Morning by Morning, August 5, 2026 — The Spirit is Willing, but the Flesh is Weak

 

Morning by Morning, August 5, 2026 — The Spirit is Willing, but the Flesh is Weak Good morning, Lord Jesus. Put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart as You guide my steps in Your will today—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. … “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). Lord, my spirit is willing and ready and able, by the power of Your grace at work within me, to arise and follow You wherever You lead. But at the same time, my flesh can be very weak. My spirit can be saying, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” while my flesh is saying, “No! No! No!” Even the Apostle Pual acknowledged this constant battle that we all have, if we’d be willing to admit it: “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice…. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bring me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members…. So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin” (Romans 7:18-25). The man You used to write most of the New Testament had the humility and honesty to confess that even he fought the battle between the spirit and flesh. He acknowledged the war going on his soul, the war between the spirit and the flesh, between his surrendered nature and his carnal nature. There was a war between his “Yes! Yes! Yes, Lord! Where You go, I will go; what You say I will say; I will do whatever You say, Lord!” and his “No! No! No, Lord! Not today, Lord! Send somebody else, Lord! I’m sorry, Lord!” At times his spirit was willing, but his flesh was weak. Just like Peter, James, and John with You at the Garden of Gethsemane. You wanted them near to You, watching and praying with You, ready to rise up and go with You wherever You led and whatever You said. Their spirit was willing but their flesh was weak. But through his battles of the spirit and the flesh, Paul discovered this powerful spiritual lesson of being willing to acknowledge our weakness and our need, to call upon Your name and Your strength: “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10), if we will turn to You and depend upon You, hearing Your words of spirit and life to strengthen our spirits to overcome our flesh: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (v. 9). That’s how Paul could cry out in his flesh, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24) And then immediately respond, by the grace of God rising up in his spirit, “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (v. 25) I thank You, my Father God, through my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, by the ever-abiding power and Presence of Your Holy Spirit. You make me strong when I am weak. You empower my spirit to arise and overcome my flesh. By the power of Your grace, I’m not wretched; I’m beloved. I don’t have to be overcome by my flesh, but I can be an overcomer in my spirit, with Your Holy Spirit awakening and strengthening my human spirit You’re doing it right now. And You’ll keep on doing it every time I call on You and acknowledge my need, trusting in You to be my Strength. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. Be encouraged this day. In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays My friend, may you be awakened and strengthened in your spirit to overcome your flesh when it's weak by the power of the grace of God at work within you as you call on the name of the Lord and depend upon His strenght, in Jesus' name. God bless you, my friend! And you have a great day! Click Here to Listen to Today's Prayer: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2375760 Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries 502 North Milam Street Fredericksburg, Texas 78624 Please share this word to encourage a friend! Anyone can sign up for free at: https://messiah-ministries.org My Books on Inner Healing, Spiritual Freedom and Spiritual Intimacy with God are Available on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/author/tommyhays “Setting hearts free to be all you were created to be —Free to Be Like Jesus— secure in your identity, growing in maturity, fulfilling your destiny" https://messiah-ministries.org/partner/contribute

Please Keep us in Prayer for These Messiah Ministries Events Aug Finishing writing my new book The Elijah Awakening. Please pray I'll express the Father's Heart Aug 4 New Weekly Prayer Meeting at Noon on Tuesdays at our Cabin at Messiah Ministries Aug 9 Leading Prayer at Gillespie County High at 5:30PM during our School to School Prayers Gatherings sponsored by the Gillespie County Ministerial Alliance. All are welcome to come and pray at each school. Aug 25 Leading in Opening Prayer Invocation for Gillespie County Commissioner's Court Aug 30 Preaching at Lake Toxaway Chapel in Lake Toxaway, Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina Sept 1 Leading in Opening Prayer Invocation for Fredericksburg City Council Sept 3 Speaking at Boerne, Texas Aglow Lighthouse at Kendall Inn Conference Center 7PM. All are welcome! Sept 8 Beginning My Annual Free to be Like Jesus Tuesday Night Classes at Bridge Church in FBG, TX Sept 18-20 Leading our Free to Be Like Jesus seminar in Belgium, then traveling to Slovenia Sept 24-27 Teaching a 4 Day Conference in the nation of Slovenia Oct 4 Preaching at Crossroads Church in Greenville, Texas Oct 22-25 Teaching Free to Be Like Jesus seminar, Healing Service, and preaching Sunday services at St. James Methodist Church in Athens, Georgia Personal Ministry Appointments, Spiritual Direction Sessions and Personal Prayer Ministry Sessions of Inner Healing & Spiritual Freedom by Appointment in Person and Online through Zoom. tommyhays@messiah-ministries.org  Sessions are without set cost and all contributions help support the calling and vision of Messiah Ministries. https://messiah-ministries.org/partner/contribute

Free On-line Video Series: Setting Hearts Free!  My Core Teaching and Ministry https://messiah-ministries.org/resources

https://messiah-ministries.org/partner/contribute

https://www.amazon.com/author/tommyhays Some of My Books are Now in Other Languages (Spanish, French, Urdu) For Spanish: https://www.facebook.com/tommyhaysenespanol

Morning by Morning, July 31, 2026 — "The Holy We"—I in You and You in Me

 

Morning by Morning, July 31, 2026 — "The Holy We"—I in You and You in Me Good morning, Lord Jesus. Thank You for the gift of God to be invited with all Your sons and daughters to begin my day in communion with You—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. … “Give ear to my words, O Lord, Consider my meditation. Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, For to You I will pray. My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up” (Psalm 5:1-3). As the Amplified Version expresses it, “In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; in the morning I will prepare [a prayer and a sacrifice] for You and watch and wait [for You to speak to my heart].” With the heart of David, I will look up to You. I will listen up for Your leading. For You hear my voice in the morning. And I watch and wait expectantly for You to speak to my heart. Few, it would seem, get to ever experience Your audible voice in their ears. But all, You promise, get to experience Your voice in our hearts. As You said and continue to say, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27). As You “consider my meditation” this morning, as I listen for You to speak to my heart—Heart to heart, Spirit to spirit, Deep calling out to deep, deep down inside—what I sense I’m hearing is this: “I am not only up in Heaven that I must come down to you. I am also right here, right now in your heart that I may also rise up within you. This is the place of constant communion I share with My sons and daughters who have opened their hearts to My Heart, their spirits to My Spirit. Listen, for I am speaking. Follow, for I am leading. I know you. And in this daily journey—even morning by morning—you are growing in knowing Me, My son.” … Yes, Lord. Yes, Father. These words from Scripture now come to my mind to confirm what I believe I’m hearing in my heart: “At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you” (John 14:20). “Abide in Me, and I in you” (John 15:4). “That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:21). Thank You, O Lord, My King and my God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—that You’re in Heaven and that You’re also in my heart. In this mystery of faith and spiritual communion, I am “one” in spirit with You. “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him” (1 Corinthians 6:17). I’ll never become You, for You are always the Creator and I am one of Your created. But I do embrace Your invitation to come close to You, to embrace You coming close to me, to be “one spirit” with You, to become more aware of Your constant communion and ever-abiding Presence with me and even within me, always and forever. Just You said, “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20). I’m smiling in my heart now, hearing the words of my good friend, Dave Gentry, who calls this awareness of Your ever-abiding Presence “The Holy We”—I in You, and You in me, all the time, in every moment of every day. So “I will look up to You” and I will also listen within to You, as I abide in You and You abide in me. Thank You for this gift of “The Holy We” I get to experience as a child of God, all the time, in every moment of every day. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. Be encouraged this day. In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays My friend, may you experience deeper awareness of the ever-abiding Presence of God with and with in in every moment of every day, hearing His voice in your heart to know Him and follow Him, in Jesus' name. God bless you, my friend! And you have a great day! Click Here to Listen to Today's Prayer: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2375760 Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries 502 North Milam Street Fredericksburg, Texas 78624 Please share this word to encourage a friend! Anyone can sign up for free at: https://messiah-ministries.org My Books on Inner Healing, Spiritual Freedom and Spiritual Intimacy with God are Available on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/author/tommyhays “Setting hearts free to be all you were created to be —Free to Be Like Jesus— secure in your identity, growing in maturity, fulfilling your destiny" https://messiah-ministries.org/partner/contribute

Please Keep us in Prayer for These Messiah Ministries Events Aug Finishing writing my new book The Elijah Awakening. Please pray I'll express the Father's Heart Aug 4 New Weekly Prayer Meeting at Noon on Tuesdays at our Cabin at Messiah Ministries Aug 9 Leading Prayer at Gillespie County High at 5:30PM during our School to School Prayers Gatherings sponsored by the Gillespie County Ministerial Alliance. All are welcome to come and pray at each school. Aug 25 Leading in Opening Prayer Invocation for Gillespie County Commissioner's Court Aug 30 Preaching at Lake Toxaway Chapel in Lake Toxaway, Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina Sept 1 Leading in Opening Prayer Invocation for Fredericksburg City Council Sept 3 Speaking at Boerne, Texas Aglow Lighthouse at Kendall Inn Conference Center 7PM. All are welcome! Sept 8 Beginning My Annual Free to be Like Jesus Tuesday Night Classes at Bridge Church in FBG, TX Sept 18-20 Leading our Free to Be Like Jesus seminar in Belgium, then traveling to Slovenia Sept 24-27 Teaching a 4 Day Conference in the nation of Slovenia Oct 4 Preaching at Crossroads Church in Greenville, Texas Oct 22-25 Teaching Free to Be Like Jesus seminar, Healing Service, and preaching Sunday services at St. James Methodist Church in Athens, Georgia Personal Ministry Appointments, Spiritual Direction Sessions and Personal Prayer Ministry Sessions of Inner Healing & Spiritual Freedom by Appointment in Person and Online through Zoom. tommyhays@messiah-ministries.org  Sessions are without set cost and all contributions help support the calling and vision of Messiah Ministries. https://messiah-ministries.org/partner/contribute

Free On-line Video Series: Setting Hearts Free!  My Core Teaching and Ministry https://messiah-ministries.org/resources

https://messiah-ministries.org/partner/contribute

https://www.amazon.com/author/tommyhays Some of My Books are Now in Other Languages (Spanish, French, Urdu) For Spanish: https://www.facebook.com/tommyhaysenespanol

Morning by Morning, July 9, 2026 — The Word of God is “Very Near” to the Children of God

 

Morning by Morning, July 9, 2026 — The Word of God is “Very Near” to the Children of God Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me begin my day grounded in Your Word and filled with Your Spirit. … “For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it” (Deuteronomy 30:11-14). Your word is very near to me. Let Your commandment be very dear to me. Let Your word be in my mouth and in my heart. Give me a deeper hunger for Your word, a greater sensitivity for Your word. Not just that I may hear it, but also that I “may do it.” Even under the Old Covenant and the commandments You spoke through Moses, You called Your people who are called by Your name to listen and trust and obey. How much more for us? Through You and Your ever-abiding Presence with us and within us by Your Spirit, we now have “a better Covenant, which as established on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6). “But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 8:8-10). Your word is now in our mouths and in our hearts every moment of every day because You are the Word of God (John 1:14) and the Spirit of God lives in us (Romans 8:9). You are very near and You are very dear. With You and Your words in my heart and in my mouth, may I listen and speak, may I trust and obey. May I embrace Your promise as my identity as a child of God and a disciple of Jesus Christ, grounded in Your Word and led by Your Spirit: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God…. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:14-16). In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. Be encouraged this day. In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays My friend, may you listen and trust and obey the word of God as He lives in you and leads you in His will, in Jesus' name. God bless you, my friend! And you have a great day! Click Here to Listen to Today's Prayer: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2375760 Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries 502 North Milam Street Fredericksburg, Texas 78624 Please share this word to encourage a friend! Anyone can sign up for free at: https://messiah-ministries.org My Books on Inner Healing, Spiritual Freedom and Spiritual Intimacy with God are Available on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/author/tommyhays “Setting hearts free to be all you were created to be —Free to Be Like Jesus— secure in your identity, growing in maturity, fulfilling your destiny" https://messiah-ministries.org/partner/contribute

Please Keep us in Prayer for These Messiah Ministries Events July 6 Teaching in Pakistan on-line at New Life Bible School July 13 New Weekly Prayer Meeting at 9am for Messiah Ministries at our Cabin at Messiah Ministries July 24-26 A Keynote Speaker at Aldersgate Renewal Ministries Regional Conference in Ollie, Iowa Aug 25 Leading in Opening Prayer Invocation for Gillespie County Commissioner's Court Aug 30 Preaching at Lake Toxaway Chapel in Lake Toxaway, Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina Sept 1 Leading in Opening Prayer Invocation for Fredericksburg City Council Sept 3 Speaking at Boerne, Texas Aglow Lighthouse at Kendall Inn Conference Center 7PM. All are welcome! Sept 8 Beginning My Annual Free to be Like Jesus Tuesday Night Classes at Bridge Church in FBG, TX Sept 18-20 Leading our Free to Be Like Jesus seminar in Belgium, then traveling to Slovenia Sept 24-27 Teaching a 4 Day Conference in the nation of Slovenia Oct 4 Preaching at Crossroads Church in Greenville, Texas Oct 22-25 Teaching Free to Be Like Jesus seminar, Healing Service, and preaching Sunday services at St. James Methodist Church in Athens, Georgia Personal Ministry Appointments, Spiritual Direction Sessions and Personal Prayer Ministry Sessions of Inner Healing & Spiritual Freedom by Appointment in Person and Online through Zoom. tommyhays@messiah-ministries.org  Sessions are without set cost and all contributions help support the calling and vision of Messiah Ministries. https://messiah-ministries.org/partner/contribute

Free On-line Video Series: Setting Hearts Free!  My Core Teaching and Ministry https://messiah-ministries.org/resources

https://messiah-ministries.org/partner/contribute

https://www.amazon.com/author/tommyhays Some of My Books are Now in Other Languages (Spanish, French, Urdu) For Spanish: https://www.facebook.com/tommyhaysenespanol

Morning by Morning, June 29, 2026 — “Turn Aside and See” the Presence of God

 

Morning by Morning, June 29, 2026 — “Turn Aside and See” the Presence of God Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are faithful and true, forever with me, here in my heart and every moment of my day. … “Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, ‘I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.’ “So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, ‘Moses, Moses!’ “And he said, ‘Here I am’” (Exodus 3:1-4). Moses got up one morning–maybe even a Monday morning like today—and went about to begin his week of work. He was going about his business, tending the flock and the things entrusted to his care. But at the beginning of his morning, Moses didn't yet realize just how close he was to “the mountain of God.” He thought it was just another mountain and just another morning. He didn't yet realize the Living Presence of the Living God was so near, even in the everyday moments of his everyday life, “though (the Lord Himself) is not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:27). The key moment of Moses’ revelation of Your Presence came when he made the choice to “turn aside and see.” That’s when You spoke to him out of the flame of fire of the blazing bush. That’s when You gave him eyes to see and ears to hear that You were present. And there in Your Presence, Moses stood on “holy ground” (Exodus 3:5). Lord God, You are “a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29). And You have “poured out in our hearts” the consuming fire of Your steadfast love and ever-abiding Presence “by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” the moment we embraced Jesus Christ as Lord in our hearts (Romans 5:5). Every day, Your Spirit moves in the hearts of all who would take time to “turn aside and see,” as You set our hearts ablaze again with the fiery passion for You and to be about Your business of all You’ve entrusted to our care. By Your grace, we carry the fire of God within us wherever we go. We don't have to go to a mountain in the desert or to a temple downtown to “turn aside and see” You in our midst. You’re always here, always with us (Matthew 28:20). You’re always abiding within us by Your Holy Spirit—the "Spirit of Christ" within us (Romans 8:9), “Christ in (us), the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Because of Your Presence, burning in our hearts like a bush aflame, wherever we go is “holy ground,” for the Holy One lives in us and goes with us. And like Moses, our right response to Your mercy and love is to take time to notice, to take time to embrace Your ever-abiding Presence, to take time to “turn aside and see” and say, “Here I am” because here You are (Exodus 3:4). In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. My friend, may you embrace the ever-abiding Presence of God as you take time to turn aside and see Him throughout the everyday moments of your everyday life in Christ, in Jesus' name. God bless you, my friend! And you have a great day! Click Here to Listen to Today's Prayer: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2375760 Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries 502 North Milam Street Fredericksburg, Texas 78624 Please share this word to encourage a friend! Anyone can sign up for free at: https://messiah-ministries.org My Books on Inner Healing, Spiritual Freedom and Spiritual Intimacy with God are Available on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/author/tommyhays “Setting hearts free to be all you were created to be —Free to Be Like Jesus— secure in your identity, growing in maturity, fulfilling your destiny" https://messiah-ministries.org/partner/contribute

Please Keep us in Prayer for These Messiah Ministries Events July 2 Prayer Ministry Team Retreat of Mid-Texas Conference of Global Methodist Church in Lampasas, TX July 24-26 A Keynote Speaker at Aldersgate Renewal Ministries Regional Conference in Ollie, Iowa Aug 25 Leading in Opening Prayer Invocation for Gillespie County Commissioner's Court Aug 30 Preaching at Lake Toxaway Chapel in Lake Toxaway, Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina Sept 1 Leading in Opening Prayer Invocation for Fredericksburg City Council Sept 3 Speaking at Boerne, Texas Aglow Lighthouse at Kendall Inn Conference Center 7PM. All are welcome! Sept 8 Beginning My Annual Free to be Like Jesus Tuesday Night Classes at Bridge Church in FBG, TX Sept 18-20 Leading our Free to Be Like Jesus seminar in Belgium, then traveling to Slovenia Sept 24-27 Teaching a 4 Day Conference in the nation of Slovenia Oct 22-25 Teaching Free to Be Like Jesus seminar, Healing Service, and preaching Sunday services at St. James Methodist Church in Athens, Georgia Personal Ministry Appointments, Spiritual Direction Sessions and Personal Prayer Ministry Sessions of Inner Healing & Spiritual Freedom by Appointment in Person and Online through Zoom. tommyhays@messiah-ministries.org  Sessions are without set cost and all contributions help support the calling and vision of Messiah Ministries. https://messiah-ministries.org/partner/contribute

Free On-line Video Series: Setting Hearts Free!  My Core Teaching and Ministry https://messiah-ministries.org/resources

https://messiah-ministries.org/partner/contribute

https://www.amazon.com/author/tommyhays Some of My Books are Now in Other Languages (Spanish, French, Urdu) For Spanish: https://www.facebook.com/tommyhaysenespanol