Wednesday, May 06, 2020

"Good Morning, Lord Jesus..." - Morning by Morning, May 6, 2020

Morning by Morning, May 6 -- "Good Morning, Lord Jesus..."
Good morning, Lord Jesus. ... 

For about fifteen years, I've spoken those words first in my morning prayer and written those words first in my prayer journal to begin my day. Those are the words that came to me first that first morning when You called me to this "morning by morning" journey those many years ago.

It became my way of beginning my day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. It became my way of seeking You first and Your Kingdom and Your righteousness, before anything else, so that You would have First Place in my day and First Place in my life. And the journey has continued -- morning by morning, day by day, season by season -- through this increasingly intimate and deeply personal season of my life.
Some call it contemplative prayer or centering prayer or listening prayer or prayer of silence and surrender to watch and wait for the leading of the Lord. Whatever it's called, it's been such a tender way of Your Holy Spirit moving in my human spirit to come awake and come away with You, to come up higher with You into this high and holy place of Your Presence -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God.

You gave me the name for my daily prayer journey of "Morning by Morning" from the words You spoke through the prophet Jeremiah in the midst of a difficult and challenging season of his life and in the lives of those he was called to serve and to love, as he shared Your words of encouragement and hope:

"But this I call to mind,
    and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
    His mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
    great is Your faithfulness.
'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul,
   'therefore I will hope in Him.'
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
    to the soul that seeks Him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
    for the salvation of the Lord"
    (Lamentations 3:21-26).

I thank You, Lord -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- that Your mercies are new every morning and never come to an end. That Your love is steadfast and never ceases. That You are good to those who wait for You, who seek You, who wait quietly before You in the silence of surrender to let You speak what's on Your heart and let You lead down the path You've chosen into the fullness of our salvation and the depths of Your Presence. 

Then sometime soon along the way, whether exactly the first day or not I don't really remember now, I believe I sensed the prompting of Your Spirit to share these morning prayers from my journal. The thought was that my prayer could come into agreement with others who were praying, and that together we could begin our day embraced by our Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. And though it's not been for everyone, and for some just for a season, I've had great joy in knowing that many have been encouraged and comforted, even awaked into a deeper desire for intimacy with You in every dimension of Your Being as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit as we surrender every dimension our being to You from our "spirit and soul and body" in worship and prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

"The Lord God has given me
    the tongue of a teacher,
that I may know how to sustain
    the weary with a word.
Morning by morning He wakens --
    wakens my ear
    to listen as those who are taught"
    (Isaiah 50:4).

But no matter how this journey began or how it has grown and developed along the way, I do thank You that this has been a deeply honest and intimate journey with You. I feel like I could face just about anything I may have to endure on my journey to maturity in You as You seek to make me more like You each day, as long as I have a lifeline of prayer and deep communion of personal relationship with You, where deep calls to Deep, heart to Heart, and spirit to Spirit, morning by morning.

In Ezekiel's vision of the spiritual temple where the living waters would flow, he spoke of the sacrifice to be made morning by morning:

"He shall provide a lamb, a yearling, without blemish, for a burnt offering to the Lord daily; morning by morning he shall provide it. And he shall provide a grain offering with it morning by morning regularly, one-sixth of an ephah, and one-third of a hin of oil to moisten the choice flour, as a grain offering to the Lord; this is the ordinance for all time. Thus the lamb and the grain offering and the oil shall be provided, morning by morning, as a regular burnt offering" (Ezekiel 46:13-15).

You are the Lamb. And You are the High Priest who has made the offering of Your life for each one of us, that we could draw near to You, that we could embrace the gift of Your steadfast love and Your tender mercies that never come to end, that are new for us every morning. So I offer these morning prayers to You as my spiritual act of worship in trusting surrender of my life to Yours, of every dimension of my being to every Dimension of Your Being (Romans 12:1). Lord, let Your Living Waters flow into me and flow out of me -- along with all Your children who seek You and wait upon You and offer their lives as a living sacrifice to You -- to bring Your life into our world "morning by morning" every day and every way You desire (Ezekiel 47:1-12). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be begin and live into every day embraced by our Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit, to let the love and life of God flow through you and make a difference in your world, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

    

Daily Prayer Journey with Tommy Hays


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Tuesday, May 05, 2020

Time to "Count the Cost" - Morning by Morning, May 5, 2020

Morning by Morning, May 5 - Time to "Count the Cost"
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be high and lifted up, here in my heart and here in my world today. ...
 
"Which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish'" (Luke 14:28-30).
 
As many have seen and said, there's a time of great advance ahead, a time of great harvest to come. We're excited and we're praying we'll be ready!
 
But part of being ready is taking time to count the cost. A builder must count the cost before he builds. Just as a commander of an army must count the cost before he goes into battle (v. 31-23). And a disciple must count the cost before he can say with sincerity and whole-hearted surrender to the master, I will follow You wherever lead (v. 33).
 
The disciples who will choose to follow You into these days that are ahead -- days of great advance and great harvest to come -- will be those who have taken time to count the cost. There's a cost in our priorities, a cost in our attention, a cost in our possessions, a cost in our relationships, a cost in the surrender and sacrifice of our plans, our hopes, our goals, and anything else in our lives that we have set in place above Your place as First Place in our lives. 
 
As You said, "So therefore, none of you can become My disciples if you do not give up all your possessions" (v. 33). You weren't just talking about our money, home, our cars, our furniture, and all our other stuff we surround ourselves with. You were talking about everything we claim as our own. When You said, "Whoever does not carry the cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple," You were talking about complete surrender of all we have and all we are, holding nothing back from all You desire (v. 27).
 
That might be more scary than the coronavirus! But You don't give us fear; You give us faith. You don't give us confusion; You give us clarity. You call us to courage and commitment -- but not to muster it up on our own or try to make it happen by ourselves. You invite us to ask You for all we need -- even the very faith and clarity and courage and commitment we need to take up our cross and follow You as Your disciples. You invite us to humble ourselves and ask for what we need. And what we really need is the guts to say, "Yes, Lord Jesus. I surrender all to You. I sacrifice all to You. My life is no longer my own, but Yours alone."
 
That's a high cost of discipleship. But that's also the highest calling of our lives. A builder or a commander is not afraid when they take time to count the cost. They're being wise. They're being responsible and accountable. They're making sure they're committed so that their Yes can be Yes and they can persevere to the end to accomplish the goal and get the job done.
 
There's a goal of a great harvest set before us! I'm excited and expectant because I want to be a part of all You're about to do in our world! So in this time we have to count the cost, I'm asking You, Lord, for all I need. In all honesty with You, I'm sure I don't even know all that is. But You do. And I trust You and love You and ask You to pour it into me, to stir it up within me. And above all else, I know I need You! So I open wide my spirit to be filled with Your Spirit! I lay down my life to arise in newness of Your life in me. "Christ in me!" -- this day and every day. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be filled with the Spirit of Christ and all you need, as you take time to count the cost to rise and follow Jesus into this time of great advance and great harvest ahead, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

    

Daily Prayer Journey with Tommy Hays



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

Please share this word to encourage a friend!
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Monday, May 04, 2020

"Seek Me First" - Morning by Morning, May 4, 2020

Morning by Morning, May 4 - "Seek Me First"
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I seek You with all my heart -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
 
I hear in my heart, first thing this morning, "Seek Me first." ...
 
And more ...
 
"Don't look to a person. Don't look to a source of security or provision or satisfaction or anything else that would be a source for anything you need or desire. Look to Me. Seek Me first." ...
 
Yes, Lord. Your written Word comes to mind to confirm Your spoken words in my heart: "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33).
 
It's a simple word, but so significant. It's a simple principle, but so profound. "Seek Me first."
 
So before I read my emails or the news, before I start checking my texts and looking to see what's going on in my world or what's set before me in my day, I choose to seek You first. 
 
I seek Your face. I listen for Your voice. I watch and wait for Your leading. I enter Your courts with thanksgiving and praise, then surrender in the silence of worship in communion with You -- heart to Heart, spirit to Spirit, deep to Deep.
 
Then from that place -- connected with You, in deep communion with You -- I'm ready to follow You into the moments of my day. Then I'm ready to hear what's on Your heart, to be part of what You've planned, to go where You lead.
 
That's how I see what You're doing and hear what You're saying and follow where You're leading -- step by step, moment by moment, along the journey of my day. Then all that will come along in my day as second and third and fourth and following will only come along in my day after I've first come near to You. When I seek You first "all these things" that I may need or that may need me will be added into my day on top of the firm foundation and deep connection You've already made in me.
 
Thank You, my Father, for speaking Your simple truth into my spirit, as a loving father speaks to a beloved son. Thank You, Lord Jesus my Savior, for reminding me of Your profound wisdom and powerful Word. Thank You, Holy Spirit of the Living God, for abiding within me and leading me in the ways of spirit and life and truth, as You teach me to love well, empower me to live right, and make me more like Jesus each day.
 
O Lord, my God, may I seek You first every day. May I keep seeking You first throughout all the moments of every day. And may I fully trust that all I really need will be added to me -- all in Your time, all in Your way, all from the One I seek first. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be stirred in your spirit to seek God first before anything else and trust in Him to lead you and provide for you in all that you need and all that you do, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

    

Daily Prayer Journey with Tommy Hays



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

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

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Friday, May 01, 2020

Learning and Growing through All We Endure and Overcome - Morning by Morning, May 1, 2020

Morning by Morning, May 1 - Learning and Growing through All We Endure and Overcome
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I'm looking to You, to walk in Your steps by the leading of Your Holy Spirit, secure in the embrace and love of my Father. ...
 
"In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the One who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered; and having been made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him, having been designated by God a High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek" (Hebrews 5:7-10).
 
Lord Jesus, it's hard for us to fully grasp "the days of (Your) flesh." You set aside the glory of heaven as the Son of God -- in the nature of God -- to humble Yourself in the likeness of human flesh and blood as the Son of Man -- in nature of man (Philippians 2:5-11). You were conceived by the Holy Spirit; and at the same time, You were also born from the womb of a human mother to walk this earth as a man for those thirty-three and a half years in the days of Your flesh when "the Word became flesh and lived among us" (Luke 1:35; John 1:14).
 
During those days of Your flesh, You "grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man" (Luke 2:52). During those days of Your flesh, You were "One who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 5:15) -- "for (You) faced all the same testings we do, yet (You) did not sin" (Hebrews 5:15 NLT). 
 
According to the Word of God, You "grew" in wisdom and You "learned" obedience. And the growing and learning happened through the times of testing and the suffering. As Your disciples, we are no different. "A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher" (Luke 6:40).
 
So, like it or not -- and mostly, honestly, the truth is we don't like it at all -- we also must learn obedience through suffering, that we may also grow in wisdom. That's all part of how we are to follow You as Your disciples. "For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in His steps" (1 Peter 2:21). That's all part of how we are to be like You in our world (1 John 4:17), on our daily journey -- morning by morning, day by day, step by step -- being conformed into the image of Christ, image of the Son of God (Romans 8:29). "Christ in (us), the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).
 
Father, these are the days of our flesh. These are the days we to be growing and learning and becoming more like Jesus every day. We can't do any of that on our own. We can't even desire that on our own. In all humility, apart from all our pride, we must willingly choose to be desperately dependent upon You alone. We desperately need Your Holy Spirit to give us the desire and the power to follow in the steps of Jesus -- learning obedience through whatever we're suffering and growing in wisdom through all You're teaching us. "For God is working in (us), giving (us) the desire and the power to do what pleases Him" (Philippians 2:13).
 
Teach me, Lord. You never waste a moment of our sufferings. Grow me up, Lord. You never miss an opportunity to make us more like Jesus. I pray this for myself and for all the body and the bride of Christ, the many sons and daughters being brought to glory, through all we endure and overcome, to become like Jesus in these days of our flesh (Hebrews 2:10). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you endure and overcome by the power of the Holy Spirit, learning and growing through all you may be suffering and facing to become more like Jesus every day, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

   

Daily Prayer Journey with Tommy Hays



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

Please share this word to encourage a friend!
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Thursday, April 30, 2020

"For a Little While" - Morning by Morning, April 30, 2020

Morning by Morning, April 30 - "For a Little While"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. In these first moments of my morning, I offer You the first thoughts in my mind, the first desires of my heart, and the first words from my mouth -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ... 

"After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. To Him be the power forever and ever!" (1 Peter 4:10-11) 

It seems all the world is suffering at some level right now. Some more than others. Some differently than others. But all suffering at some level. Even for those who seem to be somewhat unscathed at the moment, they also are moved by the sufferings of their neighbors and our world, for when one suffers, all suffer (1 Corinthians 12:26). 

But You are "the God of all grace." And as we invite You into our sufferings, as we offer up our sufferings to You. For You come to "restore, support, strengthen, and establish (us)." What might seem like is lasting forever, or at least lasting a lot longer than any of us desire, is only "for a little while." 

What we are suffering right now is not permanent. It's not forever. Shifting and changing and transformation and redemption is on the way. In fact, it's already at work in our world and in us. For You are already at work in our world and in us, causing it all to work together for good for all who are called according to Your purpose (Romans 8:28). And You have a purpose for us all (Jeremiah 29:11).  

That's because You are "the God of all grace." You're "the God" -- the One who is sovereign over all, who sees the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end, who has the last word over our world and whatever sufferings we go through in our world. And Your heart is full "of all grace" -- full of mercy and love, full of the desire for our good and all that means for every one of us, both eternally and the moment we're going through right now. 

So even as our minds think "how long, O Lord! (Psalm 13:1), our hearts hear You say, only "for a little while" (1 Peter 5:10). 

Come, Holy Spirit of God. I open my heart to "the God of all grace." In prayer, as one in the Spirit and one in the Lord, with all my brothers and sisters around the world, I invite You into our sufferings and offer them up to You. And I thank You, Father, for the promise of Your Word and the power of Your Spirit that no matter who long it takes or what we go through in the present sufferings of this broken and fallen world in such desperate need of Your salvation and redemption, You are at work in it all. And through it all, You will "restore" and "support" and "strengthen" and "establish" us to be all You've created us to be. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be restored, supported, strengthened, and established as the God of all grace empowers you to get through these sufferings and make you more like Him in the process, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

Daily Prayer Journey with Tommy Hays



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

Please share this word to encourage a friend!
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