"To Care for Orphans and Widows" - August 22

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are Lord of Kenya, Lord of all nations, and Lord of me. ...

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world" (James 1:27).

After preaching and praying for everyone Sunday morning at the Redeemed Gospel Church in Kenol, Kenya, Your Spirit spoke to my heart to ask if there was a widow in our gathering. So I interrupted the pastor's benediction to ask if I could share what Your Spirit just said. When I did, a woman at the very back of the church timidly raised her hand. So I went to her to put the roll of money in her hands You told me to give from my heart. You had been working something in my heart during our worship and I had no idea what You were about do our in all of our hearts.

This church had amazed me at their incredible generosity among the people, most of whom would be seen as very poor by the standards of my own nation. A young man had left his new bicycle at the altar a few weeks before in sacrificial giving to the ministry of the Kingdom through this church, and within a week his Asian boss told him to go buy a brand new motorcycle for himself. He pushed it up to the front of the church during the offering time for our Gospel Festival to show everyone his proof of Your spiritual principle that you can't out-give God.

As soon as I put the money in the widow's hand and began to pray a blessing for her, she began to weep and wail. The pastor called her to the front. And he told the congregation that this woman had come to him earlier to tell him she had no money for her needs and that he felt led to tell her that day "God Himself will provide the money to you." Everyone began to weep and wail throughout the church. Then the pastor asked me to pray for any who would come to the altar to receive a generous heart of giving to the Lord for the blessing of His people. As almost everyone came, they spontaneously began laying down where they kneeled their deeply sacrificial gifts of their very limited resources out of their hugely generous hearts. And church was already supposed to be over!

O Lord, give me a generous heart. Let Your generous Spirit fill my spirit. Let the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our God, as we learn to give first to You and the ministry of Your Kingdom however and whenever You lead. Give me a greater joy in giving and a greater expectancy of increase in the great harvest to come - here in Kenya and in all the nations of the earth. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

Freiends, the leader of the city-wide Pastors' Fellowship in Kenol, Kenya just told me the estimated that 3,000 people were there last night at the closing night of the satellite Gospel Festival I been preaching outdoors for 4 nights! Last night a wave of people came for salvation, another wave for healing and deliverance, and another wave for the baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire with a passion to live a radical life for Jesus. Praise God! All the other evangelists in each of 5 cities preaching these Satellite Festivals on the same 4 nights were reports a similar move of God's Spirit in this region! Thank you for your prayers!

Now, we begin our Pastors and Leaders Conference for the next 3 days, where I'll be teaching with other on our mulitnational, mulitcultural team of evanglists (America, Kenya, Uganda, Korea, India) here with Wesley Paul Ministries. We'll have videos and pictures to pass along from the festivals soon! Then later this week I'll be preaching with Wesley Paul and the other evangelists at our main Sabasaba Gospel Festival, north of Nairobi, where they are expecting 30-40,000 people over the 4 day festival. Please keep praying for us and for the people of Kenya! God bless you!

Here's a short video that Dr. Wesley Paul and I made for our trip: http://www.youtube.com/embed/NMV3bUagljM Please pass it along to anyone who may be interested in joining with us in prayer or financial support. God bless you and thank you for all your encouragement and support for me and our minsitry!

While I'm away in ministry in Africa, please keep Messiah Ministries in prayer. We're needing to raise additional significant fainancial support right now, so we would welcome your generous support as you are led, whether on-line, by phone, or through the mail. Thank you and God bless you!

Tommy Hays

Founder, Messiah Ministries

2800 Tates Creek Rd.

Lexington, KY 40502

www.messiah-ministries.org

859-422-1794

"Go Into All the World" - August 19

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Come into my heart and into my day; rule over my life and over my ways. ...

"And He said to them, 'Go into all the world and proclaim the Good News to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using My name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and it they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover' " (Mark 16:15-18).

You've sent me to Kenya to proclaim Your good news. And I have found a people here in the Body of Christ who are passionate in their praise and free in their worship. They are easy with their smiles and fervent in their prayers. And they care deeply about their neighbors who need to know the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ.

Last night on the first night of the Gospel Festival I'm preaching in Kenol, Kenya, north of Niarobi, a large crowd gathered at the platform we built in the Central Market. As people came from their work and their homes, the crowd began to grow as we began to worship in the heart of the city. About seventeen churches, from the various streams of the Body of Christ have come together for this satellite festival - one of five going on at the same time in five different cities in this region before our major festival next week.

It seemed most in the crowd already knew the Lord, but just across the road, in full sound and view of our gathering were the crowds of the city market places. And I spoke much of my message about the saving power of Christ and the healing love of God directly them over our loud speakers. Some would look and stare. Others would risk a glance. But all were hearing the Word of God going forth to their hearts and breaking through the spiritual barriers that are beginning to crumble and fall.

Some came forward to receive Christ in their hearts in response to the Good News. Some were set free from pain in their bodies as the Spirit of God moved among them in prayer. And with the expectant faith and fervent prayers in the power of Your name, many more will respond in the next days to come. And as Your Word goes forth in these five cities in these four days, surely Your heavens are opening wide over this region to push back the darkness and bring many souls in the Kingdom of Your Light.

Thank You, Lord, for sending me here and giving me this honor to join with this team to exalt Your name and proclaim Your Good News. Help me humble myself to hear the words You give me speak and faith to believe in the great harvest You'll bring as these words of Good News go forth in this land. Whether in person or in prayer, You send us all into all the world to share this hope that burns in our hearts. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

Friends, please keep us in prayer for these two weeks of Gospel Festival meetings north of Nairobi, Kenya, where I'm part of a team with Wesely Paul Ministries. I'll be preaching in Kenol, at one of the satellite festivals for the next 3 nights, then teaching at a Pastor and Leaders Conference, then with the preaching team for the main festival at Sabasaba, Kenya. Here's a short video that Wesley and I made for our trip: http://www.youtube.com/embed/NMV3bUagljM Please pass it along to anyone who may be interested in joining with us in prayer or financial support. God bless you and thank you for all your encouragement and support for me and our minsitry!

While I'm away in ministry, please keep Messiah Ministries in prayer. We're needing to raise additional significant fainancial support right now, so we would welcome your generous support as you are led. Thank you and God bless you!

Tommy Hays

Founder, Messiah Ministries

2800 Tates Creek Rd.

Lexington, KY 40502

www.messiah-ministries.org

Set Apart and Sent Forth in the Spirit - August 16

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Your name be high and lifted up, here in my heart and throughout the moments of my day. ...

"While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for Me Barnabus and Saul for the work to which I have called them.' Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off" (Acts 13:2-3).

Holy Spirit of the Living God, You are the Promise of the Father upon me; and You are the Spirit of Christ within me (Romans 8:9). You've been stirring in my heart with a burden for the people of Africa. And today You've set me apart to send me there!

As You anointed and empowered Barnabus and Saul to carry the Gospel of the Kingdom of God to the people of the nations, so You've anointed and empowered our team to go to the people of Kenya to share the Good News of the love of God in Jesus Christ. We're honored and excited to go in Your name and the power of Your love. "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith ..." (Romans 1:16).

May souls be saved and spirits be awakened! May blind eyes be opened and deaf ears unstopped! May bondages be broken and demons cast out! May You heal the brokenhearted and set the captives free, as we proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of God and see You demonstrate it in Your mighty power and unfailing love! (Matthew 10:7-8) Just as on the journeys of Barnabus and Saul, may it be said of us that "(our) speech and proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power" (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Come, Holy Spirit! We don't go proclaiming our selves or our names or our power. "For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to win obedience from the Gentiles, by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from (Lexington) and as far around as (Nairobi), (we) have fully proclaimed the Good News of Christ!" (Romans 15:18-19) In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

I'm excited to be going to Kenya today! Please let us know if you would like to be on our Intercessory Prayer Team for my ministry trip to Kenya August 16-31: PrayerLead@aol.com Our evangelistic preaching and ministry team is very excited and expectant for all God will do! I'll be preaching at two major Gospel Festivals, where 30-40,000 are expected to come, and also teaching at two conferences for pastors and leaders wth Wesley Paul Ministries. Here's a short video that Wesley and I made for our trip: http://www.youtube.com/embed/NMV3bUagljM Please pass it along to anyone who may be interested in joining with us in prayer or financial support. God bless you and thank you for all your encouragement and support for me and our minsitry!

Tommy Hays

Founder, Messiah Ministries

2800 Tates Creek Rd.

Lexington, KY 40502

www.messiah-ministries.org

Malleable - August 15

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I entrust to You my spirit, soul, and body. I want all of You to fill all of me, every dimension of Your Being filling every dimension of my being - this day and every day. ...

"Now the Lord spoke to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to a 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..." (Genesis 12:1-3).

The father of faith trusted You with all his heart, though he was as human as all of us in the wrestlings of his heart. But a faithful heart is a believing heart - choosing to believe that You know the best for us, choosing to believe that You want the best for us, and choosing to believe that You will reveal Your will for us in the journey of our faith. "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God" (Romans 8:14).

Abraham's heart was tender to Your leading and malleable to Your shaping. He was willing to venture forward, adapt to his changing circumstances, as he did his best to follow You. He obeyed You because he trusted you. And as he trusted You and obeyed You, You kept leading him and changing him in the journey. Sometimes You led him to take simple, steady steps in the everyday choices of his life. And sometimes You led him to get up and go to faraway places into unknown circumstances, where his faith would be tested in his choice to go and every choice after that along the way. At times he was tempted to take matters into his own hands with this his own wisdom, but attitude of his heart and the perspective of his spirit became the banner over his life, "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness" (Romans 4:3).

Lord, give me a believing heart. Give me the faith of Abraham. Make my heart tender and malleable, as You fashion my faith to be strong in You. Whether life changing or simply life extending, let every choice I make in the journey of my faith be made by the leading of Your Spirit. I'm one of the children of Abraham and one of the children of God, doing my best by Your grace to walk in the way that leads to life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

I'm excited to be going to Kenya tomorrow! Please let us know if you would like to be on our Intercessory Prayer Team for my ministry trip to Kenya August 16-31: PrayerLead@aol.com Our evangelistic preaching and ministry team is very excited and expectant for all God will do! I'll be preaching at two major Gospel Festivals, where 30-40,000 are expected to come, and also teaching at two conferences for pastors and leaders wth Wesley Paul Ministries. Here's a short video that Wesley and I made for our trip: http://www.youtube.com/embed/NMV3bUagljM Please pass it along to anyone who may be interested in joining with us in prayer or financial support. God bless you and thank you for all your encouragement and support for me and our minsitry!

Tommy Hays

Founder, Messiah Ministries

2800 Tates Creek Rd.

Lexington, KY 40502

www.messiah-ministries.org

House on the Rock - August 12

Good morning, Lord Jesus. King of kings and Lord of lords, be King of my heart and Lord of my life this day and every day. ...

"Everyone then who hears these words of Mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell - and great was its fall!" (Matthew 7:24-27).

My friend Sylvia is a financial advisor who's radical in her obedience to Your voice and conservative in her advice to her clients, grounded in the leading of Your Spirit. And though the markets rise and fall like waves crashing against the rocks and sand in these past weeks, her clients' investments have been secure and even prospered. She only invests in Christian companies, operating with Christian values, where the present leadership tithes into the Kingdom of God.

It seems in these days You are beginning to shake all that can be shaken so that only what can't be shaken remains (Hebrews 12:27). It seems You are beginning to make a more clear distinction between the ways of the world and the ways of God, between worldly success by the spirit of greed and mammon and the advance of the Kingdom of God by the Spirit of God. As your Word decrees and declares: "My Spirit abides among you; do not fear. For thus says the Lord of hosts: Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land; and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasure of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the Lord of hosts" (Haggai 2:5-7).

Lord, give me a heart that trusts in You, in faith believing that You are my Rock and Refuge, steadfast and true through all we endure. My treasure is in You, and my faith is my wealth. Guide my thoughts to make wise choices each day, grounded in the leading of Your Spirit and built upon the solid rock of the Word of God and the principles of the Kingdom of God. Let me set my hope "on God Who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. (I am) to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for (myself) the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that (I) may take hold of the life that really is life" (1 Timothy 6:17-19). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

Friends, please let us know if you would like to be on our Intercessory Prayer Team for my ministry trip to Kenya August 16-31: PrayerLead@aol.com Our evangelistic preaching and ministry team is very excited and expectant for all God will do! I'll be preaching at two major Gospel Festivals, where 30-40,000 are expected to come, and also teaching at two conferences for pastors and leaders wth Wesley Paul Ministries. Here's a short video that Wesley and I made for our trip: http://www.youtube.com/embed/NMV3bUagljM Please pass it along to anyone who may be interested in joining with us in prayer or financial support. God bless you!

Tommy Hays

Founder, Messiah Ministries

2800 Tates Creek Rd.

Lexington, KY 40502

www.messiah-ministries.org

Refuge in the One Who Knows and Cares - August 11

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are my Rock and Refuge. I stand firm in Your strength this day. ...

"O Lord, You have searched me and have known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You discern my thoughts from far away" (Psalm 139:1-2).

Whether I'm down or whether I'm up, You see me and know me. You know my struggles and my joys, the heights of my faith and the depths of my fears. But You don't see me merely to observe me; You see me to reach out to me and reach into me to journey with me through the highs and lows, the ins and outs, and all the twists and turns along the way. And You lead me to find my refuge in the One Who knows and cares.

These seem to be days of much uncertainty. Even the economies of nations and the stability of kingdoms seem to rise and fall with the tide of the sea. But You are the One Who steps into the uncertainties of these days and the uncertainties of my soul. You remind me that You are faithful and You infuse me with Your strength. "Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult... The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge" (Psalm 46:2-7). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

Friends, please let us know if you would like to be on our Intercessory Prayer Team for my ministry trip to Kenya August 16-31: PrayerLead@aol.com Our evangelistic preaching and ministry team is very excited and expectant for all God will do! I'll be preaching at two major Gospel Festivals, where 30-40,000 are expected to come, and also teaching at two conferences for pastors and leaders wth Wesley Paul Ministries. Here's a short video that Wesley and I made for our trip: http://www.youtube.com/embed/NMV3bUagljM Please pass it along to anyone who may be interested in joining with us in prayer or financial support.

Healing Rooms of Lexington is Now Open Every Thursday Night!
(Member - International Association of Healing Rooms, www.healingrooms.com)
Open Each Thursday, 7pm-9pm Beginning August 4, 2011

Located at Step by Step Ministry Office
465 East High Street, Suite 109
Lexington, KY 40588
Sponsored by Messiah Ministries, Director of The Healing Rooms of Lexington www.Messiah-Ministries.org
For more information please contact...
Linda Dulin-Moore, Pastor of Prayer Ministries, Messiah Ministries
PrayerLead@aol.com or 937-726-3609

Africa Ministry Trip to Kenya, August 2011

Friends, here's a short youtube video of Wesley Paul and Tommy Hays inviting you to join us in your prayers and supoort for our Africa Ministry Trip to Kenya, August 16-31: http://www.youtube.com/embed/NMV3bUagljM

Please let us know if you would like to be on our Intercessory Prayer Team for my ministry trip to Kenya August 16-31: PrayerLead@aol.com Our eveangelistic preaching and ministry team is very excited and expectant for all God will do!

God bless you!,

Tommy Hays

Messiah Ministries

2800 Tates Creek Rd.

Lexington, KY 40502

www.messiah-ministries.org

God bless you!,

Tommy Hays

Messiah Ministries

2800 Tates Creek Rd.

Lexington, KY 40502

www.messiah-ministries.org

Always Abounding - August 9

Good morning, Lord Jesus. The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. And You're the Main Thing. Be the foundation and the focus of this day and my life. ...

"The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name, 'The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness' " (Exodus 34:6).

Lord, I look up as You descend. I open up as You enter in. As You stood by Moses, I thank You for standing by me. As You surrounded him with the cloud of Your glory so You fill me with the manifest Presence of Your Spirit. This is the gift each of us have as children of God in Christ alone. "By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has give us of His Spirit" (1 John 4:13).

By Your abiding Spirit, I know You are merciful and gracious to me, that You are slow to anger toward me, that You are always abounding in steadfast love for me, and that Your faithfulness endures to me and to all generations who seek Your face and call on Your name. You are good; You are good; You are so good to me. And I want to honor You with all of me. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

Friends, I'm sorry to be out of touch this past week due to extensive ministry day and night in the Lexington, South Carolina area with Heather Butler from Wales, Richard and Susan Rhodes, Don and Kathy Hershman, Tony Alexander, Robin Gatto, and Sylvia Jackson sponsored by 6 Churches with a great vision for unity of the Body of Christ in this region. We had incredible times of prophetic and healing ministry in the Presence of God. Thank you for praying for us!

Healing Rooms of Lexington is Now Open Every Thursday Night!
(Member - International Association of Healing Rooms, www.healingrooms.com)
Open Each Thursday, 7pm-9pm Beginning August 4, 2011;

Hosted at Step by Step Ministry Office
465 East High Street, Suite 109
Lexington, KY 40588
Sponsored by Messiah Ministries, Dicector of The Healing Rooms of Lexington www.Messiah-Ministries.org
For more information please contact...
Linda Dulin-Moore, Pastor of Prayer Ministries, Messiah Ministries
PrayerLead@aol.com or 937-726-3609

Please let us know if you would like to be on our Intercessory Prayer Team for my ministry trip to Kenya August 16-31: PrayerLead@aol.com Our eveangelistic preaching and ministry team is very excited and expectant for all God will do!

The Singing God - August 2

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are One with the Father, One with the Holy Spirit, and One within me in the communion of prayer. ...

"The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior Who gives victory; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will renew you in His love, He will exult over you with loud singing as on a day of festival" (Zephaniah 3:17-18).

You sang the song of the Lord over us last night through Your minstrel and prophetic psalmist, Heather Butler from Wales. By Your Spirit, You renewed us in Your love, strengthened us in Your power, forgave us in Your mercy, and encouraged us in Your hope. With songs of deliverance You set us free and with the sound of healing You gathered us up. You are a singing God.

Lord, let Your song for my life arise within my soul. Let the cells of my body and every tissue of my being come into harmony with Your will. No matter what I go through, no matter I go, I go with Your song in my heart. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

Healing Rooms of Lexington opens Thursday Night, August 4th
(Member - International Association of Healing Rooms, www.healingrooms.com)
Open Each Thursday, 7pm-9pm Beginning August 4, 2011;

Hosted at Step by Step Ministry Office
465 East High Street, Suite 109
Lexington, KY 40588
Sponsored by Messiah Ministries & Healing Rooms Director Tommy Hays www.Messiah-Ministries.org
For more information please contact...
Linda Dulin-Moore, Pastor of Prayer Ministries, Messiah Ministries
PrayerLead@aol.com or 937-726-3609

Heather Butler, Sylvia Jackson, and Tommy Hays will be ministering in South Carolina. Please see our ministry calendar for details and other ministry opportunities in coming up soon: www.messiah-ministries.org/calendar

Trustworthy - August 1

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Your name be glorified in my heart and through my life today. ...

"Think of us this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God's mysteries. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy" (1 Corinthians 4:1-2).

Father, I want to be found trustworthy. I want to be faithful to You and faithful with all You have entrusted to me. Endue me with wisdom and cover me with grace to steward the gifts You've given to me to live out my calling and fulfill my destiny in Christ.

Lord, let me not bury my talents, like the unfaithful servant, tempted to give in to the fear of failure or be overwhelmed with self-focus on my weaknesses instead of Your strength, on my unworthiness instead of Your greatness (Matthew 25:25). Let all that You've purposed in Your heart to accomplish through my life come to pass, leaving nothing behind and nothing undone.

I've seen enough to know that path is not easy, but it will be well worth it. "My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing" (James 1:2-4).

O Lord, my God, You are trustworthy and true. And I want to grow up in Christ to be like You (Romans 8:29). This is my desire; this is my choice - 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

Tonight, please join us for An Evening with Heather Butler from Wales with her beautiful and powerful gifting as a prophetic pslamist. Hosted by Messiah Ministries in the Chapel at Cententary UMC, 2800 Tates Creek Rd at 7pm. The Mountain, Monday Night Prayer Group for Israel led by Bob & Doris McCray, will be joining us instead of the usual location. Please see our ministry calendar for details and other ministry opportunities in South Carolina coming up soon: www.messiah-ministries.org/calendar

Prophetic Proclamation and Fervent Prayer - July 28

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Draw me close to You; never let me go. Fill me with Your Spirit and send me forth into my day to live this day for You. ...

"Elijah said to Ahab, 'Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of rushing rain.' So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; there he bowed himself down upon the earth and put his face between his knees. He said to his servant, 'Go up now, look toward the sea.' He went up and looked, and said, 'There is nothing.' Then he said, 'Go again seven times.' At the seventh time he said, 'Look, a little cloud no bigger than a person's hand is rising out of the sea.' Then he said, 'Go say to Ahab, 'Harness your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.' In a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind; there was a heavy rain" (1 Kings 18:41-45).

Elijah was a prophet, and Elijah was a prayer warrior. He prayed what he proclaimed. When it was time to end the season of drought in Israel, You spoke it to Your prophet Elijah. "Surely the Lord does nothing, without revealing His secret to His servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7). You told Elijah You would end the drought, and then You told Elijah to go prophecy it to the king (1 Kings 18:1).

When Elijah proclaimed his prophetic word that the rains would come, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. But many would say his job was done. The word of the Lord was decreed and declared; now it was time to look and see what God would do. But Elijah didn't just take his prophetic mantle and go; he bowed his knees and prayed. With his heart to heaven and his face to the ground, he passionately persisted in prayer until he saw the word of the Lord made manifest on earth as it was in heaven. And then the heavens grew dark and the mighty winds blew, as You tore open the skies with the abundance of rain.

These are the days of Elijah. You are pouring out the Spirit of Elijah upon the earth to prepare the way of the Lord (Malachi 4:5; Matthew 17:11). And part of the manifestation of this season is the marriage of prophecy and prayer. What is proclaimed will be prayed, and what is prayed will be proclaimed. "Elijah was a human being like us; and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest" (James 5:17-18).

Thank You for the seeds of Your words You sow in our hearts and speak through our mouths in our prophecies and prayers by the leading of Your Spirit. And thank You for choosing us to live in this coming time of the great harvest You're bringing forth in the earth in fulfillment of those prophecies and prayers. The kingdoms of this world will become the Kingdom of our God and His Messiah (Revelation 11:15).

Seedtime and harvest, prophetic proclamation and fervent prayer- in the marriage of prophecy and prayer, we will proclaim it and pray it, by faith before we see it with our eyes because we already know it in our hearts. "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). In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

Please keep us in prayer and join us if you can for the Aldersgate 2001 Conference on Spirit-filled Living in Dayton, Ohio July 27-31 www.aldersgate2011.org where I'll be teaching on Friday. I'll also be going out in a few moments to Athens, GA tonight, July 28 to preach the Opening Message tonight at Pre-Confernece for the Rekindle the Flame Conference led by Rick Bonfim Ministries http://www.latterain.com/rekindle_the_flame.html

We'll be hosting An Evening with Heather Butler in Lexington, Kentucky Monday night August 1st, with her powerful gifting as a prophetic pslamist. Chapel at Cententary UMC, 2800 Tates Creek Rd. Please see our ministry calendar for details and other ministry opportunities coming up: www.messiah-ministries.org/calendar

Season of Acceleration and Increase - July 25

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me listen for Your voice and follow Your leading in the communion of prayer. ...

"The time is surely coming, says the Lord, when the one who plows shall overtake the one who reaps, and the treader of grapes the one who sows the seed ..." (Amos 9:13).

Before I could preach yesterday, a man responded. Before I could offer an invitation for salvation, he rose and came forward in tears of trust to give his heart to You. Sunday morning at Gray's Chapel in North Carolina was a foretaste of the fulfillment of the time when the reapers of the harvest will overtake the sowers of the seed. For those who are hungering and thirsting for more of You, this is a season of acceleration and increase, of breakthrough and advancement, even in the midst of the trouble and turmoil around us.

Lord, I want to be part of this great harvest to come (Matthew 9:37-38). Do all You need to do in me, and in my church, and in the body of Christ to prepare the way of the Lord in our hearts to be Your laborers in this harvest of the great gathering of souls into Your Kingdom (Matthew 13:39). Heal our hearts, break our bondages, correct our thoughts, lift our burdens, and guide our steps. Let us be the body of Christ, filled with the Spirit of Christ, continuing the ministry of Christ, as You stretch out Your Father arms to a hurting, broken, and fallen world through us. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

Please keep us in prayer and join us if you can for the Aldersgate 2001 Conference on Spirit-filled Living in Dayton, Ohio July 27-31 www.aldersgate2011.org where I'll be teaching. I'll also be going out to Athens, GA on Thursday night, July 28 to preach at the Opening Message at Pre-Confernece for the Rekindle the Flame Conference led by Rick Bonfim Ministries http://www.latterain.com/rekindle_the_flame.html

We'll be hosting An Evening with Heather Butler here in Lexington, Monday night August 1st, with her powerful gifting as a prophetic pslamist.Please see our ministry calendar for details and other ministry opportunities coming up: www.messiah-ministries.org/calendar

"With Everlasting Love" - July 20

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I love You, Lord; and I thank You for first loving me-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. ...

"For the Lord has called you like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, like the wife of a man's youth when she is cast off, says your God. For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing wrath for a moment I hid My face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer" (Isaiah 54:6-8).

Lord, what does it mean that You love me with everlasting love? ...

It seems I hear You say: "My love never fails. My love never gives up. My love never lets go."

Yes, Lord. ... What does it mean that for a brief moment I abandoned you and for a moment You hid Your face from me? ...

It seems I hear You say: "My son, like Israel before you, my covenant with You is everlasting, just like My love for you. There are consequences for your choices and in the choices of others. And sometimes in the consequences of those choices, it will seem as though I have turned from you, hidden from you, even abandoned you. But I have not. I will never leave you nor forsake you. And no matter where you turn, I Am there. My arms are always open wide to You and My heart is always tender toward you."

Yes, Lord. ... What does it mean that You are my Redeemer? ...

It seems I hear You say, "I always work all things for good if You will entrust them to Me. The things you have done and the things done to you will only serve to strengthen you in spirit, encourage you in faith, and anoint you with authority when you choose to give yourself to Me. I am trustworthy, faithful, and true. This is My everlasting love for you, My son, says the Lord, your Redeemer."

Yes, Lord. Let every word of truth and life settle deep down into my spirit. Thank You for Your compassion, Your mercy, and Your love. "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness" (Lamentations 3:22-23).

I trust You, O Lord, my God and my Redeemer. And I entrust to You all of my life - past, present, and future. You are the everlasting God, Who loves me with an everlasting love. And in the power and mercy of Your grace, let my love and commitment to You be everlasting as well. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

Friends, I'll be preaching and ministering at Gray's Chapel UMC in Franklinville, NC this weekend, July 22-24 with Pastor Doug Miller and Heather Butler from Wales www.grayschapel.org Please come join us if you're in the area! We'll be hosting An Evening with Heather Butler here in Lexington, Monday night August 1st, with her powerful gifting as a prophetic pslamist.

Please keep us in prayer and join us if you can for the Aldersgate 2001 Conference on Spirit-filled Living in Dayton, Ohio July 27-31 www.aldersgate2011.org where I'll be teaching. I'll also be going out to Athens, GA on Thursday night, July 28 to preach at the Opening Message at Pre-Confernece for the Rekindle the Flame Conference led by Rick Bonfim Ministries http://www.latterain.com/rekindle_the_flame.html Please see our ministry calendar for details and other ministry opportunities coming up: www.messiah-ministries.org/calendar

Pride in the Name of the Lord - July 19

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are faithful and forgiving, trustworthy and true. Make me more like You today. ...

"Now I know that the Lord will help His anointed, He will answer him from His holy heaven with mighty victories by His right hand. Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses, but our pride is in the name of the Lord our God" (Psalm 20:6-7).

My community takes pride in horses - a big banner where the two interstates come together boldly declares "Lexington, Kentucky - Horse Capitol of the World." We take pride in basketball - big banners fill Rupp Arena declaring decades of NCAA victories for the University of Kentucky. And we take pride in the rolling hills, bluegrass fields, and hand-crafted stone fences that make this region so beautiful. It seems You've created something in all of us that needs to find a sense of community identity, significance, and worth.

But above all, whether in our community or in our individual lives, we are to find our true sense of identity, significance, and worth in You. Our pride is to be in the name of the Lord. Anything we have, anything we are, anything we will become or do that will have any lasting significance at all will be by Your hand through our lives.

So when we see broken hearts healed and the captives set free, we take pride in the name of the Lord. When we see people encouraged in who they are, equipped for what they are to do, and sent to where they are to be, we take pride in the name of the Lord. When we see Your forgiveness for every sin, Your blessing for every curse, and Your provision for every need, we take pride in the name of the Lord.

Your name is the name above every name (Philippians 2:9). And at Your name, Lord Jesus, we humble ourselves from all our pride and take pride in Your name (v. 2:10). It's when our identity and destiny is grounded in You that we can rise and stand in the pride of the Lord, rather than stumble and fall in the pride of ourselves. "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6). So help me each day to humble myself in Your sight, to place my trust and find my pride in You alone. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

Friends, I'll be preaching and ministering at Gray's Chapel UMC in Franklinville, NC this weekend, July 22-24 with Pastor Doug Miller and Heather Butler from Wales www.grayschapel.org Please come join us if you're in the area! We'll be hosting An Evening with Heather Butler here in Lexington, Monday night August 1st, with her powerful gifting as a prophetic pslamist. Please see our ministry calendar for details and other ministry opportunities coming up: www.messiah-ministries.org/calendar

"Deep Waters" - July 18

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I'm not holding back, I'm pressing in, all of You in all of me. ...

"The words of the mouth are deep waters; the fountain of wisdom is a gushing stream" (Proverbs 18:4).

Thank You for the wisdom You've worked in the mind, will, and emotions of my soul through the journey of my life. All the mistakes and mountain tops, all the valleys and victories, all the rejection and rejoicing, all the languishing and laughing, all the discouragement and determination-You've not wasted a moment or missed an opportunity to try to teach me and train me in the way I should go in the wisdom of God. You've forgiven my failures and encouraged my successes, redeeming all I've entrusted to You by the grace of God at the foot of the cross.

Now, like a cistern that's gathered like rain all the issues of life, the cistern has become a fountain to share the words from my heart that flow out of the deep waters of my soul. Sanctify them in the washing of the water of Your Word (Ephesians 5:26). Purify them in the burning fire of Your Spirit (Matthew 3:12). I have so much more to learn, and so much more of the wisdom of this world that needs to be divinely exchanged for the wisdom of heaven (1 Corinthians 3:19).

But at the same time, I do pray that I would not withhold the wisdom You've taught me, as I share the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart that You've redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and the grace of God (Psalm 19:14). Let them be as a gushing stream of the waters of life You choose to pour through me - even as I drink deeply from the well of the waters You pour into my life through the wisdom of the ones You've chosen to be in relationship with me. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

Friends, I'll be preaching and ministering at Gray's Chapel UMC in Franklinville, NC this weekend, July 22-24 with Pastor Doug Miller and Heather Butler from Wales www.grayschapel.org Please come join us if you're in the area! We'll be hosting An Evening with Heather Butler here in Lexington, Monday night August 1st, with her powerful gifting as a prophetic pslamist. Please see our ministry calendar for details and other ministry opportunities coming up: www.messiah-ministries.org/calendar

Open the Gates of Righteousness - July 15

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Welcome into my world and every moment of my day. ...

"Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it" (Psalm 118:19-20).

There's a way that is right. For every choice before me, every need within me, every expectation of me, there is a way that is right. And by the grace You've given me and the desires You've placed within me, I want what is right; I want what is true. I want the right way because I've spent too much time choosing the wrong way, and I've come to know that You know best.

So Lord, would You open the gates to that way that is right? Protect me from the foolishness of trying to choose in my own wisdom, apart from the leading of Your Spirit and the guidance of Your Word, what is right for me. Protect me from the emptiness of trying to open my own gates, in my own timing, in my own way, apart from Your stirring in my spirit, Your peace in my heart, and Your voice in my ear, saying in the ways You've taught me to hear, "This is the way, walk in it." All of that would only be self-righteousness, not Your righteousness.

Here I am, Lord. Your servant, Your son is listening. The children of God are led by the Spirit of God (Romans 8:14). You open the gates. You open my eyes to see and my ears to hear. You prompt me when to move and confirm my steps. And if I fall or fail or misstep, You pick me up and dust me off and turn me again in the way that is right, so that I can enter in through the gates of righteousness, the gate of the Lord. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

Come to the Fountain This Friday Night! July 15, our Messiah Ministries' monthly gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship with the family of God as one, from many different churches and traditions under the name of Jesus in our city. 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, Brooke Barrett will be leading in worship and Sandy Boven will be leading in prayer. All are welcome! Please come, bring a friend, and spread the word.

"Rise Up, O Lord! Deliver Me, O My God!" - July 14

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I lift up my eyes, open up my heart, and call upon Your name. Stir up Your Spirit within my spirit, as I begin my day with You. ...

"I lie down and sleep, I wake up again, for the Lord sustains me. I am not afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Rise up, O Lord! Deliver me, O my God! For You strike all my enemies on the check; You break the teeth of the wicked. Deliverance belongs to the Lord; may Your blessing be on your people!" (Psalm 3:5-8)

David's battles in the natural realm in the Old Covenant are an expression of our spiritual battles in the New Covenant. First the natural, then the spiritual (1 Corinthians 15:46). His cries for deliverance and his battles for freedom were lived out in the day to day combat of human flesh and blood. Now in Christ, ours are lived out in the day to day combat of the spirit. "For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).

You know every plan and scheme of the enemy of our souls who comes to steal and kill and destroy (John 10:10). You know every attack of fear, injustice, manipulation, and discouragement. You know every way our spiritual enemy seeks to deceive and confuse, distort and defile. But our God is greater. And our God is mighty. And the victory is already won for us through the victory of the cross and the power of the blood of Jesus. And now the Spirit of Victory abides within us. "Little children, you are from God, and have conquered them, for the One Who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world" (1 John 4:4).

So let God arise; let our enemies be scattered! (Psalm 68:1) Let the teeth of the wicked be broken and his voice be silenced. Let the high praises of God fill our mouths with shouts of joy and victory. "They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side; in the name of the Lord, I cut them off! ... I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and my might; He has become my salvation. There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous: 'The right hand of the Lord does valiantly; the right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.' I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord!" (Psalm 118:11-17) In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

Come to the Fountain This Friday Night! July 15, our Messiah Ministries' monthly gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship with the family of God as one, from many different churches and traditions under the name of Jesus in our city. 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, Brooke Barrett will be leading in worship and Sandy Boven will be leading in prayer. All are welcome! Please come, bring a friend, and spread the word.

"Who is a God like You?" - July 13

Good morning, Lord Jesus. All that I have and all that I am is Yours. Help me live like that today. ...

"Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of Your possession? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in showing clemency. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea" (Micah 7:18-19).

Thank You for the freedom of forgiveness. Thank You for the pardon of Your mercy from all the punishment we deserve for all our iniquities and transgressions. Thank You for the compassion of Your heart to give us each a clean slate and a fresh start into a new day, whenever we humble ourselves to turn to You and call on Your name and ask for Your help. You are there. And You always have been, all along the way. Who is a God like You?

You take all our sins and throw them like a ball into the depths of the sea. As someone has said, then You put up a sign that says, "No fishing." It's like You lead us to dig a deep hole with our confession, to throw in the sins and failures of our past with our cry for forgiveness, and then cover them up, never to be seen again, with our acceptance of Your mercy. Who is a God like You?

That's the kind of God You want us to know. And that's the kind of God You want us to share. There's always hope. There's always the promise of a new day, where the old is gone and the new has come. The door to things of the past is closed shut and the door to the journey of all You have for us ahead is open wide. Who is a God like You? In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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

Come to the Fountain This Friday Night! July 15, our Messiah Ministries' monthly gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship with the family of God as one, from many different churches and traditions under the name of Jesus in our city. 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. All are welcome! Please come, bring a friend, and spread the word.