Morning by Morning—Daily Prayer Journey with Tommy Hays

Monday, July 06, 2020

Living Words of the Living God that Will Not Pass Away - July 6, 2020

Morning by Morning, July 6 - Living Words of the Living God that Will Not Pass Away

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I turn my eyes upon You and thank You that Your eyes are always upon me and all that matters to me in my world -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away"--Jesus (Matthew 24:35).

If Your words are what will remain when all is said and done, shouldn't Your words be our priority? Shouldn't Your words be our anchor of hope, our rock and refuge, our strong tower and mighty fortress, our revelation of Your absolute truth, Your never-changing character, and Your unfailing promises? Shouldn't the living words of the Living God be our words of spirit and life to give us a living hope every day?

You said there would come a time when the buildings and monuments we hold dear would crumble and fall, with no stone left upon another (v. 2). You said people would try to lead us astray even as they misrepresent the heart and character of God (v. 5, 11). You said there would be intense struggles, suffering, and persecution against those who stand up and speak out in Your name (v. 9). You said there would be an increase of lawlessness such that even the love of many would grow cold (v. 12). But at the same time, You encouraged us that "the one who endures to the end will be saved" (v. 13) and that in the midst of all the darkness and destruction, all the confusion and chaos, all the opportunities to turn to You and Your ways or turn against You and Your words, "this Good News of the Kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world as a testimony to all the nations; and then the end will come" (v. 13-14).

Lord Jesus, You said Your words "are spirit and life" (John 6:63). Let Your words of spirit and life saturate my mind and soak into my soul. Let Your words of spirit and life strengthen me, encourage me, and empower me to stand firm, to speak up, to press on, to persevere -- always speaking the truth in love, and always by the power and grace of Your Spirit deeply abiding in my heart. Give me grace to endure to the end, to keep my love for you and my fellow man from growing cold, and to keep proclaiming Your Good News of Your Kingdom through all we endure and overcome. For Your words will not pass away and Your Kingdom will never end! (Luke 1:33) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be confident and courageous, steadfast and secure, saturated and soaked, in the living words of the Living God that will not pass away, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Prayer for Revival in San Antonio!

Friends, I'm excited to be part of a group of prayer warriors in our community planning times of prayer for awakening and revival in our community and beyond, being led by Max Lucado in San Antonio. Please keep us in prayer to follow the Holy Spirit's leading. If you would like to be involved and help spread the word when the time comes, please send me a note: tommyhays@messiah-ministries.org

New Mailing Address for Messiah Ministries:

Tommy & Rocio Hays

Messiah Ministries

17503 La Cantera Parkway, Suite 104407

San Antonio, Texas 78257

Tommy & Rocio Hays | Messiah Ministries

Messiah-Ministries.org

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Friday, July 03, 2020

Even Warnings of Judgment become Messengers of Mercy when We Repent and Pray - July 3, 2020

Morning by Morning, July 3 - Even Warnings of Judgment become Messengers of Mercy when We Repent and Pray

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Your face do I seek; Your voice do I seek to hear, as I listen and wait for the leading of Your Spirit to deliberately and intentionally begin my day centered in You. ...

Many have been stirred up, even into fear and panic, over some recent prophetic words speaking of the destruction of America and her cities soon to come. But even if they were true of what could come, prophetic words of destruction are our invitation to go to our knees in repentance and prayer -- praying for life instead of death, redemption instead of destruction, hope instead of despair. As You said when You walked this earth and continue to say as You fill our hearts, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that (you) may have life, and have it abundantly" (John 10:10).

You're our Redeemer, not our destroyer. You're our Savior, not our accuser. "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" (John 3:17).

So where we've sinned and fallen short -- both personally and as a nation, in our times and throughout our generations -- convict us and lead us to repentance and forgiveness, that Your mercy may triumph over judgment and that Your redemptive purposes for Your people may be fulfilled.

Even as Your beloved children of Israel, the sons and daughters of Your eternal covenant, turned from You and Your ways so that destruction was to come upon their land, You stirred up Your intercessors, Your watchmen on the walls of the cities, Your people who were called by Your name, to humble themselves and pray. And just as all the blessings of Abraham are ours in Christ, so are all the responsibilities to watch and pray, to intercede and repent, to call upon Your name, that our identity may be secure and our destiny may be fulfilled in every tongue and tribe and nation where You have called us and positioned us for Your purposes in our days.

As we do, You stir our hearts with faith instead of fear. You call us to action instead passivity. You call us to our place of victory instead of defeat:

“I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;

They shall never hold their peace day or night.

You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent,

And give Him no rest till He establishes

And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

The Lord has sworn by His right hand

And by the arm of His strength:

‘Surely I will no longer give your grain

As food for your enemies;

And the sons of the foreigner shall not drink your new wine,

For which you have labored.

But those who have gathered it shall eat it,

And praise the Lord;

Those who have brought it together shall drink it in My holy courts’” (Isaiah 62:6-9).

As Your watchmen on the walls of our cities and nations, of our families and communities and all You've entrusted to us on our watch, we humble ourselves to seek Your face and pray. We turn from our wicked ways in the humility of repentance for ourselves and our land. And we turn to You in trusting faith for all that You've purposed to still be accomplished in us and through us in our days(2 Chronicles 7:14).

As we do, even warnings of judgment become messengers of mercy to revive us and awaken us to the fullness of our destiny in You. Just as You promised in Your Word to Your watchmen all will hear what Your Spirit is saying to Your people who are called by Your name: "For Zion's sake I will not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns!" (Isaiah 62:1) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be free from fear and full of faith, as you follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in any way you're being called to humble yourself and pray for yourself and for your land, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Prayer for Revival in San Antonio!

New Mailing Address for Messiah Ministries:

Tommy & Rocio Hays

Messiah Ministries

17503 La Cantera Parkway, Suite 104407

San Antonio, Texas 78257

Tommy & Rocio Hays | Messiah Ministries

Messiah-Ministries.org

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Thursday, July 02, 2020

"Sharing in the Spirit" to Regard, Honor, and Esteem Each Other - July 2, 2020

Morning by Morning, July 2 - “Sharing in the Spirit” to Regard, Honor, and Esteem Each Other

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Here I am to listen as You lead -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...

“If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…” (Philippians 2:1-5)

Forgive us, Lord, for the ways we sin in our hearts, in our land, in our culture, by failing to “regard others as better than ourselves.” Instead, we tend to do just the opposite.

Rather than “sharing in the Spirit,” we’re stingy in our flesh. Rather than building up one another, we suppress one another. Rather that desiring the best for each other, we compete against each other. Jealousy and pride rise up to puff us up, while we pull one another down and put one another down.

Then we reap what we have sow -- prejudice, pride, racism, judgment, self-righteousness, division, violence, and ultimately utter destruction. We gather in the harvest of division instead of unity, pride instead of humility, judgment instead of mercy, self-centeredness and selfishness instead Christ-centeredness and Christlikeness. We suffer the loss of our inheritance of peace and joy and love; and so does the world around us.

Forgive us, Lord. Through repentance and prayer, through surrender of our flesh to Your Spirit, our desires to Your Heart, and our thoughts to Your Mind, “let the same mind be in (us) that was in Christ Jesus.” Restore us and revive us to “be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” In that kind of unity of Spirit and honor and love, the world will know the Father has sent His Son as Savior of all (John 17:20-23).

As that change begins in us, that change will begin to happen in our land (2 Chronicles 7:14). As we allow You to change our hearts, our minds, our attitudes, our perspectives to turn our selfish and self-centered ways upside down, Your Holy Spirit will be at work within us to turn the world around us upside down (Acts 17:6) and to exalt the name of Jesus above every name, including our own -- here in our hearts, here in our land, and to the ends of the earth (Philippians 2:5-11). In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be strengthened in the Spirit with the same mind in you that was in Christ Jesus to regard, honor, and esteem those around you in the love and Spirit of Christ that the world around you may be turned upside down for God's glory and His name, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

New Mailing Address for Messiah Ministries:

Tommy & Rocio Hays

Messiah Ministries

17503 La Cantera Parkway, Suite 104407

San Antonio, Texas 78257

Tommy & Rocio Hays | Messiah Ministries

Messiah-Ministries.org

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Wednesday, July 01, 2020

Desperately Seeking God’s “Wisdom and Power” - July 1, 2020

Morning by Morning, July 1 - Desperately Seeking God’s “Wisdom and Power”

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I turn my eyes upon You, as I begin this day seeking to be embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. ...

At a time of national turmoil, with the leadership seeking guidance and even supernatural direction, the prophet Daniel “went to his home and informed his companions ... and told them to seek mercy from the God of Heaven” (Daniel 2:17-18).

We need Your guidance today, Lord. Our leadership and all of Your people need to hear Your voice to lead us through these times.

As Daniel and his companions prayed, You answered. “The mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision in the night, and Daniel blessed the God of Heaven” (Daniel 2:19).

“Daniel said:

‘Blessed be the name of God from age to age,

for wisdom and power are His!

He changes times and seasons,

deposes kings and sets up kings;

He gives wisdom to the wise

and knowledge to those who have understanding.

He reveals deep and hidden things;

He knows what is in the darkness,

and light dwells with Him.

To you, O God of my ancestors,

I give thanks and praise,

for You have given me wisdom and power,

and have now revealed to me what we asked of You,

for You have revealed to us what the king ordered.”

(Daniel 2:20-23).

O God of Daniel, God of Heaven -- God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; God of Peter, James, and John; God of our present, our past, and our future; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- how we need Your “wisdom and power” today! How we need to understand “the times and seasons” that are in Your hands and in the midst of our days. How we need You to reveal to us the “deep and hidden things” that are only revealed by Your light shining into our darkness, as we seek Your face and listen for Your voice in the humility of prayer and humble acknowledgement of our desperate dependence upon You alone. For apart from You, we can do nothing (John 15:5).

Speak to our leaders. Speak to us all. In humility and faith, we seek Your guidance and supernatural direction. As we humble ourselves in Your sight, You will lift us up (James 4:10). As we seek You as our Father, You will lead us as Your sons and daughters by Your Holy Spirit (Romans 8:14). Your sheep will hear Your voice (John 10:4). And with the faith of Daniel, we believe You will answer, You will lead, and You will provide all the “wisdom and power” we need to survive and even thrive through these days if we humble ourselves to seek You and obey You (2 Chronicles 7:14). In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

New Mailing Address for Messiah Ministries:

Tommy & Rocio Hays

Messiah Ministries

17503 La Cantera Parkway, Suite 104407

San Antonio, Texas 78257

Tommy & Rocio Hays | Messiah Ministries

Messiah-Ministries.org

Please share this word to encourage a friend!