Reaching Up

Frequently in scriptures there is reference to hands lifted up to our Father. It seems to be a response to the work of our Father.

Psalms 63:1 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;#thirsty: Heb. weary#where…: without water
2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.
3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.
4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.

An early reference to it shows that there is some form of power associated with it.

Exodus 17:11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
12 But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
13 And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
14 And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
15 And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah–nissi:
16 For he said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

It seems that when Moses held up the rod of God, with his hands in the air, the enemy was defeated. Moses was commanded by Yahuah (Lord) to write this down for a memorial, a remembrance, for us of the temporary victory over Amalek that day, and future victories needed. Interestingly, the root of the word “nissi” has the meaning ensign or rally point. When we hold up our hands, Yah and the host sees the need for a rally point, and the angels of heaven are signaled to fight for us. Since the victory is already won by the death and resurrection of our Messiah, where our Father’s angels go, they win. And there are more references to the raising of hands as well.

Psalms 141:1 Lord, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee.
2 Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

Our hands are like sacrifices to Yahuah. When a sacrifice was offered, He showed up to consume it. He would come in power to His temple at the offering of sacrifice. Today, let us raise our hands in thanksgiving, as we send a signal to Yahuah (Lord) of hosts, and He sends His angels to destroy the enemy on our behalf.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are King! Praise and bless the name Yahuah! Let Your will be in this earth among us as it is in the heavens with You. Send us today Your overwhelming provision. Forgive us our transgressions and trespasses, and help us all to forgive those that have transgressed and trespassed against us. Cleanse our hearts and minds. Deliver us from the Amaleks in the spirit and natural realm today. Restore substance and great prosperity to Your people that has been taken or held back, according to Your great promises. O King, today show Yourself strong. We love You. In You we trust. In You we hope. Youo alone are King! You alone are God! We lift up holy hands. Let Your host rally to our aid now. We ask all these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.

Fighting Tired

Waking up this morning after minimal sleep was a challenge. But it was good. God granted me to see one more sunrise. It took a while to actually get up and get going. But as I did, still feeling the sleepiness in my eyes and the weariness in my bones, I realized I had to fight one more day.

Isaiah 40:28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Our Father comforts the wearied warrior.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are King! Praise the name Yahuah! Let Your will be done here. Send us today Your overwhelming provision. Forgive us our trespasses, and please help us all to forgive those that have trespassed against us.. Cleanse and heal our minds. Restore all that has been taken or held back in any way from Your people, and the more besides. We ask all these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.

Hope In The Lord

Hope is an interesting word in the scriptures. In our modern language when we say, “I hope so”, often we are saying we wish it were true. We may even be thinking it is impossible, that we doubt it could happen. This is different from scriptures.

Psalms 130:4 But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.
6 My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.#I say…: or, which watch unto
7 Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.
8 And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Here the word hope means waiting with expectation, and in this case it is for forgiveness. David would wait with expectation based upon what he heard from God. This same idea is put forth in the letter to the Hebrews.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

In this scripture we see that faith is what makes us expect and wait for our Father to bring something to pass. Further on in this same passage we see faith defined.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Faith is both believing that God exists and that He is on our side so much that He rewards us. If we struggle to believe that He is on our side, we can change what we believe with our speaking. We can say out loud that He rewards us, and like our Father our words will have impact if they agree with His words.

Today, let the words of our mouth say we hope in Yahuah (Lord).

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are King! Praise the name Yahuah! Let Your will be done here, just as it is in the heavens. Give us today Your abundant provision, so great that it overflows to those around us. Forgive us all our transgressions, and help us all to forgive those that have transgressed against us. Let there be peace in relationships between us. Cleanse our hearts, and cleanse our minds. Heal us on the inside. Renew our spirit within us, and seal us with Your Holy Spirit. Help us to serve you, and let us serve You well, advancing Your kingdom. Only You, O King, can do these things. We ask all these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Rise up, my King, rise up and deliver Your people today, in Your kindness and compassion. Amen.

There Is Always Hope

We are just humans. We are mere men (women). We all always struggle, and our Father will always love us. He keeps no record of wrongs.

Psalms 130:1 Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord.
2 Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.
3 If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.

Our Father loves us in a way that only He truly can – a perfect Father. Therefore He turns from our iniquities when we call out to Him. Not because we are good, but because He is compassionate.

Lamentations 3:21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
22 It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
24 The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
25 The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.

From the beginning He destroyed evil in the spirit realm, and is now destroying it once and for all.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are our King! Praise the name Yahuah! Let Your will be done here. Send us today Your overwhelming provision. Forgive us our transgressions, and help us all to forgive those that have transgressed against us. Cleanse and wipe clean our hearts and minds. Heal us from the inside. Restore unto Your people right relationships. Restore unto Your people substance and prosperity, one hundredfold, all that has been taken or held back in any way. We ask all these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). We know You fail not. Amen.

We All Begin

We are all beginners. Everyday we begin a brand new day. Every week there is a beginning to a new week. Every year there is a beginning to a brand new year. And every moment we can choose to begin a renewed commitment to follow after our Father and His ways. And moment He is committed to us. So much so that He never sleeps.

Psalms 121 A Song of degrees.
1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.#I will…: or, Shall I lift up mine eyes to the hills? whence should my help come?
2 My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
8 The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

Today let us take comfort in these things.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are King! Praise the name Yahuah! Let Your will be among us. Send us now Your overwhelming provision. Forgive us our trespasses, and help us to forgive those that have trespassed against us. Restore unto Your people healing. Restore unto Your people wholeness of body, mind spirit, and goods. Make the thief give it all back, and the more besides. We ask all these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.

Moon Over…

Recently there was a discussion among friends over the moon phases and what thaat means to us as believers. We know that the moon and sun are important because the scriptures say so from the very beginning.

Genesis 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

Our discussion was about blowing the trumpet on the New Moon. The trumpet, the shofar, is meant to be blown for specific times in scripture.

Psalms 81:3 Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.

The issue comes with the translation of “in the time appointed” which some translations consider the full moon. I suggest the following reading:

http://www.servantsnews.com/sn0207/moon.htm

More importantly, it is good for us to search out the truth. We can get that ultimately only from our Father Yahuah (Lord). Perhaps that is by design?

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are King! Praise the name Yahuah! Let Your will be with us! Send us now Your overwhelming provision. Forgive us our transgressions, and help us all to forgive those that have transgressed against us. We need Your healing touch. Let our hearts and minds be cleansed. Restore unto Your people all that has been taken or held back in any way from Your people, and the more besides. We ask all these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.

Because Of Mercy

There are many reasons for us to be thankful to our Father. Many reasons there are to cause us to sit in awe and reverence, as if before a King that has extended the scepter and spared our life. And it may not be unusual for us to sit and wonder why we are pardoned. Daniel spoke of these things.

Daniel 9:4 And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;

Here Daniel speaks of the type of mercy that is kindness. There is much said in scriptures about kindness. Abraham had this kindness, while Jacob had truth.

Micah 7:20 Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.

While both of these are in the inheritance we receive, kindness is important. But there is another mercy that Daniel speaks about. It is this mercy that permiates our Father’s forgiveness for transgressing His commands. Daniel recognized this as well.

Daniel 9:18 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.
19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.

This mercy is best described as an eternal compassion. We are forgiven not because we are righteous, for we are not. But our Father Yahuah (Lord) is compassionate toward mankind. Because Daniel knew this, he knew he could call upon Yahuah to remember that mercy, and act on it to preserve His name, sparing the people. And not just pardoning them, but restoring them.

When we pray, let us call out to our Father for the mercy of kindness and the mercy of compassion. He will uphold His name, Yahuah.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are our King! Praise the name Yahuah! Let Your will be with us here. Send Your overwhelming provision. Forgive us our transgressions, and help us all to forgive those that have transgressed against us. Cleanse our hearts and minds. Heal us from the inside. Restore unto Your people all that has been taken or held back in any way, and the more besides. We ask all these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.

Connections Are Good!

For many of us, especially if we are in the business community, our mind might run to thinking of humans and networking at the title of this writing. However, I am speaking of something different. I am speaking of staying connected to our Father in heaven. To do that we offer praise and thanks, and enter in to His presence.

Psalms 100
A Psalm of praise.
1 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.
2 Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
3 Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

Today, let us thank and praise Yahuah (Lord) our Father.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are our King! Praise the name Yahuah! Let Your will be done here. Send us today Your overwhelming provision. Forgive us our trespasses, and help us all to forgive those that have trespassed against us. Heal our minds and hearts. Restore Your people. Grant to us to inherit substance and fill our treasures. Restore unto Your people all that has been taken or held back in any way, and the more besides. We ask all these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.

Staying The Course

We are the winners. We are the winners because we are on the winning side. Our Father has never lost, and everything He declares comes to pass. We have this evidence in scripture.

Isaiah 55:10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

We can be the victors because we have been declared to be by Yahuah (Lord) from long ago.

Deuteronomy 28:9 The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways.
10 And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee.
11 And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
12 The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
13 And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:

If we will but attempt to do what our Father asks of us because we love Him, we will be on the winning side and all these things shall come into our lives.

Let’s love our Father Yahuah (Lord) today, and try to do His will.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You are our King! Praise the name Yahuah! Let Your will be with us. Send Your abundant provision now. Forgive us our transgressions, and help us all to forgive those that have transgressed against us. Cleanse and heal our hearts and minds. Restore right relationships among us. Deliver us from the evil that would separate us from You. We ask all these things in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.

A Time Of Prayer

We are human. Obvious, right? Yet I believe it is important to realize two parts to this. On the one hand, we are fragile and need our Father’s help always.

Psalms 39:4 Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.
5 Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.

And at the same time, we are also like our Father. This has been true from before the manifestation in the flesh of our Messiah.

Psalms 82:3 Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.
4 Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.
5 They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.
6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

We are meant to do what Jesus did, and more.

John 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

So let us believe that Yeshuah is in Yahuah (Jesus in the Father) and that Yahuah is in Yeshuah (the Father in Jesus), and ask what we will. If we will do this, He will be faithful to do it. We do not have to get all of the details perfectly right. It is unlikely that we will. But our Father will respond to the broken and contrite heart. We are meant to do His work. Let’s humble ourselves and do that work today.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are our King. Bless the name Yahuah! Let Your will be done here among us. Send us today Your provision such that we have no lack. Forgive us our trespasses, and help us all to forgive those that have trespassed against us. Help us to reach the bond of unity. Restore unto Your people today all that has been taken or held back in any way, and the more besides. Rise up, my King! Come in power and might and deliver Your people now. We ask these things in the name of Jesus (Yeshuah). Amen.