Encouragement

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The process of being renewed in the spirit of your mind (Ephesians 4:22-24) is a spiritual battle. It can become so intense that many people lose this fight because they do not know how to fight in the Spirit (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). The only way our spiritual enemies can win is through words and feelings used against us. We must use prayer as a weapon to stay free from fear, guilt, shame, condemnation, resentment, confusion, frustration, anger and anything that binds, grips or holds us. If we have committed a thought, motive or action that has hurt the Lord, someone else or ourselves, we must confess it and ask for forgiveness (1 John 1:7-9) and forget it. We need to constantly ask the Lord for discernment to stay free. I am continually thanking the Lord for turning my hurt into healing and my pain into power and transforming my wife and me into His likeness just like Jesus turned the water into wine in John 2:1-11.

Prayer is the first step in the process of being transformed into the image of Christ. It was one of the habits that Jesus kept every day when He walked on this earth (Matthew 14:23 & 26:36, Mark 1:35 & 6:46 and Luke 6:12 & 9:38). When I wake up in the morning I pray (even if I am driving to work). This is how I do it:

Father, I thank you for this beautiful day, Saturday, December 17, 2005 (or the actual day you are praying). This is the day that You have made for me. I will rejoice and be glad in it! (with enthusiasm whether I feel like it or not).

I thank you for being my Father. I thank You for being My Perfect Provider, My Perfect Protector with Your Perfect Plan of Perfect Prosperity and Perfect Peace today. I thank You for Your Living blood, Your Living Spirit and Your Living Word Covering me, Consuming me and Conforming me into Your very own image in ever increasing splendor. I thank You for every desire of Your heart and every thought of Your mind being fulfilled for me, in me and through me. I thank You for feeling, thinking, speaking, writing and living through me today. I thank You for anointing my eyes and ears so that I may see and hear You more clearly today. I thank You for sharper discernment, clearer revelation, greater wisdom and deeper understanding. Thank You for Your love that covers, believes, hopes and endures all things. Love never ends, fails or falls. Thank You for Your overflowing joy which is my strength. Thank You for Your peace that passes all my understanding keeping my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus.

I thank You for drawing me closer to Your heart that I may fall in love with Jesus and my wife more and more and for transforming us into Your very own image in ever increasing splendor. I thank You for filling me with the full knowledge of Your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that I may walk worthy of You, fully pleasing You, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the full knowledge of God, strengthened with all might according to Your glorious power unto all patience and endurance with joy (adapted from Colossians 1:9-11).

I bow my knees unto You, Father, of whom the family in heaven and earth is named. I thank You for granting me according to the rich treasury of Your glory to be strengthened with mighty power through Your Spirit in my inner man so that Christ may dwell in my heart by faith, that I would be rooted and grounded in love and may have the power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth of it. That I may know the love of Christ which passes knowledge so that I may be filled with all of the fullness of God. Now, Father, You are able to do exceeding abundantly above all I can ask or think, according to Your mighty power working in me (adapted from Ephesians 3:16-20).

I thank You for Your increasing overflow of Your supernatural anointing, fruit, gifts, healing, prosperity, favor and blessings consuming me, coming upon me and overtaking me.

I thank You that I stand empowered in You and in the strength of Your might. I thank You for making me stronger and stronger in You today. I put on the whole armor that You have given me. I put on my helmet of salvation, my breastplate of righteousness, my belt of truth and my feet shod with preparation of the Gospel of peace. Above all I take up my shield of faith which I use to quench all of the fiery darts of the wicked one. I place my shield of faith over my wife. I take up the sword of Your Spirit and prayer and I advance in Your kingdom today (adapted from Ephesians 6:10-18, five defensive parts and two offensive parts).

I thank You, Father, for Your increasing overflow of Your supernatural favor in the body of Christ, in our community, our state, our nation and our world and in everything that I think and say and do and in my (businesses and ministry).

I thank You for anointing me and using me the way You used Jesus, Peter, Stephen, Philip, Paul, Ann and Ted (You may substitute the last two for personal mentors if you have any. The first five are my mentors in the New Testament) to bring salvation to our community, our state, our nation and our world.

I thank You for transforming me to be the most anointed, thankful, loving, joyful, peaceful, long-tempered, kind, good, faithful, meek, self-controlled, gracious, merciful, compassionate and prosperous person on the face of this earth.

Thank You, Father, for Your increasing overflow of salvation, including all these things I previously prayed, into all of the (relatives and people God puts on your heart), every intercessor, every ministry, every government leader and all those calling upon You and those who will call upon You throughout our community, our state, our nation and our world!

I almost always pray with my wife and make everything “us” instead of “me”. You can adjust either one according to your comfort level. It takes me six or seven minutes to pray using the previous model. I have memorized this prayer and this is the first time I have written it down. You can adapt it to use according to what you feel in your heart.

During the day when I am alone I often thank the Lord for feeling, thinking, speaking, writing and living through me. I pray in the Spirit (tongues) and ask the Lord to reveal what He spoke through me when driving or during stressful times or anytime the Lord leads me. I thank Him for transforming me more and more into His image in ever-increasing splendor (2 Corinthians 3:18).

I love to memorize verses in the Bible that apply to me. Then I will recite them in my mind and out loud during the day. Sometimes I will be very quiet on my daily walk after I pray or recite God’s Word to myself and Him. I listen for His voice. When He speaks, I always ask Him to empower me with His words so that His Word will become flesh.

If I am in a tense or stressful situation, I will get alone, when possible, and ask the Lord to calm me down and give me His peace. He will always answer. I just need to give Him some time. Then I will ask Him for wisdom (James 2:1-8). I always ask Him to feel and think through me and reveal what He wants me to do. We need to run to Him when we encounter trouble. He has the love, grace, mercy and power to help us in any circumstance.

As the Lord leads us by His Spirit, we may need to pray with or for other people or they may need to pray for us (Isaiah 59:16, Matthew 18:19, Acts 4:24-31 & James 5:16). I would caution you to make sure you are discerning about someone praying for you who you do not know (1 Timothy 5:22). God wants you to be healed and transformed into the image of Christ. If you feel uneasy in your spirit about a person, you need to decline prayer. He does not want you tormented by evil spirits through someone assigned to you by spiritual enemies.

At night before I go to sleep, I pray a quick summary of what I prayed in the morning, thanking my Father for all of His provision and protection during the day. I then pray Psalm 23 & 91 softly out loud over my wife and myself as follows:

I thank You, Lord, that You are our Shepherd. We shall not lack. You make us to lie down in green pastures and You lead us beside the still waters. You restore our souls. You lead us in the paths of righteousness for Your name’s sake. Yes, though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil. For You are with us. Your rod and your staff comfort us. You prepare a table before us in the presence of our enemies. You anoint our heads with oil. Our cups run over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives and we will dwell in Your house forever.

Thank You, Lord, that we dwell in Your secret place and we shall abide under Your Almighty shadow. We will say of You, Lord, that You are our refuge and our fortress, our God, in You will we trust. You shall deliver us from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence. You will cover us with Your feathers and under Your wings shall we trust. Your truth shall be our shield and buckler. We shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at our side and ten thousand at our right hand, but it shall not come near us. Only with our eyes shall we behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because we have made You, Lord, our refuge, even the most High, our habitation, there shall no evil befall us, neither shall any plague come near our dwelling For You will give Your angels charge over us to keep us in all ways. They shall bear us up in their hands, lest we dash our foot against a stone. We shall tread upon the lion and adder, the young lion and dragon shall we trample under feet. Because we have set our love upon You, therefore You will deliver us. You will set us on High because we have known Your name. We shall call upon You and You will answer us. You will be with us in trouble. You will deliver us and honor us. With long life, You will satisfy us and show us Your salvation.

I challenge you to try praying with the models I use. At first it may be difficult. Your spiritual enemies will fight against you and try and stop you. Please realize that anything worthwhile requires a fight. There is no victory without a battle.

God is not a respecter of any person (Acts 10:34). He pours out His overflowing blessings upon my wife and me as we pray every day. He will do the same for you as you pray.

Remember that Jesus conquered the biggest enemy of all. He conquered death. He wants you to have and enjoy overflowing life as you pray (John 10:10). As you pray and grow in Christ, He will give you the victory over sin and death through the Spirit of Life in Christ who lives in you (Romans 8:1-2 & 1 Corinthians 15:55-58)!

Copyright © 2005 By Daniel W. Woodworth

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