Wednesday, August 26, 2009

B.A.T.T.L.E.

Everyday is a battle. A battle to do what I should. A battle against the enemy of my soul.

I need to remember that battling is easiest, best, most efficient, and has results when I battle through PRAISE AND WORSHIP. When we praise, we are on the frontline! Jehoshaphat knew the importance of worship, so he strategically positioned the worshipers ahead of his army. "He appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: 'Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever'" (2 Chron. 20:21).

He didn't do that so the singers could get killed while the soldiers hid behind them. He didn't do that because he thought the worshipers were expendable and easily replaced. He didn't do it because he was trying to trick the enemy into thinking they were facing a bunch of unarmed musicians who were naive enough to believe they could serenade their enemy to death.

The reason he put the worshipers in the front was because their worship exalted God above all else. And nothing could prevail against the living God. The result was that when they faced the enemy with praise and worship, this so confused the enemy that they destroyed one another.

"To be in the will of God requires us to put on the armor of God and go to battle against the enemy. Worship is our greatest weapon in B.A.T.T.L.E. Bringing Attention To The Lord's Excellence. That is worship." Roz Thompson

When King Hezekiah faced a strong enemy, he told his people, "Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or dismayed....for there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles." (2 Chron. 32:7-8)

I've been praying some of the prayers from Stormie Omartian's books for many weeks now. I see God moving in powerful ways. The prayers are fresh and new every morning. I thought they would become rote, you know? But, they aren't and God is doing what we're asking for in prayer. I see His hand at work. I am also finding myself praying in a fresh, new and spontaneous way because of the obedience of praying these prayers. Praise the Lord!!!!

If you are in a battle (aren't we all??), pray this prayer from Stormie Omartian's book, The Prayer That Changes Everything...

Lord, I worship You as Lord over everything. I praise You as my Almighty, all-powerful King. You are the ruler of my life and the rock upon which I stand. Because of You I cannot be shaken. Thank You that "by You I can run against a troop. By my God I can leap over a wall." As for you, Lord, You are a "shield to all who trust" in You (Psalm 18:28-30).
You deliver me from the enemy who is too strong for me (Psalm 18:17).
I will "not be afraid nor dismayed" because of the force of evil that comes against me for I know that the battle is not mine, but it is Yours. I know that I will not need to fight this battle alone. Instead, I will position myself in a stance of praise and worship toward You, and I will stand still and see Your salvation, for You are with me (2 Chron. 20:15-17).
Thank You, Lord, that my enemies will fall and perish at Your presence (Psalm 9:3).

Lord, I praise You as my Deliverer and thank You that You will deliver me from my enemies. I know that "we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12).
You will lift me up above those who rise against me and deliver me from the violent forces that oppose me. "Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; make Your way straight before my face" (Psalm 5:8).
I give thanks to You, Lord, and sing praises to Your name (Psalm 18:49).
Thank You that You always lead us in triumph in Christ (2 Cor. 2:14).
I will sing praise to Your name (Psalm 7:17).
Day and night I will call upon You to save me. I know You will hear my voice and redeem my soul in peace from the battle that is against me (Psalm 55:16-18).
You, Lord, have the "power to help and to overthrow" (2 Chron. 25:8).
I know that you are my defender and You will fight for me (Psalm 7:10). And when the battle is over, I will be able to say this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in my eyes (Psalm 118:23).
Amen and Amen. Watch and see what the Lord will do!!!
Posted by HandmaidforHim (Dawn Gray) at 8:17 AM

2 comments:

  1. jolincountryAugust 26, 2009 at 10:36 AM

    Thank you.
    There just aren't words to describe how I feel after praying that prayer.
    God Bless you, Dawn!

    ReplyDelete
  2. HandmaidforHim (Dawn Gray)August 26, 2009 at 12:35 PM

    Amen! It's powerful, huh?

    ReplyDelete

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Welcome to my blog!
Come on in and join me in sharing hope, love, and laughter each day! I hope to create (with the Lord's help) a peaceful refuge on the web for moms who need a moment to themselves to pray and ponder this blessed life we've been given and to re-focus on the important things that will lead us into eternity with Jesus Christ.

My heart's desires are:
  1. to be a godly helpmeet ("And the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an helpmeet for him." Gen. 2:18)
  2. to be a mom who leads her children to Jesus ("Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." Deut. 6:5-7) and
  3. to have a home that glorifies the Lord ("She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness" Proverbs 31:27).
We moms wear many hats in the home, and there are days that it's a struggle to juggle them all and fulfill our duties well. I hope to bring encouragement and share my experiences and the experiences of others in these areas. Not that I am full of wisdom (hardly) or am trying to reinvent the wheel.....oh no, Solomon made it clear that "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." Ecclesiastes 1:9.

I just hope to be able to share with you some of the things I've learned on this journey called 'life' and the resources from people of wisdom that have helped me (and are helping me) along the way.

Please leave me a comment when you drop by, so that I'll know how I'm doing or the ways in which you've benefited from this blog. It will help encourage others (and me!)

I pray you'll be blessed by the time you spend here.
Dawn
With God, all things are possible!
wildwood2010@yahoo.com

Committed to Praise

"Lord, I worship You for all that You are. You are my Lord in the good times as well as the difficult. On the mountaintop as well as in the valley. You are the King of Kings on the throne of my life in the calm as well as in the storm. I praise you in times of great blessing as well as in times of great challenge. You are Almighty and all-powerful, and I find my strength in You. It is because of You that I can stand strong, even when I feel weak. For I know that when I am weakest, You show Yourself strong. I am grateful for Your salvation, deliverance, protection, goodness, and blessings in my life every day. I know that everything I have comes from You. Because of Your great strength I go from glory to glory and “strength to strength” no matter what is happening in my life (Psalm 84:7).

I want to show my love for You every day by embracing You with my worship and touching You with my praise. Teach me all I need to know about how to worship You in ways that are pleasing in Your sight. Fill my heart with such great knowledge of You that praising You becomes a way of life. Teach me to make it my first reaction to every situation, no matter what the situation is. All honor, glory, and majesty belong to You, Lord, for You are worthy to be praised.

You are holy and righteous, and I have no greater joy in life than entering into Your presence to exalt You with worship and praise every day. I know that in Your presence I will find everything I need forever."

From Stormie Omartian's book, The Prayer That Changes Everything

I've started praying this every day. Would you like to commit to pray this with me?

Committed to Pray for my Marriage:

“Lord, help me to be a good wife. I fully realize that I don't have what it takes to be one without Your help. Take my selfishness, impatience, and irritability and turn them into kindness, long-suffering, and the willingness to bear all things. Take my old emotional habits, mindsets, automatic reactions, rude assumptions, and self-protective stance, and make me patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled. Take the hardness of my heart and break down the walls with Your battering ram of revelation. Give me a new heart and work in me Your love, peace, and joy (Galatians 5:22, 23). I am not able to rise above who I am at this moment. Only You can transform me.

Show me where there is sin in my heart, especially with regard to my husband. I confess the times I’ve been unloving, critical, angry, resentful, disrespectful, or unforgiving toward him. Help me to put aside any hurt, anger, or disappointment I feel and forgive him the way You do—totally and completely, no looking back. Make me a tool of reconciliation, peace, and healing in this marriage. Enable us to communicate well and rescue us from the threshold of separation where the realities of divorce begin.

Make me my husband’s helpmate, companion, champion, friend, and support. Help me to create a peaceful, restful, safe place for him to come home to. Teach me how to take care of myself and stay attractive to him. Grow me into a creative and confident woman who is rich in mind, soul, and spirit. Make me the kind of woman he can be proud to say is his wife.

I lay all my expectations at Your cross. I release my husband from the burden of fulfilling me in areas where I should be looking to You. Help me to accept him the way he is and not try to change him. I realize that in some ways he may never change, but at the same time, I release him to change in ways I never thought he could. I leave any changing that needs to be done in Your hands, fully accepting that neither of us is perfect and never will be. Only You, Lord, are perfect and I look to You to perfect us.

Teach me how to pray for my husband and make my prayers a true language of love. Where love has died, create new love between us. Show me what unconditional love really is and how to communicate it in a way he can clearly perceive. Bring unity between us so that we can be in agreement about everything (Amos 3:3). May the God of patience and comfort grant us to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus (Romans 15:5). Make us a team, not pursuing separate, competitive, or independent lives, but working together, overlooking each other’s faults and weaknesses for the greater good of the marriage. Help us to pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another (Romans 14:19). May we be “perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1:10).

I pray that our commitment to You and to one another will grow stronger and more passionate every day. Enable him to be the head of the home as You made him to be, and show me how to support and respect him as he rises to that place of leadership. Help me to understand his dreams and see things from his perspective. Reveal to me what he wants and needs and show me potential problems before they arise. Breathe Your life into this marriage.

Make me a new person, Lord. Give me a fresh perspective, a positive outlook, and a renewed relationship with the man You’ve given me. Help me see him with new eyes, new appreciation, new love, new compassion, and new acceptance. Give my husband a new wife, and let it be me.”

From Stormie Omartian's book, The Power of a Praying Wife

I've started praying this every day. Would you like to commit to pray this with me?

Committed to Pray for my Children:

“Lord, I submit myself to you. I realize that parenting a child in the way You would have me to is beyond my human abilities. I know I need You to help me. I want to partner with You and partake of Your gifts of wisdom, discernment, revelation, and guidance. I also need your strength and patience, along with a generous portion of Your love flowing through me. Teach me how to love the way You love. Where I need to be healed, delivered, changed, matured, or made whole, I invite You to do that in me. Help me to walk in righteousness and integrity before You. Teach me Your ways, enable me to obey Your commandments and do only what is pleasing in Your sight. May the beauty of Your Spirit be so evident in me that I will be a godly role model. Give me the communication, teaching, and nurturing skills that I must have. Make me the parent You want me to be and teach me how to pray and truly intercede for the life of this child. Lord, You said in Your Word, “Whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive” (Matthew 21:22). In Jesus’ name I ask that You will increase my faith to believe for all the things You’ve put on my heart to pray for concerning my children.”

From Stormie Omartian's book, The Power of a Praying Parent

I've started praying this every day. Would you like to commit to pray this with me?

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