Thursday, April 02, 2020

Morning by Morning, April 2 - "Make Room for Me"
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I turn my eyes upon You and open my heart to You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
 
As I wait and listen for Your leading this morning, I believe I hear You speaking in my heart, "Make room for Me." ...
 
Yes, Lord. I want to make room for You, much more room for You--in my heart, in my home, in my thoughts and desires, in how I spend my time and what occupies the moments of my day, in all that I am and all that I do. Give me a greater desire to make more room for You. "For God is working in (me), giving (me) the desire and the power to do what pleases Him" (Philippians 2:13 NLT).
 
One thing I know that pleases You is for Your people who are called by Your name to make more room for You. It pleases You for us to take the time we have to seek Your face, to listen for Your voice, to allow Your Spirit to search our hearts and let You remove anything in us that is not yet like You. As David prayed, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends You, and lead me along the path of everlasting life" (Psalm 139:23-24).
 
Father, You've sent Your Holy Spirit to prepare the bride and the body of Jesus Christ. All by the power of Your grace at work within us, You are preparing the way of the Lord in us and in the earth. "Christ loved the church. He gave up His life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God's word. He did this to present her to Himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she shall be holy and without fault" (Ephesians 5:25-27).
 
Only You can do this. And our part is to turn to You, to open our hearts to You, to allow You to come and do this in us by the power of Your grace at work within us to do what pleases You. This is how Your Word is fulfilled, "Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to Him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and His bride has prepared herself" (Revelation 19:7 NLT) -- "His bride has made herself ready" (Revelation 19:7 NRSV).
 
These are extraordinary days, where many of us have much more time to make much more room for You -- to be a people preparing the way of the Lord, to be a bride who is preparing herself and making herself ready.
 
I believe I hear You speaking in my spirit a word to Your bride: 
 
"One day I will come in My glory in the clouds, but right now I am coming in My glory in your hearts. Make room for Me. Put away everything that is unworthy of Me and incompatible with Me from your hearts to make room for Me. I will fill your heart with My glory. And you will be My glorious bride to display My glory for all the world to see Me in you." ...
 
Yes, Lord. You're coming in Your glory on that day (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18), and every day between that day to come and today, You desire to come in Your glory in us. "Christ in (us), the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). 
 
Through us as Your bride, as a people throughout the earth who have taken time to make room for You, to prepare the way of the Lord in our hearts, "the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea!" (Habakkuk 2:14) Lord, let it be so in me today and Your bride today, here in our hearts and to the ends of the earth! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

My friend, may you make room for Jesus, set free from all that's not yet like Him in your heart, set free from all that hold you back from being all He created you to be as the body and bride of Christ in our day, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

   
Daily Prayer Journey with Tommy Hays



Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out ...
Preparing the Way of the Lord
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Posted by at

Wednesday, April 01, 2020

Morning by Morning, April 1 - Coming Closer to Jesus
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are One with my Father, One with the Holy Spirit, and I welcome You here in my heart to be One within me, as I begin my day looking to You and listening for Your leading. For "anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him" (1 Corinthians 6:17). ...
 
The closer I come to You, the more I sense a burden for those who are not coming closer to You. The more I find myself desperately dependent upon You to be my Source of peace and security, the more I'm moved for those who are trying to get through this crisis depending upon themselves. And in the moments when it feels like You're not there or not acting on our behalf in the ways I feel You should, when it makes me press in even that much more deeply to come even that much closer to You, the more I'm deeply burdened for those who feel distant or forgotten or even forsaken.
 
The story of the bride-to-be and her beloved in the Song of Solomon comes to mind this morning, of her yearning for his presence in times when it feels like he's not there.
 
"Upon my bed at night, I sought him whom my soul loves;
I sought him, but found him not;
I called to him, but he gave no answer.
'I will rise now and go about the city, in the streets and in the squares;
I will seek him whom my soul loves.'
 
I sought him, but found him not.
The sentinels found me, as they went about in the city.
'Have you seen him whom my soul loves?'
 
Scarcely had I passed them, when I found him whom my soul loves.
I held him, and would not let him go
until I brought him into my mother's house,
and into the chamber of her that conceived me"
(Song of Solomon 3:1-4).
 
The bride-to-be is not a casual acquaintance of the one she seeks. He is her beloved, her bridegroom-to-be, the one whom her soul loves. And at the same time, she feels like he isn't there. She seeks him, but doesn't find him. She calls to him, but he doesn't answer.
 
But she doesn't give up on her relationship. She doesn't give in to any feelings of distance or rejection or abandonment. She doesn't settle for something less than her hopes and dreams for intimacy and security that she longs to come from only him.
 
She says in her heart, "I will rise now and go.... I will seek him." And even then, it feels like she's having a hard time finding him. She goes to others who may have been seeing him and experiencing his presence in the ways she longs to see him and experience him.
 
It seems her pursuit only makes her even more desperate for his presence. It seems her feelings of distance from her beloved only make her more determined, more passionate, more committed to her pursuit of him.
 
And then she finds him! With great relief that was worth the waiting in the pursuit, with great joy that was worth the sorrow of the feelings of separation, she must have shouted out for all to hear, "I have found him whom my soul loves!"
 
Father God, You've sent Your Holy Spirit to prepare the bride for Jesus, our Bridegroom. It's not a gender thing or sexual thing; it's a spiritual thing. Men are part of "the bride" of Christ (Revelation 19:7), just as women are part of the "many sons being brought to glory in growing up into the maturity of the body of Christ (Hebrews 2:10). Jesus is our Beloved (Ephesians 1:6).
 
We're created to long for Him, to pursue Him, to even feel empty and alone and lost without Him. But He is not far from any of us -- even before we come to know Him and humbly open up our hearts to Him. "God has done all this, so that we will look for Him and reach out and find Him. He isn't far from any of us, and He gives us the power to live, to move, and to be who we are. 'We are His children'" ... (Acts 17:27-28). 
 
Father, fill me with Your Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). Holy Spirit of the Living God, stir in my heart to pursue Jesus (John 14:26), to listen for His voice (John 10:27), and to deeply abide in and embrace His Presence (John 15:4). Lord Jesus, I welcome You here in my heart and every moment of my day. You are my Beloved and I take hold of You to never let You go and I thank You that You take hold of me and never let me go -- even, and especially, when it feels like You're not here or acting in all the ways and in all the timing that I feel You should. Through it all, You are Lord of all. "There is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all" (Acts 10:36). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

My Friend, may you come closer to Jesus every day, more passionately pursuing Him and more deeply embracing Him, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. And I join with you in prayer for all who need to know Him and God's love for them in this current crisis and through every moment. God bless you, my friend!

  
Daily Prayer Journey with Tommy Hays



Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out ...
Preparing the Way of the Lord
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Posted by at

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Morning by Morning, March 31 - Two Swords of God's Word for Protection and for Healing
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. You're the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16). Be the King of all my heart and Lord of every area of my life, as I seek You and listen for Your voice today (John 10:27). ...
 
I sense I hear in my spirit, "Two swords for this fight. One sword for protection; one sword for healing. Both swords speak of My word. Wield My word in faith. Do not lose heart, do not retreat, and do not lay down your sword." ...
 
Yes, Lord. "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword...." (Hebrews 4:12). "Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints" (Ephesians 6:17-18).
 
With one arm of prayer, I lift up the sword of Your word for protection. I join with all those who are praying in the Spirit around the world for Your protection, for our world and for ourselves. Protect us from sickness and death, from fear and panic, from worry and withdrawal, from hopelessness and despair, from surrender and defeat. Be a sword in our hand and a shield about our hearts with a Wall of Fire of Your Spirit all around us and those entrusted to us. "'For I,' says the Lord, 'will be a Wall of Fire all around (you), and I will be the glory in (your) midst'" (Zechariah 2:5).
 
With one arm of prayer, I lift up the sword of Your word for healing. For all who are stricken and suffering, under assault from sickness and infirmity, let Your word go forth to comfort them and heal them, to know You are with them, to trust in the good desires and good plans in Your heart for them to bring them through all they are enduring. "They cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress; He sent out His word and healed them, and delivered them from destruction" (Psalm 107:19-20).
 
For our world and for ourselves, we pray Your Word and You send forth Your word -- alive and active, living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. We thank You and praise You for Your words of Spirit and Life (John 6:63). "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it!" (Isaiah 55:11) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

My friend, may you be empowered by God's grace to pray His Word in the Spirit with the heart of our Father in the authority of the name of Jesus for our world and for ourselves, for His protection and healing, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

  
Daily Prayer Journey with Tommy Hays



Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out ...
Preparing the Way of the Lord
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Posted by at

Monday, March 30, 2020

Morning by Morning, March 30 - Following God in Faith Where We've Never Been Before
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I look to You and listen for Your leading to begin my day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with Your Holy Spirit. ...
 
Thinking of the journey we're on in our world today, with all its uncertainties and unknowns, I'm thinking of Abraham, when You first spoke to him and called him on his life-long journey of faith in You.
 
"Now the Lord said to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.... So Abram went, as the Lord had told him..." (Genesis 12:1-4).
 
Like Abram, in some ways I feel like I have no clue about where my journey ahead is leading me. "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going" (Hebrews 11:8). And at the same time, You've given me a measure of guidance without giving me all the details, You've spoken to me Your word without overriding my free will. Like Abram, I'm on a "need to know basis" and You call me to trust You alone with knowing what I need to know and when I need to know it. And the same is true with every one of us in our world right now. 
 
Hundreds of years and many generations after You first spoke those words to Abram -- after You changed his name and changed his character, after You passed down the blessings and the calling and the destiny to his children and children's children -- there came a time when the sons and daughters of Abraham were finally crossing over to enter in to their Promise Land of their inheritance. You commanded them to follow the Ark of the Covenant, saying through Your leaders, "Follow it, so that you may know the way you should go, for you have not passed this way before" (Joshua 3:2-4).
 
It's a journey of faith and not sight, as Your Word says, "We walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7). And Abraham is called the father of the faith, "the father of all of us," of "those who share the faith of Abraham" (Romans 4:16). "Hoping against hope, he believed.... being fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised" (Romans 4:18-21).
 
We don't call Abraham "the father of having it all figured out" or "the father who always knows best because he always knows what lies ahead" or "the father who never fails, never falters, never falls because he's so holy and perfect and pure in his own self-righteousness." No, we call him "the father of the faith" because "his faith was reckoned to him as righteousness" (Romans 4:22), because "he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God" (Romans 4:20).
 
The faith of Abraham speaks to us of Your invitation to put out all our faith in You. These are uncertain days and we've never been this way before. But by the power of Your grace at work within us, we will look to You, we will trust You, we fill follow You on our unfolding journey of faith in You, growing strong in our faith as we give glory to You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. As we do, we enter in to our Promised Land and receive "all the blessings of Abraham" in You (Galatians 3:14). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

My friend, may you be filled with faith to trust in God to lead us into the land and into these times He's set before us, where we've never been before, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

  


Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out ...
Preparing the Way of the Lord
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

Please share this word to encourage a friend!


Posted by at

Sunday, March 29, 2020





Morning by Morning, March 29 - Reset and Realignment Prophetic Word from Lana Vawsar Ministries
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I welcome You here in my heart and every moment of my day. ...

Friends, I don't normally write and send out my daily prayer devotional on Saturdays and Sundays, but I felt strongly moved to share this prophetic word I read this morning in my "inbox" from Lana Vawsar of Lana Vawsar Ministries in Australia. Everything I read in her word is a such a stirring and confirmation to so much of what I've been hearing personally and among my different "streams" of the Body and Bride of Christ these past few months. So I share here her word in its entirety. Like all words, visions, and dreams, we must test it and weight it, to hold fast to what is true and bears witness by the Holy Spirit in alignment with the Word of God, the heart of the Father, and the character of Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:21; 1 Corinthians 14:29):

There is So Much Grace and Help from the Lord for You in This Time of Reset and Time of Alignment -- by Lana Vawser
Lana Vawser Ministries | lanavawser.com/author/lana-vawser-ministries
As we can see right now we are in a time of reset and a time where the Lord is inviting His people to come into alignment with Him and the new wineskin and to prepare ourselves for what God is about do in the earth. In this SELAH moment that is upon us as the Church the Lord is restructuring, He is redirecting our steps, He is bringing us into alignment with Him and His ways and the new thing He is doing. The way we engage with the Lord and move into alignment is by having eyes to see, ears to hear, a tender heart and laying ourselves down in humility before Him.
This is a MAJOR shift that is taking place in the body of Christ and in the earth right now and things are not going to remain the same as we come out of this SELAH moment. The Lord out of His extravagant love is drawing us as His people back into the garden to embrace the refining fire of the Lord, the shaking of God and to move with Him into new things that we have never seen before. It is such a beautiful invitation to lay ourselves down and our expectations of how we 'think' it should look, let go of control and fall into the arms of our beautiful Jesus, allowing the Holy Spirit to have the reigns. Allowing the Holy Spirit to mould, craft and shape what is to be the next steps before us and the move of God in and through our lives in the way that He desires it to be. 
For many, many, many months the Lord has been speaking to me about the unexpected. This is the era of the unexpected and the way He moves is going to be extraordinary and like we have not seen before. He is going to lead His people into unexpected places and positioning that are more glorious than we realise but if we are holding onto what we think it has to look like, then we could miss some of the most glorious moves of His Spirit and divine upgrades that He has for us.
The Lord showed me in a dream last night very clearly an encouragement that He wanted me to release to you. There is a new rhythm God is inviting His people into. It's a place and a time to really get aligned and He is raising the bar, He is moving the Church into a new level of normal. He is calling His people to walk in holiness and be consecrated. This is a time where the Lord is deeply cleansing and the world is being taken OUT of the Church (Romans 12:1-2) by His fire and His beautiful conviction that comes from His burning love for His people. It's time for the Bride to make herself ready and there is an urgency of the hour to do that. (Revelation ) It's really a time to hear what the Spirit is saying and move on HIS direction and HIS voice and not the voice of others or the world that come from fear or the wisdom of man that is opposite to what God is saying. (Isaiah 55:11)
In my dream last night, the Lord showed me GRACE. He showed me GRACE, COMFORT and HELP. The Lord wants YOU to know today that yes in this MAJOR reset taking place, this MAJOR shift, this MAJOR time of being called to be in right alignment with the Lord, that He has not left you alone to "work it out" and "hopefully you get it right". He isn't standing on the sideline watching you with His arms crossed, impatient and angry and waiting for you to get it right and "FIGURE OUT" how to get everything right. 
God showed me in my dream last night that He is RIGHT beside you. He is WITH you, He is helping you, He is bringing you the GRACE that you need to accept the invitations that He is placing before you. He is highlighting the urgency of the hour to be prepared, but He is also holding your face in His hands, His eyes upon you and He is saying "I'm here with you and I am going to help you do all I am asking you to do. I am going to give you the grace to accomplish all that I ask you to do. I am going to give you the empowerment and grace to align. Just be willing. Just say YES. Say YES and I will do the rest."
"Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16 NKJV)
"So now we come freely and boldly to where love is enthroned, to receive mercy's kiss and discover the grace we urgently need to strengthen us in our time of weakness." (Hebrews 4:16 TPT)
Beloved, the Lord is with you. The Lord wants you to have peace and He wants you to know that you don't have to 'work this out all'. He is inviting you beside still waters. (Psalm 23) He is wanting to lavish His grace and empowerment upon you to walk in complete obedience to Him.
The Lord wants you to know as you still yourself before Him, as you quiet yourself before Him and go before Him in a place of humility asking Him to speak and have His way, He is going to make things clear to you in how to prepare yourself in this time for what He is going to do on the earth. Don't be overwhelmed or anxious or striving to 'work things out', rest before Him, rest in His presence and allow Him to speak. Love and embrace His conviction. Allow the purifying, refining fire of God to envelop you, knowing the Lord does not condemn you, He loves you and He is drawing you deeper into the place of communion with Him and first love. This is your greatest hour of fortification in Him. This is your greatest hour of seeing Jesus as your Rock (Psalm 18:2) and your Shepherd. (Psalm 23)
This is a time of rapid and very, very deep deliverance and those who yield are shifting into the greatest positioning of their destiny in the Lord receiving significant promotion.
You are not alone. 
Lift up your eyes, for where does your help come from? The Maker of Heaven and Earth. (Psalm 121)
He's with you. He loves you and you have ALL you need as you surrender afresh, in His grace to move into all He has for you. 
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13 - NKJV)
As everything changes, rest, relax and go with His flow in this moment of MAJOR birthing and repositioning for the new wine that's flowing. He's helping you and leading you every step. Just say YES!

-- Lana Vawsar


Yes, Lord! Let it be so! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

Tommy, may you be encouraged and strenthendjed, filled with hope and faith, excited and expectant to see what God will do through all we are going through in these challenging but exciting days, when we we created and chose to be alive in Christ for such a time as this, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! 



 



Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out ...
Preparing the Way of the Lord
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

Please share this word to encourage a friend!
Posted by at
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)