Send Me 1-31-05

Monday, January 31, 2005 -- Morning by Morning Good morning, Lord Jesus. I entrust this day and my life to You. ... "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?' And I said, 'Here am I, send me!" -- Isaiah 6.8. Your Spirit moved through our hearts and released your commission through our hands as a church last night. You sent forth our dear friends, Greg and Connie Gallaher, as missionaries to Cambodia to pastor a church of missionaries. You have been preparing their hearts, their minds, their souls, and their strength for this day, long before they knew it. It seems You do not so much prepare us for a particular mission as much as You prepare us to be available for any mission. This is the heart of complete surrender and complete obedience. This is the heart that is dead to self and alive to Christ. This is the heart that longs to hear Your call and longs to answer, "Here am I, Lord. Send me." Thank You for letting us see the model of the surrendered heart in Greg and Connie's lives and in the lives of so many others who have gone forward in the faith before us. This was the heart of Moses and Aaron, as they surrendered to Your call to go to Egypt and confront Pharaoh. This was the heart of young Mary who said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to Your word" -- Luke 1.38. This was Your heart as You emptied Yourself of the glory of heaven to answer our Father's call to take up the likeness of human flesh and blood to live out a perfect life so You could lay Your life down as a perfect sacrifice for us. We could not be more like You than we when we say, "Here am I, Lord. Send me." Prepare our hearts to be like Your heart. Prepare us each to be ready so that we are available for any mission, every day. Make us more like You each day. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, please agree with us in prayer for Greg & Connie Gallaher & their family for the Lord's provision in every way as they advance in the Kingdom this year. I pray for each of you as you answer the call to advance this year as well. God bless you! To subscribe/unsubscribe/reply please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- "preparing the way of the Lord" -- MessiahMin@aol.com God bless you!

You are There 1-30-05

Sunday, January 30, 2005 -- Morning by Morning Good morning, Lord Jesus. I give as much of me as I can give, and I receive as much of You as I can receive. Make me more like You each day. I decrease as You increase; now I watch and wait for the leading of Your Spirit in these first moments of the morning. ... Lord, You are faithful and true. When we cry out to You, You answer. When we call upon Your name, You are there. Sometimes we see what You are doing in our midst and sometimes we don't, but we know because of the steady and sure pattern of Your faithfulness that You are there. "Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me fast. If I say, 'Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,' even the darkness is not dark to You; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to You" -- Psalm 139.7-12. Thank You for being there for us -- no matter where we go, no matter what we do, You are there. What courage and peace that gives us. You go before us, You are our rear guard. You come along beside us and You lead the way. Though we do not always see You or hear You, we can know that we know that You are there, for You are faithful and true. And those times when the power of the glory of Your presence is so undeniably real, our hearts sing with delight and our spirits soar in praise. Thank You for the joy of Your eternal presence in our journey with You. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, thank you for all your prayers for us at our healing prayer retreat this weekend. Surely the presence of the Lord was in this place! God bless you all with joy in your journey with Him. To subscribe/unsubscribe/reply please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- "preparing the way of the Lord" -- MessiahMin@aol.com God bless you!

Come 1-29-05

Saturday, January 29, 2005 -- Morning by Morning Good morning, Lord Jesus. Welcome in my heart and welcome in this place. I watch and wait in the silence of surrender for the leading of Your Spirit. ... Our song of invitation from the healing service last night still stirs in my spirit this morning: "Even so, come, Lord Jesus, come." You long to come into the hearts of all who will open their hearts to You. You love to step into every moment of brokenness and pain and shame in our lives to let Your light remove the darkness, to let Your love heal our wounds, and to let Your power deliver us from evil. Give us humility to let You come; give us courage to let You heal; give us faith to trust Your timing and Your ways. You healed Naaman from the leprosy that dwelt in his flesh, but only after his pride was broken and he humbled himself to Your timing and Your ways -- 2 Kings 5.1-14. Expose the leprosy in our lives -- the areas of our flesh that are unclean and dead to the life of Christ. Wash us in the Living Waters of Your Word and we shall be clean. Wash us seven times -- as long as it takes to bring to completion all that You have begun. You'll be faithful to complete it -- Philippians 1.6. As You heal us and make us whole, You are preparing a holy bride, washed and cleansed by the washing of the water of Your Word, that we may be holy and without blemish for the glorious coming of our glorious King -- Ephesians 5.25. Even so, come, Lord Jesus, come. "The Spirit and the bride say, "Come" -- Revelation 22.17. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, please cover us in prayer at our healing prayer retreat, "Come Away with Jesus" sponsored by the churches of the Madisonville District of the Methodist Church in Princeton, KY this weekend. The Lord is touching hearts and changing lives -- God bless you all! To subscribe/unsubscribe/reply please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- "preparing the way of the Lord" -- MessiahMin@aol.com God bless you!

The Lord our Healer 1-28-05

Friday, January 28, 2005 -- Morning by Morning Good morning, Lord Jesus. You and our Father are One, dwelling in the hearts of those who believe in You through trusting surrender, by Your Holy Spirit. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, come dwell in my heart and help me grow in understanding and intimacy with every dimension of Your Being and in every dimension of our relationship. ... Father, You have been preparing my heart for this weekend healing prayer retreat among Your children from the Methodist tradition and others, who will come to seek Your face and receive Your grace as You pour out Your healing love. I keep hearing You call to us to release our pain, our shame, our fear, our sin, our bondage, and our burdens to You. You want to draw out the pain and pour in Your love. You want to take what is broken and make us whole. You want to break the bonds that hold us and set us free. You are the Lord, our God, Who heals us -- Exodus 15.26. You have come to bind up the broken-hearted and set the captives free -- Isaiah 61; Luke 4.14-19. You are releasing a song of healing into the spirits of those who are broken and crushed in spirit, soul, or body: "Come to Me, My children. Come rest in your Father's love. Let Me take your pain away, let Me lift you here above. Give to Me your burdens; give to Me your shame. I'll heal you now; I'll make you whole; I'll set your spirits free." Yes, Lord. Help us receive Your healing song. Release us from the burdens and bondage of our past, that we might live free in the present, and press on to our calling and destiny of the future with the certain hope You have prepared in the heart of each of us -- Jeremiah 29.11. You love to bring victory into our lives where we have felt defeated, as You sing and rejoice over us with gladness and renew us in Your love -- Zephaniah 3.17-18. Come sing over us, Lord, and release Your songs of healing into our spirits here and throughout the earth. You are the Lord, our Healer. You are the Warrior, Who sets the captives free. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe/reply please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- "preparing the way of the Lord" -- MessiahMin@aol.com God bless you!

Fasting for His Presence 1-27-05

Thursday, January 27, 2005 -- Morning by Morning Good morning, Lord Jesus. I hunger and thirst for You and the fullness of Your presence. May I be emptied of myself and filled with You as I begin this new day. ... We humble our souls with fasting -- Psalm 69.10. The mind, will, and emotions of our souls yield along with our bodies to the leading of our spirits, which hunger and thirst for You. Fasting is a physical expression of our spiritual hunger for You and the fullness of Your presence. The food and drink of this world does not satisfy our deepest longings, nor was it ever meant to. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" -- Matthew 5.3-6. You are our Righteousness, Lord. You are not what we do or don't do. You are the Living Presence of the Living God, Who comes to dwell in our hearts -- hearts humbled from selfish pride and yielded in trusting surrender to You. As we allow You to empty us of ourselves, You fill us with Yourself. Then we begin to think more like You think, desire what You desire, and live like You live because You are living through us. Then our lives will satisfy Your deepest longings: "Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your Vindicator shall go before You, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord shall answer; you shall cry for help, and He will say, 'Here I Am" -- Isaiah 58.6-9. Yes, Lord. Empty us of ourselves and fill us with You. Fill us continually, this day and every day, as we make room for You to live Your life through us. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe/reply please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- "preparing the way of the Lord" -- MessiahMin@aol.com God bless you!

Certainty of His Sovereignty 1-26-05

Wednesday, January 26, 2005 -- Morning by Morning Good morning, Lord Jesus. Holy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. ... You are the Redeemer. You redeem all things, causing good to come out of bad, light out of darkness, and glory out of pain -- if we entrust them to You. Give us the patience of a sure hope that trusts in You and Your power to be at work in the midst of every struggle. You see the end from the beginning and release that certainty of Your sovereignty in our hearts. Sometimes You move instantaneously in the miraculous, most of the time You move in the process of time -- as we turn all things over to You in trusting faith. "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" -- Hebrews 11.1. In Your timing and in Your way, You take the broken pieces of our lives and make them whole; You take away our bondages and set us free, as we call upon Your name and remember who we are. We are children of God; we are growing up into maturity; we are being prepared and transformed to live with You in glory forever. This broken and fallen world is not our home. "But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of His glory, by the power that enables Him to make all things subject to Himself" -- Philippians 3.20-21. By faith, we trust You to continue to redeem us and transform us into the glory You have prepared for us. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe/reply please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- "preparing the way of the Lord" -- MessiahMin@aol.com God bless you!

Simplicity 1-25-05

Tuesday, January 25, 2005 -- Morning by Morning Good morning, Lord Jesus. Let the peace of Your presence settle in to my soul. For these next moments, let me have no thought but You and the thoughts You bring to my mind. ... As the psalmist cries out, "I am Your servant, give me understanding, so that I may know Your decrees... Your decrees are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them. The unfolding of Your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple" -- Psalm 119.125-30. Lord, teach us how to humble ourselves in Your sight, to let our soul submit in our mind, our will, our emotions to the leading of Your Spirit in our inmost being. Teach how to be quiet as we watch and wait for the leading of Your voice in the silence of surrender. You impart understanding to the simple -- those who simply look to You and listen for Your voice. This is wisdom, the understanding You impart to us to grow in the knowledge of the Lord. This is more than knowledge about You, this is how we come to know You. As we know You more intimately, we can trust You more completely. As we grow in trust, we can grow in obedience. Obedience brings blessing, for we are at peace in the trusting surrender of our lives to You. Teach us how to walk in this holy path of simplicity. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, I'll be leading a weekend healing prayer retreat in Princeton, Ky this weekend called "Come Away with Jesus" -- please keep us in your prayers for the Lord's healing grace to be released in spirit, soul, and body. To subscribe/unsubscribe/reply please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- "preparing the way of the Lord" -- MessiahMin@aol.com God bless you!

Wash Over Me 1-24-05

Monday, January 24, 2005 -- Morning by Morning Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are my King. I willingly submit to Your rule in my life this day and every day through the trusting surrender of my soul to You. ... Wash over me. With Your Spirit and Your Word. Wash over me. With Your mercy and Your love. In You, I'm clean. In You, I'm free. Free by the blood of the Lamb. Free by the touch of Your hand. In You, I'm clean. In You, I'm free. Free by the blood of the Lamb. Free by the touch of Your hand. Wash over me. Thank You, Lord, for the peace and the joy that comes with surrender. Thank You for this new song You've sung in my spirit this morning. We pray You would release the song of the Lord in the spirits of Your children throughout the earth this day. As we draw near to You, You draw near to us. As we come with humble hearts in the trusting surrender of our soul, Your Spirit and Your Word wash over us. As You spoke through Moses to Your first generation of priests, so You speak to our generation as we come to You each day in the sanctuary of our hearts: "You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting, and wash them with water" -- Exodus 29.4. Cleanse and sanctify us as a holy people that we may draw near to receive the mercy and love of our holy God. "Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the Word, so as to present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind---yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish" -- from Ephesians 5.25-27. Wash over us, Lord, that we may be the holy and glorious people You've called us to be by the blood of the Lamb and the Word of God. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, we'd appreciate your prayers for our travel today as we leave the mountains for the plains of Texas, before returning home to Kentucky this week. We pray the Lord's blessings for you wherever you are and wherever He leads you. God bless you! To subscribe/unsubscribe/reply please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- "preparing the way of the Lord" -- MessiahMin@aol.com God bless you!

Disciples of our Teacher 1-23-05

Sunday, January 23, 2005 -- Morning by Morning Good morning, Lord Jesus. I look to You with single-minded devotion and whole-hearted surrender. I humble my soul as You lift my spirit up into Your presence. ... "Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle" -- James 3.1-2. Thank You, Lord, for allowing me the honor and the responsibility of teaching Your Word and Your principles of the Kingdom this week. May every word that was of You go forth with life and bear much fruit, and may every word that was of my flesh rather than Your Spirit fall to the ground and die. Help us all to grow in maturity and learn to walk in our gifts by the leading of Your Spirit, that we may see Your church grow up into maturity, to the full measure of the stature of Christ. Give us courage to move forward in the gifts You have given us and humility to receive Your correction with the wisdom to never stop learning. "We have gifts that differ according to the grace given us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness" -- Romans 12.6-8. You are the Giver of the gifts; You are the Teacher of the teachers; You are the Leader of the leaders. May we give and teach and lead by Your power to Your glory for Your purposes. Though we may teach as You lead, You are our Teacher and we are You disciples. "A disciple is not above the Teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the Teacher" -- Luke 6.40. You qualify us to the degree that we trust You and obey You. Then we may be Your vessels of love and Your instruments of grace as we humble ourselves to be used by You for Your purposes. "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. Lord, let it be so in our lives as we learn the gifts You have given us and learn how to use them by Your power for Your glory. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, we closed our retreat for prayer ministry last night in Ruidoso, NM, with a beautiful and powerful healing service led by the Lord and many have given witness to changed lives. Thank you for your prayers and may you receive a double portion. God bless you! To subscribe/unsubscribe/reply please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- "preparing the way of the Lord" -- MessiahMin@aol.com God bless you!

Continuing His Ministry 1-22-05

Saturday, January 22, 2005 -- Morning by Morning Good morning, Lord Jesus. In these next moments, let me hear nothing but the words You place in my heart, let me see nothing but the images You place in my mind. I give these first moments of my day to You as a willing sacrifice of worship and prayer. ... Lord Jesus, we love to sense Your joy as You continue Your ministry through the body of Christ on earth though the power of Your Holy Spirit to the glory of our Father in heaven. You taught Your first disciples how to minister healing and deliverance in Your name. Then You "gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal...They departed and went through the villages, bringing the good news and curing diseases everywhere" -- Luke 9.1-6. You not only gave Your power and authority to these first twelve, but continued to teach, equip, and send forth Your disciples after them to continue Your ministry: "After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of Him in pair to every town and place where He Himself intended to go. He said to them, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest...Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick who are there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you'" -- Luke 10.1-9. When these disciples returned from obeying Your command to continue Your ministry in Your power, these "seventy returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, in Your name even the demons submit to us!'" -- Luke 10.17. Their joy and their obedience gave You great joy: "At that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, 'I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was Your gracious will" -- Luke 10.21-22. Praise You, Lord Jesus! It has been beautiful these past days to see You move in power through Your disciples proclaiming Your kingdom and demonstrating the coming of Your kingdom with Your power, as You bind up the brokenhearted and set the captives free! The harvest is plentiful, and it brings You joy to equip more laborers to send out into the harvest for the end of this age. You're still sending Your disciples to every town and place where You intend to go. What a joy it is to our hearts to sense the joy in Your heart as even now as You continue to rejoice in the Holy Spirit. We long for the day coming soon when You will come to receive Your harvest. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe/reply please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- "preparing the way of the Lord" -- MessiahMin@aol.com God bless you!

Wisdom from Above 1-21-05

Friday, January 21, 2005 -- Morning by Morning Good morning, Lord Jesus. I lift up my eyes to the hills, to the mountain of the Lord. You are my help and my strength. I seek Your face and listen for Your voice. I am refreshed and renewed in Your presence. ... Some say we should not be so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good. It sounds practical and wise, but it is the wisdom of this world. Your Word calls us to a different perspective: "So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ Who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory" -- Colossians 3.1-4. "Yes, My son. Look to Me. I have not called you to be blinded to this world, for I have placed you in this world. Yet the priority of your perspective makes all the difference. Look first to Me, then to the world. Then you will see more clearly with my eyes and my perspective. Those who do not look to Me do not have My perspective. It is their own, influenced by the world they see. Though they think they are wise, they are wise in the ways of the world -- these are not My ways." Yes, Lord. Forgive us when we are so earthly minded that we are no heavenly good. As we take time to wait in Your presence and watch for Your leading, You are shaping our thoughts and focusing our vision on things above rather than things below. You are making us wise in Your ways, with a wisdom that is different from the world's. "But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace" -- James 3.17-18. May we turn our eyes toward You and gain Your perspective each day before we turn our eyes toward the world for the day. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe/reply please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- "preparing the way of the Lord" -- MessiahMin@aol.com God bless you!

Abiding in His Presence 1-20-05

Thursday, January 20, 2005 -- Morning by Morning Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are the Vine; I am one of Your branches. Let the life of Your Spirit flow through me as I abide in You. Let my life bear fruit for Your glory this day. ... "Abide in Me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the Vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in Me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from Me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in Me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become My disciples" -- John 15.4-8. Sometimes we feel withered or drained. Sometimes it is hard to see the fruit and meaning of our lives. This is the mercy of Your call to abide once again in You. A branch cut off from its vine cannot bear fruit; in fact, it cannot live long. When our spiritual life is withering, when we do not sense the flow of Your life and Your Spirit through our hearts and our lives, we know we are not abiding in You. Teach us how to abide -- how to open every level and depth of our being to You, with no restrictions and no resistance. Like the branch of the vine, the more life we receive from You, the more mature we become through the abiding flow of Your Spirit in us and through us. As we grow in spiritual maturity, our capacity to receive more of You and abide more in You grows. The more we grow, the more fruit our lives will bear to the glory of our Father in heaven. Our thoughts become more like Your thoughts; our will becomes more like Your will; and our lives reflect more of Your life. Then whatever we ask and whatever we do comes out of our abiding relationship with You. This is the fruit You desire to bear through the lives of Your disciples. As we abide in You, our lives bear fruit; and when we don't, we wither and die. Let it be life and not death that we choose as we learn to abide in You. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, thank you for your prayers for us. Our teaching and ministry is being very well received in New Mexico as the Lord is healing hearts, changing lives, and stirring a passion for His abiding presence. Please keep us in prayer as pray for each of you! To subscribe/unsubscribe/reply please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- "preparing the way of the Lord" -- MessiahMin@aol.com God bless you!

Trusting and Intimate Relationship 1-19-05

Wednesday, January 19, 2005 -- Morning by Morning Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Lead me in Your ways, teach me Your truth, live Your life through me this day. I welcome Your Holy Spirit here in my heart and here in this place as I come to my Father through You. ... "Good morning, My son. I am here in your heart and here in this place. I am everywhere, yet I reveal Myself as I will. I am in the air you breathe, yet I am not the air. I am in the light that displaces the darkness, yet I am not the light. I am Who I am. I long to reveal Myself to those who seek Me and I long to speak with those who will listen for Me. I have created My children for relationship with Me -- a trusting and intimate relationship. How much you see Me is determined by how much you seek Me; how much you hear Me is determined by how much you listen for Me. A trusting relationship takes time -- time with one another. An intimate relationship takes trust -- trust that comes with understanding My ways, My truth, and My life. These are learned and lived in relationship with Me. Let nothing hinder your relationship with Me -- no person, no attitude, no circumstance. I am here to give as much of Me as you will receive. Your response of trust to the continual offer of My presence determines the nature of the intimacy of our relationship. Choose well this day and every day." Yes, Lord. We could not choose You but by the grace You give us to choose. We could not desire You but by the grace You give us to desire. Yet, Your grace is available and You are willing. Forgive us when we hold back. It is us and not You that stand back when we let the things of this world distract us from seeking the fullness of Your presence. We say we want to be closer to You, but this kind of closeness takes time and attention. You have created us with freedom to choose how we will spend our time and to whom we will give our attention. Forgive us for our poor choices in the past and empower us to choose well this day and every day. Thank You for the promise of a trusting and intimate relationship: "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not your harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon Me and come and pray to Me, I will hear you. When you search for Me, you will find Me; if you seek Me with all your heart, I will let you find Me, says the Lord..." -- Jeremiah 29.11-14. We seek You today, Lord, with all our heart. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe/reply please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- "preparing the way of the Lord" -- MessiahMin@aol.com God bless you!

Mountain of His Presence 1-18-05

Tuesday, January 18, 2005 -- Morning by Morning Good morning, Lord Jesus. I enter in to the holy place of prayer through the blood of the Lamb. I watch and wait for You as Your Spirit draws me near, beyond the veil, into the holy of holies of Your presence. ... We traveled yesterday from the cotton fields of west Texas, through the desert lands of eastern New Mexico, down into the valleys and the foothills, and finally up into the mountains of Ruidoso. They say in a song here this is where the desert touches the mountains and the mountains touch the sky. So it is in our journey with You. In the call to prayer, You draw us away from the fields of our labor, You remove from around us all distractions as You make us thirsty for Your presence, and lift us up into the heights of Your presence. When You spoke with Moses to give instruction and wisdom for life through Your commandments and taught him about the pattern of Your tabernacle for worship and prayer, You called him up to the mountain of Your presence. "The Lord said to Moses, 'Come to Me on the mountain, and wait there.... Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the cloud" -- Exodus 24.21-17. Thank You for the call to come to You in prayer, for lifting us high into Your presence, and for the patience to watch and wait until we hear You speak with us out of the cloud of Your glory. It was seven days before Moses heard Your voice from the cloud. Forgive us when we don’t obey the call to come. Forgive us when we come but don't wait long enough to hear Your voice. Open our eyes to see that the desert times in our journey of prayer only make us more thirsty and more determined to climb the mountain and wait as long as it takes to hear the Your voice. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, we would appreciate your prayers this week, teaching and ministering on brokenness & dissociation, inner healing & deliverance, sponsored by Grace Harvest Church at our citywide conference in Ruidoso, New Mexico. Thank you! To subscribe/unsubscribe/reply please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- "preparing the way of the Lord" -- MessiahMin@aol.com God bless you!

Crossing Over 1-17-05

Monday, January 17, 2005 -- Morning by Morning Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are my Rock and my Fortress. I stand secure in You. Let the steady strength of Your presence fill my soul as we begin a new day together. ... "Early in the morning Joshua rose and set out from Shittim with all the Israelites, and they came to the Jordan. They camped there before crossing over" -- Joshua 3.1. Lord, You have said this is a year of advance for Your people and Your kingdom. Stir in our hearts to rise early, to seek Your face, to listen for Your voice. Like Joshua and those he led into the land of promise, we "have not passed this way before" -- Joshua 3.4. Only as we learn to hear Your voice with increasing sensitivity and sense Your leading with increasing confidence will we be able to cross over into this next phase of the journey. As we follow You, we will advance. As we advance in You, the Kingdom of God will be made manifest with increasing glory throughout the earth. As You commanded Joshua and his people to prepare for the advance, so You command us: "Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you" -- Joshua 3.5. Though You have been merciful and gracious in times past, we cannot go forward into this next dimension of the Kingdom without being sanctified. The nearness and intensity of Your presence in our midst is increasing as we advance, and our flesh cannot stand in Your presence. "To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace" -- Romans 8.6. We must be sanctified by the purifying fires of Your Holy Spirit, Who consumes our flesh and empties us of ourselves, that we may be filled with the fullness of Your presence. As You advance in us, we will advance in Your Kingdom; and Your Kingdom will advance through us. Then we will see You do wonders among us -- wonders like the world and the church have never seen -- the wonders of a holy God manifesting the power and the presence of His Kingdom through His holy people. Continually sanctify us as we cross over into the land of promise. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe/reply please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- "preparing the way of the Lord" -- MessiahMin@aol.com God bless you!

Spirit of Intercession 1-16-05

Sunday, January 16, 2005 -- Morning by Morning Good morning, Lord Jesus. Let my first thoughts be of You as I awaken to Your presence today. ... Come, Holy Spirit. You are the Spirit of prayer and intercession. "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep words. And God, Who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God" -- Romans 8.26-27. When You come to pray and intercede through us, we abide as one with Christ. "It is Christ Who died, yes, Who was raised, Who is at the right hand of God, Who indeed intercedes for us" -- Romans 8.34. We are never closer to Christ than when You come, Holy Spirit of God, and lead our hearts to Jesus in intercession as You pray the will of our Father through us. "Consequently He is able to save completely those who approach God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them" -- Hebrews 7.25. Lord God, as we enter into deeper levels of prayer in intimacy with You by Your Spirit, release the "sighs too deep for words" through us. This is the will of our Father in heaven You desire to pray through us in agreement with Jesus, so that Your will is done on earth as it is in heaven. These are the prayers without words that are the perfect prayers of God. Teach us how to draw so close to You in the trusting surrender of intimate prayer that You can intercede through us with these holy sighs that shake the heavens and move the earth into line with Your perfect will. As millions across the earth gather for worship, prayer, and the ministry of the Word this day, begin to release Your sighs of prayer through us even now. In Jesus' name we pray now through Your sighs too deep for words. ... Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe/reply please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- "preparing the way of the Lord" -- MessiahMin@aol.com God bless you!

The House of the Lord 1-15-05

Saturday, January 15, 2005 -- Morning by Morning Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, You are my All in All. Lord I need You and I seek You; I welcome You here in my heart in prayer. ... Our bodies are Your temple, our hearts are Your house of prayer. Forgive us, Lord, when we try to work at our jobs, parent our children, minister in Your kingdom without first seeking You. When we do, we depend upon ourselves rather than You and what comes is from ourselves rather than You. We are building our own kingdoms rather than Yours, exalting ourselves rather than You. It is just another form of the sin of idolatry because we bow down to our own plans and agendas rather than You. "Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord's house. Then the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai, saying: Is it time for you yourselves to live in paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? Now therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider how you have fared. You have sown much and harvested little; you eat but you never have enough; you drink but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves but no one is warm; and you that earn wages earn wages to put them into a bag with holes" -- Haggai 1.2-6. Forgive us, Lord, for trying to build our own houses, without first building Yours. You said, "My house shall be a house of prayer" -- Luke 19.46. Teach us how to clear away place in our schedules, to lay a steady foundation with commitment, and to take the time to build a house that will stand the test of the storms of life. When the devil comes to huff and puff, this house will not fall down, because this house is a house of prayer. Then let us see how we fare. No matter what comes, we will stand firm -- because we will stand in You and You will stand in us. Lord, let it be so. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Be encouaraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe/reply please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- "preparing the way of the Lord" -- MessiahMin@aol.com God bless you!

Windmills in the Desert 1-14-05

Friday, January 14, 2005 -- Morning by Morning Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are worthy of all praise. I worship You in spirit and in truth. ... Like both of my grandfathers before him, my uncle is a west Texas cotton farmer. Driving from the airport yesterday we were looking across the vast plains as far as the eyes can see. Out here you don't see much but acres of cotton and pastures of cattle. He reminded me that this whole area was once known as an uninhabitable desert before the first windmill. There could be no life without water. Yet down deep awaited great reservoirs of life-giving water in the Ogalala Aquifer that stretches from Nebraska to Texas beneath the surface of the High Plains. Lord Jesus, You are the Source of our life-giving Water -- the Living Waters of Your Spirit, Who fills us with Your Life and flows through the desert places of our souls. You bring Your Life to all that You touch. "On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, He cried out, 'Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me, and let the one who drinks in Me drink. As the scripture has said, 'Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water.'" Now He said this about the Spirit, Which believer's in Him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified" -- John 7.37-39. Teach us how to dig deeply beneath the surface in prayer to reach the vast reservoirs of Your Living Water. Teach us how to erect the windmills of worship as we stand to praise You in spirit and in truth. Let the winds of Your Spirit begin to pump Your life into the desert places of our souls. "The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God" -- Isaiah 35.1-2. As Your Living Water comes, the fields will be white for harvest -- John 4.35. Be encourged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe/reply please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- "preparing the way of the Lord" -- MessiahMin@aol.com God bless you!

True Colors of the Soul 1-13-05

Thursday, January 13, 2005 -- Morning by Morning Good morning, Lord Jesus. Reign in my thoughts; sharpen my focus. Deliver me from distractions as I seek Your face and receive Your grace to watch and wait for You in prayer. ... Lord, it's been a long night and a hectic morning. Delayed and canceled flights, long lines and long waits, bad weather and bad manners all around. The conflict and chaos of unplanned and uncontrollable circumstances has a way of exposing the true colors of our soul. At times I have seen the steadiness of Your peace in my spirit, and at times I have seen the irritability and selfishness of my flesh. Forgive me, Lord for the moments I've walked in the flesh and not in the Spirit. May I grow in maturity even through these times as You forgive me and cleanse me, redeeming it all by the Blood of the Lamb. Thank You for the blessing of this little space of time to return my thoughts to You. Your Word is steady in the midst of the confusion; Your voice is clear in the midst of the chaos. You convict me as You remind me that these minor struggles are really nothing compared to what millions of others are suffering through now and every day. And even that is really nothing in comparison to what You have suffered through for us all eternally. You will always bear the marks of Your suffering on Your hands and feet -- the marks of Your love for us. Thank You for renewing my perspective. It brings peace again to my spirit and crucifixion to my flesh. Let us learn to live in this perspective and let us learn from our mistakes when we don't. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe/reply please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- "preparing the way of the Lord" -- MessiahMin@aol.com God bless you!

The Narrow Gate 1-12-05

Wednesday, January 12, 2005 -- Morning by Morning Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be exalted in the heavens; be exalted in my heart. I humble my soul before You in the silence of surrender to listen for the leading of Your Spirit. ... "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it" -- Matthew 7.13-14. Deliver us from destruction, Lord. Teach us how to enter in. Forgive us for thinking we could go along with the crowd and live by standards of this world, yet avoid destruction. Forgive us for thinking You have promised us an easy life, when You promised us the opposite -- "the road is hard that leads to life." It is hard because You call us to die to ourselves that we may live in You. Teach us how to follow Your road that we may enter in to Your gate. "My road is a relationship with Me. My gate is a way of life -- a lifestyle of allowing Me to live through you in the unique way for which you were created. Then you will truly live and truly be free. You will be free to be who I created you to be. Though the road will be hard, your yoke will be easy and your burden will be light. There will be joy and adventure in the journey, even though it is hard. It will be worth it. Come; follow Me. Walk in My steps. My steps lead to life and lead through every form of destruction. Though the body may be weathered and broken and even perish through the encounters of life in this fallen world, the spirit will live. It is in the spirit that perseveres that You know deep within the love and peace and joy of the journey with Me, though the road is hard. Come; follow Me. Come; join Me in the journey, My friends and My companions. Enter in through the narrow gate. I am the Gate." Yes, Lord. By Your grace, we choose to follow You and enter in. You are confirming Your spoken word now by Your written Word: "I am the Gate. Whoever enters by Me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly" -- John 10.9-10. Thank You for teaching us how to receive and live this life abundantly. Give us grace to live it out faithfully and in perseverance through the hard times along the road. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, Tricia and I will be leaving today for a minsitry trip of teaching, preaching, healing, and equipping the saints for the work of ministry in Lamesa, Texas and Ruidoso, New Mexico in a variety of settings and different traditions of the faith. Please keep us and those receiving ministry in prayer. And we'll always be praying for you. God bless you all! To subscribe/unsubscribe/reply please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- "preparing the way of the Lord" -- MessiahMin@aol.com God bless you!