Morning by Morning, March 25 - The God Who Hears and Answers!

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. First thing in the morning, I turn to You first -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. I seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness, that You may set things right in me and set the right path before me in all the steps of my day (Matthew 6:33). ...

 

My heart is full of gratitude today. Yesterday morning You gave such a strong sense that You were moving mightily on our behalf to confront our world-wide crisis. I strongly sensed You were calling me and so many to humbly pray for the tide to turn and to boldly proclaim in faith that that the tide had turned. And while we may yet have a long way to go to see manifested on earth what You have done in heaven in response to the prayers of Your people around the world, we are seeing some rays of hope, some glimmers of light at the end of the tunnel. We are hearing some good news of Your grace on some major fronts in the battle. And I give You all glory and honor and praise!

 

You are our Good News and You are the Source of any good news we see. And it is so good to see some hopeful headlines this morning:  The US Surgeon General said we have "Turned the Corner" on coronavirus testing and that experimental medical treatments are working. The US Senate had a major "bipartisan breakthrough" to pass the largest "economic rescue package" in our nation's history to provide immediate relief to workers and businesses. Hopeful news for the long-term is now coming out of the hard-hit epicenters of China and Italy, with Harvard Health Publishing saying "99% of people infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 will recover" and the Director General of the World Health Organization saying "China and the Republic of Korea have significantly declining epidemics." 

 

Ultimately, regardless of what the world says, You have the final say. And what You have to say for us is always, ultimately good: "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, for your welfare and not for harm, to give 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" (Jeremiah 29:11-13).

 

We have a ways to go to get through this, but You are with us and You are for us and You will get us through this. If God be for us, what can stand against us (Romans 8:31). You will turn this all around for us in ways we can't yet see or even imagine (Romans 8:28; Ephesians 3:20). You're the God who hears and who answers! "To my God, I cried for help. From His temple He heard my voice!" (Psalm 18:6)

 

"I love You, O Lord, my Strength.

The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress, and my Deliverer,

my God, my Rock in whom I take refuge,

my Shield, and the Horn of my Salvation, my Stronghold.

I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,

so shall I be saved from my enemies.

 

The cords of death encompassed me;

the torrents of perdition assailed me;

the cords of Sheol entangled me; 

the snares of death confronted me.

 

In my distress I called upon the Lord; 

to my God I cried for help.

From His temple He heard my voice,

and my cry to Him reached His ears....

 

The Lord also thundered in the heavens,

and the Most High uttered His voice! ...

 

He reached down from on high, he took me; 

He drew me out of mighty waters

He delivered me from my strong enemy,

And from those who hated me;

for they were too mighty for me.

They confronted me in the day of my calamity; 

but the Lord was my Support,

He brought me out into a broad place;

He delivered me, because He delighted in me!"

(Psalm 18:1-19)

 

Thank You for hearing. Thank You for answering. Thank You for continuing to move mightily on our behalf. Thank You for giving us grace to persist in prayer and proclamation in the authority of Your name until we see the fullness of Your answers manifested on earth as they are in heaven (Mark 11:22-24; Matthew 6:10). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen!

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

My friend, may you be encouraged and strengthened in your faith and hope today, trusting in our God who hears us and answers us, who is moving mightily on behalf of us, in some ways we see and in so many ways we don't even see, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out ...

Preparing the Way of the Lord

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, March 24 - "Turn the Tide.... The Tide Turns Now!"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I welcome You here in my heart and every moment of my day -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. Now I listen for Your leading in trusting surrender and expectant faith from the deep communion of prayer. ...

 

Right away, I believe Your Spirit is rising up in my spirit with these strong words: "Turn the tide. Turn the tide. Turn the tide. The tide turns now!" ...

 

Yes, Lord. Three prayers and a proclamation!

 

In humility we pray, "Turn the tide. Turn the tide. Turn the tide."

 

In boldness we proclaim, "The tide turns now!"

 

Father, You're the Lord of the tide. You set the boundaries of the tides of the sea. 

 

"Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind ... 'Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb? -- when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors, and said, 'Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped'" (Job 38:1-11).

 

You said to the sea, "This far and no more." And You continue to speak in Your sovereignty, "This far and no more" to all that would seek to overwhelm us. We believe it's Your will, according to Your Word, that You desire to set our boundaries in pleasant places so that our hearts are glad, our spirits rejoice, and we can rest secure in You (Psalm 16:6-11).

 

At the same time, You speak through Your people who are called by Your name, as we humble ourselves to pray, to seek Your face, to turn to You, to listen for the leading of Your Holy Spirit, to see what You're doing and hear what You're saying. "The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's; but the earth He has given to the children of men" (Psalm 115:16). "You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you; so light will shine on your ways" (Job 22:28).

 

In humility we pray, and in boldness we proclaim. In humility we listen for Your word, and in boldness we speak it forth in the authority of Your name.

 

When we humbly listen together in prayer, when we bolding speak together in proclamation, there is a synergy of power in the authority of Your name. Together as Your Body, in the unity and maturity of Your Spirit, we pray with prophetic insight and we proclaim with apostolic authority -- all by Your grace and as far as Your grace will go (Ephesians 4:1-16).

 

Lord Jesus, You taught us these principles of prayer and proclamation in Your Word: "Jesus answered them, 'Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours'" (Mark 11:22-24).

 

We pray Your will instead of ours, we proclaim Your word instead of ours, when we first humble our hearts to seek Your face and listen for the leading of Your voice. "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 for 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).

 

This is how You turn the tide of whatever comes against us that's less than Your will for us. This is how Your turn it all around for our good and Your glory. As You said in the very next verse of Your Word: "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).

 

You love us and You've called us according to Your purpose to pray and to proclaim, in humility and boldness, in agreement and with authority. "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! ... For there the Lord commanded the blessing -- Life forevermore!" (Psalm 133:1-3). 

 

Lord Jesus, You're the One who taught us to pray and to proclaim in agreement and authority. "Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in My name, I am there among you" (Matthew 18:18-20).

 

In this hour, when all the world is feeling afraid and overwhelmed by the merciless tides that seek to destroy us in our health, our economy, our sense of security and peace, our joy and even our faith, You are giving us wisdom and strategies to overcome. Together we reach out in love in the ways You lead. And together we also pray and proclaim in the ways You lead.

 

Together we pray for wisdom, ingenuity, and inventions to create preventions and cures, vaccinations against viruses, medical breakthroughs and miraculous interventions. And at the same time, we pray and proclaim, in both humility and boldness, in unity and the authority of Your name by the leading of Your Spirit:

 

"Turn the tide. Turn the tide. Turn the tide. The tide turns now!"

 

You're the One who is stirring us up in our spirits as "the Body of Christ" (1 Corinthians 12:27), giving us "the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:16), and filling us up "the Spirit of Christ" (Romans 8:9; Ephesians 5:18). You're the One who desires to come and inspire our hope and heal our land as we turn to You (2 Chronicles 7:14).

 

If we see the miracle of a moment, we thank You and praise You! If we see the miracle of many moments in the unfolding of time as You keep moving us in persistence in prayer and persistence in proclamation, we thank You and praise You!

 

By the power of Your grace working in us, "we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7). We keep praying, we keep proclaiming, "Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). We keep believing in confidence, expectancy, and trust the promise of Your Word: "And this is the boldness we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, he hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of Him" (1 John 5:14-15). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you turn to God in humility and faith, may you turn to our world in boldness and authority, to pray and proclaim with me "Turn the tide. Turn the tide. Turn the tide. The tide turns now! in Jesus' name." God bless you, my friend!

 

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out ...

Preparing the Way of the Lord

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, March 23 - "In the Cleft of the Rock"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I look to You and call on Your name -- my Lord and Savior, my Rock and Refuge, my Very Present Help in time of need.  ...

 

"The Lord said to Moses, 'I will do the very thing that you have asked; for you have found favor in My sight, and I know you by name.' Moses said, 'Show me Your glory, I pray.' And He said, 'I will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you the name, 'The Lord'; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,' he said, 'you can not see My face; for no one shall see Me and live.' And the Lord continued, 'See, there is a place by Me where you shall stand on the rock; and while My glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with My hand until I have passed by; then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but my face shall not be seen'" (Exodus 33:17-23).

 

O Lord, my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- You know the desire in our hearts to see You, to experience You, to know the manifest glory of Your Presence. And in these days of world-wide crisis, of gripping and gut-wrenching personal crisis for so many, we need to know the glory of the Your personal Presence with us more than ever. We're desperate for You -- for Your Presence, for Your guidance, for Your answers, for Your protection, for Your healing, for Your provision, for Your hope, for all we need to get us through this while being faithful witnesses to You through this at the same time.

 

Like Moses, set us on the rock of our security in You. Standing on the rock speaks of standing firm in the faith You supply, standing strong in the confidence of Your Word and Your promises say no matter what our circumstances say, and standing in the face of whatever would seek to steal and kill and destroy in our lives. "Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand" (Ephesians 6:13).

 

But also like Moses, "put (us) in a cleft of the rock" and "over (us) with Your hand" as "(Your) glory passes by" (Exodus 33:22). Putting us in the cleft of the rock speaks of Your invitation to intimacy with You, deeply abiding with You, lovingly and securely embraced by You (John 15:4). "I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings" (Psalm 61:4 NKJV).  This is the glory of Your manifest Presence. And anything we every go through is worth it if it brings us to that deeper place in You. For there's no other place I'd rather be, there's no other place that better or safer than in the arms of the One who is our Rock. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you stand firm in the Lord and be firmly embraced by Him in the cleft of the Rock of His deeply abiding Presence, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out ...

Preparing the Way of the Lord

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, March 30 - Finding Grace in Our Time of Need

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Lead me in the ways that lead to life in You today -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...

 

"Since, then, we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but we have One who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace in time of need" (Hebrews 4:14-16).

 

In our weakness but also boldness, in our humility but also faith, we come to Your throne of grace in our time of need. You invite us to come boldly because You're able to sympathize with our weakness, because You have been tested in every respect as we are being tested now. Before You "passed through the heavens," You suffered through every testing of the trials and tribulations of our world we have ever faced and that we are facing now, "yet without sin."

 

You're a God who understands us. You're a God who is not distant or detached, not uncaring or unavailable. You're a God who is right here with us through it all and who has already been through it all -- through it all for us.

 

If we feel afraid of what might happen, You've been through it. If we are feel worried about what we're already experiencing, You've been through it. If we feel confused about what to do, You've been through it. Even if we feel frustrated or angry in a moment for what seems unfair or out of control or overwhelming, You've been through it. "Yet without sin" -- as You suffered well, persevered well, lived out Your identity and calling in the midst of all that was wrong in a broken, fallen world well, You went through it all in human flesh and blood to model well an example for us (Philippians 2:5-11).

 

Lord God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- this is our time of need. We come to You in our weakness and neediness; we come to You on behalf of our neighbors and their weakness and neediness. These problems we face are over our heads. So we come humbly and boldly to Your throne of grace in our time of need, just like You invited us to do. As You have promised:  "My grace is sufficient for you; for My strength is made perfect in (your) weakness.... For when (we) are weak, then (we) are strong" in You (2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NKJV). "Therefore (we can be) content (through) weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ" for You are with us and You will get us through it all, as we call on Your name and trust in Your grace, no matter what we face (Corinthians 2:10).

 

You see us. You hear us. You understand us. And You are here with us to help us get us through this. You'll even turn it all around for good in ways we can't even see or imagine right how. Just like You always do. You always have and You always will. So we thank You now, even before we see it come to pass (Mark 11:22-24). "This is the boldness we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of Him" (1 John 5:14-15). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you come boldly before our God's throne of grace in your time of need for yourself and for your neighbors, trusting our God who has already suffered through whatever you face without sin so we could look Him and know He understands and know He will respond in His grace, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out ...

Preparing the Way of the Lord

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, March 19 - God's Vitamins for Our Immune System

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I turn to You -- "looking to Jesus" -- to run the race set before me today (Hebrews 12:1-2). ...

 

These thoughts come to mind, as I believe I hear You speaking to my spirit:  "Take your vitamins -- your Vitamin D3 and your Vitamin C, that your immune system will be strong to withstand these days." ...

 

What comes to me is this --

 

Vitamin D3. 

 

By the power of Your grace, I will:

 

1. Determine to stand firm in faith, grounded in Your Word, no matter what comes, trusting You to bring me through it all -- not only just surviving, but thriving, not stuck worrying about by myself, but being a witness to my world around me, not holed-up in fear, but speaking out in prayers and proclamations in the authority of Your name and agreement with Your will from my position of responsibility at the gate of my city and all You've entrusted to me.

 

2. Do all I can, by the power of Your grace, to reach out to my neighbors as I reach up to You, to be part of the solution and not part of the problem, to be a light of hope as a disciple of Christ in the midst of the darkness, and to be the hands and feet of Jesus, with the heart of my Father, however You lead me by Your Holy Spirit.

 

3. Dare to believe You're at work in all that our world is going through, to turn it around and redeem it all into a great harvest of souls, as the world begins to see that there is no wisdom apart from Your wisdom, no protection apart from Your protection, and no answer apart from Your answer.

 

Vitamin C. 

 

Vitamin C is "Christ in (me), the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). Christ in me, shining Your Light through me, letting Your Rivers of Living Water flow through me, allowing Your Power and Love to be manifest all around me, because Your abiding Presence dwells within me.  "(I am) not in the flesh; (I am) in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in (me). Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. But if Christ is in (me), though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in (me), He who raised Christ from the dead will give life to (my) mortal body also through His Spirit that dwells in (me)" (Romans 8:9-11).

 

This morning, I'm taking my vitamins, Lord. And by the power of Your grace -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God -- my immune system will be strong and I will "be in good health." As the Apostle John prayed for those entrusted to his care, "Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, just as it is well with your soul.... I have no greater joy than this, to hear that my children are walking in truth.... that we may become co-workers with the truth.... Peace be to you" (3 John 2:15). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you be in good health, may you prosper even as your soul prospers, and may you be the hands and feet of Jesus, revealing the love and heart of our Father, all in the power of the Holy Spirit as witness of our God in our world, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out ...

Preparing the Way of the Lord

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Morning by Morning, March 18 - "Turn to Me"

 

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Rock of my salvation, Shepherd of my soul -- I look to You and listen for Your voice, for Your sheep hear Your voice (John 10:4). ...

 

I believe I hear You speaking these words in my heart and bringing them up to my mind to ponder in the communion of prayer with You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. And I have a sense these words not meant for me alone:

 

"Turn to Me.

Turn away from the TV.

Turn away from the computer screen.

Turn away from what you're worried will happen and

turn to the One who already sees all that will ever happen and

will turn it all to good.

Turn to Me.

Trust in Me.

In returning and rest, in quietness and trust, I will see you through." ...

 

Yes, Lord. Your written Word comes to mind to confirm these spoken words to my heart. "For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:  In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength" (Isaiah 30:15). "Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I Am God, and there is no other!" (Isaiah 45:22). "Return to Me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you" (Zechariah 1:3). "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you" (James 4:8).

 

Many are at home today -- here in my home and around the world, even to the ends of the earth. Someone even said it's like "a forced sabbatical" for the earth as we respond to the threat of contagion from this virus and its spread of sickness, disease, and death. But it's also an opportunity to turn to You, to trust in You, to put all our hope and faith in You. Even the wisdom we receive of how to respond and the courage we receive of how to act ultimately comes only from You. You said, "Ask for wisdom, and I will supply it" (from James 1:5).

 

But it's also an opportunity to invite the world to turn to You -- through our words, through our prayers, through our actions, through our example. Let those who don't yet know You hear Your call to turn to You, to find their peace in You, their security in You, their wisdom in You, and their hope in You.

 

Now is the time to pray for a great move of God across the earth! (Habakkuk 2:14) Now is the day of salvation! (Hebrews 3:13) Now is the season of great harvest! (Matthew 13:39)

 

Lord God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- I turn to You. And by the power of Your grace and the moving of Your Spirit, may I keep turning away from all that's less than You. May I make more time for You. May I be free from any temptation to squander these opportunities and be free from any distractions from Your great purposes, to be part of Your great harvest in our day and to the ends of the earth. "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest" (Matthew 9:37-38). Lord, I'm asking, even as I'm turning to You -- now and moment by moment throughout my day. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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

My friend, may you turn to the Lord to trust in Him and be free from distractions and anything less than Him to take hold of the opportunities set before us for a great harvest in these days, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out ...

Preparing the Way of the Lord

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

  

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

 

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