Today's prayer includes a bit of a reflection on some of what led to the start of tent of meeting. If you have never done so, you may wish to read more of that story here (please see section II.- Prayer). (I would also encourage you to read more about tent of meeting here and here.)

I am praying our Lord would continue to keep all of us He has called to prayer steadfast, immovable, always abounding in His work knowing that our labor in Him is not in vain.

Seeking His face with great joy and assurance,
Karen

Nehemiah 2:9  Then I came to the governors of the province Beyond the River and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen. 10  But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah, the Ammonite servant, heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.

11  So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days. 12  Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode. 13  I went out by night by the Valley Gate to the Dragon Spring and to the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire. 14  Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King's Pool, but there was no room for the animal that was under me to pass. 15  Then I went up in the night by the valley and inspected the wall, and I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned. 16  And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, and I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work.

Holy Father,

A year ago today, You put it in my heart
Though You were already putting it on my heart
That day a year ago I heard Your voice through Your Word

Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you...I Samuel 12:23

You put a desire to pray in my heart
You put a desire to pray for Your people in my heart
A year ago today, You put it in my heart
I am trusting You to keep it in my heart
You who began this good work in my heart will complete it
To Your glory alone

Just when I forget or lose heart
Your grace flows down from on high
Your fire descends
To light the cooling coals
Your Spirit thunders
To shake lukewarm complacency
Your Word speaks
To awaken dormant passion

Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray...

A year ago today, You put it in my heart
You alone can keep it in my heart
Lord God, keep in my heart what You have put in my heart
I can't even keep my own heart apart from Your grace

You put a desire to pray in my heart
You put a desire to pray for Your people in my heart
A year ago today, You put it in my heart
I am trusting You to keep it in my heart
You who began this good work in my heart will complete it
To Your glory alone

Holy Father,

You have put a desire to pray in others' hearts
You have put a desire to pray for Your people in their hearts
You have put it in their hearts like You put it in my heart
I am trusting You to keep it in our hearts
You who have begun this good work in our hearts will complete it
To Your glory alone

Just when we forget or lose heart
Grace, flow down from on high
Holy Fire, descend
Light our cooling coals
Holy Spirit, thunder
Shake our lukewarm complacency
Holy Word, speak
Awaken our dormant passion

Moreover, as for us, far be it from us that we should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray...

You put it in our hearts
You alone can keep it in our hearts
Lord God, keep in our hearts what You have put in our hearts
We can't even keep our own hearts apart from Your grace
You who began this good work in our hearts will complete it
To Your glory alone

You put a desire to pray in our hearts.
You put a desire to pray for Your people in our hearts.
You put it in all our hearts.
I am trusting You to keep it in our heart.
You who began this good work in our hearts will complete it
To Your glory alone

Moreover, as for us, far be it from us that we should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray...

Holy Father,

You put a desire to pray in our hearts
You put a desire to pray for Your people in our hearts
You put it in all our hearts
Now I am trusting You to put that desire in more hearts
Send forth more intercessors to join us to pray for the harvest
Complete the work You have begun here on earth
That Your Gospel would be proclaimed to all nations
To Your glory alone

Moreover, as for us, far be it from us that we should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for laborers...

Continuing on with some reflections on prayer which I'm titling "Lord, teach us to pray once again."  (I would encourage you to read/pray through "May we learn to value the blood bought privilege of prayer" in addition to this one.)

Today's prayer is a more personal one, so I'm including it under my other screen name naphtali_deer.

I praise and thank God for each of you He is raising up to pray for His Church. I appreciate each and every one who has come here and all who are seeking God and His face and all He has for us. We are poor and needy. Poorer than we can imagine. Apart from Him we can do nothing! We have no hope apart from Him.

I continue to be grieved that we are not allowing His Spirit to have His way in our lives and in our churches. This is part of the reason I am writing this prayer. The desire of my heart is that we might freely welcome His blessed Spirit to come and dwell with us, both as individuals and as corporate bodies and allow Him to have His way with us. Is He not God? Is He not entitled to determine how He might work in and through us? O, brothers and sisters, born of the Spirit, may we not grieve, quench or limit Him as we saw the nation of Israel continue to do time and again. How can we say we are His if we are shutting His Holy Spirit out of our lives and our churches? May He give us grace to open the door to all He has for us, without reservation, fully abandoning ourselves to Him to do with us as He wills, including making us appear foolish in the eyes of men, as happened in the case of Hannah (as well as many other saints throughout the ages).

"Everyone is a fool for somebody--be it Marx, Mao, Muhammad, or simply Myself. So why not be a fool for Christ?"

Why not be a fool for Him? Why not?! God forbid if we are not willing to be fools for Him!

By His grace, I am continuing to seek His face, not worrying whether people call me a fool. My only desire is that I be found faithful in the eyes of the living God, for His approval is all I ought to be concerned with.

Karen

Lord God, God of all flesh, Savior of our souls, living Spirit who breathed life into us,

We see Your servant Hannah continuing in prayer before You. We see how she was mocked for her prayer. Overcome by Your Spirit, she poured out her soul before You, Lord. May we look to her example and be filled with Your Spirit so we might continue in prayer before You...

Lord God, You have already taught us to pray...
Yet we are so slow to learn...
Father, have mercy on us.
Forgive us, for Jesus' sake.
Though we are slow to learn we come to You and ask us to teach us again...

O Lord,
May we continue to pray before You
May we continue to pour our souls and hearts out to You
No matter what men may say of us
We have no hope apart from You, O God, our refuge.

Lord God,
May we wait for You alone and pour out our hearts before You.
For our hope is in You alone and not in men.
For our salvation is in Your blood alone and not in our works.
For our strength is in Your Spirit alone and not in our own power.
You are our rock and our salvation and our fortress.
You are our glory and refuge.
Let us not be shaken as we approach Your throne in prayer,
Let us not be shaken as we stand on the watchtower,
Let us not be shaken as we continue in prayer,
Let us not be shaken as we pour out our souls and hearts to You,
No matter what man may say of us...
Who else in heaven do we have but You?
Who alone has the words of eternal life?
Who alone is God but You?
Forgive us for seeking help in other places when we have received Your very life into our souls.
Forgive us for quenching and grieving Your Spirit.
Forgive us for wanting to look good in the eyes of men.
Forgive us for limiting You.
Forgive us for not trusting in You alone.
Have mercy on us, O Lord God. Forgive us our sins.
May we continue to pour out our souls and hearts to You, Lord.

O Lord,
May we continue to pray before You
May we continue to pour our souls and hearts out to You
No matter what men may say of us
We have no hope apart from You, O God, our refuge.


O, Father,
Help me to continue praying before You...
even when others may call me drunken...
(is that not what many did on the Day of Pentecost?)
May I always we ready to be filled with Your Spirit,
Spirit-intoxicated,
overtaken with Your love,
consumed by Your mercies,
melted down by Your grace.
Forgive us, O Lord.
We confess we are Your people, born again by Your Spirit,
yet too often we have been full of ourselves, so we cannot be filled with Your Spirit.
We confess that we are Your people, breathed into life by Your Spirit,
yet too often we become puffed up with ourselves,
rather than being open to the blowing of the wind of Your sovereign Spirit and not fear Him.
We confess too often we forget we have nothing and can do nothing apart from You.
We confess there are times we fear You moving in our lives.
(O, Father, why should we ever fear Your moving in our lives, You are the one who loved us while we were yet sinners?!)
May we continue to pour out our souls and hearts to You, Lord.

O Lord,
May we continue to pray before You
May we continue to pour our souls and hearts out to You
No matter what men may say of us
We have no hope apart from You, O God, our refuge.

Lord God,
You are a living God.
You are the God of the living and not the dead.
May we be filled with You to the point of overflowing,
May we be filled to where our prayers are poured out to You like the choicest wine!
Have You not filled us with the best wine, with Your Spirit?
How can our prayers remain tasteless?
Where is the new wine?
Have You not filled us with Your life, with Your Spirit?
How can our prayers remain lifeless?
We have a profession of faith but how does it really apply to our lives, to our prayers?
Are we earnest, are we pouring out our souls and hearts fervently before You?
Where is the life? Are we not all but dead now? Quicken us, Holy Spirit.
Where is the light? Are we not quite dark now? Brighten us, Holy Spirit.
Where is the fire? Are we not quite cold now? Inflame us, Holy Spirit.
May we continue to pour out our souls and hearts to You, Lord.

O Lord,
May we continue to pray before You
May we continue to pour our souls and hearts out to You
No matter what men may say of us
We have no hope apart from You, O God, our refuge.


Lord God,
You have intended Your Church to grow and be fruitful.
We see Hannah troubled to the point of pouring out her soul to You because her womb was barren.
Why are we not more burdened over our current state?
We have a form of godliness but continue to deny the power.
We have a reputation for being alive...yet we are all but dead.
Are we troubled over our souls?
Are we troubled over the state of the Church?
Are we troubled that You are not glorified as You ought to be?
Are we troubled that You Name is not glorified as it ought to be?
How often do we become so burdened by the lack of fruitfulness that we pour out our souls to You?
Why do we not have great anxiety and vexation over the current state of our own souls?
Why do we not have great anxiety and vexation over the current state of the Church?
Why are we not continuing before You and pouring our souls out before You?
Forgive us for being blind to our condition before You and how we are not a glory and praise in the earth.
Open our eyes to see ourselves and the Church as You see us.
Take us to our knees before Your once again and keep us continuing there in prayer.
We have no other hope but You, O Lord God.
May we continue to pour out our souls and hearts to You, Lord.

O Lord,
May we continue to pray before You
May we continue to pour our souls and hearts out to You
No matter what men may say of us
We have no hope apart from You, O God, our refuge.

Lord God,
We confess we continue in our own earthly means rather than coming to You.
Forgive us, O Lord. Have mercy on us for Jesus' sake.
You are our rock. Why do we keep building on the sand in vain?
You are our salvation. Why do we look to earthly saviors in vain?
You are our fortress. Why do we keep looking our own strength in vain?
You are our refuge. Why do we expect to find rest in any other but You?
You are our glory. When we seek help in any other place, You are not glorified!
Forgive us, O Lord, for not seeking You and Your face.
Turn our hearts away from these earthly devices, these idols.
Turn our hearts to You, and we will be turned.
Turn our lips away from asking for help from earthly thrones.
Turn our lips to Your heavenly throne, for certainly You will hear the prayers of Your elect.
Keep us pouring our souls and hearts out to You to send Your Spirit to us once again.
You have promised to provide all we need here to fulfill the mission You have given us,
to bring glory, praise and honor to Your holy Name in all we say and do.
May we continue to pour out our souls and hearts to You, Lord.

O Lord,
May we continue to pray before You
May we continue to pour our souls and hearts out to You
No matter what men may say of us
We have no hope apart from You, O God, our refuge.

Once again today I'm sharing a prayer from another of my Xanga friends, poetically_truthful (Shannon). It was originally posted here.

Dear brothers and sisters, please ask the Holy Spirit to examine your heart and love for the Lord Jesus Christ as you prayerfully read her words here.

Love Song for Jesus

Perhaps I've been distracted, maybe I've been lost. Maybe I've been growing, or learning something new. I don't know. All I know is I looked around and I see no fellow sheep standing in my field!

You have been far from distant, but I would still like to come running home. You are everything to me. You're the life inside of me, the very air I breathe. It's no exaggeration. I know who you are to me. I know what you've done for me. I know how you love me. It's very possible I was on the road to forgetting...

I cry when I remember my love for you. When I remember October three years ago, and that visit you paid me in that dream, the LIFE you've given me... it's a free gift. I could never deserve it otherwise. I guess I could sit in regret and guilt about that, but I think there's another option. Confession? I confess that my focus is not always on you. I confess that at times I take you out of my life's equation. I confess that over time, I've grown... complacent? I confess that I have lied and not been responsible. I confess that I have neglected areas in my life that I should not have neglected. Most importantly, I confess that I miss you.

Things are changing in my life and I certainly don't understand it all because changes bring new things. Please check up on me often- I don't ever want to stray from you.  

I love you.
♥

* * *

Holy Spirit, be gracious to each of us, open our eyes and show us the true state of our hearts and our devotion.

Brothers and sisters, Please add your prayers as His Spirit leads you.