Morning by Morning—Daily Prayer Journey with Tommy Hays

Morning by Morning, March 24 - "Turn the Tide.... The Tide Turns Now!"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I welcome You here in my heart and every moment of my day -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. Now I listen for Your leading in trusting surrender and expectant faith from the deep communion of prayer. ...

Right away, I believe Your Spirit is rising up in my spirit with these strong words: "Turn the tide. Turn the tide. Turn the tide. The tide turns now!" ...

Yes, Lord. Three prayers and a proclamation!

In humility we pray, "Turn the tide. Turn the tide. Turn the tide."

In boldness we proclaim, "The tide turns now!"

Father, You're the Lord of the tide. You set the boundaries of the tides of the sea.

"Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind ... 'Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb? -- when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors, and said, 'Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped'" (Job 38:1-11).

You said to the sea, "This far and no more." And You continue to speak in Your sovereignty, "This far and no more" to all that would seek to overwhelm us. We believe it's Your will, according to Your Word, that You desire to set our boundaries in pleasant places so that our hearts are glad, our spirits rejoice, and we can rest secure in You (Psalm 16:6-11).

At the same time, You speak through Your people who are called by Your name, as we humble ourselves to pray, to seek Your face, to turn to You, to listen for the leading of Your Holy Spirit, to see what You're doing and hear what You're saying. "The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's; but the earth He has given to the children of men" (Psalm 115:16). "You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you; so light will shine on your ways" (Job 22:28).

In humility we pray, and in boldness we proclaim. In humility we listen for Your word, and in boldness we speak it forth in the authority of Your name.

When we humbly listen together in prayer, when we bolding speak together in proclamation, there is a synergy of power in the authority of Your name. Together as Your Body, in the unity and maturity of Your Spirit, we pray with prophetic insight and we proclaim with apostolic authority -- all by Your grace and as far as Your grace will go (Ephesians 4:1-16).

Lord Jesus, You taught us these principles of prayer and proclamation in Your Word: "Jesus answered them, 'Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours'" (Mark 11:22-24).

We pray Your will instead of ours, we proclaim Your word instead of ours, when we first humble our hearts to seek Your face and listen for the leading of Your voice. "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God" (Romans 8:26-27).

This is how You turn the tide of whatever comes against us that's less than Your will for us. This is how Your turn it all around for our good and Your glory. As You said in the very next verse of Your Word: "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).

You love us and You've called us according to Your purpose to pray and to proclaim, in humility and boldness, in agreement and with authority. "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! ... For there the Lord commanded the blessing -- Life forevermore!" (Psalm 133:1-3).

Lord Jesus, You're the One who taught us to pray and to proclaim in agreement and authority. "Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in My name, I am there among you" (Matthew 18:18-20).

In this hour, when all the world is feeling afraid and overwhelmed by the merciless tides that seek to destroy us in our health, our economy, our sense of security and peace, our joy and even our faith, You are giving us wisdom and strategies to overcome. Together we reach out in love in the ways You lead. And together we also pray and proclaim in the ways You lead.

Together we pray for wisdom, ingenuity, and inventions to create preventions and cures, vaccinations against viruses, medical breakthroughs and miraculous interventions. And at the same time, we pray and proclaim, in both humility and boldness, in unity and the authority of Your name by the leading of Your Spirit:

"Turn the tide. Turn the tide. Turn the tide. The tide turns now!"

You're the One who is stirring us up in our spirits as "the Body of Christ" (1 Corinthians 12:27), giving us "the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:16), and filling us up "the Spirit of Christ" (Romans 8:9; Ephesians 5:18). You're the One who desires to come and inspire our hope and heal our land as we turn to You (2 Chronicles 7:14).

If we see the miracle of a moment, we thank You and praise You! If we see the miracle of many moments in the unfolding of time as You keep moving us in persistence in prayer and persistence in proclamation, we thank You and praise You!

By the power of Your grace working in us, "we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7). We keep praying, we keep proclaiming, "Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). We keep believing in confidence, expectancy, and trust the promise of Your Word: "And this is the boldness we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, he hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of Him" (1 John 5:14-15). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you turn to God in humility and faith, may you turn to our world in boldness and authority, to pray and proclaim with me "Turn the tide. Turn the tide. Turn the tide. The tide turns now! in Jesus' name." God bless you, my friend!