This prayer is based on a portion of John Drear’s book, entitled, Put Down Your Sword: Answering the Gospel Call of Creative Nonviolence, (Grand Rapids: William Eerdmans, 2008), pp. 18-19.
Lord Jesus the Christ,
In light of praise, of mourning, of intercession, set our minds on the…
Resurrection–the vindication of nonviolence over violence–amid our bloody history proves that active nonviolence, steadfast service, and public peacemaking are the will of Your Father. You, Jesus, committed to civil disobedience when you rose from the dead. Roman soldiers guarded the tomb to make sure you stayed dead, but once again, you broke the imperial laws of death.
You, O nonviolent Jesus, have risen above injustice, poverty, and violence. You have risen despite war. Executed yourself, and rose from the death penalty. You have risen beyond the power of nuclear weapons, racism, sexism, starvation, global warming, and violence itself. You have risen above the culture of death.
You call us to bold announcement–You call us to prove it. We prove it with the boldness of our own lives, our nonviolent resistance to the forces of death.
Which is to say, we must share the peacemaking life with You. We must confront death and its metaphors. For we too are headed for resurrection–our survival is already guaranteed. We’re free to live beyond the culture of death. We’re free to reject violence and poverty and war.
You allow us to prove we’re resurrection people by giving us the courage to put down our swords and beat them into plowshares. By loving our enemies. By carrying on your work of nonviolent resistance against injustice. By speaking out, and by persisting despite the obstacles, the opposition, the apparent futility, knowing that the outcome, in God’s hands, is assured.
We’re free to live life to the full now, knowing that eternal life has already begun. We’re free to resist the forces of death, renounce fear, and refuse to give in to despair.
This is a timely message and we are led to share with all --let us turn our thoughts to the right direction, exercise our faith and expect God!
Press Through
SCRIPTURE
“Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7, AMP)
TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria
In Mark chapter five, there was a woman who had been sick for twelve years. The doctors gave her no hope. But she heard that Jesus was passing through her town. Something deep down on the inside was saying, “This is your season. This is your time to get well.” In the natural, when she saw all the people around Him, she thought, “I’ll never get to Him. It’s so crowded and I’m weak.” She almost missed her season. But instead of dwelling on those negative thoughts, instead of looking at her situation, she started reminding herself, “If I can just get to Jesus, I will be whole.” She made the choice to turn her thoughts in the right direction and was empowered to take a leap of faith. She pressed through the crowd until she got just close enough to touch the edge of Jesus’ robe. Instantly, she was made whole.
Jesus said in Mark 5:34, “Daughter, your faith has made you well.” Notice it’s our faith that activates God’s power. We have to press through our thoughts, press through our circumstances, press through the crowd and obstacles until we touch Him.
Today, with every step you take, God is drawing closer to you. He’ll meet your faith with His miraculous power so you can embrace the victory He has waiting for you!
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
Heavenly Father, I come to You today with an open and humble heart. I ask You to fill me with Your strength, peace and joy so that I can press through to victory today. Show me the good plan You have for me. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Our Father, we thank You for another beautiful day that You have made. We thank You because this day is different than all of the other days that You have made, in fact, all the days of our lives we have never seen one day repeated, great is Thy faithfulness!!! We thank You Lord for our eyes, our ears, our nose, our hands, our fingers, our legs, our feet, our toes, our mouth, our tongue, the skin on our bodies! Lord, there is so much we often take for granted, but God this morning we say, "thank You!" We thank You Lord because we are beautifully and wonderfully made, marvelous are Your works! We are a blessed people and it's all because of Your unconditional love to us. We messed up yesterday, but still Lord You love us. We disobeyed You, but still Lord You love us. We ignored You and took You for granted, but still Lord You love us, thank You Lord for Your grace, Your unmerited favor to us. We shout out hallelujah to Your excellent Name! God, help us to remember throughout this day how special we are because we belong to the Most High God! Again we say, thank You Lord for this day filled with Your unconditional love to us. Please Lord remember Mother Shirley Hunter in Jesus Name, Amen.
O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Thy Name in all the earth! We praise You God for this another day that You have blessed us to see. We praise You Lord because from the rising of the sun until the going down of the same, Your Name is to be praised! We thank You Lord for Your loving kindness and tender mercy. We thank You God for the precious blood of Jesus always covering us and therefore justifying us. We thank You God because when You look at us, You look at us through the blood of Jesus and it becomes not about us, but all about Him. God, help us to understand, Jesus paid it all and all to Him we owe. Help us to really know, we're blessed because of the presence of Jesus in our lives. This morning we're praying one for another, asking that You will help us to remember the blood of Jesus will never lose it's power. If difficulty comes today give us the strength to not take over, but instead remember to use the Name which is above every name and shout out Jesus! We lift Demetrius Johnson to You, asking that You will move mightily in his situation, give him the courage to lift up his head and trust the King of Glory to come in. Help him to know it's not about lawyers or judges, but it's all about the Lord our God is strong and mighty and mighty in battle. It's a good day today and we thank You Lord in advance for the victory today, in Jesus Name, Amen.
The other night I went to dinner with my friends George, Alisha and their two young daughters. As we sat there in Soup Plantation and talked and enjoyed our meals Zolah, two years old stood up on her seat and entertained us, herself and others around. There was another girl perhaps her same age who sat in the booth behind us. She also stood up. At one point the two girls faced each other. One Black one Filipino. Face to face, eye to eye. They looked at each other with such beautiful awe, as if they said to themselves, "Wow, there is God, right there, inside of her." They were both shy about speaking but both held their gaze on the other as if they saw the awesome invisible energy that connects us all.
What if we all looked at each other as if we knew, as if we could see God inside of the other? What if we remembered every day that Jesus died on the cross for us all? What if we thought about ways that we have wronged someone before we judge others?
Also, what if we remembered to be kind to ourselves when we mess up? God is kind and forgiving, generous and merciful. But we beat up on ourselves worse than anyone ever will.
Remember today to love yourself. Love everyone you see and think about today. See God in everyone you meet.
Lord, we thank You for another beautiful day that You have made. We thank You for our life, our health and strength. We thank You Lord for designing us beautifully, wonderfully and perfect just the way You want us. You have given us everything we need to be all that You've created us to be, we pray that You will help us to accept who we are and walk in our greatness. We're great because greater are You Who lives in us, than he that lives in the world. We're great because nobody else can be who You've created us to be, nobody else can do what You've created us to do and nobody else can beat us being who we are in You. We are not failures, we are not defeated, we are not damaged goods! We are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus Who loves us! Today we will smile, we will laugh, we will sing, we will rejoice, we will have peace and display the joy of the Lord. It's a good day today and we will let nothing separate us from Your love. We will let nothing pull us down, count us out or destroy our joy. This is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it, no matter what. We're determined to let the world see You in us and we will look for You in all we come in contact with, in Jesus Name, Amen.
We worship Christ our Lord! We worship Christ our Lord! We lift our hands to Him today, we worship Christ our Lord! Thank You Lord for this another day that You have blessed us to see. We thank You Lord for another chance to say yes to Your will. We thank You Lord for supplying all of our need and for making a way for us to have a lot of what we desire. We thank You Lord for our family, friends and enemies too! God, You've been so good to us, You are good to us and because You're faithful, we thank You in advance for continuing to be good to us. Lord, help us to see, today is the best day to be about Your business. Today is the best day to give love one to another. Today is the best day to smile where frowns seem to be dominating. Today is the best day to trust You in perceived to be difficult situations. Today is the best day to let go of the past and press forward in to the great today that You have made just for us. God, we're excited about today and we will let nothing distract us or cause us to doubt, You made this day, so there is nothing about this day that You cannot handle. We will trust You Lord, today, in Jesus Name, Amen.
Lord, for this day filled with Your goodness, kindness, mercy and grace, we say thank You. We thank You for always looking out for us. You're always supplying our every need. You're always protecting us from dangers seen and unseen. You're always giving Your unconditional love to us. We thank You God because You keep on being God and You never get tired of being Who You are; And, You're always proving Your grace is sufficient. Help us this day to lean not to our own understanding, but in all our ways acknowledge You first, believing You will direct our paths. Give us the wisdom to know our thoughts are not Your thoughts and neither are our plans Your plan and it's OK that we not understand it all, but help us to trust the fact that You do all things well, and our attempt to help You in any way will prolong us saying, by faith, it is well with my soul! It's a good day to give thanks unto You, so we offer praise to You, Hallelujah Jesus! We thank You in advance for the victory today, in Jesus Name, Amen.
We spend so much time trying to teach our children to be kind to others, but somewhere along the line we neglected ourselves. Really, let's take some time today not to fix anything, but to listen. Listen to the mean chatter that goes on inside of our heads about ourselves. Honestly, if our friends said half of the things to us that we say about ourselves, we wouldn't have them as friends.
So what do we do? Well, as for me, I pray. A lot. I know that there is no place I can be that God is not. There is no utterance of my heart He can't hear. When I don't feel strong enough to be kind to myself, He is kind to me. God is so good to me. So good.
For every way I criticize myself, God is there to comfort and correct me. My God shows up for me as everything I need. Father, Mother, friend, counselor, teacher. When I turn left and should have turned right, I can hear God's voice inside of me as Spirit say lovingly, "No dear, turn the other way."
My own self talk is a different story sometimes. "You are so stupid. Right! Right! Can't you remember to turn right?!" That's not God. Not my father.
Today, listen to God's voice. The voice that loves you. Let us learn from God how to speak to ourselves.
Our Father, God we come right now with aspecial prayer requestfor Madeline Paul. God, You made her and You know all about her pain, her struggles and her condition, so we ask right now in theName of Jesusfor a mighty move from You! We thank You Lord because she knows that she is Yours and she loves and appreciates Your love, goodness, kindness, mercy and grace. We know Father that there is nothing too hard for You to do, so we thank You in advance for her healing and for granting herpeace that surpasses all understanding. Give her strength to continue to sing the song that You have placed within her and as she sings, let her continue to be reminded how great is her God! We give You praise, in Jesus Name, Amen.
O Lord, our God, how excellent is Thy Name in all the earth! We thank You Lord for another perfect day that You have created. And, we thank You for blessing us to still be here. We're still here to praise Your Name! We're still here to worship and adore You. We're still here to give love one to another. We're still here to be obedient to You. We're still here to live out our purpose and glorify You. Thank You Father for another chance to say yes to Your will. We're praying one for another, asking that You will give us the courage to walk past situations that have the potential of starting trouble or hurting someone. Give us the strength to share peace where there is confusion and love everywhere we go. Help us to know our attitude determines our altitude and our words are powerful---so help us to think no evil and let our thoughts be renewed by Your Word. Help us to speak no evil and let our speech be seasoned with Your grace. We thank You Lord in advance for this great day and we say by faith, something good will happen to us and for us today, in Jesus Name, Amen.
It's another days journey and we're glad about it! We have our health and strength and we're glad about it! You have provided food, clothing and shelter and we're glad about it. God we're glad, we're happy, we're blessed to be alive! We thank You God because we know it is in You that we live, we move and have our being and all that we are, it's because of You. Help us to embrace the fact that, greater are You Who lives in us than he that lives in the world; And, because You live in us we may be pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed! And absolutely nothing can separated us from Your love, so we thank You Lord for Your unconditional love to us every second, minute and hour of the day. God, give us the courage to step out on faith and be who we are because of You--we are great and we shall go forth in greatness! We will smile more and complain less. We will glorify You in all we say, do and think. Thank You Lord for the victory today, we give You praise, in Jesus Name, Amen
I will speak to everyone as if I am speaking to God
I will give my word to everyone as if I am giving my word to God
I will go to work and behave at work as if I am working for God
Today I will forgive everyone as God forgives me
I will do business with everyone as if I am doing business with God
I will speak about everyone as if I am speaking about God
These are words I try to live up to. I fail, but I sure do learn a lot about myself and about the love God has for me in the process. What if we all at least tried to live up to this. We will fail and when we do, let's be generous with ourselves, get back up and try again.
Lord, You are good and Your mercy endures forever! We worship You, hallelujah, hallelujah, we worship You for Who You are! You are good all the time, all the time You are good! We thank You Lord for another beautiful day that You woke us this morning to see. We may be a little sluggish from the weekend and some of us may want to stay in bed, but God we're grateful for the job that You have blessed us with, so we won't complain. God, it's a good day today and we will rejoice and be glad in it. We thank You for strength to not be distracted by the conniving tricks of the evil one. We thank You for courage to trust You in all things today, not leaning to our own understanding but in everything we will talk to You about it--And God, we believe Your Word is true, You will direct our path. We ask that You will build a hedge of protection all around us, our family and friends and guard our hearts against the attack of the enemy. Keep us safe and grant traveling grace, heal disease stricken bodies and build up wounded spirits. We thank You Lord that in all things we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus Who loves us, in Jesus Name, Amen.
Praise Your Name Lord Jesus. Praise Your Name Lord Jesus. You're our rock, You're our fortress. You're our deliverer. In You will we trust! Thank You Lord for being our all in all. We thank You Lord because there has never been a time that You let us down, deserted us, forgot about us or ignored us. We thank You Lord because You are true to Your Word and because You're faithful, we can always count on You. We pray one for another, asking You to help us let go and trust You. Help us let go of everything that's causing us to worry, everything that's causing us to be sad, everything that's causing us to fear --help us to know we bare needless pains all because we don't take everything to You in prayer and leave it with You. We thank You Lord because You created this day and since You're great enough to create this day, we will trust that You can handle anything that comes with this day. It's a good day today and we will rejoice and be glad throughout this day, no matter what, in Jesus Name, Amen.
Good morning Most High God! We are excited to know that You are God all by Yourself and You reign forever! We thank You Lord for another beautiful day that You have made and for blessing us to still be here. We're still here to glorify Your Name; we're still here to love one another; we're still here to smile to brighten someones day; we're still here to pray one for another. Help us this day to speak words that will bring glory to Your Name and stay away from conversations that confuse the world of Who we represent. Lord, we thank You for the gift that You have placed within all of us and we ask that You will stir up that gift and give us the courage to use it for Your glory. God, Your desire is that none be lost, but all come in to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ--we are saved to serve Jesus everywhere we go, help us to remember we serve Jesus by allowing Him to shine in all that we say and do. Let us not be slack in our God-given privilege today to let Jesus shine everywhere we go and trust that You will draw all men, women, boys and girls to You. We pray a special prayer for little Syd, God touch and heal her body. We also lift unto You Greg Robinson, Arvis Donaldson, and Aldina Washington (mother Shirley Hunter). We thank you and give You praise in advance for a victorious day today, in Jesus Name, Amen.
God we thank You for another beautiful day. We thank You for the blessing and privilege to talk to You any time we want; You're never busy, You never have an attitude or choose to ignore us, You're never tired and You're never fickle, but You are always available to hear from us. You're always listening and answering our prayers. Father, knowing You're always available to us, we're praying that it will become just as important to us that we always be available for You to use us according to Your plan. We're praying that we always be available to give glory to You; That we never get too busy to praise You or too tired to give love to our fellowman. Bless us and keep us throughout this day and give us the courage to refuse to act out of character, refuse to let anyone cause us to get angry or refuse to seek vengeance, but in everything give thanks to You, knowing this is Your will in Christ Jesus. We give You praise in advance for the many victories today, in Jesus Name, Amen.
Sometimes we wonder, "What did I do to deserve this?" or "Why did God have to do this to me?"
Here is a wonderful explanation! A daughter is telling her Mother how everything is going wrong, she's failing algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her and her best friend is moving away.
Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says, "Absolutely Mom, I love your cake."
"Here, have some cooking oil," her Mother offers. "Yuck" says her daughter. "How about a couple raw eggs?" "Gross, Mom!" "Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?" "Mom, those are all yucky!"
To which the mother replies: "Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake! "
God works the same way. Many times we wonder why He would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good! We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful!
God is crazy about you. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning. Whenever you want to talk, He'll listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, and He chose your heart
Lord, we thank You for this beautiful day we call, Valentines Day. We thank You for the love in our lives, but most importantly we thank You for the greatest love of all; "For greater love has no man than this, that a man would lay down his life for a friend."Thank You Lord for being the Gift that keeps right on giving. Thank You for loving us no matter what. Thank You for continuing to speak to us even when we're not speaking to You. Thank You for being our greatest protector, greatest provider, greatest lover, greatest friend, the fact of the matter is, You are the best thing that ever happened to us and we thank You for choosing us to be Your friend. God, we pray Your blessings on each eye that will read this prayer, praying whatever our love life situation is, that we always know we have already experienced the greatest love of all and we can testify to the fact that, there is none like You! No one else who can touch our hearts like You do. We give up searching for we already know, there is NONE like You! Lord, please remember Shern Bonner. We give You praise for this beautiful day and we thank You in advance for victory and blessings, in Jesus Name, Amen.
My prayer for this day God will save all your unsave love ones friend and those who dont know, and we show love and let your light shine that man might see the love of God in us, Blessing and God favor for all of you in Jesus name Amen. Rember prayer change thing and if you call on the name of the Lord he will answer all of your prayer just trust him/ God bless you and your ministry. your sister in the gospel Minister Bonnie Thompson
Lord, we thank You for blessing us to see today, a day that we have never seen before. God, we are amazed at how truly awesome, how truly faithful, how truly loving, how truly forgiving, how truly merciful You are; For, all the days of our life You have remained the same, but yet You have provided something different, something new in our lives each day of our lives---great is Thy faithfulness!! We pray one for another, asking You to give us the strength to not grow weary in well doing and give us the courage to walk by faith believing because You said it, it's done in Jesus Name. Help us to know in order to stand on Your Word and expect Your promises, we must study Your Word and talk to You all the time about everything and You promised to direct our path. God, we want everything You have for us, so give us the wisdom to get in position for Your blessings and walk like we are children of the most high God. This is the day that You have made and we are expecting the great, so we offer praise to You now and we will continue to rejoice and be glad throughout this day, in Jesus Name, Amen.
Hallelujah! Lord, we praise You! Lord, we love You! Lord, we adore You! Lord, we worship You! Thank You Lord for blessing us to see another beautiful day. It's raining outside, but we won't complain because You made the rain; We will rejoice and be glad in this rainy day! Lord, we're praying one for another, some are sick, some are troubled, some are confused, some are struggling, some are lonely, some are preparing to make a decision, some are searching for a job and some can't think of anything to be concerned about ---Father, whatever our situations are right now, we're praying for a touch from You. Touch us Lord and give us the wisdom to trust You with all our heart and lean not to our own understanding, but in everything acknowledge You first and believe You will direct our path. Lord, help us to remember Your track record in our lives, help us to remember there has never been a time You have not been available to us. Help us to remember the times we messed up, where the times we did not recognize Your presence in our lives. Thank You Jesus for Your ever presence in our lives and we will trust You in all things, knowing greater are You Who lives in us, then he that lives in the world. We praise and thank You in advance for the victory today, in Jesus Name, Amen.
Lord, we thank You for the blessing and privilege of being a part of this beautiful day that You have created. God, yesterday we shed tears, we laughed, we made bad decisions, we made good choices, we experienced pain in our body, we were hurt, we experienced Your peace--there are so many things about yesterday that we may or may not understand, but the one thing we know for sure is that You kept us through it all. We know we made it through yesterday because You were right there with us, loving us, protecting us, comforting us, forgiving us, guiding us, correcting us---You were there being all that You are to us, so we praise You for Your ever presence in our lives. God we thank You because just as You were there yesterday, You will be with us today, so we purpose in our hearts right now to live this day knowing You're with us. We will rejoice and be glad in this day because everywhere we go, Greater is He with us and because of You we can shout the victory in advance. Hallelujah Jesus! We are more than conquerors, we are favored by the Most High God! It's a great day today and we will expect the great, in Jesus Name, Amen.
We are all ministers of God's love. Each one of us has a testimony to give. Weather we open our mouths to speak it or not we are sharing our story every day. We are speaking with our walk, talk, love, fear, kindness, generosity, selfishness, shame, happiness, joy, misery. We are always talking. Someone is always listening. Always.
That moment on our jobs when least feel like being there, someone is watching. The man living on the street we take time to help, someone is listening. That encouraging word we give, the songs we sing, the toes we step on, someone knows. We will fail sometimes to do what is right. We fail often. The point is not to wallow in the failure. The point is to remember to clean up where we messed and keep moving. Because someone is watching that too. Someone is inspired by the way we messed up and bothered to apologize, cared enough to change, worked to make it better. Someone is always listening. What are you saying?
Lord, we thank and praise You for another beautiful day that You have made and for blessing us to still be here. We thank You for Your goodness, kindness, mercy, grace and faithfulness, and we purpose in our hearts right now to bless Your Name throughout this day and keep Your praise in our mouth. God, this morning we just want to say thank You for choosing us. Thank You for using us. Thank You for calling us Your own. Thank You for giving us gifts and talents to glorify Your Name. Thank You for making sure goodness and mercy is following us everywhere we go and for promising to never leave us alone. Lord, we don't know what this day holds, but we are so grateful that You've got us covered and there is nothing about this day that You cannot handle. So God, we begin this day with our hands lifted up, thanking, praising and worshiping You and we pray that You will give us the strength to keep them lifted up and the courage to trust You to take care of us in all circumstances and situations this day brings. Today is a good day and we thank You in advance for all the great things we will encounter all because we belong to the Most High God. We give You praise in advance for the victory today, in Jesus Name, Amen.
Our Father, we thank You for blessing us to see another beautiful day that You have created. We thank You for food, clothing, shelter, transportation, air to breathe, family and friends; Too often we take these things for granted, expecting them to always be available to us and in our busyness, we sometimes forget to say thank You. But, this morning we want to say thank You for every good and perfect gift, for we know they come from You. We're praying one for another, asking that You will bless each one with the blessings they're standing in the need of. We're praying for our family and friends who are sick, for the ones who the doctors are shaking their heads--God we have seen You prove You have the final say so over and over again, so we're asking for a mighty move from You, and God we're so thankful that You already know all of their names. Lord, we thank You in advance for a wonderful day today, a day in which we will be productive, we will smile, we will give love, we will show patience, we will speak positive words and we will rejoice and be glad in this day, in Jesus Name, Amen.
Good morning Lord! We thank You for opening our eyes to a brand new day, laced with new mercy and seasoned with Your love to us. God, we thank You for keeping us safe, for leading, guiding and directing our path. We thank You for the mind to worship and praise You, for we know without You we can do nothing, but with You we can do all things through Christ Who strengthens us. Lord, You're good and Your mercy endures forever and for this we give You praise! Father, there are so many things we can complain about, everywhere we look there is something we don't like or can't understand --sickness, the economy, gas prices--but today before we complain about anything, help us to remember to think things over and recognize all of our good days far outweigh our bad days, and instead of complaining, help us to smile and give You praise. Help us to rejoice in the Lord and in everything give thanks to You, remembering it's mighty nice to be on the Lord's side and even better to know You're with us always, no matter what. Lord, we thank You in advance for the victory over every circumstance and situation that comes our way this day, we give You praise, in Jesus Name, Amen.
Oh Lord, we praise You! Oh Lord, we praise You! We thank You Lord for another beautifulMonday morning. We thank You for Your goodness, kindness, mercy and grace, for we recognize there is no way we would have made it this far without You. We thank You Lord for creating us with a purpose and for giving us the authority to use our gifts and talents for Your glory. God, we thank You for being the only constant in our lives, for we know if it had not been for Your faithfulness, when people and situations changed we would have grown weary and quit; But, You were right there securing us with Your peace, thank You Lord. We love You Lord and we thank You for always providing exactly what we need at the very moment we need it most. Help us this day to remember Your past record in our lives and based on what we know about You, give us the strength to allow You to lead, guide and direct our paths. Help us to expect greater blessings, greater miracles, greater healing and greater provision, because GREATER is in us, thank You Jesus! We give You praise for this beautiful day, give us the strength to let nothing distract us from rejoicing and being glad throughout this day, we give You praise, in Jesus Name, Amen.
Lord, we thank You for another beautiful day that You have made. We thank You for keeping us throughout the night and touching us with Your love this morning. We're praying one for another, specifically lifting Madeline Paul to You, asking that You will heal her body, renew her strength and grant her peace. God, You know all about her, so we ask that You will move mightily in her situation. Lord there are many times in our lives that circumstances and situations caused us to say, "all we can do is pray", help us to know the best thing we can do in all situations is pray. Let us remember You have given us the privilege to approach Your throne of grace boldly and expect You to help in our time of need. The songwriter said, "Oh what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pains we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer" --God we don't want to forfeit any peace or bear any needless pain, so we're casting all our cares to You, believing You can and You will. Give us the courage to let go of all things that are distracting us from moving forward and allow You to have Your way in our lives. God, we want to trust You with our past, our present and our future for You are the Greatest and You are Greater than all things present and all things to come, so we will trust You in all things. You are the source of our strength and we believe You, we give You praise, in Jesus Name, Amen.
Oh Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Thy Name in all the earth! There is none like You Lord, no one else can touch our hearts like You do, we have searched and searched and have come to the conclusion that there is none like You. You are good, You are mighty, You are awesome, You are loving, You are kind, You are compassionate, You are faithful, You are true, You are all sufficient--God we could go on and on trying to describe You and still wouldn't be able to completely describe Who You are to us, so we'll just say, thank You for being our All in ALL! Father, we're praying one for another, asking that You will draw each one closer to You and help us to always know, in every circumstance and situation You're always available. Help us to know at no time should we feel like we're alone, at no time should we feel like we have to figure things out for ourselves, but in all things all the time know You're always with us and You're happy to lead, guide, protect, direct, correct, and love us all the way through all things, while working all things together for our good. Lord remember the special request for our fellow alumni. We love You Lord, we praise You, we glorify You, we worship and adore You and we will continue to rejoice and be glad in this day, in Jesus Name, Amen.
Phoebe Macon
A Prayer of Nonviolence and Peace, in honor of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Holiday
This prayer is based on a portion of John Drear’s book, entitled, Put Down Your Sword: Answering the Gospel Call of Creative Nonviolence, (Grand Rapids: William Eerdmans, 2008), pp. 18-19.
In light of praise, of mourning, of intercession, set our minds on the…
Resurrection–the vindication of nonviolence over violence–amid our bloody history proves that active nonviolence, steadfast service, and public peacemaking are the will of Your Father. You, Jesus, committed to civil disobedience when you rose from the dead. Roman soldiers guarded the tomb to make sure you stayed dead, but once again, you broke the imperial laws of death.
You, O nonviolent Jesus, have risen above injustice, poverty, and violence. You have risen despite war. Executed yourself, and rose from the death penalty. You have risen beyond the power of nuclear weapons, racism, sexism, starvation, global warming, and violence itself. You have risen above the culture of death.
You call us to bold announcement–You call us to prove it. We prove it with the boldness of our own lives, our nonviolent resistance to the forces of death.
Which is to say, we must share the peacemaking life with You. We must confront death and its metaphors. For we too are headed for resurrection–our survival is already guaranteed. We’re free to live beyond the culture of death. We’re free to reject violence and poverty and war.
You allow us to prove we’re resurrection people by giving us the courage to put down our swords and beat them into plowshares. By loving our enemies. By carrying on your work of nonviolent resistance against injustice. By speaking out, and by persisting despite the obstacles, the opposition, the apparent futility, knowing that the outcome, in God’s hands, is assured.
We’re free to live life to the full now, knowing that eternal life has already begun. We’re free to resist the forces of death, renounce fear, and refuse to give in to despair.
We thank you; we thank you; we thank you.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Jan 17, 2011
Edmund Stevens
Amen!
Quote from Martin Luther King, Jr.
Without God, all of our efforts turn to ashes
and our sunrise into the darkest of nights.
Without him, life is a meaningless drama
in which the decisive scenes are missing.
(Martin Luther King Jr.)
Jan 17, 2011
Tawnette Fulton- Gilbert
AMEN!!!
GREAT POST PHOEBE AND ED. THANKS FOR SHARING.
EVERYONE HAVE A PEACEFUL AND SAFE DAY!!!
GOD BLESS
TAWNETTE
DR.MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
KEEPING THE DREAM ALIVE!!!
Jan 17, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
TUESDAY PRAYER AND INSPIRATION:
This is a timely message and we are led to share with all --let us turn our thoughts to the right direction, exercise our faith and expect God!
Press Through
SCRIPTURE
“Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you”
(Matthew 7:7, AMP)
TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria
In Mark chapter five, there was a woman who had been sick for twelve years. The doctors gave her no hope. But she heard that Jesus was passing through her town. Something deep down on the inside was saying, “This is your season. This is your time to get well.” In the natural, when she saw all the people around Him, she thought, “I’ll never get to Him. It’s so crowded and I’m weak.” She almost missed her season. But instead of dwelling on those negative thoughts, instead of looking at her situation, she started reminding herself, “If I can just get to Jesus, I will be whole.” She made the choice to turn her thoughts in the right direction and was empowered to take a leap of faith. She pressed through the crowd until she got just close enough to touch the edge of Jesus’ robe. Instantly, she was made whole.
Jesus said in Mark 5:34, “Daughter, your faith has made you well.” Notice it’s our faith that activates God’s power. We have to press through our thoughts, press through our circumstances, press through the crowd and obstacles until we touch Him.
Today, with every step you take, God is drawing closer to you. He’ll meet your faith with His miraculous power so you can embrace the victory He has waiting for you!
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
Heavenly Father, I come to You today with an open and humble heart. I ask You to fill me with Your strength, peace and joy so that I can press through to victory today. Show me the good plan You have for me. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
— Joel & Victoria Osteen
Bishop W. Williams
The Prayer Ministry
Jan 18, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
WEDNESDAY MORNING PRAYER:
Blessings,
Bishop Willie Williams
The Prayer Ministry
Jan 19, 2011
Jacquelyn Brown
THANK YOU FOR THE PRAYER!
Jacq. B.
Jan 19, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
THURSDAY MORNING PRAYER:
Blessings,
Bishop Willie Williams
The Prayer Ministry
Jan 20, 2011
Tawnette Fulton- Gilbert
AMEN!!!
THANK YOU FOR THE PRAYER!!!!!!!!!!
TAWNETTE
Jan 20, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
FRIDAY INSPIRATION:
What if we all looked at each other as if we knew, as if we could see God inside of the other? What if we remembered every day that Jesus died on the cross for us all? What if we thought about ways that we have wronged someone before we judge others?
Also, what if we remembered to be kind to ourselves when we mess up? God is kind and forgiving, generous and merciful. But we beat up on ourselves worse than anyone ever will.
Remember today to love yourself. Love everyone you see and think about today. See God in everyone you meet.
www.jahazainabu.com
Blessings,
Bishop Willie Williams
The Prayer Ministry
Jan 21, 2011
Phoebe Macon
What a Beautiful and Inspirational Story Brother Willie,
Thank You for sharing it with all of us .
God bless!!
Love and Blessings, Phoebe Macon c/o '75
Jan 22, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
MONDAY MORNING PRAYER:
Blessings,
Bishop Willie Williams
The Prayer Ministry
Jan 24, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
WEDNESDAY MORNING PRAYER:
Blessings,
Bishop Willie Williams
The Prayer Ministry
Jan 26, 2011
Tawnette Fulton- Gilbert
THANK YOU BISHOP WILLIE FOR THE SPIRIT FILLED PRAYER. I LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR DAILY PRAYERS. KEEP SPREADING THE WORD AND SAVING SOULS!!!
GOD BLESS
TAWNETTE
Jan 26, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
THANKS AND BLESSINGS. KEEP US COVERED IN PRAYER.
Bishop Willie
Jan 26, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
THURSDAY MORNING PRAYER:
Blessings,
Bishop Williams
The Prayer Ministry
Jan 27, 2011
Phoebe Macon
AMEN!!
THANK YOU BROTHER WILLIE FOR THE BEAUTIFUL PRAYER. IT IS MUCH NEEDED.
GOD BLESS YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUAL PRAYERS FOR ALL OF US ALUMNI !!
Love and Blessings, Phoebe Macon c/o '75
Jan 28, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
We spend so much time trying to teach our children to be kind to others, but somewhere along the line we neglected ourselves. Really, let's take some time today not to fix anything, but to listen. Listen to the mean chatter that goes on inside of our heads about ourselves. Honestly, if our friends said half of the things to us that we say about ourselves, we wouldn't have them as friends.
So what do we do? Well, as for me, I pray. A lot. I know that there is no place I can be that God is not. There is no utterance of my heart He can't hear. When I don't feel strong enough to be kind to myself, He is kind to me. God is so good to me. So good.
For every way I criticize myself, God is there to comfort and correct me. My God shows up for me as everything I need. Father, Mother, friend, counselor, teacher. When I turn left and should have turned right, I can hear God's voice inside of me as Spirit say lovingly, "No dear, turn the other way."
My own self talk is a different story sometimes. "You are so stupid. Right! Right! Can't you remember to turn right?!" That's not God. Not my father.
Today, listen to God's voice. The voice that loves you. Let us learn from God how to speak to ourselves.
Happy Friday everyone.
Bishop Willie Williams
The Prayer Ministry
Jan 28, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
Our Father, God we come right now with a special prayer request for Madeline Paul. God, You made her and You know all about her pain, her struggles and her condition, so we ask right now in the Name of Jesus for a mighty move from You! We thank You Lord because she knows that she is Yours and she loves and appreciates Your love, goodness, kindness, mercy and grace. We know Father that there is nothing too hard for You to do, so we thank You in advance for her healing and for granting her peace that surpasses all understanding. Give her strength to continue to sing the song that You have placed within her and as she sings, let her continue to be reminded how great is her God! We give You praise, in Jesus Name, Amen.
Jan 31, 2011
Phoebe Macon
Feb 1, 2011
Tawnette Fulton- Gilbert
AMEN!!!
MADELINE PAUL YOU ARE IN MY PRAYERS!!!
GOD BLESS
TAWNETTE
Feb 1, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
WEDNESDAY MORNING PRAYER:
Blessings,
Bishop Willie Williams
The Prayer Ministry
Feb 2, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
THURSDAY MORNING PRAYER:
It's another days journey and we're glad about it! We have our health and strength and we're glad about it! You have provided food, clothing and shelter and we're glad about it. God we're glad, we're happy, we're blessed to be alive! We thank You God because we know it is in You that we live, we move and have our being and all that we are, it's because of You. Help us to embrace the fact that, greater are You Who lives in us than he that lives in the world; And, because You live in us we may be pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed! And absolutely nothing can separated us from Your love, so we thank You Lord for Your unconditional love to us every second, minute and hour of the day. God, give us the courage to step out on faith and be who we are because of You--we are great and we shall go forth in greatness! We will smile more and complain less. We will glorify You in all we say, do and think. Thank You Lord for the victory today, we give You praise, in Jesus Name, Amen
Blessings,
Bishop Willie Williams
The Prayer Ministry
Feb 3, 2011
Tamara Johnson
Thanks for the prayer & prayers!
Love Tam
Feb 3, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
I will speak to everyone
as if I am speaking to God
I will give my word to everyone
as if I am giving my word to God
I will go to work and behave at work
as if I am working for God
Today I will forgive everyone
as God forgives me
I will do business with everyone
as if I am doing business with God
I will speak about everyone
as if I am speaking about God
These are words I try to live up to. I fail, but I sure do learn a lot about myself and about the love God has for me in the process. What if we all at least tried to live up to this. We will fail and when we do, let's be generous with ourselves, get back up and try again.
Happy Friday everyone.
Blessings,
Bishop Willie Williams
The Prayer Ministry
Feb 4, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
MONDAY MORNING PRAYER;
Blessings,
Bishop Willie Williams
The Prayer Ministry
Feb 7, 2011
Tawnette Fulton- Gilbert
AMEN!!!
Feb 7, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
Blessings,
Bishop Willie Williams
The Prayer Ministry
Feb 8, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
Blessings,
Bishop Willie Williams
The Prayer Ministry
Feb 9, 2011
Phoebe Macon
Amen.............!!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT WONDERFUL PRAYER BISHOP WILLIE!!
Love and Blessings, Phoebe
Feb 9, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
Blessings,
Bishop Willie Williams
The Prayer Ministry
Feb 10, 2011
Phoebe Macon
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: When reading self-help books, include the Bible!!
Feb 11, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
God's Cake
Sometimes we wonder, "What did I do to deserve this?" or "Why did God have to do this to me?"
Here is a wonderful explanation! A daughter is telling her Mother how everything is going wrong, she's failing algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her and her best friend is moving away.
Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says, "Absolutely Mom, I love your cake."
"Here, have some cooking oil," her Mother offers.
"Yuck" says her daughter.
"How about a couple raw eggs?" "Gross, Mom!"
"Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?"
"Mom, those are all yucky!"
To which the mother replies: "Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake! "
God works the same way. Many times we wonder why He would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good! We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful!
God is crazy about you. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning. Whenever you want to talk, He'll listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, and He chose your heart
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Blessings,
Bishop Willie Williams
The Prayer Ministry
Feb 11, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
Blessings,
Bishop Willie Williams
The Prayer Ministry
Feb 14, 2011
Tawnette Fulton- Gilbert
WONDERFUL MONDAY MORNING PRAYER BISHOP WILLIE!!!
GOD IS LOVE
GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR MINISTRY
Feb 14, 2011
Bonita "Bonnie" Thompson
Feb 14, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
Blessings,
Bishop Willie Williams
The Prayer Ministry
Feb 15, 2011
Tawnette Fulton- Gilbert
Feb 15, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
Blessings,
Bishop Willie Williams
The Prayer Ministry
Feb 16, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
Blessings,
Bishop Willie Williams
The Prayer Ministry
Feb 17, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
We are all ministers of God's love. Each one of us has a testimony to give. Weather we open our mouths to speak it or not we are sharing our story every day. We are speaking with our walk, talk, love, fear, kindness, generosity, selfishness, shame, happiness, joy, misery. We are always talking. Someone is always listening. Always.
That moment on our jobs when least feel like being there, someone is watching. The man living on the street we take time to help, someone is listening. That encouraging word we give, the songs we sing, the toes we step on, someone knows. We will fail sometimes to do what is right. We fail often. The point is not to wallow in the failure. The point is to remember to clean up where we messed and keep moving. Because someone is watching that too. Someone is inspired by the way we messed up and bothered to apologize, cared enough to change, worked to make it better. Someone is always listening. What are you saying?
Bishop Willie Williams
The Prayer Ministry
Feb 18, 2011
Phoebe Macon
THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE WEEKLY PRAYERS BISHOP WILLIE!!
Feb 20, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
Blessings,
Bishop Willie Williams
The Prayer Ministry
Feb 22, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
Thank you all for your birthday wishes!
Bishop Willie
Feb 22, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
Blessings,
Bishop Willie Williams
The Prayer Ministry
Feb 23, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
Blessings,
Bishop Willie Williams
The Prayer Ministry
Feb 24, 2011
Tawnette Fulton- Gilbert
Feb 25, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
Blessings,
Bishop Willie Williams
The Prayer Ministry
Feb 28, 2011
Phoebe Macon
AMEN!!
THANK YOU & GOD BLESS YOU BISHOP WILLIE FOR THAT MUCH NEEDED PRAYER!!
Love and Blessings, Phoebe Macon c/o '75
Feb 28, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
Blessings,
Bishop Willie Williams
The Prayer Ministry
Mar 1, 2011
WILLIE W. WILLIAMS JR.
WEDNESDAY MORNING PRAYER:
Blessings,
Bishop Willie Williams
The Prayer Ministry
Mar 2, 2011