Tag: Holy Spirit

Morning Prayer: Psalm 122:8-9; Isaiah 41:4-6; John 3:8 ~ wind born

Morning Prayer: 

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening sentences
Seek the Lord while He may be found: with all your heart… with all your soul… with all your mind… with all your strength.

Declaration of faith

To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God. Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory.

Morning readings

Psalm 122:8-9 ESV    For my brothers and companions’ sake I will say, “Peace be within you!” For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.

Wind from the Sea Andrew Wyeth (1947)
Wind from the Sea
Andrew Wyeth (1947)

Isaiah 41:4-6 ESV    “Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he. The coastlands have seen and are afraid; the ends of the earth tremble; they have drawn near and come. Everyone helps his neighbor and says to his brother, “Be strong!”

John 3:8 ESV    “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Prayer: Come Holy Spirit – Fill my heart with love for all God’s people… take captive my thoughts… and bridle my tongue… that I might only speak words of encouragement and peace. Give me the sensitivity and discernment to recognize your movement in the lives of others. When I am strong, may I freely give help to others; and when I am weak, may I graciously receive their offered help. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Spiritual Song: “Come Holy Spirit” – Israel Houghton and the New Breed.

Blessing

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever He may send you. May He guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you. May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

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Peanut Gallery: The Morning Prayer readings are from the Daily Office of the Northumbrian Community as available online here… and in the book form, Celtic Daily Prayer available on Amazon.com.

The website and prayer book are rich in prayer resources and I commend them to you. For our purpose here, I will limit my selections to the Morning Prayer resources.

Morning Reading: Acts 28:23-28 NLT ~ deaf ears

Reading: Acts 28:23-28 NLT

So a time was set, and on that day a large number of people came to Paul’s lodging. He explained and testified about the Kingdom of God and tried to persuade them about Jesus from the Scriptures.

image

Using the law of Moses and the books of the prophets, he spoke to them from morning until evening. Some were persuaded by the things he said, but others did not believe.

And after they had argued back and forth among themselves, they left with this final word from Paul: “The Holy Spirit was right when he said to your ancestors through Isaiah the prophet,

‘Go and say to this people: When you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend. For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes— so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.’

So I want you to know that this salvation from God has also been offered to the Gentiles, and they will accept it.”

Prayer: Heavenly Father – I confess that sometimes I hear what I want to hear and see what I want to see… and then convince myself that it’s all from you. Please forgive me… my closed mind… my hard heart… my prejudices… and my preconcieved notions. Lord Jesus – give me your mind… your heart… your obedience to submit to the will of the Father – like it or not. Holy Spirit – continue your transforming work in me… make the new creation that I am becoming a closer reality day by day. And may your Kingdom come… on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

Hymn: “Be Still My Soul” – Kathrina von Schlegel; Translator: Jane L. Borthwick (1855)

Morning Reading: Acts 21:15-25 NLT – respecting differences / preserving unity

Reading: Acts 21:15-25 NLT

After this we packed our things and left for Jerusalem. Some believers from Caesarea accompanied us, and they took us to the home of Mnason, a man originally from Cyprus and one of the early believers. When we arrived, the brothers and sisters in Jerusalem welcomed us warmly.

The next day Paul went with us to meet with James, and all the elders of the Jerusalem church were present. After greeting them, Paul gave a detailed account of the things God had accomplished among the Gentiles through his ministry.

After hearing this, they praised God. And then they said, “You know, dear brother, how many thousands of Jews have also believed, and they all follow the law of Moses very seriously. But the Jewish believers here in Jerusalem have been told that you are teaching all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn their backs on the laws of Moses. They’ve heard that you teach them not to circumcise their children or follow other Jewish customs. What should we do? They will certainly hear that you have come.

unity“Here’s what we want you to do. We have four men here who have completed their vow. Go with them to the Temple and join them in the purification ceremony, paying for them to have their heads ritually shaved. Then everyone will know that the rumors are all false and that you yourself observe the Jewish laws.

“As for the Gentile believers, they should do what we already told them in a letter: They should abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality.”

Prayer: Heavenly Father – you love variety… you infused variety into every aspect of creation. You made us all wonderfully different from one another… different languages, cultures, races, statures, and religious traditions. Lord Jesus – you have broken down the walls that separate us from one another through your death on the cross. Bring us together in a unity of faith… believers who repent of their sins, receive your forgiveness and mercy, and live life to the full according to your grace. Holy Spirit – fill us anew with your presence and power. Produce your good fruit in us and manifest your gifts among us that we might experience the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace… and so respect and rejoice the wonderful variety among us. To God be the glory. Amen.

Spiritual Song: “We Are United in Jesus Christ” – Carol Cymbala

Morning Reading: Acts 21:1-13 NLT – heart-breaking prophecies

Reading: Acts 21:1-13 NLT

After saying farewell to the Ephesian elders, we sailed straight to the island of Cos. The next day we reached Rhodes and then went to Patara. There we boarded a ship sailing for Phoenicia. We sighted the island of Cyprus, passed it on our left, and landed at the harbor of Tyre, in Syria, where the ship was to unload its cargo.

We went ashore, found the local believers, and stayed with them a week. These believers prophesied through the Holy Spirit that Paul should not go on to Jerusalem. When we returned to the ship at the end of the week, the entire congregation, including women and children, left the city and came down to the shore with us. There we knelt, prayed, and said our farewells. Then we went aboard, and they returned home.

The Prophecy of Agabus by Louis Cheron (1660-1713)
The Prophecy of Agabus
by Louis Cheron (1660-1713)

The next stop after leaving Tyre was Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed for one day. The next day we went on to Caesarea and stayed at the home of Philip the Evangelist, one of the seven men who had been chosen to distribute food. He had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophecy.

Several days later a man named Agabus, who also had the gift of prophecy, arrived from Judea. He came over, took Paul’s belt, and bound his own feet and hands with it. Then he said, “The Holy Spirit declares, ‘So shall the owner of this belt be bound by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem and turned over to the Gentiles.’” When we heard this, we and the local believers all begged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.

But he said, “Why all this weeping? You are breaking my heart! I am ready not only to be jailed at Jerusalem but even to die for the sake of the Lord Jesus.” When it was clear that we couldn’t persuade him, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”

Prayer: No turning back, Lord, whatever the cost. No turning back. Amen.

Spiritual Song: “I have decided to follow Jesus”

Morning Reading: Acts 20:13-38 NLT – guard yourselves and God’s people

Reading: Acts 20:13-38 NLT

Paul went by land to Assos, where he had arranged for us to join him, while we traveled by ship. He joined us there, and we sailed together to Mitylene. The next day we sailed past the island of Kios. The following day we crossed to the island of Samos, and a day later we arrived at Miletus.

Paul had decided to sail on past Ephesus, for he didn’t want to spend any more time in the province of Asia. He was hurrying to get to Jerusalem, if possible, in time for the Festival of Pentecost. But when we landed at Miletus, he sent a message to the elders of the church at Ephesus, asking them to come and meet him.

Paul's Farewell Ephesus
Apostle Paul’s Farewell
with the Elders of Ephesus

When they arrived he declared, “You know that from the day I set foot in the province of Asia until now I have done the Lord’s work humbly and with many tears. I have endured the trials that came to me from the plots of the Jews. I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes. I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike — the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus.

“And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus — the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.

“And now I know that none of you to whom I have preached the Kingdom will ever see me again. I declare today that I have been faithful. If anyone suffers eternal death, it’s not my fault, for I didn’t shrink from declaring all that God wants you to know.

“So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock — his church, purchased with his own blood — over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as elders. I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following. Watch out! Remember the three years I was with you — my constant watch and care over you night and day, and my many tears for you.

“And now I entrust you to God and the message of his grace that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with all those he has set apart for himself.

“I have never coveted anyone’s silver or gold or fine clothes. You know that these hands of mine have worked to supply my own needs and even the needs of those who were with me. And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

When he had finished speaking, he knelt and prayed with them. They all cried as they embraced and kissed him good-bye. They were sad most of all because he had said that they would never see him again. Then they escorted him down to the ship.

Prayer: Lord Jesus – Help us all to finish well… no regrets. Give us the courage to examine our hearts… to review our ministries… and to put right any wrongs we may have done. Give us a spirit of humility, Lord, it’s never been about us… it’s always been about you. And help us to make clear the message of help and hope you offer to all… friend and foe alike. May we not shrink back from the essential message of repentance and the forgiveness of sin made possible through your death on the cross. And may we also speak boldly of our blessed hope of eternal life and your immanent return. Raise up capable leaders who will shepherd and protect your flock when we are gone. And may you be honored in all things. Amen.

Hymn: “The Church’s One Foundation” – S. J. Stone (1866)