Morning by Morning—Daily Prayer Journey with Tommy Hays

Monday, June 27, 2011

My Favorite App - June 27

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Let me start this day centered in Christ, embraced by the Father, and filled with the Holy Spirit. Help me live this way all day long. ...

"In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul" (Psalm 94:19, NKJV).

One of my best friends has this verse of Your Word pasted to the wall of her iPhone. It's her favorite App. She just applies the Word of God to whatever worries her. It reminds her that there are multitudes of anxieties that would want to overwhelm us throughout the moments of our days, but we shouldn't feel guilty because we feel anxious. Instead, we should immediately choose to turn our anxieties to You. And as we do, Your comforts delight our soul. So even the anxieties of all the circumstances of life only serve to draw us nearer to You. "Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7, NRSV).

God, You are so good. You've created a world where everything we encounter or endure will draw us to You if we'll let it. And close to You is where I want to be - under the covering Your mercy, in the security of Your peace, in the provision of Your abundance.

"You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, will say to the Lord, 'My refuge and my fortress; my God in whom I trust.... Those who love Me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know My name. When they call to Me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them. With long life I will satisfy them, and show them My salvation" (Psalm 91).

There will be trouble in this world, but You are with us. There will be multitudes of anxieties, but we can cast them all upon You. So with my hand in Your hand and Your Spirit in my heart, I have nothing to fear, nothing to worry about, nothing to be anxious of that will ever have any lasting power over the moments of my long life - my eternal life - in You. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

My friend, may the Lord be near to you today and every day; may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus (from Philippians 4:7). In Jesus' mighty name, Amen. Thank you for praying that for me!

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Friday, June 24, 2011

"Do Not Keep Worrying" - June 24

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Here I am, Lord. Watching and waiting for the leading of Your Spirit, as I begin this day in the communion of prayer with You. ...

"And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that strive after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, strive for His kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:29-32).

Lord, You know the battle I have with worry. It's one of my greatest spiritual battles. Because You've given me the gift of great joy and deep peace, the enemy of my soul hates my joy and constantly tries to steal my peace. Even when I'm having a great time, whether in the ministry of Your kingdom or with my family on vacation, the spirit of worry seems to pursue my thoughts, trying to nip away at my peace of mind and spirit of joy.

Though worry is a spiritual battle, worry is also a sin. The wisdom of Your Word tells us plainly: "Do not worry" (Matthew 6:25). "Do not keep worrying" (Luke 12:29). "Be anxious for nothing" (Philippians 4:6, NKJ). And when I do something You tell me not to do, that's sin. You say not to worry, so worry is sin.

Forgive me, Lord, for the sin of worry. Forgive me for worry about provision for my family and ministry. Forgive me for worry about whether I'm doing enough for Your kingdom and enough for the people around me. Forgive me for worry about the economy, the weather, and the future of the world. Forgive me for letting the enemy of my soul steal a moment of my peace and joy. Help me rest in You, trust in Your provision, and fully enjoy all the abundant blessings I have.

That's not denial, that's determination - determination to let God and not the devil determine my perspective and set the course for the moments of my day. I'm determined, as best as I can and all by Your grace, to embrace You and all You have for me in every moment of every day as it comes, letting tomorrow take care of itself (Matthew 6:24). I can't add a single hour to my life by worrying (Luke 12:25). So help me quit trying.

So I choose, by the power of Your name, to reject worry and embrace peace, to renounce anxiety and breathe easy. Your yoke is easy and Your burden is light (Matthew 11:30). The wisdom of Your Word tells us plainly, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). So this is my prayer:

Father, I submit myself to You. I confess that I give in too much to the sin of worry. I repent of that. I turn away from that, from that mindset, from that way of letting the thief come steal, kill, and destroy my great blessings of Your great joy and peace. I ask You to forgive me and I receive Your forgiveness now, in the name of Jesus. And now, in the name of Jesus, I command the spirit of worry to be bound and overcome by the power of the blood of the Lamb and the word of my testimony. I command it to get out of my thoughts and out of every area of my life. I command it to go now, defeated, to the feet of Jesus, to be judged by Him, and never return. Come, Holy Spirit, I pray. Come and fill my mind with Your thoughts, my heart with Your desires. Restore unto me the joy of my salvation and flood my soul again with the peace of Christ that surpasses all understanding. Thank You, Jesus. Praise the Lord! In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

Friends, we've been enjoying a few days with my kids in one of the ministry cottages at Aldersgate Renewal Ministries near Nashville. What a great blessing and tremendous ministry. Please come join us at the end of July for the Aldersgate Conference 2011, being held this year in Dayton, Ohio. I'm excited to be one of the teachers of the equipping sessions and serve on the prophetic ministry and prayer teams: www.aldersgaterenewal.org It's always one of the highlightws of my summer with passionate worshp and powerful ministry.

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Thursday, June 23, 2011

Idols of Pride Fall Down - June 23

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me start off my day listening for Your voice and walking in Your steps. ...

"O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress; your faithfulness comes from me. Those who are wise understand these things; those who are discerning know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them" (Hosea 14:8-9).

Give me wisdom to understand and discernment to know that You are the One Who answers when I call, You are the One looks after me even when I don't know it's You. Expose and destroy the idols of my heart and mind - the things that I allow to have the place that only You deserve, the things that I exalt or depend upon, instead of fully trusting in You.

I may not even know that I do. I may not even realize the subtle idolatry that seeps into my thinking, where I'm depending upon my own strength, my own wisdom, my own resources. That's why I need Your wisdom and discernment, so that I don't stumble and fall in transgression of Your ways. I want to walk in the ways that lead to life.

But self dependence, rather than desperate, daily dependence upon You is the form of pride that hinders Your grace in my life. "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6). So help me humble myself, help me willingly choose to be desperately dependent upon You alone. Let the idols of pride fall down and bow before You - "the name that is above every name" (Philippians 2:9). Only in that place in my heart and mind can I fully embrace all the power and wisdom of all the grace You have for me. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

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Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Our Father's Cords of Kindness and Bands of Love - June 22

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Lead me deeper, lift me higher, draw me nearer - more and more every day. ...

"When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. The more I called them, the more they went from Me; they kept sacrificing to the Baals, and offering incense to idols. Yet it was I Who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in My arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love. I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down to them and fed them" (Hosea 11:1-4).

O Lord, You are my Father. You always have been. And though there were so many times when I, like Israel and Ephraim, took Your love for granted and turned my love to things that dishonored You, You never stopped loving me, never stopped reaching out to me, never stopped bending down to me, never stopped lifting me up into Your arms and calling me close to Your side. That's the kind of God You are.

And though I failed to see that the cords of human kindness and the bands of human love that I thought I found for myself in this world along the way were from my own desires or the desires of others, all along it was You. You have been the Source of everything that was truly kind and truly loving that I've ever encountered or experienced in my journey through this broken and fallen world. "Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change" (James 1:17). A father loves to give good things to his children, and so do You - even more than we'll ever deserve and even when we deserve it the least (Luke 11:13). That's the kind of God You are.

As with Israel and Ephraim, the examples You've chosen to teach us about You, despite all our sins and idolatries, all our fears and failures, all our insecurities and insensitivities, "(Your) compassion grows warm and tender" (Hosea 11:8). And in Your time and in response to Your love, we will return to the arms of the One Who loves us so (Hosea 11:10-11). And You'll be there, just as You have always been, ready to embrace us and welcome us home. That's the kind of God You are. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

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Monday, June 20, 2011

Every Day is Father's Day - June 20

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, You are One; and You are holy; and I am wholly Yours. ...

"As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him. For He knows how we were made; He remembers that we are dust.... But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children, to those who keep His covenant and remember to do His commandments" (Psalm 103:13-18).

On Father's Days, I take some time to think of my father who's no longer with us in the world on this side of heaven. He lost his life when my brother and I were still very young. And so was he. But I know his death broke Your heart, just as it breaks ours. You want us to have abundant life; it's the thief of our souls, no the Lover of our souls, who comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). "For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord God" (Ezekiel 18:32). A godly father has a father's heart of compassion for his children and for his children's children. And You are the best Father of all.

In the brokenness of our family, You've not wasted a moment of our sufferings, using all that happened to bring us all to a place closer to You. You taught us how to forgive the man that took his life. You taught us to understand that our lives in this world can end in a moment, so every moment counts. And You taught us that a father's love, as important and irreplaceable as it is, is but a measure of Your Father heart of love for us. And that love will never be snatched away in a moment. Instead, our experience of it and our desperate dependence upon it only grows in all the moments of heartbreaking losses in our lives, if we entrust our breaking hearts to You.

"No, in all these things (even the death of our earthly father and the death of anything we value and hold dear in this world), we are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:37-39). So with that kind of love in our hearts and that kind of life embraced in Your arms, every day is Father's Day for us. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

Elizabeth's Father's Day Cake 2011

Toffee Mocha Chocalate for her Daddy!

I enjoyed a great Father's Day with my kids and hope you enjoy every day with your Father.

You might be interested in order my CD teaching and ministry session called "The Father's Blessing from Our Brokenness" from my week of speaking at chapel at Christ for the Nations Missions School in Dallas, Texas. Much of my personal testimony in on this ministry resource:

www.messiah-ministries.org/resources

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Friday, June 17, 2011

Created Order out of Chaos - June 17

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I arise and await our adventure together today. ...

"For thus says the Lord, Who created the heavens (He is God!), Who formed the earth and made it (He established it; He did not create it in chaos, He formed it to be inhabited!): I am the Lord, and there is no other. I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, 'Seek Me in chaos.' I the Lord speak the truth, I declare what is right" (Isaiah 45:18-19).

You're the God Who speaks light into the darkness and it becomes created order. You're the God Who proclaims peace into the storm and it becomes calm. You're the God Who declares Your truth into the chaos and it becomes the righteousness of God, redeemed into what is right and good, forgiven and cleansed, aligned and empowered for Your purposes. You are the Lord, and there is no other.

O Lord, You know the secret places of my soul. You know the dark places of my doubts. You know every confusing question and chaotic circumstance that lies before me now and will lie before me in the journey ahead. But I give it all to You. I give my all to You. Because I trust to know what's best for me. Because I've learned that only life lived in personal and intimate relationship with You can bring the clarity and peace we're all created to long to know.

So speak Your light, proclaim Your peace, declare Your truth into my life and into all the moments of my day. Guide my steps and my heart. Put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart, as You lead me on in the way that leads to life. Through the mercy and love of Your grace, I am forgiven and cleansed, redeemed and restored into Your created order. And through the power and presence of Your Spirit, abiding in me, I am being aligned and empowered for Your purposes and my fulfillment. You are my Lord; there is no other. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

Friends, as I was writing my prayer this morning, I was remembering this the words and ministry of Mike and Becky Chaille (www.firestarterministries.org) who were wonderful mentors to me in healing prayer ministry during a key time of my early training near Toronto. I pray for those kinds of spiritual fathers and mothers for you, who will speak God's words into your life to help you become all you were created to be (1 Peter 4:11). God bless you in your journey and adventure. Thank you for joining wiht me in mine! I'm glad to have some time of vacation time now with my kids and also some extra time to myself to reflect and pray about this next season of life now that I'm 50. May the best be yet to come for each of us!

Come to the Fountain This Friday Night! June 17th, our Messiah Ministries' monthly gathering (3rd Friday) for prayer, praise, and healing worship with the family of God as one, from many different churches and traditions under the name of Jesus. Come drink deeply from the Living Waters, to be refreshed and renewed in the Presence of God, as we worship Him and welcome Him to heal us and free us in spirit, soul, and body. We meet monthly in the Chapel at Centenary UMC, 2800 Tates Creek Rd, Lexington, Kentucky at 7 PM. We have various worship leaders from our area lead us in worship each month. This month, Andrew Eberheart will be leading in worship and Linda Dulin-Moore will be leading in prayer. All are welcome! Please come and bring a friend. Please spread the word!

Friends, please keep our Ministry finances in prayer. These summer months are typically lean financial months for us and, like a missionary, I raise all my own support for ministry in leading Messiah Ministries to fulfill our calling and vision. I would love to speak with you or someone you may know about our calling and vision, as well as our needs. Please consider being one of our regular supporters in prayer and provision. God bless you!

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Thursday, June 16, 2011

Prideful Cyruses, Called by God - June 16

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name and listen in for Your voice. ...

"I will go before you and level the mountains, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, I will give you the treasures of darkness and riches hidden in secret places, so that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel Who call you by your name" (Isaiah 45:2-3).

When You spoke these words through Your prophet Isaiah, You weren't directly speaking to the leaders or the people of Israel, though they were intended to encourage them. You didn't speak these words directly to the sons and daughters of God who had come to a place of surrendering their control and entrusting their lives to You as Lord and Savior, though they were intended to encourage Your believers of all generations to come. Rather, You spoke these words directly to a prideful, pagan king, who didn't yet know You, who worshipped other gods in his life, who thought all his choices and actions were for his own purposes and pleasures as the master of his own universe and the ruler of his own life. You were speaking to Cyrus, the ruler of Persia (v. 45:1).

Cyrus was not a prophet or priest, not a king or the coming Messiah of Israel; but nonetheless, he was one You chose in Your sovereignty and wisdom to be "anointed" (v. 45:1). He was one You chose for Your purposes, even before he chose You as his God: "He is My shepherd, and he shall carry out My purpose" (v. 44:28). Even before he would willingly bow his knees to You as the personal Lord of his life, You would bow his will to Your purposes as the sovereign Lord of all.

His life is a picture of the mystery of both God's sovereignty and human free will at work at the same time in all of our lives. There are "Cyruses" every day who have very strategic positions, accomplishing Your purposes, in ways we don't always see and rarely understand. And our part is pray for them, even if we don't agree with them. We don't have to condone or even always tolerate all that they do and say and represent. But we do need to pray that they would come to know You, and that in the meantime, their choices would be used for purposes-"so that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name" (v. 45:3).

Lord, bow my will for Your purposes. Let me trust that You are at work in all things in my life. And You were at work long before I ever made the choice to fully trust You with all my life. Just like You are working through all things in the lives of each one You have created, "not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). And remind me to bow my knees in prayer for the "Cyruses" in my life and in this world. Remind me to pray for those who don't yet know You, but You know them and have called them by their name to be used for Your purposes in their lives and in the lives of all, so that we may all know that You alone are God. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

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Wednesday, June 15, 2011

"Great Crowds Came to Him" - June 15

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I am Yours and You are mine. ...

"Great crowds came to Him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others. They put them at His feet and He cured them, so that the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel" (Matthew 15:30-31).

Great crowds descend upon this little town of Wilmore, out in the country from Lexington, Kentucky every year. It's called the Ichthus Festival, the oldest and longest running Christian music festival in the nation, named after the Greek word for fish. And there will be crowds of about 25,000 people over the next few days in our little town. Chris Tomlin, Hillsong United, Skillet, and many other Christian artists, speakers, youth leaders, and pastors will be among us to lift up the name of Jesus. The altar will be flooded every night will multitudes coming to faith in Christ - mostly teenagers and young people, whose lives will be radically transformed and set ablaze with a passion for Jesus, as You heal the broken and set the captives free.

"O that You would tear open the heavens and come down!" (Isaiah 64:1-4) Astonish us with Your glory, refresh us with Your Spirit, renew us with Your passion. You come in mighty revivals many years at Asbury and the sacred places where You've poured out Your Spirit in this little town with a big heart for Jesus. "Will You not revive us again so that Your people may rejoice in You!" (Psalm 85:6) Come, Holy Spirit! - here in Wilmore and here in our world. Let great crowds still come to You, as You still come to us. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

Friends, please keep everyone in prayer at the Ichthus Music Festival the next 3 days (www.ichthusfestival.org) Thought we've had perfect weather, it always seems to rain, which we always see as a sign of God pouring out His blessings rather than a curse (Isaiah 55:9-10). In fact, it has started to rain now. Pray that the Presence of the Lord and the Word of God will rain down on the hearts of these young people coming from across the country to encounter Jesus. I was honored to serve as the Chairman of the Board of Ichthus Ministries for several years, and continue to pray for the Lord use this ministry mightily for His Kingdom. God bless you!

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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

"The Most Holy Things" - June 14

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be my Light and my Vision, my Path and my Provision, this day and every day. ...

"The Lord spoke to Aaron: I have given you charge of the offerings made to Me, all the holy gifts of the Israelites; I have given them to you and your sons as a priestly portion due you in perpetuity. This shall be yours from the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every offering of theirs that they render to Me as a most holy thing, whether grain offering, sin offering, or guilt offering, shall belong to you and your sons" (Numbers 18:8-9).

In Christ, we are all Your priests. We are all the sons and daughters of Aaron - chosen and called, set apart to minister to You and to Your people, moved by Your Spirit to offer our lives as living sacrifices in complete surrender and joyful service of our God. We are "a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:5). We are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that (we) might proclaim the mighty acts of Him Who called (us) out of darkness into His marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9).

And just as the sons of Aaron, in the priesthood of God, were given "a priestly portion" of the first and the best of "the most holy things, reserved from the fire," so it is with us. We give You our first and our best. And yet, even as we offer it to You, You give it back to us. There's nothing You ever require of us that You don't also redeem back to us - cleansed by the Blood of Your Sacrifice for us and purified in the Fire of Your Spirit within us. We can't out-give God. And the measure we give is the measure we'll receive (Luke 6:38).

Our priesthood is not religious ritual; it's joyful service to our God that flows out of the willing sacrifice of ourselves, because of our personal relationship of love and covenant of commitment to You. So the offerings we bring become not the measure You take, but the measure You give. In fact, Your measure back to us becomes "abundantly far more that all we can ask or imagine," as we embrace Your "power at work within us" to bring Your name "glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever" (Ephesians 3:20-21).

So with all that I am and all that I have, I willingly, joyfully offer to You all my "most holy things, reserved from the fire" - all my heart, mind, soul, and strength - as best as I can and all by Your grace. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

Friends, please keep our Ministry finances in prayer. These summer months are typically lean financial months for us and, like a missionary, I raise all my own support for ministry in leading Messiah Ministries to fulfill our calling and vision. I would love to speak with you about our calling and vision, as well as our needs. Please consider being one of our regular supporters in prayer and provision. God bless you!

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Give to the Vision and Calling of Messiah Ministries:

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Monday, June 13, 2011

Impacted by God - June 13

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me start my day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with Your Holy Spirit. ...

"When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability" (Acts 2:1-4).

Sunday, much of Your Church around Your world celebrated the Day of Pentecost - the day You poured out Your Spirit in overwhelming measure to be the Body of Christ, filled with the Spirit of Christ, to continue the ministry of Christ in this world, just as You promised (v. 1:8). There were flames of fire and rushing winds. And everyone around them knew that something was now different about them. The world didn't know what it was that had changed in these people called Christians, but it was obvious to all that something powerful and significant had impacted their lives (v. 1:12).

Now every day is to be my day of personal pentecost. Every day is to be my day to let Your mighty wind blow through my spirit and You flames of fire burn in my heart. Every day is to be my day to embrace the power and love of Your Spirit in my life, so I can be Your witness in my world.

They may not understand what's happened to me. They may be just as "amazed and perplexed" as the neighbors of the first Spirit-filled Christians were (v. 1:12). Others may mock and sneer, as every generation always has from the beginning (v. 1:13). But I want them to know that my life has been impacted by God - not because I say it has, but because they see it has. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

My friends, Thank You! for all the notes and cards and encouraging words for my 50th Birthday! Thank you walking with me in the journey of prayer and the adventure of life. It will exciting to see what this next season will hold for all of us. May God pour out His mighty Spirit in your heart and life every day!

Friday, June 10, 2011

"The Fiftieth Year" - June 10

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Let go see where You're going to take me today and every day of this next half of my life. ...

"And you shall hallow the fiftieth year and you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you ... it shall be holy to you" (Leviticus 25:10-12).

Today I turn fifty. I guess I'm finally a grown up. Sadly, I've even received in the mail my invitation to join the AARP - Association for the Advancement of Retired Persons. But nobody told Marilyn, who's in charge of my schedule! No, these will not be years of entering retirement. These will be years of a new refirement. I need more of Your Spirit and more of Your power to fulfill all You have in Your heart to do in me and through me in this next exciting season of life. The best is yet to come.

Prophetically, they say five is the number of grace. And fifty is grace upon grace, ten-fold. I've needed the power of grace through all the experiences and encounters, sins and failures, escapades and adventures You've brought me through this first half of my life. And I have no doubt I'll need even more in this second half. But You'll be with me, just like You always are - picking me up, leading me on, and guiding the way.

This fiftieth year is to be hallowed as holy, set apart for You. It's to be a year of liberty, a year of proclaiming liberty throughout the land in the Spirit of the Lord. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (2 Corinthians 3:17, NKJV). And it speaks of the season of Your Kingdom at hand. It was the ministry of liberty and freedom in Christ that You proclaimed as the year of the Lord's favor in the Spirit of Jubilee: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the Good News to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:18-19, NKJV).

Lord, let it be so. As You've set me free and filled me with Your Spirit of Jubilee, send me forth in this fiftieth year and all the years to come, healing the brokenhearted, setting the captives free, proclaiming liberty in the mighty name of Jesus. Let blind eyes see and deaf ears be opened; let hearts be stirred and spirits be awakened, let souls be saved and the Bride be prepared. Let this Good News of the Gospel of Your Kingdom be proclaimed in my heart and home and to the nations of the earth. The best is yet to come. You've saved Your best wine for last (John 2:10). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

You're invited to our Saturday Cook-out June 11th in Lexington to share about my ministry trip to Africa in August, preaching the gospel in outdoor festifvals and teaching a Pastor and Leaders conference with Wesley Paul Minsitries. Waterford Club House, 6:30-8:30 pm. Please send me a note if you'd be interested. We will also be celebrating my 50th birthday and there's no better gift than the encouragement of my friends in my passion to share the love and power of Jesus around the world! tommyhays@messiah-ministries.org

Thursday, June 09, 2011

Forty-Nine and Counting - June 9

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Good morning, Heavenly Father. Good morning, Holy Spirit. You are God; and You are good; and You are good to me. ...You shall count off seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the period of seven weeks of years gives forty-nine years. Then you shall have the trumpet sounded loud.... And you shall hallow the fiftieth year..." (Leviticus 25:8-10).

I've been counting off and living out the seven weeks of years. Today is my last day of being forty-nine. And tomorrow the odometer clock of my body will turn a big click, as I leave one decade of years and enter the next. Lord, help me. ...

It seems in many ways the forties speak of a season of preparation. Moses spent forty years learning to shepherd sheep on the back side of the desert before he returned to lead Your people out of Egypt. Israel spent forty years "wandering" through the desert, though Your pillar of cloud and fire led them day and night every moment of their journey, until You moved Joshua to lead them into their Promised Land. And the Holy Spirit led You into the wilderness for forty days, tempted by the devil and tested by the Father, until You came into the synagogue at Nazareth to declare the year of Jubilee, the year of the Lord's favor, as You began the most intense season of Your life on earth as Son of Man, anointed with the Spirit of God.

So I thank You for these years of preparation. And I thank You for Your Presence with me through every moment of the temptations and testings of these seven weeks of years. I've had experiences and encounters with both God and the devil in ways I never dreamed. And I think both of you have trying to kill me - You've been trying to kill my flesh and the devil has been trying to kill my spirit. And You've not wasted a moment of it on Your divine mission to bring me to the place that I can say by Your grace, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:19-20).

There's more dying to do. And there's more living to come. And today as I begin to let go of the forties and prepare to take hold of my fifties, I know in my heart the best is yet to come. As one of my great spiritual mentors in prayer, Margaret Therkelsen, has taught me to say out of her many decades of life in intimacy with You: "Honey, come hell or high water, I'm goin' on with God." And so I am - as best as I can and all by Your grace. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
You're invited to our Saturday Cook-out June 11th in Lexington to share about my ministry trip to Africa in August, preaching the gospel in outdoor festifvals and teaching a Pastor and Leaders conference with Wesley Paul Minsitries. Waterford Club House, 6:30-8:30 pm. Please send me a note if you'd be interested. We will also be celebrating my 50th birthday and there's no better gift than the encouragement of my friends in my passion to share the love and power of Jesus around the world! tommyhays@messiah-ministries.org

Sign up for Morning by Morning by clicking the link below or going to our Messiah Ministries web site. Please pass on these morning prayer to anyone who would be eencouraged. And we welcome your contributions to join with us in sharing the Good News of the Kingdom of God at home and abroad! -- Tommy

www.messiah-ministries.org

Wednesday, June 08, 2011

Living Hope in Small Town America - June 8

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, filled with the Spirit, I give this day and all my life completely to You - as best as I can and all by Your grace. ...

"There is a river whose streams make glad the city of our God, the holy habitation of the most high. God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns" (Psalm 46:4-5).

In a quiet city of small town America, You've given me the joy of encouraging Your people and preparing Your bride for three days of renewal and revival in Aledo, Illinois. I've been on my knees at the altar with the Mayor, prayed in the police squad car with the Deputy Sheriff, stood in the middle of the Subway praying for peace with a woman in tears, prayer walked down main street under the banners of our national flag, and had the honor of coming alongside so many others, including their children, from all walks of life, casting off their burdens and embracing an awakening in their hearts of a deeper passion for You. It fills me with hope for the heart and soul of this land.

O God, pour out Your Spirit in great measure upon the people of the city. Let the bonds of their love for You, for one another, and for the people of this community You've called them love and to serve be strengthened each day. Magnify this out to all the cities and communities across this land where our freedom to worship our God and declare the glory of Your name is still a great privilege and blessing we appreciate and cherish.

Despite all her sins and failures, there is hope for America yet. And I've been so refreshed and renewed in my spirit to spend some time in this city where the River of Your Spirit stills flows with Your power and love. Thank You for blessing and encouragement we still have by the witness of living hope, trusting our great God, in small town America. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

Friends, thank you! for praying for us at our 3 Day Revival Meeting here at Aledo United Methodist Church in northern Illinois, where my good friend Jeff Bealmear pastors. We just got a note this morning of a marriage that was saved and of spiritual gifts awakened. God is on the move! And I pray the same for you and your community! God bless you!

Tuesday, June 07, 2011

Preparing for Our Personal Pentecost - June 7

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Fill me afresh with Your Spirit today. ...

"After His suffering, He presented Himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the Kingdom of God. While staying with them, He ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. 'This,' He said, 'is what you have learned from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now' " (Acts 1:3-5).

Almost fifty days ago, we celebrated the day of Your resurrection. And in a few days we will celebrate the day of the pouring out of Your Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. So in the annual cycle of remembering the milestones of Your spiritual journey and ours, these are days of preparation for our personal pentecost. These are days of watching and waiting in expectant hope for a fresh outpouring of Your Spirit into our lives. "And hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us" (Romans 5:5).

You told Your first disciples to watch and wait. And so for ten days between Your ascension in to heaven and the day of the pouring out of Your Spirit, they watched and waited, they fasted and prayed, they hungered and thirsted. They believed the promise of the Father, that they would be filled with the Spirit of Christ to continue the ministry of Christ as the Body of Christ in this world. They believed Your promise: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

Give me that expectant faith. Stir me up in that passionate pursuit of hungering and thirsting for more of Your Spirit in my life every day. As led Your apostle Paul to pray for all of the sons and daughters of God throughout Your Church, may I "be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18). May I "be strengthened in (my) inner being with power through (Your) Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in (my) heart through faith, as (I) am being rooted and grounded in love ... and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge so that (I) may be filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:16-19).

In a fresh way, every day, may I be "endued with (Your) power from on high" as I seek and embrace this "Promise of the Father" to me and to all who seek Your face, who call on Your name, and longingly wait for the pouring out of Your Spirit in our personal pentecost (Luke 24:49). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

Friends, please keep us in prayer for our 3 Day Revival Meeting I'm leading at Aledo United Methodist Church in northern Illinois, where my good friend Jeff Bealmear pastors. We had healing miracles last night! (including the organist, in the middle of my sermon, who was battling bronchitis, pain, and coughing). Much innner healing and spiritual freedom as well, as the Holy Spirit keeps taking us to deeper places of freedom and healing among the people of this community who are deeply hungry for the Presence of God. We're having many personal ministry opportunities and I'll be sharing with area ministry leaders this week as well. Thank you for standing with our ministry in prayer as we minister the healing love of God everywhere He sends us in the power of His name! God bless you.