prayers for the Spirit

  • O That the Lord Would Guide My/Our Ways (Isaac Watts)

    In last Sunday's worship, we sang Isaac Watts' "O That the Lord Would Guide My Ways." I thought the hymn was a wonderful prayer that fit beautifully with my current posts on Nehemiah, where the people are in distress over their sin, they have confessed and repented of it, but then rather than relying on Christ wholly, they forget the covenant He has made with them and they make promises they can never fulfill apart from His power.

    I've adapted Watts' hymn into first person plural from first person singular (yes, with that some of the rhyming was lost ), as I have also adapted the Bible verses below into first person plural, so we might pray those verses and the hymn together corporately today.

    May our Lord keep us ever mindful of our dependence on Him from first to last, for He is the author and finisher of our faith, and without Him we can do nothing...

    * * *

    Lord God, we could do nothing to come to You in the first place, and we can do nothing to remain in You. Our salvation is all of You, to the praise of Your glorious grace alone. The works we do are all of You, all from You, all through You, all to Your praise, honor and glory alone.

    I Corinthians 1:30  He is the source of our life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. 31  Therefore, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

    Lord God, our boast is in You alone. You are the source of our life. We are dead apart from You.
    Any good we have done and can ever do is all of You.
    For of You, and through You, and to You, are all things: to You be glory for ever. Amen.
    Praise be to You, O loving Father, for Your glorious grace freely poured out on us through Your Son & Spirit!
    We confess we are prone to wander. Hedge us in, guide our ways to keep Your statutes.
    Continue to be gracious to us, for Jesus' sake, pour out upon us grace upon grace.
    Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

    Philippians 2:12  Therefore, my beloved, as we have always obeyed, so now, may we work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, 13   for it is God who works in us, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

    Lord God, our boast is in You alone. You work in us to will and to work of Your good pleasure.
    Any good we have done and can ever do is all of You.
    For of You, and through You, and to You, are all things: to You be glory for ever. Amen.
    Praise be to You, O loving Father, for Your glorious grace freely poured out on us through Your Son & Spirit!
    We confess we are prone to wander. Hedge us in, guide our ways to keep Your statutes.
    Continue to be gracious to us, for Jesus' sake, pour out upon us grace upon grace.
    Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

    II Thessalonians 2:11  To this end we always pray for one another and ourselves, that our God may make us worthy of His calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by His power, 12  so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in each of us, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

    Lord God, our boast is in You alone. You fulfill in us every resolve for good by Your power.
    Any good we have done and can ever do is all of You.
    For of You, and through You, and to You, are all things: to You be glory for ever. Amen.
    Praise be to You, O loving Father, for Your glorious grace freely poured out on us through Your Son & Spirit!
    We confess we are prone to wander. Hedge us in, guide our ways to keep Your statutes.
    Continue to be gracious to us, for Jesus' sake, pour out upon us grace upon grace.
    Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

    Hebrews 13:20  Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21  equip each of us with everything good that we may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

    Lord God, our boast is in You alone. You equip us with everything good to do Your will.
    Any good we have done and can ever do is all of You.
    For of You, and through You, and to You, are all things: to You be glory for ever. Amen.
    Praise be to You, O loving Father, for Your glorious grace freely poured out on us through Your Son & Spirit!
    We confess we are prone to wander. Hedge us in, guide our ways to keep Your statutes.
    Continue to be gracious to us, for Jesus' sake, pour out upon us grace upon grace.
    Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

    I Corinthians 15:10  But by the grace of God we are what we are, and His grace toward us was not in vain. On the contrary, we worked harder than any of them (and let us continue to work harder), though it was not we, but the grace of God that is with us.

    Lord God, our boast is in You alone. We work but it is Your grace that works in us.
    Any good we have done and can ever do is all of You.
    For of You, and through You, and to You, are all things: to You be glory for ever. Amen.
    Praise be to You, O loving Father, for Your glorious grace freely poured out on us through Your Son & Spirit!
    We confess we are prone to wander. Hedge us in, guide our ways to keep Your statutes.
    Continue to be gracious to us, for Jesus' sake, pour out upon us grace upon grace.
    Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
    "O That the Lord Would Guide My Ways"

    (by Isaac Watts, 1719, adapted)
    Psalm 119:5

    O that the Lord would guide our ways
    To keep His statutes still!
    O that our God would grant us grace
    To know and do His will!

    O send Thy Spirit down to write
    Thy law upon our hearts!
    Nor let our tongue indulge deceit,
    Nor act the liar’s part.

    From vanity turn off our eyes;
    Let no corrupt design,
    Nor covetous desires, arise
    Within these soul of ours.

    Order our footsteps by Thy Word,
    And make our hearts sincere;
    Let sin have no dominion, Lord,
    But keep our consciences clear.

    Our souls hath gone too far astray,
    Our feet too often slip;
    Yet since we've not forgot Thy way,
    Restore Thy wand’ring sheep.

    Make us to walk in Thy commands,
    ’Tis a delightful road;
    Nor let our heads, or hearts, or hands,
    Offend against our God.


    Please add your PRAYERS below as the Holy Spirit leads...


  • "not only in word" - send Your Holy Spirit so we might proclaim Your Gospel in power

    I've been focusing on Nehemiah 8 and praying that the Lord might restore the Word of God to its proper place in the Church once more.

    Though I've already touched on the role of the Holy Spirit in empowering God's people to proclaim the Word of God and for our understanding the Word of God, today I would like us to specifically pray for the Holy Spirit to come upon us, to work in and through us as we proclaim the Gospel as well as and to fall upon those who hear the Gospel.

    Holy God,

    You who have graciously given us Your Word through Your Holy Spirit, and have entrusted Your Word to us, we confess to You that so often we want to give out Your Word without asking for Your anointing and Your power.

    I Thessalonians 1:5 ... our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.

    Acts 10:36  As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), 37  you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: 38  how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

    Lord Jesus, if You were wholly dependent on that Holy Spirit power and You needed that anointing, how much more do we?

    Come, Holy Spirit.

    O God our Father and Jesus the Son, be gracious to us, send Your Spirit to us.
    Your glorious Gospel comes not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit.
    We confess we have no power in and of ourselves.
    We are in desperate need of Your Holy Spirit.
    You have told us to ask for Your Spirit, so we come boldly to Your throne to ask for what You alone can provide.
    Send Your Holy Spirit to us from on high, so, like Jesus Christ Himself, we might proclaim Your Gospel in power, in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.
    Holy Spirit, fall upon those who hear our words, as many as have been ordained to eternal life.

    Come, Holy Spirit.

    How can we expect to do anything in Your Kingdom apart from asking You to baptize us afresh, to come and infuse our words as we speak and then fall upon those who hear.

    Acts 10:44  While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 45  And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. 46  For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, 47  “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48  And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.

    We marvel how You used Peter, the one who was fearful and denied You three times. We thank You for this wonderful encouragement to us. Who but God can take the weakest of men and use them in such mighty ways! We confess how we have been like Peter, we confess how we have denied you and shrunk back in unbelief and fear. We praise You for the reminder that any one of us can be Your vessel, no matter how weak we are, no matter how sinful we have been, no matter what.

    Come, Holy Spirit.

    O God our Father and Jesus the Son, be gracious to us, send Your Spirit to us.
    Your glorious Gospel comes not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit.
    We confess we have no power in and of ourselves.
    We are in desperate need of Your Holy Spirit.
    You have told us to ask for Your Spirit, so we come boldly to Your throne to ask for what You alone can provide.

    Be gracious to us, send Your Holy Spirit to us from on high, so, like Peter, we might proclaim Your Gospel in power, in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.
    Holy Spirit, fall upon those who hear our words, as many as have been ordained to eternal life.

    Come, Holy Spirit.

    When we do sin (for we will sin, otherwise, we make You out to be a liar), lead us, Holy Spirit, to come into the light and to confess our sins to our Father that we might receive the forgiveness and cleansing You have promised us through Christ's precious blood, so we might be recommissioned to feed Christ's sheep.

    We marvel at how that small band of disciples who were hiding away in that upper room, as they remained faithful in prayer, were endued with Your promised power from on high, so they could be Your witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and to the ends of the earth. We confess how often we rely on our own abilities and do not ask for Your divine empowerment, which You so long to give us. It is part of our birthright as children of God. May we bathe all we say and do in prayer. May we never cease to ask for Your Spirit. Forgive us for not asking for Your Spirit as we ought. Forgive us for being puffed up and thinking we are sufficient in and of ourselves. We are nothing and can do nothing apart from Your Holy Spirit who dwells in us forever and Whom You also choose to send to us as You will so we might be bold witnesses for You as we see happening in the book of Acts. May we remember that the Spirit blows where and when He wills. May we pray expectantly and then trust Your sovereign will and way. May we never resist Your Holy Spirit.

    Come, Holy Spirit.

    O God our Father and Jesus the Son, be gracious to us, send Your Spirit to us.
    Your glorious Gospel comes not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit.
    We confess we have no power in and of ourselves.
    We are in desperate need of Your Holy Spirit.
    You have told us to ask for Your Spirit, so we come boldly to Your throne to ask for what You alone can provide.
    Send Your Holy Spirit to us from on high, so, like the disciples, we might proclaim Your Gospel in power, in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.
    Holy Spirit, fall upon those who hear our words, as many as have been ordained to eternal life.

    Come, Holy Spirit.

    Holy Spirit, keep reminding us that though we should and must prepare and do all we can to ready ourselves to proclaim Your Word, the Gospel of Christ must go out not in word only, but in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance.

    Your Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Yet how often do we not rely on that same Gospel power when we speak to others? We confess we so often rely on our own cleverness and intellect. We confess we are tempted to maneuver and manipulate. Our own efforts, however learned, however polished, can never birth a child into the Kingdom of God.

    I Corinthians 4:20 For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.

    Paul himself recognized this:

    I Corinthians 2:1  And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2  For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3  And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4  and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5  that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

    Forgive us, Lord. Forgive us, Holy Spirit, for grieving You. How can we expect to speak of the Lord Christ with boldness and much assurance unless Your Spirit is empowering us to do so. O, how foolish of us, not to ask for heavenly supplies when we engage in heavenly work! Forgive us, Lord God.

    When we work in our own power, we may very well get decisions for Christ, but we will not get conversions. Guard us, O Lord, in this. Protect us. Stop our mouths as soon as we begin to speak in our own flesh rather than by Your Spirit. Your Spirit alone can breathe life into the dry bones. Your Spirit alone can translate souls from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Your Son.

    Come, Holy Spirit.

    O God our Father and Jesus the Son, be gracious to us, send Your Spirit to us.
    Your glorious Gospel comes not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit.
    We confess we have no power in and of ourselves.
    We are in desperate need of Your Holy Spirit.
    You have told us to ask for Your Spirit, so we come boldly to Your throne to ask for what You alone can provide.
    Send Your Holy Spirit to us from on high, so, like Paul, we might proclaim Your Gospel in power, in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.
    Holy Spirit, fall upon those who hear our words, as many as have been ordained to eternal life.

    Come, Holy Spirit.

    O great God, have mercy on us,  for Jesus' sake, for without You, we can do nothing.

    Brothers and sisters, please add your PRAYERS for God's Holy Spirit to fall fresh upon us and those who hear us.

  • May we gather as one man to hear Your Word (Nehemiah 8)

    I've previously written about my concern for Christians to be holy in doctrine and behavior and along with that our need to be united together in Christ (e.g. - please see here and here). The only true unity we have comes through the Holy Spirit, the Word of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ; I've expressed my deep concern about our need to be rooted in and united in the Gospel.

    I've been chewing on the book of Nehemiah for a while now here as well as on my other blog (please see here for the links to those posts). I would like us to consider Nehemiah 8 and 9, specifically to focus on and reflect on the centrality of the Word of God we see there and pray God might give us a similar passion for His Word in our own lives, our congregations and the life of the Church as a whole. The purpose of this website is to be praying for revival in the Church. All the true revivals of religion have had associated with them a return to Biblical preaching. Some might say the preaching spurs the revival; others might say the revival spurs the preaching, but regardless, Biblical preaching is central to any true revival of Christian religion.

    I would ask you to read through Nehemiah 8 and 9 on your own and reflect on the emphasis on the Word of God we see there and ask yourself:

    How central is the Word of God in my own life?
    How central is the Word of God in the life of my congregation?
    How central is the Word of God in the Church as a whole?

    Today I would like us to look at just the first few verses of Nehemiah 8, and D.V., I hope to continue on with more from these chapters in coming days.


    Nehemiah 8:1  And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the LORD had commanded Israel. 2  So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. 3  And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand...

    Holy Father, Son and Spirit,

    We see your people gathering together as one man here. What were they doing?

    They were asking for the Word of God to be read! Their leaders read from the Word of God! They were listening to the Word of God! They listened to Your Word for hours on end. How wonderful! How often does that happen in our churches today?

    We confess how so many of our activities in our own lives and in the lives of our churches revolve around any and all things but the Word of God. We confess we will come together and gather for hours for so many other activities, not that they are all bad in and of themselves, but how pitifully little time do sit (stand) and listen to Your Word being read and taught...particularly when we come together in Your Name in our church meetings. How often do we ask to have the Word of God read? Really? How often do we do so?

    Forgive us, Lord God, for our attitude toward You and Your Word. Be merciful to us for Jesus' sake.
    To whom shall we go? You alone have the words of life!
    May we gather as one man to hear Your Word, O Lord God!

    We confess that we do not have a hunger for the Word of God like we should. We are Your children, born of and filled with Your Holy Spirit. We certainly ought to hunger and thirst for the sincere milk of Your Word. Forgive us, Lord God, for we hunger and thirst for so many other things but Your pure Word. Be merciful to us for Jesus' sake. We ask for so many things to be taught in our churches, but very often they are not really meaty, they are not truly centered in the Word of God and on Jesus Christ and the Gospel and not seeking to bring You glory first and foremost. We know this is a supernatural hunger You alone can impart. Our sinful hearts are hungry and thirsty for all else but the true Bread from heaven and the living Water. We are too easily satisfied. We are too easily deceived. Make us hungry and thirsty for You and Your Word, O Bread of Life. Help us to be satisfied with nothing less than the pure preaching of Your Word in our pulpits and the teaching of Your Word in our Sunday School classes. Yes, we certainly may use resources from human teachers and preachers, but guide us so we are not deceived as we choose those tools. There are many teachers out there who are not really firmly rooted in Your Word. Please give us discernment. Help us not to settle for second best.

    Forgive us, Lord God, for our attitude toward You and Your Word. Be merciful to us for Jesus' sake.
    To whom shall we go? You alone have the words of life!
    May we gather as one man to hear Your Word, O Lord God!

    We confess how many of our preaching and teaching services today revolve around any and all things but the Word of God. Forgive us, Lord God. Be merciful to us for Jesus' sake. We have been deceived into thinking that we must attract the world and that the best way to do that is to minimize the Word of God or even jettison the Word of God altogether. Forgive us, O Lord. Your Word must be kept central at all times. You are only honored as Your Word is kept in its rightful place. Yes, we should be all things to all peoples in one sense; we should connect with the cultures in which we live, we can use technology as an aid and so on, but it is clear that You will never bless us if we try to cater to the world rather than lifting up Your Word and making Christ preeminent. Only through the clear preaching of the Word is Jesus Christ lifted up. Anytime we try to compromise with and yoke ourselves to the world and follow the world's ways You will never be lifted up and exalted and glorified as You ought. We do not wage war as the world does. We cannot allow the world to dictate to us what to preach or how to preach. We must always be led by Your Holy Spirit for He is our teacher and guide. He alone will lead us into all truth. He alone will help us to glorify the Lord Christ and You, our Father.

    Forgive us, Lord God, for our attitude toward You and Your Word. Be merciful to us for Jesus' sake.
    To whom shall we go? You alone have the words of life!
    May we gather as one man to hear Your Word, O Lord God!

    Because we are not of the world, Your Gospel message will not be attractive to most. The cross is an offense. The Rock is a stumbling stone. We must trust that when Jesus Christ is lifted up faithfully, You will draw Your sheep to Yourself, Good Shepherd. Your Holy Spirit will work through the faithful preaching of Your Word to draw men and women and boys and girls to You. We are not to seek decisions but rather genuine conversions through Your Holy Spirit. All the efforts and works of men can never accomplish that work in the souls of men. Never!

    Forgive us, Lord God, for our attitude toward You and Your Word. Be merciful to us for Jesus' sake.
    To whom shall we go? You alone have the words of life!
    May we gather as one man to hear Your Word, O Lord God!

    May we not be concerned about being like the world and imitating the world to increase our numbers or our esteem in the world. Strengthen us so we may we not grow weary in well doing, but continue to sow seed, to preach the Word, knowing that in due time we will reap. May we follow in the steps of our Savior Himself and the early Church who continued to preach Your Word, the Gospel of repentance and remission of sins, without reservation and with great joy no matter the cost to them. Keep us rooted and established in apostolic doctrine so we might not be carried about by every wind of doctrine but be equipped to preach the Word of God faithfully. May we put aside our concern for worldly reputation and remain faithful to Your calling to guard the Gospel and preach the Word in season and out of season, no matter how many may leave our churches because of that. The people of God, those born of the Spirit of God, will be satisfied with nothing less but the pure Word of God. Help us to trust You in that. Yes, we may see many leave and go to other places and feed there, but they will not truly be fed. We mourn for them, we will be sad, and we do pray for those other churches, but so be it. As for us, let us never compromise, let us never water down the pure milk of Your Word. Never! Send Your Spirit from on high to anoint and fill us so we might be steadfast to You and speak Your Word with boldness and assurance so we might be Your witnesses to the ends of the earth as You have commanded us. Send Your Spirit to continue to encourage us and stay faithful and true to the preaching of Your Word regardless of what we may see. Even if all leave us, let us never leave off preaching Your Word faithfully.

    Forgive us, Lord God, for our attitude toward You and Your Word. Be merciful to us for Jesus' sake.
    To whom shall we go? You alone have the words of life!
    May we gather as one man to hear Your Word, O Lord God!

    If Your Church is not rightly rooted in the Your Word, what do we have? What hope do we have? What message do we have to a lost world? What power do we have? If we are Your people, we ought to be rooted in Your words. Forgive us, Lord God, that we make so many other things central to our lives and to our churches rather than Your Word. Forgive us for making other things a priority rather than Your Word. Give us a renewed hunger and thirst to preach and teach and hear Your Word once again. Give us an appetite and a love for You and Your Word so we might not be satisfied with lesser things.

    Forgive us, Lord God, for our attitude toward You and Your Word. Be merciful to us for Jesus' sake.
    To whom shall we go? You alone have the words of life!
    May we gather as one man to hear Your Word, O Lord God!

    Please add your prayers as the Holy Spirit leads you.

tent_of_meeting

"he called it the tent of meeting..."

I am burdened to pray to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for the reformation and reviving of Christ's church.

The phrase tent of meeting comes from Exodus 33:7: Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp.

This site is devoted to God first and foremost. In all that is done here, my prayer is that God is glorified and His Name magnified and Christ and Him crucified is lifted up so He might be preeminent and God might receive all the praise, honor and glory due His Holy Name. All who have come to a saving knowledge of our Father by grace through faith in the all-sufficient sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ are welcome to enter this tent of meeting to seek the Lord.

This blog is a place for all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ to come and seek God's face for revival. My intention is for this tent of meeting to be a holy place where we can enter into PRAYER together to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit leads you, please enter into prayer either here (think of "comments" as prayers) or on your own.

Habakkuk 3:2 O LORD, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O LORD, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.

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