Day 40 of 40 Days of Prayer and Blessing

This is the 40th day!   Women have fasted and prayed in London, New York, Virginia, Georgia, Texas, Colorado, and California - prayers of blessing for hundreds of men all over the world!  As we have prayed in agreement, speaking the powerful, transforming Word of God, incredible and miraculous things have been set in motion.  Be expectant!   

Expect to be amazed!  

I call it a God-incidence that today the email I received from Nicky Gumbel, the pastor of Holy Trinity Brompton London, the church attended by the women who initiated these 40 Days of Prayer and Blessing, is about marriage!   You can see the post in its entirety here:  The Bible in One Year

but I share a few snippets with you, following the prayer points for today.  

My prayer for you is that you are encouraged!  Take Courage! Let Hope arise in your heart, mind, soul and spirit.  

Day 40 (21^st of February)

Prayer for your 10+ men (Psalm 91) 

• Command Your angels concerning them
• Guard them in all their ways
• Answer them in times of trouble
• Satisfy them with long life and be show them salvation

Prayer for yourself:    

To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ:  Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance

Two Are Better Than One  (Nicky Gumbel)

I have never been very good at using visual aids.  I am not a very practical person.  On the other hand, my great friend, Nicky Lee (who, together with his wife Sila, has pioneered The Marriage Course and other Family Life courses) is extremely practical and often uses visual aids. 

 When he is speaking at weddings he sometimes uses a visual aid to illustrate the passage in Ecclesiastes 4.  The writer says, ‘Two are better than one … A cord of three strands is not quickly broken’ (vv.9,12).

As a picture or marriage, Nicky Lee takes two strands of different coloured wool and weaves them together.  Together they are stronger and yet they can quite easily be broken.  Then he takes a third strand of nearly invisible gut.  With this third strand it is almost impossible to break the two pieces of wool.  (I did try to use this illustration once, but for reasons I cannot remember it went horribly wrong!

 The point that he makes so well, and that comes out of the passage in Ecclesiastes, is that whilst friendships and marriages are wonderful gifts, having Jesus at the centre of a friendship or marriage provides an invisible thread of enormous strength. 

1.  Honour marriage: two become one
Proverbs 5:15-23
This is a beautiful description of marriage in which two people ‘become one flesh’ (Genesis 2:24).  Part of its beauty lies in its exclusiveness.  Each person has their own ‘cistern’, their own ‘well’, their own ‘springs’ (Proverbs 5:15–16).  They are ‘yours alone, never to be shared with strangers’ (v.17). 

It is such a wonderful picture of marriage as a source of blessing (‘blessed’, v.18a), rejoicing (‘rejoice’, v.18b), love (‘a loving doe’, v.19a), grace (‘a graceful deer’, v.19a), satisfaction (‘satisfy you always’, v.19b) and romance (‘may you ever be captivated by her love’, v.19c, NIV). 

The greatness of real love (‘enduring intimacies’, v.19, MSG) – the emotional and physical love between a husband and wife – is compared to the ‘cheap thrills’ of ‘dalliance with a promiscuous stranger’ (v.20, MSG).

That is why the writer warns so strongly against adultery.  Be aware, he says, that God is watching (v.21).  And the path that leads to adultery is ‘evil’, ‘wicked’, sinful, foolish and it leads to death (vv.22–23).  We see an example of this in the New Testament passage where it was Herod’s adultery that led to him murdering John the Baptist (Mark 6:14–29). 

Whilst the fact that our ‘ways are in full view of the Lord’ (v.21) is a warning against adultery, it is also a reminder of the strength that comes from having ‘the Lord’ involved in a marriage, as the third strand of the cord.

Indeed, in response to God’s love for us, it is discovering and living out our love for God which is the central guiding principle in how we are to love our spouse in marriage.  God’s love for us is the best example of how we should love our spouse.

Thank you Lord for the huge blessing of marriage.  Thank you for the difference that the third strand, of the presence of Jesus, makes to a marriage.  Thank you that two is better than one and that a cord of three strands is not quickly broken. 

Lord, thank you so much for our own marriages and those we see happening around us in the community of the church.  Lord, I pray for Nicky and Sila Lee and The Marriage Preparation Course and The Marriage Course.  I pray too for all those who are working to strengthen marriage in this country and elsewhere.

AMEN!  [so be it!]”  

Expecting to be amazed ~

Barbara

© Barbara Nelson – 2012

Protect & Strengthen - 40 Days of Prayer and Blessing

Day 39 – (20^th of February)

Prayer for your 10+ men (Psalm 86) 

• Teach them Your way, O Lord, that they may walk and live in Your truth; direct and unite their hearts [solely, reverently] to fear and honor Your name.
• Protect them from those who come against them
• Show them that you are compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness
• O turn to them and have mercy and be gracious to them; grant strength (might and inflexibility to temptation) to Your servants and save your sons! 

Prayer for yourself:

Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, will be with us in truth and love.

Restored JOY! 40 Days of Prayer and Blessing

May your Joy be restored today.....  

Day 38 – (19^th of February)

Prayer for your 10+ men (Psalm 51:12-17) 

• Restore to them the JOY of Your salvation, and grant them a willing spirit to sustain them  
• Open their lips, that their mouth may declare Your praise
• Help them have a broken spirit and a contrite heart
• In Your good pleasure make them prosper!

Prayer for yourself:

We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. 

The Rock - 40 Days of Prayer and Blessing

The ROCK!

Yesterday I heard from a male friend who shared with me that he had feelings of shame because of a financial issue.  Shame is more common than we realize for the men going through career and relationship transitions.   It is a heaviness that pulls us into a pit of discouragement, BUT GOD hears and answers our prayers!  The Psalms we are praying for the men, today and yesterday, are prayers that God will pull them out of those dark places of shame, and set their feet upon the Rock, which is solid, firm, and unmovable.  (I added to the prayer points today.)   

Day 37 – (18^th of February)

Prayer for your 10+ men (Psalm 71 - Amplified) 

• In You, O Lord, the men put their trust and confidently take refuge
• Let them never be put to shame or confusion
• Deliver them in Your righteousness and cause them to escape
• Bow down Your ear to them and hear them and save them!
• Be to them a ROCK of refuge in which to dwell, and a sheltering stronghold to which they may continually resort which You have appointed to save them
• For You are their ROCK and their Fortress
• For You [God] be their HOPE; O Lord God, be their trust... and be the source of their confidence.  
• Teach them, that they may declare your marvellous deeds
• Even when they are old and grey, do not forsake them, that they may declare your power to the next generation

Prayer for yourself:

For everyone born of God overcomes the world!  (1 John 5:4)

AMEN!  [so be it!]”  

Expecting to be amazed ~

Barbara

© Barbara Nelson – 2012

Establish our Steps - 40 Days of Prayer and Blessing

God bless you as you pray for the men in your life!  

Day 36 – (17^th of February)

Prayer for your 10+ men (Psalm 40) 

(I added a few)

• As they wait patiently, You hear their cry
• Bring them up out of the pit, and out of the miry clay, and set their feet upon a rock
• Establish their steps
• Put a new song in their mouths, “Praise to our God!”
• Open their lips that they would proclaim Your righteousness in the great assembly
• Do not withhold Your mercy from them
• May Your love and truth always protect them
• Save them from their troubles and from their sins
• Put to shame and confusion all who seek their lives

Prayer for yourself:

This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

He WILL give you the desires of your heart! 40 Days of Prayer and Blessing

My sister Lisa often has great nuggets of wisdom to share with me, as she did last Friday before her only son’s wedding.  We were talking about trusting God and His perfect plan, even when it does not make sense.  It is difficult to dispute the wisdom that was spoken first by the inspired King David:

“Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.”  

Later that day I read an email that contained a message titled, “Desires and Dreams of the Heart”, and I have learned to pay attention when I hear the same verse from two very different sources, 2 or more times in a day or week.  I share a snippet with you here:  

When we were made one with God, through Jesus Christ, the very desires of our heart had the potential to reflect the same desires that reside in God's heart. This is possible because the Holy Spirit – God – lives within us.   

Psalm 37:4 says, "Take delight in the LORD, and He will give you your heart's desires." 

Psalm 37:4 says that once our focus is on the Lord – delighting in Him – then our heart is in a place to actually desire the same things God desires. We must "take" our delight and deposit it in God. If our delight is placed elsewhere, then our desires will be birthed from the limitations of our own self-provision or from a kingdom that stands in direct opposition to God. In the end, we will begin to worry like an unbeliever because we have disconnected ourselves from a place of trust.

Day 35 – (16^th of February) Prayer Points from London:

Prayer for your 10+ men (Psalm 37) 

• Hope in the Lord and therefore inherit the land
• In times of disaster, not wither, in days of famine, enjoy plenty
• Be upheld by the Lord’s hand
• Have the law of their God on their heart and their feet not slip

Prayer for yourself:

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome [the spirits of this world], because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

Additional Prayer points from Psalm 37 for your 10+ men:  

Father God, we pray for the men in our community, and for all men called to Kingdom marriages.  We declare over their spirits, that they will.....

• Trust in the LORD, and do good;
• Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness
• Delight yourself in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart!
• Commit you way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass....   He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice as the noonday.  
• Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him
• Do not Fret - it only causes harm (This is stated three times!)
• Cease from anger, and forsake wrath
• Wait on the LORD, and keep His way, and He shall exalt you to inherit the land.

AMEN!  [so be it!]”  

Expecting to be amazed ~

Barbara

© Barbara Nelson – 2012

Home Stretch - 40 Days of Prayer and Blessing

This is the home stretch for those of who have been praying 40 Days of Prayer and Blessing.  Last night I was reminded of the movie Secretariat, and woke up this morning thinking about these remaining days of our prayer assignment - this is not the time to slack off.  So, at the beginning of our last 7 days, a dose of Secretariat gumption is in order for ourselves, and for all of us called to Kingdom marriages.  

 “It (he) paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength,    and charges into the fray.  It (WE) laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;    it does not shy away from the sword.” (Job 39:21-22) 

“You are about to see something, that you’ve never seen before!”  

“This is not about going back.  This is about life being ahead of you and you run at it!  Because you never know how far you can run unless you run.”  Penny Chenery (Tweedy)

Pray and believe that we are all going to see something, (or someone) that we have never seen before!  Pray that the men will be infused with renewed strength to run into their destinies.  

Day 34 – (15^th of February)

Prayer for your 10+ men (1Peter 2:11-17) 

• Would live such good lives among the Gentiles, that people would see their good deeds and glorify God
• Show proper respect to everyone
• Love the brotherhood of believers

Prayer for yourself:

Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see Him as He is.  (1 John 3:2)

AMEN!  [so be it!]”  

Expecting to be amazed ~

Barbara

© Barbara Nelson – 2012

Be Mine! 40 Days of Prayer and Blessing

Happy Valentine’s Day!  

After a glorious wedding celebration this past weekend, and truly celebrating the love of the bride and groom, without entertaining a pesky internal pity party, I was surprised by that kick in the gut feeling when I entered Whole Foods last night.  You know the feeling.  I had really forgotten about Valentine’s Day, until I walked through the grand entrance of the store, filled with flowers, succulent berries, and luscious chocolates.   I think there was a man holding a gorgeous bouquet for his girl in every aisle!   

On this 33rd day of praying blessing over men called to Kingdom marriages, a reminder that God does hear our prayers, He is faithful and good, and He will answer, is what I need today.  

“Call to me and I will answer you. I'll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.”   (Jeremiah 33:3 The Message)

“The Lord will perfect that which concerns me...” (Psalm 138:8 ) 

The Hebrew word “Perfect” is Strong’s 1584:  “To end, finish, accomplish, perfect; to come to an end, cease; to perform, fulfill.” 

“And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”  (Matthew 21:22)  

Lets be thankful that we have a loving God who will give us the desires of our hearts!  Delight yourself in Him.  Oh - and go buy yourself some flowers!!  

Day 33 – (14^th of February)

Prayer for your 10+ men (1 Peter 1) 

In Christ’s name and through the Holy Spirit, we pray that God would allow them to:

• Have minds prepared for action 
• Be self-controlled
• Have their hope set fully on the grace to be given when Jesus Christ is revealed
• Be holy as He who called them is holy
• Have sincere love for God’s people, loving them deeply, from the heart

Prayer for yourself:

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

AMEN!  [so be it!]”  

Expecting to be amazed ~

Barbara

© Barbara Nelson – 2012

A Wedding Day - 40 Days of Prayer and Blessing

Weddings!  1 + 1 = One.  Weddings are a day of hope, joy, giddy-love, promise, and expectancy for a bright new future.  

My nephew Willis was married Saturday 2/11/12 to the incredible and beautiful Caitlin.  Their wedding is a testimony, and a reminder that God is the God of Romance!  He does answer prayer, and He brings people together who are exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or think!   Virginia Beach Willis, met Seattle Caitlin in a church in Los Angeles!  (please excuse my cell phone photography)  

  

It is difficult to describe the sense I had during the wedding celebrations for Willis and Caitlin, but I believe that in the atmosphere of a God ordained wedding, there are supernatural gifts of romance, love, hope, faith and joy available to all who are willing to receive them.   In rejoicing with those who rejoice, new hope and faith for an exceedingly-abundantly-above romance is imparted or given to those who will delight themselves in the Lord at the wedding banquet.  

When my niece and newlywed Cally read Romans 12:9-15(ish) over the bride and groom in the wedding service, I was reminded of the Royal wedding of William and Kate (hmmmm, quite similar to Willis and Caitlin!)   The Bishop of London gave an extraordinary address at the Royal wedding, which I have saved if you are interested in seeing the whole message.  

“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” So said St Catherine of Siena whose festival day this is. Marriage is intended to be a way in which man and woman help each other to become what God meant each one to be, their deepest and their truest selves.”   

“In a sense every wedding is a royal wedding with the bride and groom as king and queen of creation, making a new life together so that life can flow through them into the future.”

I am over-the-moon happy for Willis and Caitlin, and they will indeed set the world on fire!  

With renewed hope for love, lets pray and bless the men called to Kingdom marriages - whether they are married or not-yet married.  For He IS doing a new thing - the old has gone, and we open the door of our hearts and minds to God’s best!

Day 32 – (13^th of February)

Prayer for your 10+ men (Psalm 71)

• Increase their honour and their comfort
• Allow them to praise You for Your faithfulness
• Allow their lips to shout for joy

Prayer for yourself:

But now thus says the Lord, He who created you, He who formed you.  Fear not for I have redeemed you.… , I am the Lord and beside me there is no saviour…I work and who can turn it back?  Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.  Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?  I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43)

Double up - 40 Days of Prayer and Blessing

Two for one today!  I had some internet connection issues this weekend, so we can all pray double prayers for our list of 10+ men.  

Day 30 – (11^th of February)

Prayer for your 10+ men (Psalm 51)

• Create in them a pure heart, and renew a steadfast spirit within them
• Cast them not from Your presence or take your Holy Spirit from them
• Restore to them the joy of your salvation and grant them a willing spirit, to sustain them
• Allow them to teach transgressors your ways

Prayer for yourself:

And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

Day 31 – (12^th of February)

Prayer for your 10+ men (Psalm 86) 

• Turn to them and have mercy on them
• Grant them strength & save them
• Give them a sign of Your goodness
• Help and comfort them

Prayer for yourself:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you,

Get out there! 40 Days of Prayer and Blessing

 ^1-3In light of all this, here's what I want you to do. While I'm locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don't want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don't want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences."  (Ephesians 4 The Message)

Day 29 – (10^th of February)

Prayer for your 10+ men (Ephesians 4):

• Live a life worthy of the calling they have received
• Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace
• Attain the whole measure of the fullness of Christ

Prayer for yourself:

I am dead to sin, and by His wounds I have been healed!  

"He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.  For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls." (1 Peter 2:24-25)

Don't Faint - 40 Days of Prayer and Blessings

I needed this encouragement today.  Do not give up believing - do not loosen or relax your courage!  


Galatians 6:9-10

Amplified Bible (AMP)

⁹And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap [a harvest of blessings], if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.

Day 28 – (9^th of February)

Prayer for your 10+ men (Galatians 6):

• Carry each other’s burdens
• Not compare themselves with others
• Not to become weary of doing good

Prayer for yourself: 

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.

Humility - 40 Days of Prayer and Blessing

Because I needed this one today ~

Day 27 – (8^th of February)

Prayer for your 10+ Men (Romans 12) 

• Bless those who persecute them and not curse them
• Live in harmony with others
• Not be proud, rather be willing to associate with people in low position
• Not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good

Prayer for yourself: 

You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  (1 Peter 2:5)