WWHIYP Psalm 91

What would happen if you prayed the scriptures in Psalm 91? My friend wrote this prayer a few years ago. It is based on Psalm 91 and it is filled with words from scriptures. She was a realtor when she wrote this prayer.  You'll notice this as you pray it. Unless you're a realtor, you'll probably want to change the words in verse 10.

Psalms 91 Prayer

1.          Lord because I choose to dwell, live, get my life from Your presence: which is the secret place, I thank You that I remain stable and fixed in mind, emotions and in my spirit.  I will not be depressed, oppressed or distressed. I am not double minded. I fix my focus on You in every area of my life.  I can find total protection under Your wings and where You are I can find peace.  It is in You that I live and move and have my being.  You said that he who comes to You must believe that You are and that You are a rewarder of them that diligently seek You. You said that without faith it is impossible to please You.  So I come to You in faith and I believe that as I seek You, You will reward me.

2.          My confession is that You are my hiding place and You are my protection. I put my trust in You. I totally depend on You. You are my storm shelter.

3.          When I put my trust in You and depend on You, You promised to deliver me form every trap of the enemy and from anything that will cause death in my life. You came that I might have life and have it more abundantly.

4.          Thank You God that You cover me and I can trust You and find a hiding place- that the truth of Your word is what protects me from the attacks of the enemy. There is truth and deliverance in Your word for every area of my life. If I will obey Your word You will deliver me.

5.          Thank You that I am not afraid and that I do not fear no matter what season may come my way. What people say does not move or affect me. The tricks and schemes that the enemy tries to plot against me will not work. For You have not given me the spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind. I do not walk in fear for fear has torment. But I walk in the Spirit of Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Meekness and Temperance which is Self Control. Thank You that I have great peace because I love Your word and nothing shall offend me.

6.          Even the things that are hidden and are trying to destroy me behind closed doors – rumors, traps or anything that has been set up for me. Thank You that no weapon that the enemy forms against me shall prosper and every tongue that rises against me shall be shown in the wrong. Because the battle is not mine but it is the Lord's.

7.          Even though everyone else is being affected in a negative way by what is going on – I thank You that I do not feel or experience the effects. I thank You that I prosper and I am in good health even as my soul prospers. I thank You that whatever my hands touch You have caused it to multiply and prosper because You have given me the power to get wealth. You have blessed me so that I can be a blessing. And as I give, it is given to me, good measures pressed down, shaken together and running over. I thank You that men give in to my bosom. I thank You that I walk in favor with men and with God.

8.          Thank You that You have made me to be a spectator only of the calamity in the environment. I cannot relate to what everyone is saying about the economy or the effects of the market. I thank You that I am the head and not the tail – that I am above only and not beneath. You always cause me to triumph.

9.          I have hidden myself in Your presence. In Your presence there is no lack or sorrow but fullness of joy. I thank You that Your joy is my strength. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

10.       None of these things that the media or people are reporting will come near my house or my business.  I thank You that You said that I can speak to the mountain and that it shall be removed. Thank You that you said if I believe and do not doubt, I shall have whatsoever I say.  So I say that I have plenty of houses to sell. That I have plenty of buyers who are willing, able and ready to buy houses now.  I say that money comes to me.  Business comes to me. Customers come to me in abundance.

11.       Thank You that You have assigned angels over me to accompany me wherever I go, preserve me in time of distress and defend me in trouble.  And they are with me in everything that I do.  I thank You that Your angels are encamped around about me. That as I work no hurt, harm, or danger will come near me.

12.       Thank You that the angels that You have assigned me will lift me higher than my circumstances and no accidents or mishaps will be able to destroy me. Thank You that I am sensitive to Your Holy Spirit and that He leads and guides me into all truth.  Thank You that no one will be able to take advantage of me in any way.

13.       I thank You that I shall be able to do what is seemingly impossible to others. I thank You that trouble will be under my feet. I thank You that You are able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that I could ever ask or think according to the power that works in me.

14.       Because I have focused my love upon You—I thank You that You will deliver me. You will lift me up because I have reverenced Your name.

15.       Thank You Father that I can call upon You and I know You will answer me.  Thank You that You will be with me in trouble. That You will deliver and honor me.

16.       I thank You for long life and thank You that You have saved me out of all of my destructions. Thank You for salvation in every area of my life.

It does not matter what the world is going through.  If I will stay in the presence of God which is the secret place, God will protect me and cause me to prosper in a time when everyone else is saying destruction and doom.  I win because of You, oh lord.

Thank You for the victory in Jesus’ name.  Amen because all of Your promises are yes and amen.  So I say yes to Your word and so be it I agree with God. Amen.

I AGREE WITH GOD!!!

WWHIYP In Praise of Liberty

A praise for Independence Day

Pray with me:

Father God, thank You that if I can continue living the way Jesus said, I will be His disciple and I will know the truth and the truth will make me free. Thank You that because of Jesus, whom the Son sets free is free indeed. Praise You Lord Jesus for purchasing my freedom from sin by dying on the cross. Thank You for conquering death and setting me free from fear. Thank You Lord that it is for the sake of freedom that You made me free. I don't have to be enslaved any longer. Thank You that I am no longer a slave to sin. If I am a slave to anything, I am a slave to righteousness. I can't help but do good and live right. Thank You Father that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me from the law of sin and death. I will walk and live in freedom because I will follow Your ways. Praise You that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And as I continue to look into Your perfect law of liberty and do the Word instead of only hearing it, I will be blessed in everything I do. Thank You for Your precious promises. Thank You that You keep Your Word.

WWHYIP by A.S.K.

One of my favorite stories that motivational speaker Les Brown tells is how he got a job at the radio station. He wanted to be a DJ. He went to the station one day and talked to "the man" who asked Les if he had any experience. Les told him no. The man responded that they didn't have any jobs. Les returned the next day and asked for a job,

"Didn't I tell you yesterday that we didn't have any jobs?'

"Yes, but I thought maybe somebody quit or retired."

Day three: "Good morning sir, I'm Les Brown. Do you have any jobs today?"

"I know who you are. Didn't I tell you yesterday and the day before we didn't have any work?"

"Well, I thought maybe somebody died or something. I didn't know."

Day four: "Good morning, Mr. Butterball. Do you have any . . .

"Go make yourself useful. Go get me some food."

Les got his foot in the door. He had to annoy the heck out of someone, but he got what he wanted.

In Luke 11, after Jesus told the disciples how to pray, he told them a parable about prayer. We pick it up in verse 5

⁵ Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, ⁶ ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ ⁷ And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ ⁸ But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence. Luke 11:5-8 NLT

I love the phrase "shameless persistence." :-)

I'm going to switch versions here because I like the way the Amplified Bible translates the verbs.

⁹So I say to you, Ask and keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek and keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you.

¹⁰For everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives; and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds; and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking, the door shall be opened. Luke 11:9-10 AMP

I thought of Les Brown when I was thinking of an example of ask and keep on asking; seek and keep on seeking; and knock and keep on knocking. We don't have to be as dramatic with God as Les was with the man. The point is not that we're trying to wear God out. We are actually wearing out everything that tries to keep our answer from coming. What would happen if you prayed by asking, seeking, and knocking with shameless persistence? You know the answer: You will receive; you will find; and it will be opened.

I also think it's cool the way the words translate in English like an acrostic:

Ask

Seek

Knock

Asking is rather simple. But have you ever known someone who won't ask? They might say, "I need five bucks." To which you and I might respond, "Are you asking me?" I've known people like that and THAT'S annoying. It can actually be rude. I guess they have to humble themselves before they can ask. Forming a desire as a question rather than a statement says that you know the other person has something that you need. We may as well realize right now that God has everything we need. Let's form our requests as a question. Instead of "God I need a job," how about "Father will you please bless me with a job?" And for goodness sake, say "thank You" when He responds! The same people who have difficulty asking can't get the words "thank you" past their lips.

Seeking takes more work. If you've ever misplaced your keys, you know what I mean. You have no choice but to continue to seek until you find what you need or you may be stuck at home. Seeking in prayer can include reading the Word to find God's will about what we're praying for. Because if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. I John 5:14

Knocking is easy. It's basically a matter of showing up. "Good morning, God. Here I am again. I'll meet you the same time tomorrow." Just show up. Meet God in prayer. You may not have to say anything. Sometimes it's good to knock by sitting quietly focused on Him. He'll know you're there.

Pray with me:

Thank You Father that I don't have to beg and plead for You to answer my prayer. However, you have told me to ask, seek, and knock. You've shown me that I need to be persistent. Not because I'm fighting you to try to make You do something for me, but because there are other things that delay my blessings. I want to be the type of person who won't give up easily. I want to ask until I receive and see the Your response to my asking. I will seek You ; I will seek Your word until I find what I'm looking for. I will keep on knocking by showing up and reminding You that I'm still here. I'm still with You. I love You, Father. Thank You for another way that You're teaching me how to pray in Jesus' name and like Jesus said. Amen

WWHYIP For One Thing

What would happen if you prayed focused prayers instead of praying like we did when we were children – you know, "God bless everybody in the whole, wide world"?

When we began our 40-day (now 71-day) challenge, I wrote a list of a few things to pray about. It's not a very long list. If I list too many things, I probably won't pray for them all. But I listed just a few things that I can be sure to pray about. In most cases, I just list people's names. When I see their names, I know what I had planned to pray for them. For some it is salvation, for some it's for God to open their eyes, for others it's for jobs. I have a separate list of those who committed to the prayer challenge with me. And I am seeing God's hand at work. Praise God!

When I focus on these few things, I feel as if I can get more accomplished in prayer. I (we) will wear ourselves out trying to pray about everything. But as God answers us, we can thank Him for the answer and add something/someone new to the list.

We can be like the lady in the parable that Jesus told so his disciples would always pray and not give up. (Luke 18). She just wanted ONE THING from the judge, "Avenge me of my adversary." Sometimes we might want to only seek God and pray about ONE THING.

Actually, this may be a good starting point for those of us who are learning to pray. We can pray the Lord's Prayer daily. We can daily give Him praise. And then we can pray for that ONE THING. What is the most important thing that you need to pray for? You can pray about that and ask God what is the ONE THING I need to pray about?

After Jesus taught them the Lord's Prayer, Luke says Jesus shared a parable and then He told them:

⁹So I say to you, Ask and keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek and keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you.

 ¹⁰For everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives; and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds; and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking, the door shall be opened. Luke 18:9-10

My friend, ask God and keep on asking God for that ONE THING. Seek God and keep on seeking God for that ONE THING. Knock on Heaven's door and keep on knocking on Heaven's door for that ONE THING. And you will see what would happen if you prayed for ONE THING.

Pray with me (out loud of course):

Father, thank You for Jesus' teaching about prayer. If there was anyone on earth who could teach us how to pray, it is God the Son. Help me to focus my prayers and to not try to pray for the "whole, wide world" but to start by praying for people around me and situations around me. Please show me what is the most important thing that I should pray about right now. My goal is not to see how many things I can pray about, my goal is to effectively pray Your will. I know that if I ask, seek, and knock You will respond. I will be persistent and faithful to pray about at least ONE THING. And I will praise You for answering. Thank You for increasing my prayer life. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Woohooooo! The Challenge Continues

I mentioned yesterday that I believe we, or at least I, need to continue my quest through July to find out what would happen if I prayed. It's not that I'm not praying, it's just that I'm asking myself questions like:

WWHIYP (what would happen if you prayed)  . . .

For your family more

For my church more

For my workplace more

A little longer

In the Spirit

Etc.

I'm building a culture of prayer. I have to strike the ground a few more times.

This morning I picked up my mail and there was a package from my friend. She asked me last week if I wanted to participate in something her church is doing. It's a prayer challenge called "I Dare You to Pray." Throughout the month of July, the Church on the Rock St. Louis has calendars where you can write what you're going to pray about. There is a little business-sized card that says, "I dare you to pray." on one side and other the other it says, " You are called to pray stand in the gap for a person, a city, a nation, and the world until the situation changes. This is your mission." There are even postcards that say, "I prayed for you." I had that idea of making postcards like that, but never followed through with it. Thank God it's not too late.

I like that. On the church website it says-- I Dare You Mission:
"I accept the challenge to change, stretch, and redefine my prayer life. I realize that my life will experience miracles, wisdom, and intimate closeness with God. I don't take this dare lightly. I rise to the challenge."

That's basically what I've been saying. As a matter of fact, most of the time when I write WWHIYP, I'm thinking, "I dare you to pray." That's something that another friend and I say to each other. I love having friends who pray and encourage me to do the same. 

Hebrews 10:24 NIV says: 
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

We're supposed to motivate each other and encourage each other to do good things. My friends don't stop. Make a concerted effort to connect to God in prayer. We've just begun. Let's continue to read the Word about prayer and pray.

Pray with me:

Father God, bless Your holy name today. I praise You for all that You've done in my life. You have started me on this journey of prayer. I can't stop now. You and I have much to accomplish. Thank You that when Your people cry to out You, You respond. You are God who answers. As we continue to as ourselves what would happen if you prayed, through the month of July, help us to pray like we never have before. Bless us with responses as You've never responded to us before. We are ready for You to move in our lives. We are ready to pray effectively and to press in and not give up. Thank You that we can pray in Jesus holy name and through Him we know that the best is yet to come. So be it!

WWHIYP With Me Through July?

Today is the last day of our 40-day prayer challenge. It been great. I'm learning a lot about prayer. But here's my question to you: What would happen if you prayed and read Faith to Pray through July? I don't know about you, but I feel as if I'm just getting started. And some days, I forgot to read my scripture book (and that's embarrassing). So, I want to give more time and effort to this worthwhile prayer endeavor.

Since we've begun our WWHIYP challenge, I have been praying more at work with one-minute prayers. Tuesday morning prayer at my church has been more interesting. Last week I joined my friend's prayer time, that was so good for me. A co-worker and I have begun praying together at work. I can't stop now; this is just the beginning. There is so much going on with the people around me, on my job, in this state, in this country, and in the world. I have to continue until I see answers to my prayers.

There is an example in scripture of someone who stopped short of victory.

¹⁸ Then he said, “Take the arrows”; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground”; so he struck three times, and stopped. ¹⁹ And the man of God was angry with him, and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! But now you will strike Syria only three times.” 2 Kings 13:18-19 NKJV

The king had gone to the prophet of God for help because Syria was attacking them. They had few horses and chariots left. The prophet told him to strike the ground with his arrows. Now the king was so close. If he would have simply struck the ground two or three more times, it would have meant victory. How much effort does it take to hit the ground with arrows? It was no big deal, but it represented a big deal spiritually and it represented a big deal for his army. This simple act would have saved many lives.

Maybe it is like that for us in prayer at times – a simple act of obedience and continuing instead of stopping could mean the difference between defeat and victory for us. If you have not seen victory yet, I suggest you continue to search for the answer to what would happen if you prayed.

To be honest, I knew a couple of weeks ago that I would not be ready to end this prayer challenge at the end of the month. I have so much more I want to learn and write about prayer.

My heavenly Father, thank You for blessing me with friends who want to pray and learn more about prayer. I love them. They enrich my life and encourage. I'm so tired of negativity. Please forgive me for being a part of it. Help me to not be a producer of it. Thank You for blessing me with people who love You and who have good things to say. You have surrounded me with people who want to do what's right in Your eyes. They challenge me and motivate me and I can't thank You enough for that.

Thank You for blessing my friends to pray with me and read the scriptures with me through these 40 days. I have no doubt that You are going to continue to bless their lives. Help those who are to continue to find out what would happened if they prayed to strike the ground a few more times. Help my brothers and sisters to not stop short of their victory, but to press in to see Your kingdom come and Your will being done on earth as it is in Heaven. Thank You for all of the victories we have seen so far. Thank You that I can come and pray to You in the name of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

WWHIYP The Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

In April at work, we heard that people were going to be laid off. At the same time, we were preparing for a possible government shut down if congress did not pass a budget or a continuing resolution of last year's budget. As you can imagine, there was a lot of stress in the workplace. I was trusting God, but not everyone was.

I wondered how I could help people through this. I didn't feel that I had the words of comfort to speak to them. What could I do? I remembered these words: Lord make me an instrument of Your peace. . .

I had heard a prayer like that. That was what I wanted and still want. I want to be an instrument of God's peace.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
   for they will be called children of God. Matthew 5:9 NKJV

I Internet searched "make me an instrument of your peace." I found that this begina the prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi. Didn't know who he was, but I liked the prayer and printed it to lay on my desk so I could pray it at work. A little research found that St. Francis lived in the late 12th to early 13th century. This prayer was written on the backs of cards with his picture on the front. He did not write the prayer, however.

History aside, I like the prayer. But I think the peace that they are talking about is the opposite of war. But I was thinking about peace as in the opposite of anxiety and stress.

Peace is peace.

So the question is of course WWHIYP? What would happen if you prayed the prayer of St. Francis regularly?

Pray out loud with me with the help of and in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

To be understood as to understand;

To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.