Pastors' Desk

PROVERBS 27:17 “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” Lord we thank You for our friendship. We are so grateful to have each other to enjoy and share life with. I pray that we never take our bond for granted. We ask that You protect our union. We also ask that You would surround us with others who are seeking to build Your kingdom. We know that iron sharpens iron and we ask that You bring friends into our lives who will challenge us to grow, boldly speak truth into our lives, and seek Your wisdom on our behalf. Grant us the opportunities to serve others in this same way. We know that friendship is a gift and we ask that You help us to nurture, cherish, and protect those That You place in our paths. COLOSSIANS 1:9-10 “From the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him,

PROVERBS 18:21 "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” Lord, we are completely humbled when we think about the grandness of Your kingdom and the gifts You have chosen to give us. Of all the ways You could have given us to communicate, You chose to give man words. We are especially grateful for this gift. Unfortunately, we acknowledge that we do not always treat our words as a gift and we are well aware of the damage our tongues can cause. Your Word tells us that our words are powerful and that our tongues have the ability to give life or to destroy it. Teach us to use our words to give life. Help us to keep quiet when we need to and to speak in love and gentleness when necessary. We desire that every part of our bodies be used as a vessel for Your glory and a testimony of Your goodness. Forgive us when we do not honor You with the things we say. We pray that You make our words gracious like a honeycomb that brings sweetness to th

HEBREWS 13:5 "Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you." Lord we seek to put You first in every area of our lives, including our finances. We are grateful for Your provision and the resources You have blessed us with. We ask that You use our finances as a source to bring us closer to You and not as a means of dissention or conflict. Help us to be of one mind with what we spend, how we save and how we give according to Your commands and desires. We do not cherish the treasures of this world but we seek Your eternal blessings. Help us not to rely on Your resources but to trust You as our only Source.  Your Word tells us that You will supply all of our needs and we trust You for provision even when we do not see it.  Help us to be content and faithful with our finances. We relinquish our control and selfish desires and come together under Your authority. Use everything that we have for You

Luke 11:28 He said, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!’ Father, we desire to hear Your voice and to follow Your ways. We pray that You would speak to us so that Your will, will be done through us. We seek You wholeheartedly, selflessly, and continually. Help us to recognize Your voice at all times and give us the courage we need to act on Your behalf. The busyness of life can get loud and there are distractions all around us. We know that it is the goal of the enemy to tempt us with the temporary pleasures of this world. Help us to stand together under You. Give us wisdom to know when to quiet the noise around us in order to hear You clearly. Grant us the patience to wait for You to speak when we are seeking Your voice. Help us to be confident as You guide our actions. Teach us to abide in Your presence, and most of all teach us to rest in the security of Your promises. 

GENESIS 2:24 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Lord Jesus, we thank You that You have given us to each other in marriage and we pray that Your plan for us to be one flesh would be expressed in every area of life. Starting with our vows and commitments to each other, we pray for purity. We pray that we would honor each other completely and that we would put each other’s needs in front of our own. Lord, grow a trust relationship between us that would be unbreakable. We pray that when others look at us they would see You in us and a closeness in our union that doesn’t come from the world. Reveal any false intimacy in our relationship and replace it with exactly what You had in mind when You created us for each other.  [Husband]  Father, help me to love my wife like You love me and to give up even my life if You call me to do so. Until then, help me to die to any selfish way that would keep m

PHILIPPIANS 4:6-9 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,  will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me— practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” Lord Jesus, the enemy wants nothing more than to create insecurities in our marriage. He wants to break down our trust and he wants to create doubt in our minds about our love and commitment to each other. He wants to erode our confidence in each other, making us feel weak and alone. But Father, we do not stand confident in our own ability to love or eve

JOHN 15:16 “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” Lord Jesus, help us to abide in You individually and to immerse our marriage in Your Word. Use our relationship for Your glory and for our good. We are grateful that You have chosen to love us and that You thought it right to bring us together for Your purposes. Help us to spend time together with You, abiding and hanging out in Your Word on a regular basis, that we would grow richness in our marriage that would be irresistible to those around us. Grow our union into a tree of life that would give others nourishment and delight that can only come from You and points back to You as its source. We pray for all those who are touched by our marriage, that in Your grace You would use us to leave a lasting impression on them and that ultimately they would grow in relations

JEREMIAH 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD,  plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Father, thank You for reminding us in Your Word that Your plan for our marriage is always for our good. Our marriage covenant is one that You look upon with great joy as a recognized relationship of honor in Your kingdom. As such, You have committed to prosper it and to give it a lasting future filled with hope. In the tough times that we have seen and the ones that are to come help us to remember that You are good and that what we see is not all that is to be seen. Help us to know beyond our natural sight that You are working even in the darkest of times. Help us to keep our eyes and minds on You, knowing that our hope doesn’t come from our circumstances, but in the promises You have made. May our lives and our marriage be filled with joyful expectation of all that is to come through our union to each other as we seek Your face and Your grace o

PHILLIPIANS 1:9-10 “It is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.” Lord Jesus, there are many different people and ideas that would like to shape our decisions, actions, and thoughts as a couple, but we ask that we would be able to hear and receive directly from You and Your Word.  We recognize that all truth comes from You and that anything that doesn’t come from You is error.  We ask that You would give us the discernment to know right from wrong, good from bad, and even Your plan from our plan, if the two don’t line up.  Lord, give us the patience and wisdom to carefully examine every decision and judgment we have to make, submitting each to You knowing that You are the final authority. We commit to doing this in every area of our life and ask You to expose the areas that we haven’t given to You to guide, direct, and change, if necessary.  Lor

MATTHEW 6:33 “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and  all these things will be added to you.” Father, You have told us clearly in Your Word that some things are more important than others. And next to our relationship with You, our marriage comes second. Help us to seek You first in all things, aligning our lives and marriage covenant under You. Then help us to make our commitment to each other the most important thing that we seek. We pray that we would be on the same page about every decision that we make. We pray that we would not step out of line with Your plan for our lives and that when we do, You would right our path. We ask that You give us supernatural wisdom to pass on activities and commitments that lead us away from Your kingdom agenda and that we would seek your counsel first, not looking to the opinion of others before we have clarity from You. Thank You  for Your promise that we will benefit by putting You first. Help our walk to match our talk.

HOLY SPIRIT COME ______________________________________________________________

Anointing oil was used in the Old Testament to mark something as Holy and set apart for the Lord. Oil was also request of God to be brought as an offering; of perfumed incense; Exodus 25:1-6.  As well, to sanctify [clean from defilement, set apart as sacred, and dedicate], like the example of Moses in Leviticus 8:30 "And Moses took of the anointing oil, and of the blood which was upon the altar, and sprinkled it upon Aaron, and upon his garments, and upon his sons, and upon his sons' garments with him; and sanctified Aaron, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons' garments with him" The anointing oil was used to declare the priests, his sons, and garments (in this instance) was holy and set apart. TERMINOLOGY: To be “anointed” is, among other things, to be made sacred (consecrated); to be set apart and dedicated to serve God; to be endowed with enabling gifts and grace; to be divinely designated, inaugurated, or chosen for some purpose. We know

ECCLESIASTES 4:12 "And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” Lord Jesus, the enemy wants nothing more than to slowly erode the strength of our union.  He would love to divide us over our differences, our perceived weaknesses in each other, and even our varying interests.  He wants us to slowly pull away from each other in these things and grow division between us, knowing that if we are unaware of this slow decay, then he will get us far enough apart that we will lose hope.  But we give You access and authority into these areas in our life and we ask that Your grace be the bridge for any divide in our marriage that already exists and that Your perfect love would bind us together in peace.  We invite Your presence into our home and pray that it produces the type of harmony that results in oneness of purpose.  May we be one together and one with You as we submit to Your purpose for our marriage.  We give

PROVERBS 17:14 “The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out.” Lord, You are holy. Thank You for the ever so gentle way that You deal with us. Give us the strength and self-control we need to show that same gentleness to each other. We know that You do not operate in chaos and confusion. Forgive us when we allow strife, bitterness, and worry to take root in our home and in our hearts. Teach us to control our temper, and bring our attitudes under Your submission. Your Word tells us that there is power in our tongues, so we give You control over our unspoken and spoken words. God we ask that You replace quarreling with compassion and resentment with joy. We are fully aware that arguments and dissension serve as distractions for the enemy to use to prevent us from resting in Your unending peace. At times when we desire to handle it ourselves, we ask that Your Holy Spirit would remind us to leave our conflict at Your feet and seek You fo

MATTHEW 6:14-15 “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Lord, though we fail You over and over again You are patient, gentle, and kind toward us. Thank You for Your faithful hand that leads us back to Your love and Your forgiveness and compassion that never runs out. May we live as a reflection of You, that may we deal with each other and those around us with compassion and gentleness. Teach us to forgive those around us like You have forgiven us. Help us to not allow resentment to build or unforgiveness to linger. Help us to extend grace and walk in humility as we acknowledge our need for Your constant flow of it in our lives. Help us to be a source of encouragement and replace condemnation with love and forgiveness.

EPHESIANS 4:2-3 “...with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Dear God, we pray that we would be eager to maintain unity in our home. Teach us to bear with each in love in every circumstance we face. Thank You that in every decision and situation we have Your Word as our guide. In areas where the enemy would try to divide us, our finances, our careers, our time, our priorities, we pray that we seek Your will above our personal requests. Replace selfishness with humility, resentment with compassion, anger with gentleness, and conflict with peace. Make us one, Lord, in every area and in every decision. We submit our agenda for Your greater purpose. We let down our guard, surrender our desires and rely on Your strength to bind us together for Your eternal glory. Let our union exude Your presence and grow in us as a testimony of Your faithfulness.

Psalm 24:3-4   Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place?  He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of my salvation What God is asking is the question of: 3) Who will [ascend] come higher; or allow oneself to be lifted up--ward to the place where the Lord our God is? To be elevated above level ground. To the place where God dwells, lives, moves; and exists through all times. He who was, is, and is to come; Jehovah [the existing one]. The question continues to be asked of whom should transcend [be or go beyond the range or limits of] where they are right now? Who will remain; rise up. To the dwelling of sanctity, reverence, sacredness, and a dwelling that is separated from uncleanliness.  4) This individual must stand without fault, clear of guilt from shame caused by one's actions, blameles