obey" (5:27). They preferred to live by a list of rules rather then come near the consuming fire of God's presence.
I once heard a young lady admit she was afraid of prayer. She didn't want to go into God's presence and say with the psalmist, "Point out anything in me that offends you." She missed the joyful privilege of having boldness in prayer.
Those with cleansed hearts have a confidence God hears that those with covered sins lack. "If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened" (Psalm 66:18).
Are we willing to pay the price necessary to have answered prayer? Does it seem too painful, too costly to be honest in God's presence? The cost of unconfessed sin is far more costly.

Come to the Fire Prayer Requests
Pray for women to have a spirit of honesty and humility that gives the Holy Spirit access to their hearts. Pray that they will see their hearts as clearly as they will see them on Judgment Day. Pray that God "will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; [and that] he will purify [His people] and refine them like gold and silver" (Malachi 3:3).
"Purify Your Church, O Lord!"

Lord, I pray for those who are fearful of coming before Your Presence because of her sins. Call to each one, Lord. Place within them a desire for You that is greater than their fear. Place in their lives women who will pave the way for their trip and time at Come to the Fire. Go before us all as we plan, prepare, and present ourselves before your Presence in Olathe. May all the preparations within and without be covered by your blood and your Glory. Amen

40 Days of Prayer Day 2

The Prayer That Changed the History of a Nation

His Word
"I have seen these people," the Lord said to Moses, "and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation"
"But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. 'O Lord,' he said, 'why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, 'It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people" (Exodus 32:9-12).

Thoughts
Within days after promising to always obey God's command not to make an idol, the Israelites worshiped the golden calf. This angered God enough to destroy the entire nation. But before He did that "He made his ways known to Moses" (Psalm 103:7).
God confided in Moses what He, as a just God, must do. Sin must be punished by death. I think God revealed His plan to Moses to determine if Moses would pray the prayer that could prevail-the prayer that would change history.
It appears that God would rather show mercy than punish for sins. When God could find an intercessor who prayed for God's name to be honored, He changed directions.
Notice how Moses prayed: "Overlook the stubbornness of this people, their wickedness and their sin. Otherwise, the country from which you brought us will say, 'Because the Lord was not able to take them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated them, he brought them out to put them to death in the desert'" (Deuteronomy 9:28).
Moses' desires were not about personal gain, power, prestige, or his own honor. What concerned him more was the honor of God. He cared more about how God would look to those around them.
God answered Moses' prayer. "I withdrew my judgment against them to protect the honor of my name" (Ezekiel 20:22 New Living Translation).
When we pray for personal concerns, are we most eager for God to receive glory no matter what honor, privilege, or comfort we must release? As we pray for our nation, we must put aside our selfish purposes and be concerned for the honor of God.
When we can say, "God, I'm seeking for what will bring the most glory to You," perhaps God will answer us as He did Moses: "Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened" (Exodus 32:14).

Come to the Fire Prayer Requests
Pray that God will reveal the true desires of our hearts as we pray. Pray that He will help us to be able to care deeply for the honor of God. Pray that all temptations to desire personal gain more than God's glory will be revealed, confessed, and cleansed.
Purify Your Church, O Lord!

Our Father, I pray that you will open our heads to hear You as we search our hearts for Your desire. Lord, I pray that our own personal gain is NOT what we are truly desiring! Reveal this desire if it resides in us. Help us to confess it to You and be cleansed of it! We want Your Glory and Your Honor! In Christ, Amen