Acts 16:25-26, But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.  Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.

Our worship is not just an expression of deep gratitude toward a wonderful loving Savior or love toward our God, it’s the power to loose chains of bondage and oppression, to open prison doors to set captives free. Worship shouldn’t just be something we do when we’re in church, it should accompany us wherever we go. Every morning when we rise, His praise should be on our lips (Hebrews 13:5). Praise sets the atmosphere to walk in freedom. It doesn’t just open literal prison doors as it did for Paul and Silas, it opens us up for salvation from whatever we face (Psalm 50:23 TLB, But true praise is a worthy sacrifice; this really honors me. Those who walk my paths will receive salvation from the Lord.)

It makes you want to praise Him, doesn’t it? So do it! Lift your hands and focus on Him. Oh God, I praise Your holy and wonderful name. You are great! Your name above all names! Holy are You! Worthy! Full of power to save, heal and deliver! Great are Your many works. When I think of all You’ve done, I get giddy with excitement of what You have planned for me! Halleluiah! No one like You! You have set the path of my life. You order my steps. You remove obstructions. You reveal to me Your glory. You have great plans for me. Oh how I love You. My praise is a weapon against my enemy. He may come against me one way, but he must flee before me 7 ways because of my praise to You. You wrap me up in Your glory and my life becomes a sacrifice of praise to You.

I will close with Psalm 100 TLB: Shout with joy before the Lord, O earth! Obey him gladly; come before him, singing with joy. Try to realize what this means—the Lord is God! He made us—we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Go through his open gates with great thanksgiving; enter his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name.  For the Lord is always good. He is always loving and kind, and his faithfulness goes on and on to each succeeding generation.

John 14:12-14, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.  And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”

It wasn’t enough for Jesus to say it once, but twice; “Whatever you ask in My name, I will do.” I was listening to a camp meeting with Kenneth Hagan from 1997 and one of the closers, Keith Moore said something that has been stirring in my spirit all nigh long. He said that he had heard Kenneth Hagan teach that if you ask for the Holy Ghost and don’t receive Him, it’s because of one of two things; 1. No faith and 2. Not yielding.

The same is true when we ask in Jesus name. Either we have no faith in the Name and it’s ability to save, heal and deliver, or we’re not yielded to the working of Gods power to flow through us. Go back with me to the moment Jesus spoke to the fig tree to dry up. He just kept on walking because knew the power of His words, He’s already seen what happened when His Father spoke. So faith is fully expecting that what you ask for is going to happen, period! You ask in Jesus’ Name then go about your business fully confident that the words you speak are backed by the God who created the universe.

Healing? If you asked in Jesus’ name, it’s already done. The key to receiving is praising Him for what He’s done, speaking the Word to doubt and unbelief (like Jesus in the wilderness), being confident that just as Jesus said in the above verses, it WILL be done. Please don’t judge Gods ability to do what He said just because it didn’t ‘work’ for you. If the miracle you’re waiting on hasn’t manifested yet, examine your thoughts. Are you just letting them run wild or are you coming against them out loud with the Word of God. It is written, “By His stripes I am healed.” “If I ask anything in Jesus’ Name it WILL be done!” Hear this, if you’re not willing to take the sword of the spirit and do some battle, you’ve already allowed doubt and unbelief to undermine the ability of God to deliver on His promises.

Father, I yield myself to You today. Not just my hands, but my feet, my mind and my mouth. May I speak You Word with confidence in Your ability, not my own. It’s all for Your glory, not to make a name for myself, but to lift up Your Name. It’s never Your will that any should perish, but all would come to repentance, so Father, use me today to bring glory to Your Name. To have faith in You, to say it and walk away knowing that You always keep Your Word, it never returns to you void. Help me to recognize the schemes of the enemy to undermine Your Word and to immediately cast those thoughts down. If it doesn’t look like You, doesn’t sound like You, it’s not You! I will not be fooled because I know You. It’s in Jesus’ name I pray. Amen

Acts 11:16, Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ Jude 1:20-21, But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

I currently run a physical therapy and fitness center and have been able to watch people build up their bodies so that they can do what they were unable to do. Physical exercise is important, because the muscles you don’t use today will be the muscles you need to use but can’t tomorrow. As important as it is to have physical strength, we must remember that we are a spirit that lives in a body. What good is a strong body if our spirit is weak. We can’t neglect either one because a strong spirit without a strong body is incapable of doing what the Spirit of God wants us to accomplish.

Through the New Testament, we are encouraged to be filled with the Spirit or baptized in the Spirit, but because we don’t understand how it works, we’re afraid of it, afraid we will not have control of our tongue. Trust me on this, most of us can’t control our tongue anyways, but if the Holy Spirit can help with that, we’d better ask for a double portion! Jude said that it builds up our faith. I like to think of it as spiritual muscle building. The more you pray in the Holy Spirit, the stronger you get in your inner self.

As with anything, it’s a discipline we all need to work on. You can start by praying in the shower, it’s something you do everyday and takes about 10 minutes, so that may be a place to start. Driving to work may also be a good place to continue this practice, it may also help you to be less angry on your ride. However you chose to do it, do it as often as you can. Paul wrote, “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit“, it was one of the weapons of our warfare he talked about in Ephesians 6. The more you do it, the easier it gets. Don’t worry about how it sounds, just know that the Spirit is praying through you to accomplish great things in the spirit realm and that is where it counts the most.

Father, make us more aware of using our prayer language for optimal use in the spirit realm. When we don’t know how to pray, praying in our heavenly language is the perfect way to pray because Your Spirit makes intercession for us. Use us for signs, wonders and miracles. Make us bold in our walk with You, our partnership with Your Spirit in the earth. May we trust you deeper and be more affective in our walk with You. It’s in Jesus Name we pray. Amen

Psalm 91:14-16, “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.  He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.  With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.”

This morning as I read this beautiful Psalm, I noticed something that I had not seen before; this promise of deliverance is conditional on us setting our love on Him. He promises to deliver us because we have set our love on Him. What does it mean to set your love on someone? That word set, means to place in a particular position or posture, to put in a proper position. I daresay that until we learn to put God in His proper position, to honor Him and give Him first place, we will not see the remainder of these verses come to pass in our lives.

So many of us expect the blessing, but refuse to do what this verse says. We do what we want, but expect God to bless us. Salvation is a free gift. Grace is undeserved favor. Healing was provided when Jesus took the stripes on His back, but we must know His Name and put Him first for deliverance, honor and long life. We cannot be like the world, expecting something for nothing. We must know God, set our love on Him and know every aspect of His Name. His Word must be in our hearts and on our lips. We must crave His presence and exalt Him in our lives.

How do you do that? By being mindful of Him all day, everyday. Not an afterthought or a desperate cry for help in the middle of a crisis. He must be the first one you greet in the morning. The first one you think about as you wake from your sleep. Your heart must yearn for Him as you would a lover. When your heart can’t wait to spend time with Him and lavish your love on Him, He will not just show up, He’ll become involved in every aspect of your life. Why? He wants first place.

Father, I give You first place in my life today. Every moment of my day becomes wrapped up in my awareness of You. You are so close, I feel Your breath on the back of my neck, directing my steps, interrupting my plans, breathing life into all my flesh. I would not expect less of You because I have set my love upon You and have known Your Name. You quicken my heartbeat and I can think of nothing but You today. Help me to not get overwhelmed by the cares of this life, but to think on You and know You as Provider, Deliverer, Healer, Salvation, Peace, Mighty Fortress and Father. It’s in Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen

Mark 16:14-18; Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.  And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.  And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;  they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

The great commission, that is what the above verses are referenced as. This morning, I’d like to focus on the first part where Jesus rebuked the eleven disciples post resurrection, for their unbelief and hardness of heart. Some translations say, “lack of faith” because they refused to believe those who had already seen Him. Think about this if you will; These 11 men had seen Jesus raise several people from the dead, open blind eyes, deaf ears, lame walk, yet they would not believe that Jesus was alive even though He told them He would rise after 3 days.

It seems to be so common even today, “If I don’t see it for myself, I’m not going to believe it.” I’ve even heard some say, “That whole ‘miracle’ service was rigged. They pay people to do that!” It would be super sad if it was only non-Christians who say this, but I’ve actually had Christians say it to me. WOW! And we wonder why our churches are powerless to operate as Christ commissioned us to. It’s hardness of heart and lack of faith. We no longer believe in God and His ability to stand behind His Word. If we did, we would actually be doing instead of being onlookers.

Father, I repent for hardheartedness and unbelief. You are able to do through me the same things You did through Jesus. Your Word is as alive and powerful as it was back then because Your Word never loses it’s power. I will keep my eyes open and my ears open to You. When You point out a need, I will do what I’ve been commissioned to do. Use my hands. Use my lips. Use me to speak life, love and fill me with Your compassion. It’s all for Your glory so that others may know You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen

Colossians 3:1-5 ERV; You were raised from death with Christ. So live for what is in heaven, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.  Think only about what is up there, not what is here on earth.  Your old self has died, and your new life is kept with Christ in God.  Yes, Christ is now your life, and when he comes again, you will share in his glory.

Live for what is in heaven. That’s something to be mindful of as we go about our day, isn’t it! Not only are we to keep our mind on what’s important to God, but we must also remember that Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God, His place of authority and power that the Father has given to Him. He took the keys of death, hell and the grave and rendered satan a defeated foe and paraded him around in disgrace. We rule in victory not because we’re special, but because Jesus won the victory for us and gave us all authority to rule in the earth. The reason we don’t is because most of us have been convinced that we are powerless.

What a shift transpires when we keep our minds on Him, on His victory and the powerful backing we have when we operate in that God given authority in the earth. Authority over demons. Authority over death. Authority over sickness and disease. Do you see that yet? Paul was trying to get us to see the way things operate in heaven, not in the earth. If we focus on what’s going on in the news and the destruction we see, we’re not looking at what we should be looking at. Jesus even taught us to pray, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” We should be looking to heaven and making a claim for Heaven on earth! There is no sickness or death in heaven. There is no destruction in heaven. There is no political upheaval in heaven. Pray the peace of God to the earth. The presence of God in the earth and that God’s Spirit would be poured out in the earth.

Jesus Christ, You are my life, my peace, my joy. You died to give me power over all the power of the enemy. You left me with the Holy Spirit who leads me into all truth and Your truth will be my shield and sword. I overcome my enemies through Your blood and the word of my testimony, so today I declare health and prosperity over my body, my family and my church. I thank you that Your name is above every name and at Your name, demons tremble in fear. I take my authority over the atmosphere in my city and I call this city to repentance and acceptance of Your authority. I claim souls for the Kingdom. It’s for your glory I ask this. Amen

James 1:26 ERV; You might think you are a very religious person. But if your tongue is out of control, you are fooling yourself. Your careless talk makes your offerings to God worthless. 

Have you ever been a part of or experienced the other side of an out of control tongue? Have you ever been in the room when someone ‘went off’ on someone? When I was young, my older sister and I would get into a raging tongue war. We’d call each other names, accuse each other (‘did so’, ‘did not’), had a love/hate relationship until I left home. I remember thinking that I was so tired of the turmoil, I never wanted to argue with anyone ever again! In essence, I put away childish things and decided to use my tongue to build instead of tear down.

It doesn’t matter how religious you are, if you can’t control your tongue then everything you do is tainted. God says it even makes your offering worthless. Think about that for a moment. You might be on the worship team, praising God every Sunday morning but nullify every bit of worship when you cuss out your husband on the way home. You bring your offering to the Lord but speak evil of the president instead of praying for him as the Word says, then you wonder why you’re broke all the time and your needs aren’t even being met.

If you want your life to be blessed, learn to control your tongue. Restraint is a beautiful thing. Your opinion isn’t as important as you think it is. Instead of cussing that person out, visual that person sitting on Gods lap. You will think twice before opening your mouth when you look at them as valuable people, God’s creation that He loves, instead of an object in which to vent your anger or dissatisfaction.

Father, I’m sorry for the times I’ve lost control of my tongue and allowed it to wag like a dogs tail. Forgive me! I want my offering to be valuable to You and Your Kingdom. I want to use it to build and not destroy, to bring encouragement, love and a source of joy and peace. I commit that little member of my body to You today. Help me to see them as You see them, to love them as You love them. When I get angry, because I know I will, help me to lock my lips and make love my first response. It’s in Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen

Luke 8:46-48, But Jesus said, “Someone touched me. I felt power go out from me.”  When the woman saw that she could not hide, she came forward, shaking. She bowed down before Jesus. While everyone listened, she told why she touched him. Then she said that she was healed immediately when she touched him.  Jesus said to her, “My daughter, you are made well because you believed. Go in peace.”

We’ve all heard this amazing story of the woman who was having a perpetual period, who had spend all her money on doctors and grew worse not better. When she heard about Jesus, she said to herself, “If I can just touch Him, I’ll be healed.” This morning, I’d like to point out the fact that she didn’t just think it and say it, she did it. She was aware that she wasn’t to be in public while she was bleeding. She knew Jesus was surrounded by a lot of people and that she’d have to push through. She was prepared in her mind for what it would take, but imagine for a moment when she got there and Jesus looked so far away. Everyone was trying to get close to Him, to touch Him. She was not the only desperate person in the crowd. She could have stood and looked at the mass of people and thought, “I’ll never get to Him! He’s so far away and look at the wall of people! Jesus, can you just come to me?”

That’s what so many of us do, don’t we? It’s too hard to press through for my healing. Can’t Jesus just send someone to me to lay hands on me? But Jesus said, “You are made well because you believed!” Her faith made her whole. The moment she walked out of her house and walked toward Jesus, she was already healed. She ‘felt’ it when she touched Jesus. Have you reached out past your impossible mindset? Have you reached out past your pain, your discouragement, to touch the Healer today? Jesus healed you when He was beaten (By His stripes you are healed), He’s done everything he will ever do for you. It’s now up to you to believe and receive.

Father, I thank you for the healing power that You provided for me. Everyday, I’m thankful for the blood that heals, saves and delivers me from every sickness and disease that would try to enter my body. I’m not going to sit back and take what the devil dishes out for me! I’m going to walk in my place of healing and proclaim Your Name, Your Blood and Your will for me to be healed. I don’t care what it feels like, looks like or sounds like. Your sacrifice will not be in vain, I will press through my crowded thoughts, my doubt and unbelief until I touch You. I will worship You until You feel the power and virtue go out of You. It’s in Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen

I often marvel at the birth process. How a very tiny seed can fertilize an egg, causing a baby to grow inside a woman and after the baby grows to full term, muscles contract to push the baby out of it’s comfortable home to continue to grow into a man or woman and repeat the process again. We are indeed fearfully and wonderfully made.

Just as babies are pushed from their tight and constricted environment into a place more conducive to growth, so the Lord moves us to do the same. Have you ever plateaued? You know, come to a place where you feel you’ve reached your potential in a certain place and wondered if this is it? Have you ever prayed, “More, Lord! I want more of You. I know You but I want to know You more?” In your crying out, have you ever tried to get fulfillment from your exterior surroundings? You know, change jobs, change churches, start a new exercise routine, look for new friends, but nothing seems to satisfy? Can I suggest that perhaps it’s not your outside that’s longing for change, but your inside, your spirit?

In Ephesians 4:23-24, Paul says, “You must be made new in your hearts and in your thinking.  Be that new person who was made to be like God, truly good and pleasing to him.” The spirit of man was made for the Spirit of God and to truly be satisfied and grow, you must grow in your spirit, not your flesh. Change comes when you renew your mind with the Word of God. Just because you’ve read it a million times, you can ask the Holy Spirit to show you new things and He will. He wants you to know God in all of His fullness, so open your spirit and allow Him to show you new and exciting things. Then apply what you’ve learned to yourself. Be what you were created to be; a spirit that lives in and rules your body and your surrounding circumstances.

Father, thank you for speaking to me by and through Your Spirit. You have showed me so many things, now help me to apply those things to my life so that I may rule and reign in this world just as You created me to do. I look around me and see so many who need healing from emotional and physical wounds and You told me to lay hands on them so they would recover. Until I know what I’ve been made for, I will never see the manifested work of Christ alive in me. Help me to know You more, to reflect You more. I don’t want to live selfishly anymore. It’s in Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen

John 3:16 NLT, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” Ephesians 5:25, “For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her.”

What did God do to show His love? He gave. How did He say husbands are to show love? To give. I believe that the only way to receive from God is to give. The Bible shows us that in order to receive, you must give. To have a harvest, you must first plant, that is giving to the soil a seed. The larger the harvest, the more planting must be done. When fall comes, if we are not happy with our harvest, it’s because we didn’t plant enough or we didn’t tend the garden to assist with the growth.

So many of us plant our offerings in church but refuse to tend the church, then become critical of how the church looks or is run. We’re all about outcome, with no investment. That’s not right! You can’t throw money at something and walk away! You must step in and help with the vision. We’ve become an ‘entitled’ group of people, haven’t we. I want, I need, I want, I need! We wouldn’t expect to draw a paycheck from our job if we didn’t ‘work’ there. No worky, no money! Yet we do this with the church and think it’s ok. It’s not!

God said we are to put Him and His house first, not last. If you live in a big, beautiful home and the house of the Lord is in shambles, that’s not giving, that’s hoarding. Solomon understood this and because his heart was on God’s house first, God made him the wealthiest and wisest man to ever live. We need to get our priorities straight and ask God, “What can I do for you this week?” Call and meet with your pastor and ask him what you can do to help in the church. Commit to serving for a year and see what it does to your vision and your harvest.

Father, nothing is more important to me than You. My heart belongs to You. My family belongs to You. My money belongs to You. My time belongs to You. All that I have is Yours, Lord. If You showed Your love by giving, than allow me to show mine by giving as well. I won’t just throw money in the offering plate, hoping that appeases You. No, I will worship You with all my heart, soul and strength. I will keep Your Word and I will help the Pastor carry out the vision You have given Him for our city. Your Kingdom come! Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. It’s in the name of the Son You gave to show Your love for me that I pray. Amen