Morning by Morning, January 24 - "All Things are Possible"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I lift up my eyes, open up my heart, and welcome You into my day. ...

"Jesus said to him, 'If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes. Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, 'Lord, I believe; help my unbelief' " (Mark 9:23, NKJ).

When I hear this Scripture quoted or prayed, most of the time the emphasis is upon the man's unbelief. It's usually expressed by someone who finds it hard to belief, usually because of doubt and unbelief, rooted in repeated disappointments and discouragement of the past. And of course, we've all felt disappointed and discouraged at times. It's part of the journey of life through a world where we live between the coming of the Kingdom of God on earth and into our lives from the first coming of Christ but not yet fully manifested on earth as it is in heaven until the second coming of Christ. So our part is to continue to pray and believe for Your Kingdom to come, for Your will to be done, here on earth as it is in heaven.

So it seems Your point in the story of this Scripture is to emphasis belief, not unbelief. And it seems to me You want the emphasis of our belief to be primarily on You and Your nature, not primarily on our belief in the thing we are asking of You. "With God all things are possible" (Mark 10:27). You encourage us to seek first the Kingdom of God and Your righteousness, then all these things we feel we need and all these things we ask of You will be given unto us (Matthew 6:33).

Lord, help my belief. Help me grow in my understanding of You and Your nature. Help me trust You more every day, trusting that You are a good God and You want the very best for Your children as our perfect and holy Father. Help me know that You are at work in all things - even the things intended for harm and that break Your heart, even the things that seem to be taking too long to come to pass, even the things that seem impossible for man and sometimes even seem impossible for God. Help me be one choosing to live my life from the perspective of embracing Your invitation, "Only believe" (Mark 5:36). From that perspective and attitude of heart, "all things are possible." So that's what I choose to believe, as best as I can and all by Your grace. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

Friends, may the Holy Spirit stir in your heart to help your belief in our good God for whom all things are possible. May He increase expectant hope in your spirit for all our perfect and holy Father has in His heart for your life. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

I'm really excited to be speaking on The Healing Nature of Jesus during "An Evening of Healing" with Max Lucado at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio Wednesday Night, February 6 at 7pm. Please come join us if you can (www.oakhillschurch.com).

Starting Thursday Night, January 31, we will begin a 6 Week Level 1 School of Ministry for Sozo Inner Healing Prayer Ministry Training, at our ministry office at Rapha God Ministries in San Antonio. Please come join us; seating is limited. We are excited that 20 people have already signed up for this course for equipping and training in healing prayer ministry! (www.RaphaGodMinistries.com)

In this new season, I will still be leading Messiah Ministries, but also joining in leadership as the Pastoral Director of Rapha God Ministries based in San Antonio, Texas, continuing my calling of equipping and ministry of inner healing -- healing from the inside out -- to see God's people set from from their past and awakened to their identity and destiny in Christ. I'll also continue to share these morning prayers, teach our 4 Day Schools in Kentucky and elsewhere, and still travel to speak and minister as the Lord leads with the relationships we've established and the new ones to be formed, at home and abroad.

For a few months of transition, the Messiah Ministries mailing address in Lexington will remain the same, but I will be moving into my new office and the new base for ministry will be at: 4 Dominion Drive, Building 1; San Antonio, Texas 78257 www.RaphaGodMinistries.com

God bless you and thank you for all your prayers and friendship!

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

2800 Tates Creek Road

Lexington, Kentucky 40502

www.messiah-ministries.org

Morning by Morning, January 23 - After 40 Years, Let Abortion "Come to a Full End"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, You are One and You are holy and You are here. I welcome You, Lord, in every dimension of Your Being into every dimension of my being. ...

Yesterday marked the forty-year anniversary of the Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade, where abortion of our children became the law of our land. I'm sure some celebrated; but the heaviness of my heart and stirring in my spirit as I think on these things cause me to believe that heaven did not.

"...'But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and shall suffer for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. According to the number of days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for every year you shall bear your iniquity, forty years, and you shall know My displeasure.' I the Lord have spoken; surely I will do thus to this wicked generation gathered together against Me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die" (Number 14:32-35).

Lord, forgive us as a nation for engaging in this evil that we call freedom of will to do whatever we want with our right to choose, while rejecting our children's right to life. And for forty years, we have suffered and our children have suffered under the weight of our sin and the measures of withdrawn blessing and favor from Your displeasure. We truly have no idea of the death and devastation we've allowed to come into our nation and our generations through this open door of our national sin and shame. And apart from Your conviction that leads us to repentance so we can embrace Your mercy, we shall come to a full end.

In these fifteen years of inner healing prayer ministry, I've prayed with many mothers who aborted their children, many not even believing it was wrong at the time, who lived in deep regret and inner shame for choosing or participating in the death of their child. I've prayed with many fathers who were just as guilty as well, whether through their absence, insistence, or tolerance. And how beautiful to see, over and over again, Your forgiveness and mercy wash over their repentant hearts as You healed their hurts, forgave their sin, and cleansed their shame, allowing them the grace to give a mother or father's blessing to their child they were now willing to affirm as a life created by God.

According to Your judgment, it was a wicked generation that spied out the Promise Land but refused to enter it, gathered against You and Your word and Your will for their nation. They were judged to suffer for forty years under the burden of their national sin and defiance in rebellion against You. Yet there were also those among them who were of "a different spirit" who would not settle in their hearts for anything less than restoration to full blessings and favor of God that flows from obedience to the will of God by the power of the grace of God (v. 14:24). And though they suffered with their nation for those forty years, even as they prayed and longed for the day of repentance to come and the years of suffering to end, there came a day when they were allowed to enter in to the Promise Land with a new generation of a different spirit (v. 14:30-31).

O Lord, now that our forty years have passed, may You stir up a spirit of repentance in the heart of our nation. Make a way where there seems to be no way. Let it be the sin and evil of abortion that "shall come to a full end" so that our land and our hearts shall be free to enter in to all You've prepared and destined for us. Your plans and Your will is for our good and not for our harm, for a future with hope, if we will choose to seek Your face and call on Your name (Jeremiah 29:11).

As You spoke the nation of Israel at the end of their forty years, with the opportunity to enter in to the Promise Land, so I believe You are speaking to our nation today: "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life, so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying Him and holding fast to Him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you many live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob" (Deuteronomy 30:19-20).

Lord, let us hear the call of Your Spirit, to not give up and to hold fast to You, in prayer and intercession, persevering in faith, contending in the Spirit, until we see our breakthrough come. As Your Word promises in Your eternal call and invitation to covenant for revival: "If My people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray, seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

Friends, will you join with me and those who are passionately praying for abortion to end? I admit I have not always been moved with passion and pray on this issue, but the more I see the deep devestation that comes from this sin and the power of the grace of God to heal and forgive all who are involved, the more passionate I become. I pray you will passionately follow the Holy Spirit's burdens on your heart for prayer and intercession. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

I'm really excited to be speaking on The Healing Nature of Jesus during "An Evening of Healing" with Max Lucado at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio Wednesday Night, February 6 at 7pm. Please come join us if you can (www.oakhillschurch.com).

Starting Thursday Night, January 31, we will begin a 6 Week Level 1 School of Ministry for Sozo Inner Healing Prayer Ministry Training, at our ministry office at Rapha God Ministries in San Antonio. Please come join us; seating is limited. We are excited that 20 people have already signed up for this course for equipping and training in healing prayer ministry! (www.RaphaGodMinistries.com)

In this new season, I will still be leading Messiah Ministries, but also joining in leadership as the Pastoral Director of Rapha God Ministries based in San Antonio, Texas, continuing my calling of equipping and ministry of inner healing -- healing from the inside out -- to see God's people set from from their past and awakened to their identity and destiny in Christ. I'll also continue to share these morning prayers, teach our 4 Day Schools in Kentucky and elsewhere, and still travel to speak and minister as the Lord leads with the relationships we've established and the new ones to be formed, at home and abroad.

For a few months of transition, the Messiah Ministries mailing address in Lexington will remain the same, but I will be moving into my new office and the new base for ministry will be at: 4 Dominion Drive, Building 1; San Antonio, Texas 78257 www.RaphaGodMinistries.com

God bless you and thank you for all your prayers and friendship!

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

2800 Tates Creek Road

Lexington, Kentucky 40502

www.messiah-ministries.org

Morning by Morning, January 18 – “Taught by the Spirit”

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You’re my Lord and Savior, my Healer and Redeemer, my Best Friend and Faithful Companion. Thank You for the beginning of another day of our great adventure in my journey of faith.  …

 

“But as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love Him’ — these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God…. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual” (1 Corinthians 2:9-13).

 

Holy Spirit of God, teach me the deep things of God, the spiritual things that human wisdom can’t know, the spiritual things that eyes haven’t seen and ears haven’t heard. Teach me things that my God has prepared for me for God’s purposes through me. Teach me Spirit to spirit, as “Deep calls to deep” (Psalm 42:7).

 

I want to be a spiritual man, taught by the Spirit of God. I want to abide in You, as You abide in me, learning from Your Holy Spirit as I listen from my human spirit (John 15:4). Help me become fully developed in my spiritual life, always living and learning, growing up and maturing, “in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit” (2 Corinthians 13:14). In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

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

Morning by Morning, January 17 - Friends Refresh My Spirit

Good morning, Lord Jesus. In these first moments of my morning, help me focus on You and press in to Your Presence. ...

"I rejoice at the coming of Staphanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence, for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. So give recognition to such persons" (1 Corinthians 16:17-18).

Thank You for my friends who refresh my spirit. By their words, they bless me; by their prayers, they cover me; by their thoughtfulness, they encourage me. Whether personally in their presence or more remotely through the nearly-infinite media of communication, I'm so grateful for the faithful friends of faith and joyful companions on the journey who inspire and challenge me, as they refresh and encourage me, to be all You've created me to be and called me to do. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friends, thank you for your friendship and companionship with me in the journey of prayer. May you be refreshed in your spirit by those the Lord has called into your life and accross your path. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

This Weekend, I'll be back in Kentucky leading a Spiritual Renewal Weekend at Bagby Memorial United Methodist Church in Grayson, Kentucky, January 18-20 with my good friend Pastor Susan Elkow (http://bagbyumc.org/events.php). Come join us if you can!

I'm really excited to be invited to speak on The Healing Nature of Jesus during "An Evening of Healing" with Max Lucado at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio Wednesday Night, February 6 at 7pm. Please come join us if you can (www.oakhillschurch.com).

Starting Thursday Night, January 31, we will begin a 6 Week Level 1 School of Ministry for Sozo Inner Healing Prayer Ministry Training, at our ministry office at Rapha God Ministries in San Antonio. Please come join us; seating is limited (www.RaphaGodMinistries.com)

In this new season, I will still be leading Messiah Ministries, but also joining in leadership as the Pastoral Director of Rapha God Ministries based in San Antonio, Texas, continuing my calling of equipping and ministry of inner healing -- healing from the inside out -- to see God's people set from from their past and awakened to their identity and destiny in Christ. I'll also continue to share these morning prayers, teach our 4 Day Schools in Kentucky and elsewhere, and still travel to speak and minister as the Lord leads with the relationships we've established and the new ones to be formed, at home and abroad.

For a few months of transition, the Messiah Ministries mailing address in Lexington will remain the same, but I will be moving into my new office and the new base for ministry will be at: 4 Dominion Drive, Building 1; San Antonio, Texas 78257 www.RaphaGodMinistries.com

God bless you and thank you for all your prayers and friendship!

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

2800 Tates Creek Road

Lexington, Kentucky 40502

www.messiah-ministries.org

Morning by Morning, January 16 - Seek the Face of God

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are the King of kings and the Lord of lords. I lift up the gate of my heart and open up the door of my spirit that the King of glory may come in. ...

"Who will ascend the hill of the Lord? And who will stand in His holy place? Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false, and do not swear deceitfully. They will receive blessing from the Lord, and vindication from the God of their salvation. Such is the company of those who seek Him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob" (Psalm 24:3-6).

O God of Jacob - the God who brings breakthrough from our brokenness, who brings beauty from our ashes, who brings freedom from our bondage - the God who brings good out of evil, light out of darkness, and righteousness out of injustice - You are my God. And I seek You. I seek Your face; I listen for Your voice; I wait for Your leading.... Selah ...

It seems I hear You say, "My son, My blood cleanses your hands and My Spirit purifies your heart. The throne of My Presence in the hill of the Lord and all are welcome who will humble themselves to let Me cleanse them in My blood and purify them with My Spirit. I readily embrace all who seek Me with all their heart."

Yes, Lord. Your Word says, "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 29:13-14). Your Word says we are cleansed from all unrighteousness by the blood of Jesus (1 John 1:7-9). Your Word says Your Spirit of Truth frees us from what is false and leads us into all truth (John 16:13). And nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:38-39).

Lord, let my heart be true and not deceitful. Let me lift up my soul to You and no other. I want to ascend the hill of the Lord; I want to spend the moments of my day abiding in Your Presence, no matter where I am or what I do. Keep my hands clean and my heart pure. Let me be counted among the company of those who passionately seek You with all their heart, O God of Jacob. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

Friends, by the power of the blood Jesus and the purifying fire of the Holy Spirit, all through the mercy and grace of our Father in Heaven, may you have clean hands and a pure heart in your passionate pursuit of the face of God. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

This Weekend, I'll be back in Kentucky leading a Spiritual Renewal Weekend at Bagby Memorial United Methodist Church in Grayson, Kentucky, January 18-20 with my good friend Pastor Susan Elkow (http://bagbyumc.org/events.php). Come join us if you can!

I'm really excited to be invited to speak on The Healing Nature of Jesus during "An Evening of Healing" with Max Lucado at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio Wednesday Night, February 6 at 7pm. Please come join us if you can (www.oakhillschurch.com).

Starting Thursday Night, January 31, we will begin a 6 Week Level 1 School of Ministry for Sozo Inner Healing Prayer Ministry Training, at our ministry office at Rapha God Ministries in San Antonio. Please come join us; seating is limited (www.RaphaGodMinistries.com)

In this new season, I will still be leading Messiah Ministries, but also joining in leadership as the Pastoral Director of Rapha God Ministries based in San Antonio, Texas, continuing my calling of equipping and ministry of inner healing -- healing from the inside out -- to see God's people set from from their past and awakened to their identity and destiny in Christ. I'll also continue to share these morning prayers, teach our 4 Day Schools in Kentucky and elsewhere, and still travel to speak and minister as the Lord leads with the relationships we've established and the new ones to be formed, at home and abroad.

For a few months of transition, the Messiah Ministries mailing address in Lexington will remain the same, but I will be moving into my new office and the new base for ministry will be at: 4 Dominion Drive, Building 1; San Antonio, Texas 78257 www.RaphaGodMinistries.com

God bless you and thank you for all your prayers and friendship!

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

2800 Tates Creek Road

Lexington, Kentucky 40502

www.messiah-ministries.org

Morning by Morning, January 14 - "About My Father's Business"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are the Word of God made Flesh. Let Your Word be made Flesh in my thoughts and desires today. ...

"And (Jesus) said to them, 'Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?' ... And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men" (Luke 2:49-52).

I those thirty-three years You walked this earth as the Son of God made flesh as the Son of Man, You were always about Your Father's business. With each step and each day, You increased in wisdom and stature; You increased in divine and human favor. The hand of God and the Spirit of God were upon You (Acts 10:38).

Now, as the Body of Christ we have "the Spirit of Christ" abiding within us (Romans 8:9). Together as one, we are to be like You in this world (1 John 4:17). We are to be about our Father's business every day. We are to grow in wisdom and stature and favor. Moved and empowered by Your Spirit in obedience to our Father, we are to hear the cry of the needy and minister the saving, healing, freeing love and power of God in the spheres of influence You've entrusted to us.

As we do, all in abiding, personal relationship with You, we'll continue to grow and increase, becoming all You've created us and called us to be as Your Body in this world. By Your Holy Spirit, moving us in the ministry of our Father, You "equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for building up the Body of Christ, until all of us come to a unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children.... But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ" (Ephesians 4:12-15). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

Friends, I pray you will be filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit to be about Your Father's business in the name and nature of Jesus Christ today. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

I'm really excited to be invited to speak on The Healing Nature of Jesus during "An Evening of Healing" with Max Lucado at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio Wednesday Night, February 6 at 7pm. Please come join us if you can (www.oakhillschurch.com).

Starting Thursday Night, January 31, we will begin a 6 Week Level 1 School of Ministry for Sozo Inner Healing Prayer Ministry Training, at our ministry office at Rapha God Ministries in San Antonio. Please come join us; seating is limited (www.RaphaGodMinistries.com)

If you're in the Kentucky area, I'll be leading a Spiritual Renewal Weekend at Bagby Memorial United Methodist Church in Grayson, Kentucky, January 18-20 with my good friend Pastor Susan Elkow (http://bagbyumc.org/events.php). Come join us if you can!

In this new season, I will still be leading Messiah Ministries, but also joining in leadership as the Pastoral Director of Rapha God Ministries based in San Antonio, Texas, continuing my calling of equipping and ministry of inner healing -- healing from the inside out -- to see God's people set from from their past and awakened to their identity and destiny in Christ. I'll also continue to share these morning prayers, teach our 4 Day Schools in Kentucky and elsewhere, and still travel to speak and minister as the Lord leads with the relationships we've established and the new ones to be formed, at home and abroad.

For a few months of transition, the Messiah Ministries mailing address in Lexington will remain the same, but I will be moving into my new office and the new base for ministry will be at: 4 Dominion Drive, Building 1; San Antonio, Texas 78257 www.RaphaGodMinistries.com

God bless you and thank you for all your prayers and friendship!

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

2800 Tates Creek Road

Lexington, Kentucky 40502

www.messiah-ministries.org

Morning by Morning, January 11 - "Abound in Hope"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Draw me close to You - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Let there be nothing between us, so I can hear Your voice and follow Your leading. ...

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:13).

We are not created and called to merely have hope, to hold on to hope, to hope against hope. No, we're created and called to "abound in hope." Hope is to continually rise up in us, to overflow out of us, to change the atmosphere around us. And in that believing, overflowing, abounding hope, we are filled with all joy and peace in believing by the God of hope.

And thank You, Lord, that we don't have to manufacture this ourselves or try to talk ourselves into this perspective and attitude. This kind of hope comes "by the power of the Holy Spirit" and only "by the power of the Holy Spirit."

Come, Holy Spirit. Stir up hope within me today. Remind me of the promises of God. Remind me of the moments of supernatural provision and protection and power manifested by the God of my salvation. Remind me of the steadfast love and unfailing mercy of my God who forgives me of my sins, heals me of my wounds, and frees me from my chains. Remind me of the gifts and calling of God that are without repentance and for the building up of His Body and the reaching out to the lost to express His glory in the earth. And remind me of all my God has done by the power of His love and grace in me so that He can express His love and grace through me.

Let all of this rise up within me and flow freely through me, abounding in hope, filled with the joy and peace of my God. Let me never settle for getting by and getting along, but purposefully choosing to live in faith believing there's always more and the best is yet to come. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My Friend, I pray you will abound in hope today! Be filled with the joy and peace of our God of hope, believing in Him that there's always more and the best is yet to come! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

I'm really excited to be invited to speak on The Healing Nature of Jesus during "An Evening of Healing" with Max Lucado at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio Wednesday Night, February 6 at 7pm. Please come join us if you can.

Starting Thursday Night, January 31, we will begin a 6 Week Level 1 School of Ministry for Sozo Inner Healing Prayer Ministry Training, at our ministry office at Rapha God Ministries in San Antonio. Please come join us; seating is limited (www.RaphaGodMinistries.com)

If you're in the Kentucky area, I'll be leading a Spiritual Renewal Weekend at Bagby Memorial United Methodist Church in Grayson, Kentucky, January 18-20 with my good friend Pastor Susan Elkow (http://bagbyumc.org/events.php). Come join us if you can!

In this new season, I will still be leading Messiah Ministries, but also joining in leadership as the Pastoral Director of Rapha God Ministries based in San Antonio, Texas, continuing my calling of equipping and ministry of inner healing -- healing from the inside out -- to see God's people set from from their past and awakened to their identity and destiny in Christ. I'll also continue to share these morning prayers, teach our 4 Day Schools in Kentucky and elsewhere, and still travel to speak and minister as the Lord leads with the relationships we've established and the new ones to be formed, at home and abroad.

For a few months of transition, the Messiah Ministries mailing address in Lexington will remain the same, but I will be moving into my new office and the new base for ministry will be at: 4 Dominion Drive, Building 1; San Antonio, Texas 78257 www.RaphaGodMinistries.com

God bless you and thank you for all your prayers and friendship!

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

2800 Tates Creek Road

Lexington, Kentucky 40502

www.messiah-ministries.org

Morning by Morning, January 10 – Getting Settled and Established

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. My eyes are on You, my ears are listing, my spirit is waiting for Your leading, as I rest in Your Presence.  …

 

“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:6-7).

 

It takes some time to get settled and established in every new season. A new town, a new job, a new home—whatever it is that’s new, we call it “new” because it’s new to us. Many times, it’s not really “new” to everyone else, just “new” to you, so it takes a little time to catch up, get settled in, and established.

 

But even through the changes and transitions and newness of life, we can remain established in the faith, secure in Your love. We can position our perspective in the humility of willingly choosing to be desperately dependent upon You alone. We can trust by faith in the power of Your grace to get us settled and established in line with Your purposes.  “The God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Peter 5:10). In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen.

Morning by Morning, January 9 - "Glad with the Joy of Your Presence"

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I want to start my day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. ...

"In Your strength the king rejoices, O Lord, and in Your help how greatly he exults! You have given him his heart's desire, and have not withheld the request of his lips" (Psalm 21:1-2).

Some days, King David's heart was full; and some days, he felt his heart was empty. There were times when he shouted with joy and times when he cried out in grief. But he seemed to always know that You alone were his source of strength and help, that You alone held his heart in Your hands and even delighted to give him his heart's desire - all in Your way, all in Your time.

David found his stability and confidence in trusting You. He found his courage and hope in passionately pursuing Your Presence. "You bestow on him blessings forever; You make him glad with the joy of Your Presence. For the king trusts in the Lord, and through the steadfast love of the Most High, he shall not be moved" (v. 21:6-7).

I love Your Presence, Lord. That's where I find my joy, that's where I find my peace. That's where I grow in the confidence that if I'll just keep looking to You and trusting in You, You will be at work in me and my life, working all things together for good, even delighting to give me my heart's desire. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be glad with the joy of the Presence of God today. Whether you heart feels full or empty, may you experience the loving embrace of our powerful God who wants to give you the desires of your heart, in His time and His way. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

If you're in the area, I'll be leading a Spiritual Renewal Weekend at Bagby Memorial United Methodist Church in Grayson, Kentucky January 18-20 with my good friend Pastor Susan Elkow (http://bagbyumc.org/events.php). Come join us if you can!

In this new season, I will still be leading Messiah Ministries, but also joining in leadership as the Pastoral Director of Rapha God Ministries based in San Antonio, Texas, continuing my calling of equipping and ministry of inner healing -- healing from the inside out -- to see God's people set from from their past and awakened to their identity and destiny in Christ. I'll also continue to share these morning prayers, teach our 4 Day Schools in Kentucky and elsewhere, and still travel to speak and minister as the Lord leads with the relationships we've established and the new ones to be formed, at home and abroad.

For a few months of transition, the Messiah Ministries mailing address in Lexington will remain the same, but I will be moving into my new office and the new base for ministry will be at: 4 Dominion Drive, Building 1; San Antonio, Texas 78257 www.RaphaGodMinistries.com

God bless you and thank you for all your prayers and friendship!

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

2800 Tates Creek Road

Lexington, Kentucky 40502

www.messiah-ministries.org

Morning by Morning, January 9 - Open and Shut Doors of God

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Let me be single-minded and wholehearted in my intentionally-directed focus on You alone in these first moments of my morning. ...

"... These are the words of the holy One, the true One, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens: 'I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut'... " (Revelation 3:7-8).

Lord, You are holy and true. Your heart is good and Your motives are pure. You can be trusted in every way with everything. You see the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end ... and everything in between.

And You know me. You know every desire I'll ever have, every thought I'll ever consider, every choice I'll ever make. You know the thoughts and intents of my heart better than I can ever discern or understand. You know what's of the Spirit and what's of the flesh; You know what comes out of selflessness and what comes out of selfishness. You rightly discern and You rightly judge, for You alone are the holy and righteous One.

So I trust You and I ask You to open the doors before me that align with Your perfect will and plan for me. And I trust You and ask You to shut the doors that do not. In all honesty I admit I have much to learn, but this much I know: You know what's best. And I want Your best. It's in Your best for my life that I'll know the fullness of Your peace and joy for me and everyone around me. That's the desire of my heart, as best as I can discern and believe; and that's my prayer. So I believe by faith that will and that has come to pass (Psalm 21:2). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

Friends, I pray you will trust God with all your heart to go before You opening and shutting doors to help direct your steps into His perfect will for your life. May you know the fullness of all His peace and joy for you and all those around you. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

In this new season, I will still be leading Messiah Ministries, but also joining in leadership as the Pastoral Director of Rapha God Ministries based in San Antonio, Texas, continuing my calling of equipping and ministry of inner healing -- healing from the inside out -- to see God's people set from from their past and awakened to their identity and destiny in Christ. I'll also continue to share these morning prayers, teach our 4 Day Schools in Kentucky and elsehere, and still travel to speak and minister as the Lord leads with the relationships we've established and the new ones to be formed, at home and abroad.

For a few months of transition, the Messiah Ministries mailing address in Lexington will remain the same, but I will be moving into my new office and the new base for ministry will be at: 4 Dominion Drive, Building 1; San Antonio, Texas 78257 www.RaphaGodMinistries.com

God bless you and thank you for all your prayers and frienship!

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

2800 Tates Creek Road

Lexington, Kentucky 40502

www.messiah-ministries.org

Morning by Morning, January 7 - The God of New Beginnings

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I am Yours and You are mine. In both humility before You and passion toward You, I join with You - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - in the Divine romance through the communion of prayer. Help me hear what You would say to me in these first moments of my morning with You today. ...

"In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty, and the hem of His robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above Him... And one called to another and said, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!' The pivots on the threshold shook at the voices of those who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said, 'Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!' Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding the live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: 'Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.' 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)

You're the God of new beginnings. You're the God who makes all things new, who loves to bring life from death and beauty from ashes (v. 61:3). You forgive us of our sins; You heal us of our wounds; You free us from our chains. With one touch of Your holy fire, You turn our shame into praise and our brokenness into breakthrough, giving us a passion to love You and serve You with all our heart wherever You send us.

As the last season came to a close, as dominion of what had ruled his life in the past came to an end, Isaiah saw You and saw himself in ways he had never seen You before. You didn't change, but You changed him. You shook him to the floor and shook him to his core, at the very threshold of the place where it seemed everything around him was being shaken and undone. But that's when You gave him eyes to see what had been there all along, already prepared for the day of His Divine encounter and new assignment. You closed the door of his past and opened the door of the next journey of his destiny, because You're the God who closes the doors no one can open and opens the doors no one can shut (v. 22:22).

Thank You for the fires and the shakings of my life, even when it's sometimes hard to know it You at the time. Thank You for the forgiveness of my sins, the healing of my wounds, and freedom from my chains. Thank You for giving me eyes to see You and see myself in the progressive revelation of Your unfolding plans for my life. Thank You for new life in Your Spirit that can only come through death to my flesh and new beginnings that can only come by moving forward through the shaking thresholds of everything I held onto for security but You alone. Here I am, Lord. Send me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

Friends, I pray you would encounter God through every fire and shaking you may encounter in this season and the seasons to come, knowing our God is faithful and He will bring you through and send you forth to fulfill all His plans for your life. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

I made it to San Antonio last night to go into my new office and embrace my new beginnings of this next season of life and ministry back in Texas today. I'm very excited. Sunday morning I went to hear Chuck Pierce at Glory of Zion International Ministries near Dallas and had a Divine encounter at the altar during the prayer ministry time. The Holy Spirit filled me with overwhelming joy! And I pray that blessing of God's overwhelming joy for you too, my friend!

In this new season, I will still be leading Messiah Ministries, but also joining in leadership as the Pastoral Director of Rapha God Ministries based in San Antonio, Texas, continuing my calling of equipping and ministry of inner healing -- healing from the inside out -- to see God's people set from from their past and awakened to their identity and destiny in Christ. I'll also continue to share these morning prayers, teach our 4 Day Schools in Kentucky and elsehere, and still travel to speak and minister as the Lord leads with the relationships we've established and the new ones to be formed, at home and abroad.

For a few months of transition, the Messiah Ministries mailing address in Lexington will remain the same, but I will be moving into my new office and the new base for ministry will be at: 4 Dominion Drive, Building 1; San Antonio, Texas 78257 www.RaphaGodMinistries.com

God bless you and thank you for all your prayers and frienship!

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

2800 Tates Creek Road

Lexington, Kentucky 40502

www.messiah-ministries.org