Prayer--Communing with God

Have you ever noticed that when you hang around someone a lot, you begin to talk like they do? You pick up on their phraseologies and follow their train of thought, and sometimes begin to make it your own? Hmmm... maybe if we spent that much time with the Lord, we might begin to reflect His ideas, His perspective, His words....

When God speaks, it is usually brief and to the point. Read/scan the Bible from the perspective of really paying attention to the things God is saying. He is a man of few words. I mainly read the KJV, and I have heard some adapt the flowery KJV prayers, but in conversations with God--beginning in the Old Testament you get a pretty good feel of God's very different mode of conversation. I think the only time He got long winded was at the end of Job :)

"Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell Me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone--while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt'? Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it? The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment. The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken. Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death? Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this." Job 38

If we don't spend much time with the Lord in prayer and reading the Bible, we could misunderstand what He is trying to communicate. The Bible says the Lord knows what our needs are even before we ask, yet he wants us to have communion with Him--to ask expecting to receive His mercy, grace and love in our situation. If we ask with hearts and attitudes of trust and thanksgiving, it really only takes a few words to ask Him to intervene in a given situation.

Too often we tell God how to answer our prayers instead of letting the God who knows best, be God. We tend to rely on ourselves, or man, to meet our needs, and when it doesn't seem to be working--we go to God to have him fix everything our way. How sad that we don't go to Him first--thanking Him for being the loving Lord of our lives who meets our needs each day, and worshipping Him for what He does in and through us--as well as His provision for us and our loved ones. A totally different attitude toward prayer.

Read the Psalms. David and others did some venting, even complaining to God for their hardships. But the theme of praise, thanksgiving and trust underlies every Psalm. The writers are human just like ourselves, yet they chose to trust the faithfulness of the God who is Almighty to save, deliver and redeem them from every destruction. The God who sees all the details of our lives knows our needs and is big enough to meet them all.

Do we trust Him? Do we really believe He is loving and faithful? It is His faithfulness that is required to meet our every need. Our faith may fail, but His cannot. We can trust Him, and He longs to hear us tell Him we do. It releases His Hand to accomplish His purposes in our lives. Prayer is not really about us, but about Him. He desires to have intimate relationship with you, prayer is one of the vehicles He uses to accomplish this. Along with reading His Word and living a life style of Worship, we pray in order to commune in a two-way conversation with the Loving God of the Universe.

Copyright © 2007 by Ruth Mayfield All rights reserved. These articles may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, by including this notice.

Show Me Thy Glory

In Exodus chapter 33 Moses is having a conversation with God. The Lord is speaking to Moses face to face, as a man talks with his friend, verse 11. Moses first acknowledges God's favor and blessing. He then asks that God's presence go with the children of Israel as they travel to the promised land. He is requesting God's favor and blessing to continue with them. When the Lord agrees, Moses asks to see the Glory of God. The Lord responds in verse 19,

And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.

Then God hides Moses in the cleft of the rock, and allows him to view His backside, because no man can see the face of God and live-verse 23. Wow! It seems Moses was truly a privileged man to have such a relationship with the Father. Did he realize what he was asking? Did he know that this pleased God's heart because He wants relationship more than anything with his children? All the elders of Israel had rejected the presence of God. They pleaded with Moses to be an intermediary from the time God first began to converse with them on Mt. Sinai. Moses had to veil his face because of the residue of the presence of God could be seen on him--and the people couldn't handle it. It appears that among the people, only Joshua had the desire to be close to the Lord and Moses--verse 11.

There is enough in these verses to preach a sermon, or write a book, but I want to focus on Moses' personal request to see God's glory. It is important to view his request in context. Moses is not proud or haughty that he gets to have such intimate conversations with God. No one else wanted to be this close to God, and the Lord knew this about Moses when He called Moses from the burning bush back in Exodus 3. God's presence exposes every dark corner in our lives. Many of us would like to hide some things from everyone, including ourselves and God. Moses had laid himself bare before God, acknowledging his weaknesses and strengths. God in return began revealing Himself to Moses. Talking "face to face" means you listen, understand and can see from the other person's perspective on many topics. Anyone can "see" miracles that appear before their eyes, like the Israelites saw the Red Sea part, but few see the miracles that abound in our lives daily. They are the key to seeing God's glory.

For many years science has been exploring atoms. Though too small to see, they also reflect God's glory. Scientists have broken down the atom into subatomic particles and continue to attempt to discover more at this level. In 2004, the Nobel Prize for Physics [1] was given for theoretical contributions making it possible to complete the Standard Model of Particle Physics, the model that describes the smallest objects in Nature and how they interact. Scientists have broken down the forces of nature into four basic forces. Physics uses the term "strong force" or "colour force" to describe the force which holds the atom together. This is just one of the 4 forces of nature which they have had so much difficulty in explaining. The Bible tells us that it is by Jesus, that all things 'consist' (KJV)--or hold together. Red, blue and green quarks and their corresponding anti-red, anti-blue and anti-green anti-quarks in the nuclei of atoms are man's attempt to explain the 'force' holding atoms and the Universe together. We know that the creator of the Universe, is also the Force which gives us the 4 known basic forces of Nature. His name is Jesus.

Think about this. We are often in awe that the Lord would care about the details of our lives. Yet He cares enough to have designed the Universe itself to reflect His glory at every level. The Bible tells us the heavens declare the glory of God. Yet the further we explore space and simultaneously the more we do atomic research, it all points to the Great Designer and Creator, Jesus. You see God's signature is in every cell of our being, the molecules that make up our world and the atoms that are the building blocks of the entire universe. We just don't look from the perspective that allows us to see Him in it all.

Seeing God's glory is all about our perspective. We all know people who are negative or too positive in their perspective in life. Both are difficult to be around very much. As an example, on the negative side, I have met people who have a perspective of looking for a demonic cause for every little adversity. Yet not all problems are caused by demons. Some are caused by the flesh and some are simply caused by living in the world. On the positive side” few of us haven’t met someone whose bubbly conversations concerning their pets, the weather or even a relative’s funeral—make us wonder if they are on drugs or just out of touch with reality. We must keep a proper balance on Scripture and our perspective of God and the world we live in. If we hold to the Father’s perspective and really seek to have a 'face to face' relationship with him as Moses did, we will be positioning ourselves to see the Father’s glory and begin to see it and experience it in our lives. His glory is there--we haven't positioned ourselves to see it revealed.

There are some good songs, which are popular today, about seeing God's glory. Seeing God's glory doesn't mean seeing gold dust or a misty cloud, feathers or any other 'manifestation', although any of those may accompany His glory. Remember, our God is a consuming fire, Deuteronomy 4:24. All the dross, all the selfishness, anything that is not valuable from a heavenly perspective may be vaporized in God's presence. This means your house, your ministry, your retirement funds, even your family... Remember Job? His 10 adult children died in one day. He lost everything, including his health. Yet he was in God's will and God's plan for bringing ultimate blessings and glory. That was the Lord's intent all along. Hmmm... What are we willing to turn over to God? What price are we willing to pay to see His glory? ALL, is the only correct answer. We need to spend time in His presence and in His Word, to develop a relationship and perspective where we begin to see His glory in all the earth as well as reflect His glory in our own lives.

[1] http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2004/public.html

Copyright © 2007 by Ruth Mayfield All rights reserved. These articles may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, by including this notice.

The Trial of our Faith

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Romans 5:1-5

Duane Mayfield, my husband, stayed in three different hospitals and a nursing home, beginning April 29, 2007, when he collapsed. We arrived in the U.S. in April 2007, from Israel, to begin our fund raising tour for Horizon Ministries. While serving in New Orleans for two weeks as Chaplains with Billy Graham Evangelical Association, Duane became very weak. A week later he collapsed and was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Houston, TX. During the following weeks he suffered with a severe blood infection, double pneumonia, aortic heart valve damage, two strokes, brain swelling and an aneurism any of which could have killed him. May 17, the doctors placed a shunt in his head to relieve his severe brain swelling. May 24, he had brain surgery to remove the aneurism. On May 28, the shunt was removed from his brain. May 29, he was transferred to a Rehab Hospital. They believe all this was as a result of spider bites in March, in Jerusalem, which caused severe blood poisoning but which we had thought was healed after treatment.

I, Ruth Mayfield, Duane’s wife and co-minister, have been held up a shield of faith for Duane and our ministry. Together with our prayer partners and friends we trust God to miraculously intervene in order that His plan and purpose for our ministry, our marriage and our lives will be fulfilled.

Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation. For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us; Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf. 2 Corinthians 1:3-11

God has a plan, not only to heal and deliver us, but God has promised that our latter days shall be greater than the former days (Haggai 2:7-9). We live by faith, trusting God to receive enough support through our ministry website ( www.horizonministries.org) and occasional speaking engagements in the US, in order to continue to serve in Jerusalem, Israel. God is our provider. Duane, after pastoring many years in CA, volunteers on the leadership team at Narkis Street Congregation, Jerusalem (www.narkis.org ). Our personal ministry in Israel takes many forms. We network with other ministries as well as minister to individuals. We have the privilege of serving Jews, Arabs and Internationals in our ministry. We also minister in Uganda and have several invitations to other countries. In the U.S. we share about our experiences and walk of faith, and how all this enables us to live by faith in Israel.

Throughout Duane’s medical ordeal, I continued to stand and pray to expose the enemy and reveal God's glory as we have traveled through this valley of trial and miracles. Through all of these events from one hospital to the next, we saw the signature of God in various places as He has put believing doctors and healthcare workers there to encourage us when we needed it most while providing for all our needs. If Duane’s collapse had happened in Israel, they would have transported him to the states because of insurance issues and he probably wouldn't have survived. Instead, the Lord directed our steps to be in Houston, TX where the best medical care could be received. The Church at Houston which had invited us to speak, hosted us during the initial two months of this trial, welcoming us into their homes and their hearts. They visited us in the hospital as if we were their own family—the family of God as in the Book of Acts. God bless each one of them, our family and our ministry partners, who have faithfully prayed and stood in faith with us through all of this.

God could have healed Duane instantly, but He has chosen this path of faith to full recovery for us and those who are praying with us. Medical professionals continue to be amazed as they look at his medical history and his current progress. Brain trauma as extensive as Duane has experienced, takes many, many months of intensive therapy to achieve the best recovery, depending on the amount of permanent damage to tissue. (There was a lemon size area in the right frontal lobe of Duane’s brain that was caused by the first stroke, and unknown amount of damage from the severe swelling from the center of his brain, the second stroke and an aneurism.) Amazingly, the neurosurgeon gave permission for Duane to travel a 6 hour flight only one month after surgery—normally this amount of recovery would take 3-5 months. Duane has no paralysis, no motor skill impairment, no speech impairment and only diminishing, minor memory issues. His strength and endurance though abated continue to improve. Praise you Jesus!

Duane spent a month in the hospital and ICU, another month in a rehabilitation hospital, then 5 weeks in a nursing home. He was released in August from the nursing home into home care. In mid-October he was released from all home therapy. He completed medical tests for his heart and brain in November. As a precaution doctors will continue to monitor the heart valve damage, but he has no restrictions to his activities or diet and requires medication only to alleviate the heart valve leakage. We expected to return to Israel in November. However, December 6, he had successful surgery for a blocked urethra. December 28, he was taken to emergency and admitted for sudden excessive bleeding—a late result of that surgery. At that time, Duane received four units of blood and another severe infection was discovered. God intervened again. They determined that the infection was confined to his bladder requiring only strong oral antibiotics.

The total hospital and doctor bills were close to $500,000. To our surprise, Duane did not have adequate insurance. God used government and charity resources to eventually cover 90% of the bills. We are confident that the Lord will make a way to cover every last medical bill. Duane now has medical coverage for all future treatments as well. Father God is an amazing provider as we diligently serve Him and place our trust in Him.

We spent ten months living with gracious friends and family, having to move every two-to-three weeks from place to place for Duane’s treatment. We returned to Israel February 5, 2008 to gradually resume duties at Narkis and our ministry. Duane is now recovering from overall weakness. His endurance increases with each passing day. We are seeing God's Hand and giving Him Glory every single day as we see Duane respond to therapy and gain strength and stability on the road to full recovery. He is an awesome God! His Ways past finding out!

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth allthine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life fromdestruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who
satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the
eagle's.PSALMS 103:2-5

Pray with us:

• That Duane will have the mind of Christ, full clarity of mind and without ever having any residue of weakness, exhaustion or confusion.
  
• Speak the Life of God into every cell of Duane's body and brain. All brain trauma and heart valve leakage will disappear without any residual affects and he will be stronger than ever.
  
• Wisdom and Direction—That we will continue to allow the Lord to direct our steps and provide for us His way.
  

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Romans 8:18

To God be the Glory, Great things He is doing every day!!

Copyright © 2007 by Ruth Mayfield All rights reserved. These articles may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, by including this notice.

Devotional: Psalms 119:1-8

a Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.

Psalms 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible. It's 176 verses are purposefully divided into sections by the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

a -Aleph
The psalmist's assumption is that it is most desirable to be "blessed". Blessed are the undefiled, those who walk in holiness, a living transcript of the ways of God (2 Corinthians 3:3).

How do we enter into such blessings? Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. This is the key to this portion of Psalms 119, and indeed to the key to salvation. We know that salvation is not found in purely obeying the letter of the Law, but in loving the Lord with all our heart, our soul, mind and our strength. The writer is using a continuous present tense. You can't find Jesus one day and keep Him in your pocket for the rest of your life and expect to be blessed. Seeking God is a process which takes place over your entire life-time. God promises to respond to our seeking Him (2 Chronicles 15:2, Proverbs 8:17, Jeremiah 29:13).

It is this kind of seeking God which enables us to hold the ways of God in high esteem because we love Him. Our love for God and His grace, give us the sincere desire and ability beyond ourselves to obey the Law. The Word of God tells us that in the latter days, God will write His Law on men's hearts (Jeremiah 31:33). His Love will at that point constrain us to reject the ways of evil, and embrace Righteousness and Truth.

Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Isaiah 55:6-7

Copyright © 2007 by Ruth Mayfield All rights reserved. These articles may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, by including this notice.

THE ONE IN WHOM I HAVE BELIEVED--WALKING WITH HIM TO MOVE MOUNTAINS by Victoria Boyson

"Jesus is all, and as we abide in Him, we have access to all that we need: all power, all wisdom, and all strength."

All we will ever want, need, or desire is found in Jesus Christ. If we lack power, wisdom, or prosperity, we will find it in Him. He is, and He has all that we will ever need. We have no lack when we are in Him.

Jesus told His disciples, "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).

If we pull away from the Vine, who is Christ, we will discover we have little power to affect this world on our own. But when we are connected to the Vine, our source of power, we find that we are able to do all things through Him!

Our source of power is not found in ourselves, but as we abide in Christ, we have all the power we need. "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you" (John 15:7).

Knowing Him
If we abide in Him and His words abide in us, whatever we ask will be done! When we first come to know Jesus, we mainly know Him through the experiences of others or through the Word of God. But as we seek to know Him for who He is and develop a relationship with Him, we find a place of great power and authority in the supernatural realm. We can indeed do as God does, who "calls into being that which does not exist" (Romans 4:17).

Instead of spending all our time rebuking the enemy, we will find that when we are abiding in Him, we simply say the words and find the enemy fleeing. It is not us or our words that the enemy fears, but it is our connection to the Vine that terrifies him. As long as we will abide in Him, we have all the power we need. Our words have great power in the supernatural realm as we ABIDE IN CHRIST.

His Wisdom
Have you ever faced a problem and you just did not know what to do about it? Well, in Jesus, we find the answer to all life's problems. He is our source of great wisdom. He has the answer to every question. He knows all and, as we abide in Him, we have access to all the wisdom of the ages. Our wisdom is only limited by our level of intimacy with Him.

It isn't enough to just pray; to truly effect the realms of darkness, we must pray with the wisdom of the Lord. His wisdom can only be obtained by abiding in Him. When we try to acquire God's wisdom through our own minds and methods, it becomes, at best, a perverted mess. We become puffed up and of little use to God.

As we abide in Christ, He shows us how to pray and who to pray for. And when we are led by His Spirit, we can effectively target the enemy. We can hit him with great accuracy and not wear ourselves out with repetitious, complicated prayers and methods. Jesus is all, and as we abide in Him, we have access to all that we need: all power, all wisdom and all strength.

The Good Shepherd
Even our ability to abide in Him is found in Him. As we seek Him, He draws us to Himself. He is truly the Good Shepherd that David spoke of in Psalm 23 (paraphrased):
"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall never be in want, because in Him I have all I need. My Loving Shepherd anticipates my needs and provides for me before I even know I am in lack. He leads me to places of blessing where I can rest. He restores my soul with His peace and comfort, and makes me righteous so that I may become one with Him.

I shall have no fear, because even in the face of death He prepares a feast of blessing for me to enjoy as my enemies look on in defeat. He gives me all I need and fills me with His power. His goodness and loving kindness are with me as I walk and live in Him. I will never ever leave Him, because He holds me close and keeps me walking with Himself. I will abide with Him forever!"

In the midst of the fiercest battle, I experience the greatest peace--I enjoy the greatest joy. Though satan rages, I still experience the feeling of God's protection and love. I am made fearless, because His perfect love for me casts out all fear (see 1 John 4:18).

This Bears Repeating
"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the Vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me" (John 15:4).

Our authority does not lie in ourselves! It is a trick of the enemy to get us to focus either on our greatness or our unworthiness and take our eyes off Him. It is not about us at all, but Him. Only as we abide in Him will we have lasting victory and fruit.

It is God's will that we bear fruit, but we cannot apart from Him. We will only exhaust ourselves, and our work will not be of lasting value to the Kingdom. Only in God are we victorious. He is our platform of power; apart from Him we can do nothing!

To Know Him
"I know whom I have believed" (2 Timothy 1:12). Of course you believe in Jesus, but do you believe, trust in, and rely on Him? Do you believe in the greatness of His power? Are you proud of who He is and what He's done? Are you putting ALL your faith and trust in Him, or are you holding back a bit of your heart just in case He does not come through for you? If you know the One in whom you have believed, you will walk in His power and authority.

If we truly know God and how great our God is, we will move mountains for Him. The great problem today is our lack of knowledge of who He is and how awesome He is. If we could indeed see His greatness, we would walk in a spiritual authority that would astonish the world.

Our relationship with God determines the authority we walk in everyday. Without a relationship with Christ, we are only walking blindly through this life, guessing at what we believe is God's will for us. If we truly know Him, we will walk confident in His authority as His messengers. We will not hold back from aggressively believing in His power and trusting in His power to raise the dead to life.

In John 4:10, Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to you; 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." Jesus said to her "If you knew (Him)" you would ask and He would give. The answers to all life's problems are found in those words, "If you knew."

We should seek to know God--not just know about Him, but know Him. As His children, our prayer should be that He would help us to know Him. For if we know Him, we will become His ambassadors on this earth and do the things He did. If we know Him, we will be His friend and bring His light into the darkness. As we begin to know Him, we can experience His glory and power--and then walk in it.

We don't have to be satisfied with knowing about God, we can truly know Him. We can walk with Him like Enoch walked with Him. And, knowing Him is more wonderful than anything else in this life. He is Life! He is the air we breathe and the reason we live!

The more we know God, the greater our faith in Him becomes, because we begin to see just how awesome He is. When we see how big He is, our faith in Him rises, and we see there is nothing He cannot handle. All things were created by Him and all things are summed up in Him (see Colossians 1:16).

How Big is Your God?
One day when my son Cole was only four years old, he was riding in our car with his daddy. They were both very quiet, just enjoying the ride and being together, when suddenly Cole spoke up. He said, "God must wear a really big shirt!" At four years old, as he sat silently in our car, the God of the universe was revealing Himself to this young man. Cole's remark was evidence that he knew God. Even as a child, and maybe especially as a child, he could understand that if God was big enough to hold the whole world in His hands, He must wear a really big shirt.
It was especially important to Cole to know that his "God-friend" is really big, because he has always been small for his age. So, to know that he had a really BIG God, who wears a really big shirt, was comforting to him. Do you feel that way sometimes? Do you need to know how big your God is?

To find a mental picture of how big God is, we can look at Isaiah 66:1. The Lord describes Himself, "Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me?" If God's throne is the Heavens and this enormous world of ours is His footstool, He must, indeed, wear a really big shirt.

Can you see now how big God is? And, this great big Daddy God loves you and wants to be your friend. He wants to take care of even the smallest details of your life. He loves you, and you can take refuge in Him and live confidently in His love for You.

Can We Trust Him?
When we understand His greatness and believe in His power, we will move mountains for Him and astonish the world. As we know Him and how much He loves us, we will walk in His authority and power; then our light will shine before all men, that they might glorify our Father in Heaven (see Matthew 5:16).

Asaph prayed in Psalm 83:18, "Let them know that You, whose name is the Lord--that you alone are the Most High over all the earth." He prayed that we would understand--He is Lord of the Heavens and of the earth; He is Lord over every living thing. Every knee will bow and confess His Name, because He has created all things.

We do not put our faith in a little God, but one who created all things. He really is an awesome God and no matter how big our trouble looks, He is bigger. He laid the foundations of the earth and commands the sun to rise each morning. He told the seas how far to come up shore and understands the expanse of the earth (see Job 38:4-18).

He is able to take care of us at all times. He is able to keep us from falling. He is able to keep us in victory and power.

Pray this with me: Dear Father, release me from the shackles of my fleshly knowledge of You, and show me just how awesome You are, so I might be found in You, and reveal Your greatness to a world that needs You desperately. Help me to know the One in whom I have believed.
In Jesus' name, amen.

Victoria Boyson
Speaking Life Ministries
Email: victoria@boyson.org

reposted from the Elijah List http://www.elijahlist.com/