Travailing Prayer that “Christ Be Formed in You” - July 12, 2021

 

Morning by Morning, July 12 - Travailing Prayer that “Christ Be Formed in You” Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name and listen for Your voice, for Your name is above every name (Philippians 2:9) and Your sheep hear Your voice (John 10:3). ... “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you” (Galatians 4:19). The Apostle Paul’s prayer and passion for Your disciples at Galatia was so intense it was like the travail of birth pangs. I’ve never given birth, but I’ve seen it five times. My job was to help with the coaching of the breathing, which seemed kind of like trying to put out a raging inferno with a water pistol. I can’t even imagine going through that kind of intensity, like women experience around this planet every day. Intense, out-of-control pressure and pain, wave after wave, increasing in intensity and trauma until the miraculous release and relief of birth. I praise God that I am a man!  (I have had three kidney stones, which a doctor expressed once that it’s a comparable experience to child birth, but I have found this comment to be unwelcome and unwise to share with those who have experienced the real thing! Someone else has said it’s more like trying to stretch your bottom lip up over your head. Once again, I praise God that I am a man!) But this morning, I’m thanking You for those who have travailed in prayer for me -- for my salvation, for my healing and freedom in Christ, for my provision and fulfilment of my purpose. But most of all, I’m thanking You for those who travailed in prayer for Christ to be formed in me -- for Your character to be formed into my character, for Your thoughts to be formed into my thoughts, for Your desires to be formed into my desires, for Your ways to be formed into my ways.  Salvation, healing, freedom, identity, destiny -- they are all crucial and critical; but ultimately, You’ve created me and called me to be conformed into the image of the Son of God, as I go through the journey of my life in this limited time I have on this side of heaven and this season of eternity (Romans 8:29 and 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18). “For this is the will of God, (my) sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). As You are, so am I to become (1 John 4:17; Matthew 5:48; 1 Peter 1:16). Of course, I can’t do any of that on my own. Apart from You, I can do nothing (John 15:5). You have to give me both the desire and the power to grow in grace and be conformed in Your character by Your Spirit at work in my mind and my heart to make me more like You each day (Philippians 2:13). So I desperately need those desperate, travailing prayers of those You’ve called by Your Spirit to persevere in intense intercession for me like a fiercely loving mother in the pangs of birth for her child. Some of their faces are coming to mind right now. And I don’t have words to express how thankful I am to You and to them. And at the same time, I’m humbly aware there are many others who pray for me in ways I can’t imagine and can never earn and never repay, who are moved by Your Spirit to press in and pray through on my behalf. The same is true for every one of Your children, because that’s an expression of the Father heart of God. Lord, give me the grace to do the same -- to pray with intensity and purpose for those You’ve placed on my heart and for those entrusted to my care, even for every one of those who read these words I try to express from Your heart to mine, morning by morning each day. Freely I’ve received; freely may I give (Matthew 10:8). By the power of Your grace at work within me, may I sow what I have reaped, that I may reap what I have sown, all because of what You’ve sown into me through the travailing prayers of so many who accepted Your invitation and obeyed Your leading (Galatians 6:7-9). Great is their reward (Matthew 6:6). In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays My friend, may you embrace the gift of God of the character of Christ being formed in you through the trailing prayers of those the Lord has called and empowered to pray for you; and my you do the same as His Spirit leads you and moves you, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! Tommy & Rocio Hays Messiah Ministries 412 S. Adams Street #148 Fredericksburg, Texas 78624 Please share this word to encourage a friend! Anyone can sign up for free to receive them at: https://Messiah-Ministries.org

My New Book Just Published! --Now Also in Hardback--  Friends, I'm so excited to publish my new book on right alignment of spirit, soul, and body called First the Spirit!

Order your copy today in Hardback, Paperback or Kindle! https://www.amazon.com/Tommy-Hays/e/B002BMDCXM All purchases support the calling and vision of  Messiah Ministries

Join us and Pray for us! Some of Our Upcoming Events: July 14 Prayer Journey to site of Cane Ridge Revival and Great Awakening near Paris, Kentucky July 14-17 Speaking on the Power of the Holy Spirit Aldersgate Renewal Ministries Annual Conference at Asbury Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky https://aldersgaterenewal.org/events/aldersgate-conference July 21 Deliverance Ministry Roundtable and Prayer with Ministers in San Antonio, Texas July 29 Preaching in Pakistan. Outdoor evangelistic crusade through our monthly Internet Ministry. (Thursday Morning here; Thursday Night in Pakistan). August 11 Speaking at San Antonio Aglow International Meeting 10-2:00 August 29-30 Healing Prayer Services at Coker UMC in San Antonio, Texas. Friday 8/29 at 7PM in person; Saturday 8/30 at 7PM by zoom. Tuesday Nights Teaching Freedom Equipping Course live in person every week at the Bridge Church in Fredericksburg, Texas from 6 to 8:00. Starting over a New Course in September! Based on the principles of my book Free to Be Like Jesus! https://www.amazon.com/Tommy-Hays/e/B002BMDCXM Personal Ministry Appointments Spiritual Direction Sessions and Personal Prayer MinistrySessions of Inner Healing & Deliverance by Appointment and as the Holy Spirit leads. Please keep us in prayer for spiritual breakthrough and transformation! Let us know if you'd like to set up a session:  tommyhays@messiah-ministries.org Sessions are without cost and any contributions help support the calling and vision of Messiah Ministries. Tommy & Rocio Hays | Messiah-Minstries.org https://messiah-ministries.org/partner/contribute

“Soon!” - July 9, 2021

 

Morning by Morning, July 9 - “Soon!” Good morning, Lord Jesus. I welcome You here in my heart and every moment of my day -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ... “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with Me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done” (Revelation 22:12). One day soon, You’ll come again. One day soon, You’ll set things right again. And at the same time, as we yearn for Your coming, we also can’t help but wonder just what You mean by “soon.” It seems it’s been over 2,000 years since You spoke those words to the Apostle John and through John to us. The Apostle Peter wrestled with the same question. And it seems You gave him this revelation, which he recorded by Your Holy Spirit in the Word of God, to help guide our hearts as we ponder Your sense of timing. He wrote to Your disciples in that first generation of the promise of Your coming, and continues to speak to Your disciples in every generation who are longing for Your coming: “This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.’ For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.  But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.   Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to His promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by Him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity!” (2 Peter 3:1-18). That’s the key -- “be diligent to be found by Him without spot or blemish, and at peace.... Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”  Every generation of Your disciples has that same sense of urgency in their spirit -- that You are coming “soon.” Your sense of days and our sense of days are not the same. Neither is our sense of “soon” and the timing of “the day of the Lord.”  But every day is “the day of the Lord” between today and the day You come again. Every day is the day to be growing in grace, growing in our knowledge of You, growing in the surrender of our heart and sanctification of our souls, seeking to live out each day forgiven and free, with Your peace in our hearts, as we pray for and even hasten the coming of the day of God. So give me grace, Lord, to be found faithful in You -- as best as I can and all by Your grace. Come soon, Lord Jesus! “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come!’” (Revelation 22:17) In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays My friend, may you keep growing in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to be found faithful in Him by His Holy Spirit at work with you until the day of His coming, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! Tommy & Rocio Hays Messiah Ministries 412 S. Adams Street #148 Fredericksburg, Texas 78624 Please share this word to encourage a friend! Anyone can sign up for free to receive them at: https://Messiah-Ministries.org

My New Book Just Published! --Now Also in Hardback--  Friends, I'm so excited to publish my new book on right alignment of spirit, soul, and body called First the Spirit!

Order your copy today in Hardback, Paperback or Kindle! https://www.amazon.com/Tommy-Hays/e/B002BMDCXM All purchases support the calling and vision of  Messiah Ministries

Join us and Pray for us! Some of Our Upcoming Events: July 10th Preaching at Canyon Lake, Texas Aglow International Meeting July 14-17 Speaking on the Power of the Holy Spirit Aldersgate Renewal Ministries Annual Conference at Asbury Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky https://aldersgaterenewal.org/events/aldersgate-conference August 11th Speaking at San Antonio Aglow International Meeting 10-2:00 August 29-30th Healing Prayer Services at Coker UMC in San Antonio, Texas. Friday 8/29 at 7PM in person; Saturday 8/30 at 7PM by zoom. Tuesday Nights Teaching Freedom Equipping Course live in person every week at the Bridge Church in Fredericksburg, Texas from 6 to 8:00. Starting over a New Course in September! Based on the principles of my book Free to Be Like Jesus! https://www.amazon.com/Tommy-Hays/e/B002BMDCXM Personal Ministry Appointments Spiritual Direction Sessions and Personal Prayer MinistrySessions of Inner Healing & Deliverance by Appointment and as the Holy Spirit leads. Please keep us in prayer for spiritual breakthrough and transformation! Let us know if you'd like to set up a session:  tommyhays@messiah-ministries.org Sessions are without cost and any contributions help support the calling and vision of Messiah Ministries. Tommy & Rocio Hays | Messiah-Minstries.org https://messiah-ministries.org/partner/contribute

“Be Patient and Stand Firm” - July 7, 2021

 

Morning by Morning, July 7 - “Be Patient and Stand Firm” Good morning, Lord Jesus. Your name be high and lifted up -- here in my heart and every moment of my day. ... “You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near” (James 5:8). Come, Lord Jesus. One day You’re coming again in the skies. And every day between now and then, You’re coming again in my heart. Every day You invite me, “Come near to God and He will come near to you” (v. 4:8) So I pray for Your grace to “be patient.” I pray for Your grace to “stand firm.” There’s a difference between being “patient” and being “passive.” You didn’t say “be passive.” You said “be patient.” So in my patience, may I actively continue to be prepared, to grow in grace, to be poised and ready, steadfast and standing firm.  In my patience, may You keep me grounded in Your Word and filled with Your Spirit, on call for Your command -- not just passively waiting for You to take me to heaven, but actively and patiently, persistently standing firm for what is right and true as You bring heaven into my heart and my world now.  That’s one of the ways “(Your) coming is near” and “(Your) kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2). That’s one of the ways Your kingdom comes and Your will is done, here on earth and here in my heart, as it is in heaven (Matthew 3:10).  So by the power of Your grace, give me patience for that, as I stand firm in You. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays My friend, may you be patient and stand firm, as you actively, patiently, and persistently stand firm in what is right and true by the power of the grace of God in you, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! Tommy & Rocio Hays Messiah Ministries 412 S. Adams Street #148 Fredericksburg, Texas 78624 Please share this word to encourage a friend! Anyone can sign up for free to receive them at: https://Messiah-Ministries.org

My New Book Just Published! --Now Also in Hardback--  Friends, I'm so excited to publish my new book on right alignment of spirit, soul, and body called First the Spirit!

Order your copy today in Hardback, Paperback or Kindle! https://www.amazon.com/Tommy-Hays/e/B002BMDCXM All purchases support the calling and vision of  Messiah Ministries

Join us and Pray for us! Some of Our Upcoming Events: July 10th Preaching at Canyon Lake, Texas Aglow International Meeting July 14-17 Speaking on the Power of the Holy Spirit Aldersgate Renewal Ministries Annual Conference at Asbury Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky https://aldersgaterenewal.org/events/aldersgate-conference August 11th Speaking at San Antonio Aglow International Meeting 10-2:00 August 13-14th  Leading a Prayer Ministry Equipping Weekend at Centenary Church in Lexington, Kentucky https://www.lexchurch.com August 29-30th Healing Prayer Services at Coker UMC in San Antonio, Texas. Friday 8/29 at 7PM in person; Saturday 8/30 at 7PM by zoom. Tuesday Nights Teaching Freedom Equipping Course live in person every week at the Bridge Church in Fredericksburg, Texas from 6 to 8:00. Starting over a New Course in September! Based on the principles of my book Free to Be Like Jesus! https://www.amazon.com/Tommy-Hays/e/B002BMDCXM Personal Ministry Appointments Spiritual Direction Sessions and Personal Prayer MinistrySessions of Inner Healing & Deliverance by Appointment and as the Holy Spirit leads. Please keep us in prayer for spiritual breakthrough and transformation! Let us know if you'd like to set up a session:  tommyhays@messiah-ministries.org Sessions are without cost and any contributions help support the calling and vision of Messiah Ministries. Tommy & Rocio Hays | Messiah-Minstries.org https://messiah-ministries.org/partner/contribute 

“Christ Who is (My) Life” - July 6, 2021

 

Morning by Morning, July 6 - “Christ Who is (My) Life” Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be at the center of all I am and all I do. Help me begin my day and live out my day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit ... “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:1-4). Lord, what does it mean for Christ to be my life? ... It seems I hear in my heart these words in Your voice: “I am your life to the degree that you allow Me to live My life through you. Less of you, more of Me, in the sense of you living less for your will and living more for My will. Then My will is expressed through your life.” ... Yes, Lord. What comes to mind is Your Word: “The mystery hidden for ages and generations now revealed to His saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:26-27). How do I “live into this?” How do I embrace this life of “Christ in (me), the hope of glory?” ... As I wait and listen, what I believe I hear You saying in my heart now is this: “Set your thoughts on Me. Surrender your heart to Me. Deliberately, consciously, intentionally. Pursue Me and allow Me to form My nature in your character by My Spirit. It’s your choice, and it’s My power. It’s not by your might nor your power, but by My Spirit. It’s My Spirit at work in your spirit, forming My nature in your character, as you intentionally entrust your life to Me, so that I may live My life through you.” ... Yes, Lord. Help me do that. Give me both the desire and the power to choose that and do that -- as best as I can and all by Your grace (Zechariah 4:6; Philippians 2:13). In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays My friend, may you deliberately, consciously, intentionally set your mind on Christ and open your heart to Christ, that the Spirit of Christ may form the nature of Christ in you, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! Tommy & Rocio Hays Messiah Ministries 412 S. Adams Street #148 Fredericksburg, Texas 78624 Please share this word to encourage a friend! Anyone can sign up for free to receive them at: https://Messiah-Ministries.org

My New Book Just Published! --Now Also in Hardback--  Friends, I'm so excited to publish my new book on right alignment of spirit, soul, and body called First the Spirit!

Order your copy today in Hardback, Paperback or Kindle! https://www.amazon.com/Tommy-Hays/e/B002BMDCXM All purchases support the calling and vision of  Messiah Ministries

Join us and Pray for us! Some of Our Upcoming Events: July 10th Preaching at Canyon Lake, Texas Aglow International Meeting July 14-17 Speaking on the Power of the Holy Spirit Aldersgate Renewal Ministries Annual Conference at Asbury Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky https://aldersgaterenewal.org/events/aldersgate-conference August 11th Speaking at San Antonio Aglow International Meeting 10-2:00 August 13-14th  Leading a Prayer Ministry Equipping Weekend at Centenary Church in Lexington, Kentucky https://www.lexchurch.com August 29-30th Healing Prayer Services at Coker UMC in San Antonio, Texas. Friday 8/29 at 7PM in person; Saturday 8/30 at 7PM by zoom. Tuesday Nights Teaching Freedom Equipping Course live in person every week at the Bridge Church in Fredericksburg, Texas from 6 to 8:00. Starting over a New Course in September! Based on the principles of my book Free to Be Like Jesus! https://www.amazon.com/Tommy-Hays/e/B002BMDCXM Personal Ministry Appointments Spiritual Direction Sessions and Personal Prayer MinistrySessions of Inner Healing & Deliverance by Appointment and as the Holy Spirit leads. Please keep us in prayer for spiritual breakthrough and transformation! Let us know if you'd like to set up a session:  tommyhays@messiah-ministries.org Sessions are without cost and any contributions help support the calling and vision of Messiah Ministries. Tommy & Rocio Hays | Messiah-Minstries.org https://messiah-ministries.org/partner/contribute 

Learning from Our Past and Growing into Our Destiny as “One Nation, Under God” - July 2, 2021

 

Morning by Morning, July 2 - Learning from Our Past and Growing into Our Destiny as “One Nation, Under God” Good morning, Lord Jesus. I bow my knees before my God and stand to my feet to face the flag of the nation where You’ve called me to live. “(You) made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God....” (Acts 17:26-27). ... For every human and the heart of every nation, You call us to honor what is good and to change what is wrong. You call us to learn from our past without denying the truth of our past -- whether what is to be honored or what is to be changed. And on our journey to grow up into maturity, we’re to humbly acknowledge that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), as we turn to You to forgive us and free us, affirming what is right and changing what is wrong, secure in our identity and fulfilling our destiny, receiving “grace upon grace” (John 1:16) and being changed into a people of Your character “from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18). As we come to the day we honor the birth of our nation and remember those who have fought and died to keep her free -- learning from our mistakes, repenting for our sins, while affirming what is good and right and true -- I’m remembering the words of an old hymn that speaks of Your truth and Your glory being revealed in our nation, even through its most desperate and painful days. It’s called “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword; His truth is marching on. Glory, glory, hallelujah! Glory, glory, hallelujah! Glory, glory, hallelujah! His truth is marching on. He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat; He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat; Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him; be jubilant, my feet! Our God is marching on. In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me: As He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free; While God is marching on. He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave, He is wisdom to the mighty, He is honor to the brave; So the world shall be His footstool, and His faithful He shall save; Our God is marching on. Glory, glory, hallelujah! Glory, glory, hallelujah! Glory, glory, hallelujah! His truth is marching on!” -- “Battle Hymn of the Republic” by Julia Ward Howe Lord Jesus, You “died to make men holy, let us live to make men free.” You’re “sifting out the hearts of men before (Your) judgment seat.” And You’ve “sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat.” So in the freedom of religion and freedom of speech that I have under the Constitution of this nation that I love, I join an indivisible, undivided heart with all who will honor all You’ve entrusted to us and all we seek to become -- “One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays My friend, may you grow from grace to grace and be changed from glory to glory, in your heart and in your nation, as you learn from the past and honor what is good, secure in your true identity and living into the fullness of your destiny, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! Tommy & Rocio Hays Messiah Ministries 412 S. Adams Street #148 Fredericksburg, Texas 78624 Please share this word to encourage a friend! Anyone can sign up for free to receive them at: https://Messiah-Ministries.org

My New Book Just Published! --Now Also in Hardback--  Friends, I'm so excited to publish my new book on right alignment of spirit, soul, and body called First the Spirit!

Order your copy today in Hardback, Paperback or Kindle! https://www.amazon.com/Tommy-Hays/e/B002BMDCXM All purchases support the calling and vision of  Messiah Ministries

Join us and Pray for us! Some of Our Upcoming Events: July 10th Preaching at Canyon Lake, Texas Aglow International Meeting July 14-17 Speaking on the Power of the Holy Spirit Aldersgate Renewal Ministries Annual Conference at Asbury Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky https://aldersgaterenewal.org/events/aldersgate-conference August 11th Speaking at San Antonio Aglow International Meeting 10-2:00 August 13-14th  Leading a Prayer Ministry Equipping Weekend at Centenary Church in Lexington, Kentucky https://www.lexchurch.com August 29-30th Healing Prayer Services at Coker UMC in San Antonio, Texas. Friday 8/29 at 7PM in person; Saturday 8/30 at 7PM by zoom. Tuesday Nights Teaching Freedom Equipping Course live in person every week at the Bridge Church in Fredericksburg, Texas from 6 to 8:00. All are welcome to come join us at any time along the course. Based on the principles of my book Free to Be Like Jesus! https://www.amazon.com/Tommy-Hays/e/B002BMDCXM Tuesday Mornings Teaching by Zoom on Deliverance Ministry Training for leaders of MorningStar Ministries Online Connect Groups. Personal Ministry Appointments Spiritual Direction Sessions and Personal Prayer MinistrySessions of Inner Healing & Deliverance by Appointment and as the Holy Spirit leads. Please keep us in prayer for spiritual breakthrough and transformation! Let us know if you'd like to set up a session:  tommyhays@messiah-ministries.org Sessions are without cost and any contributions help support the calling and vision of Messiah Ministries. Tommy & Rocio Hays | Messiah-Minstries.org https://messiah-ministries.org/partner/contribute