June 22, 2009
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let us see Jesus Christ in our midst
I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. 9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea. 12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
–Revelation 1:8-19Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts...Holy God,
How often we take comfort and solace that Jesus in our midst, as well we should,
but how often do we see Jesus the way John saw Him in Revelation?
Yes, Jesus, You are our Friend who sticks closer than a brother, but when we see you only as a Friend, we forget You are Holy and You are our Sanctifier.Yes, Father, You are our merciful Father who has saved us by Your grace through faith, but when we see You as only merciful and gracious, we forget You are Holy and righteous and You discipline and chasten us for our profit.
Yes, Spirit, You are our Comforter, but when we see You as only our Comforter, we forget You are Holy and work in us to convict, to purify and to conform us into the image of Jesus Christ.
Father, Son and Spirit,
When we overlook Your perfect holiness, it is too easy for us to overlook our sin. Do we see You as John did?
Please open our eyes and give us a vision of You like the vision John had . . .
the Alpha and the Omega,
the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come,
the Almighty,
Your loud voice like a trumpet,
to see You in the midst of the lampstands, in our midst of the Church, Your Church,
like the Son of Man,
clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around Your chest,
hairs of Your head white like wool, as white as snow,
eyes are like a flame of fire,
feet are like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace,
voice is like the roar of many waters,
to see a sharp two-edged sword coming from Your mouth,
Your face like the sun shining in full strength.
Show us Your glory . . .it is only then we will see our sin, our sinfulness and vileness:
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!
Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth.
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
Yes, if we were to see you like this, so long as we are no longer trusting our own righteousness but are covered with the perfect righteousness of Christ by grace through faith, You would also lay Your right hand on us, like You did John, and tell us, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades."
Yes, Your grace has saved us, but we are not to receive Your grace in vain.
Yes, Your blood covers our sin, but that does not give us license to sin.
Yes, Your life saves us from wrath, but that does not allow us to presume upon Your mercy.Yes, Your death saves us from the second death, but not only that, but Your death frees us from sin so we might now be dead to sin but alive to Christ today and forevermore! We have been buried with Christ so we might walk in newness of life. You gave Your Son's life to redeem us, so our lives are not our own. You own us. We are Your people. We are to be a holy people, a people set apart for You, blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom [we are to] shine as lights in the world (Phil. 2:15), even as Jesus Christ shines in the midst of His Church today.
Grant us a greater vision of Your holiness so we might have ears to hear what Your Spirit has to say to us, to the living stones of Your Church, Your dwelling place.
Open our eyes to see Him, so we might see our sin and confess our sin, so You might sanctify our hearts and minds and wills to receive Him and His Word to us.
The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
I the Lord search the heart
and test the mind...
Jeremiah 17:9-10aSearch us, O God, and know our hearts!
Try us and know our thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in us,
and lead us in the way everlasting!
(Psalm 139:23-24, adapted)Open our ears to hear what the Spirit has to say to us. Open our hearts and minds and wills to receive and obey the voice of Jesus Christ in our midst, so we might not grieve or quench Your Spirit, so You might be glorified in and through us. You have created us for Your glory. You have called us of the world to be a holy people, to bring You glory and to declare and proclaim Your praise. May Your Church be a praise in the earth and bring glory to You as You have intended.
Holy God,
May Your kindness lead us to repentance.
Give us eyes to see,
Give us ears to hear,
Give us hearts to receive
all Your Holy Spirit has for us this day
and every day. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your Name,
Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,
show us Your glory,
show us our sins,
lead us to repentance that we might confess our sins.
Forgive us our sins for Jesus' sake.
May Your kindness lead us to repentance.
To You be glory forever!
Amen.
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Comments (7)
I have to start with an admission. You and my dear wife are light years ahead of me in prayer. I am an old retired business man with a bottom line attitude. I don't say that is right or an excuse, but it is where I am.
Lord we come to you in respect and admiration with much appreciation. Please bless my prayer.
President Obama: Wisdom
Congress: Cooperation
Supreme Court: Respect for Law
Iraq: peace
Afghanistan: strength
Economy: resiliency
Israel: safety
AIDS/HIV: Cure
USA; Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. Restoration
Evangelism: Many souls saved.
Abortion: Never needed
Health Care: You become our main health care provider.
Terrorism: Fear of the Lord.
Governments: Peaceful
Lord, add your power to this site. Bring many here to add their prayers and hopes. Lift up this site for the glory of God.
Amen
@FRANK@revelife -
Father, help us all remember that You welcome all Your children with open arms not because of what we have done, but in spite of it. The Holy of Holies is open to us because Jesus' body was torn and His blood spilled out for us. We have nothing to commend us. We run home to Your house once again when we see our time in the pig sty is not what we thought it would be. When we see all other means to live the Christian life come up empty and are all in vain. When we run home, we only bring our hunger and thirst to You and You are ready to welcomes us once more as Your sons and daughters!
"Nothing in my hands I bring, only to Thy cross I cling..."
"Just as I am without one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me..."
Holy Father,
You know, and only You know, because You alone know all things, no one else knows this because no one knows my heart, I do not even know my own heart because it is deceitful and desperately wicked. You know how I continue to fail in prayer again and again. You have clearly called me to pray and intercede for Your people, but I fail again and again. Jesus, when You turn and look at me, You find me fallen asleep like Peter, James and John. Yet Jesus, my Mediator, You are a faithful High Priest. You never stop praying. You live forever to make intercession for us, for me, nonstop at the Father's right hand. You are a great High Priest who continues forever. You never fail to pray to the Father on my behalf. Jesus Christ, my Redeemer, without Your faithful, consistent and unending and tireless intercession, the Father's just wrath would consume each of us in a moment. O, how merciful and gracious You are, our Father, to have sent Jesus Christ to be the Atonement for our sins and to be our Mediator! We cannot even begin to imagine what the cup of wrath would taste like were we given it to drink...Thank You for punishing all our sin in Jesus Christ, who became sin for us. Amazing grace! Amazing love! Amazing God who grants us such a great and wonderful and complete salvation!
May we not take Your precious cup of salvation and pour it out and waste it!
Father, I confess I am just a babe in the things of prayer and really know nothing as I ought, but You have been gracious and longsuffering toward me and You continue to extend Your arms of mercy to me and open Your arms wide to me time and again. Truly, Your mercies are new to me every morning! You pick me up out of the pit and we start anew time and again.
Father in heaven, thank You that You welcome each of us, Your children, to come to You with boldness and confidence in prayer, not because of anything we have done but only because of what Christ has done for us! May we more and more avail ourselves of this great privilege You have given us, that Jesus died to give us. To pray is our birthright. May we be not like Esau. Help us to value the gift, privilege and honor of prayer.
Father, give us a zeal like the importunate widow, who kept going to the judge. You long to hear Your elect come to Your throne with prayers. You long to smell the sweet aroma of our prayers ascending to Your throne like incense. You seek those who have faith to come to You. You love to hear our voices crying out to You, "Abba, Father." We come as children. We come with nothing. Our hands our empty. Our faith is small. Our strength is small. We are poor and needy. All we can do is come to You. So we come. We are nothing. You are our all in all. Bless us, Father, for Jesus' sake. Teach us to pray...so we might be transformed and Your Church might shine as we ought, so the whole earth would be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea!
Revive and renew and restore us for Your sake and for Your glory! Amen.
@tent_of_meeting - Amen
Father, I have nothing to add here but to concur with my brother and sister in all they have said, most especially for You to "revive and renew and restore us for Your sake and for Your glory!" I would also like to voice my own joyous, ecstatic thanks to you for the wonderful life You are revealing to me - as You position me to see from the vantage point of Christ in the heavenly realm. I love You!!!
@quest4god@revelife - Amen! Praise His Name.
Who is a God like you? You are high and lifted up in the heavens but You also come and dwell with those who are humble and contrite in heart. You are so lovely and wonderful to us!
And ... You are ALREADY working to revive and renew and restore us for Your sake and for Your glory! At times my vision has been faint, but I can see the work you are doing in many of my brothers and sisters. I confess there are times I doubt You and all I can see are the ruins, the desert and the storms about me. I have no eyes to see the walls You are building, the new life You are creating and the peace You are bringing. Forgive me when I doubt. Forgive me when I ask You if You are in our midst. Help my unbelief. Of course, You ARE in our midst! Give me eyes of faith to see You even when You might hide Your face from me, from us, for a time. You only do so so we might see our utter need and total dependence for You and You alone, so we might no longer rely on ourselves, but solely on You. You only do so so Your glory might shine even brighter (not that we can imagine what that would look like). Your glory and honor and renown is at stake and bound up in the Church. It is certain that You will continue to uphold Your Church. You will continue to build Your Church. The gates of hell will not prevail against Your Church. You will never leave Your children fatherless, You will never leave us or forsake us, You have sent Your Spirit to abide with us forever.
Help me to remember Your precious promises, so I might have eyes of faith to trust and to believe and to see You even before I see Your strong arm bringing salvation and doing wonders.
Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: BEFORE they spring forth I tell you of them. He is in our midst even now and working beyond all we can ask or imagine. Isaiah 42:9.
I can taste the new wine!
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21.
thank you Holy father for your presence here, and the blessings from reading these prayers, knowing that you listen and care about what is said. thank you for your righteousness, your refining us, your chastening us, your empowering us to know you more, helping us even to seek you. all that is good really comes from you alone, so that we can never boast. thank you for bring such peace and joy here in this tent of meeting. thank you for putting htis on people's hearts and encouraging us. fill us up with your love. help us to know you and love you more, help us to seek after your will and to obey you even when we don't feel like it...especially when we don't feel like it, knowing full well that your ways are always better and perfect compared with our own. we can't praise you enough, but we praise you for who you are, for what you have done and for all that we can't even fathom because you are beyond our total understanding. you are beyond our comprehension. our limited minds only get a glimpse of just how awesome you are; for if we fully knew we would no longer want to stay here. so i am thankful for what you have given for us to do here. i pray we not be distracted by the things of this earth or become too attached to things that we forget your divine purposes. help us to be salt and light where we are, to glorify you in all that we do, to not fear, to be hopeful and trust in your goodness, even when we can't always understand the why's or the how's. i pray encouragement, peace, comfort, discernment, wisdom, joy, growth, revival, restoration, healing and understanding for all who read these prayers. in Jesus' name. amen. =)
My Father, I know Your Son, my Savior, is standing in the midst of the Church. I know You are my refuge and strength; a present Help in time of need. I know Your Holy Spirit, the wonderful Comforter, has never left me and will never leave me. But right now I am weary and heavy laden. My faith is weak. I know following You is the most glorious thing I can do and I want to follow You. But I need Your supplies to keep walking with You in the work You have called me to. I am insufficient and inadequate on my own. Help me to drink deeply of Your living water. Help me to eat of Your living bread. Help me see You again as I ought. Help me to take on Jesus' easy yoke. I can't see You yet I can only endure if I see You! Help me to have faith to keep seeing You, for it is only then I will endure. Thank You that You come to dwell in the humble and contrite heart. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus, strengthen and sustain me. Make me walk on my high hills by Your power! Be glorified in me as I finish all the work You have given me in Your power! All to You, O Lord. All for You, O Lord. All by You, O Lord. All praise, honor and glory is Yours forever and ever. Amen.