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Devotion: He Rallies His Power
“Please listen, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph’s descendants like a flock.
O God, enthroned above the cherubim, display your radiant glory to Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. Show us your mighty power. Come to rescue us! Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved.”
– Psalm 80:1-3 NLT
In what ways does God “show us His mighty power” and more importantly how does He rally that power through us today? Ephesians 3:20 gives us a clue: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” His power at work within us.
Well how does that happen? Consider the verse Judges 6:34. Most translations render it simply as, “The Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon.” But a different Bible translation can add a whole new perspective to this verse. The Amplified Bible reads: “But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon with Himself and took possession of him…” Wow, what a powerful verse! It really caught my attention. The Old Testament records this experience as happening to certain people as God equipped them with His power for His tasks. But what about New Testament times? What about today? If Gideon had lived in New Testament times, perhaps the verse would read: “The Spirit of the Lord clothed Himself with Gideon.” Believers today enjoy the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.
If you are God’s child, the Holy Spirit lives within you. The apostle Paul writes, “Haven’t you yet learned that your body is the home of the Holy Spirit God gave you, and that he lives within you? Your own body does not belong to you. For God has bought you with a great price. So use every part of your body to give glory back to God, because he owns it.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, LB)
As I considered this, I changed the verse to make it even more personal: “And the Spirit of the Lord clothed Himself with Meryl and took possession of her.” Put your name in there and be overwhelmed to know that the Spirit of God has clothed Himself with you, giving you His power and all that He is to accomplish His purposes through you. In her book It’s Incredible, author Ann Kiemel Anderson notes, “The challenge of my life is trying to be what Jesus would be if He lived in person where I do.” Yes, He lives in you. The question is, are you allowing Him to live through you?
Discussion Questions:
- If you know Jesus, then He does live in person where you do. In what ways can you allow Him to live His life through you?
- Share a time when you felt totally inadequate for a task and God came through for you.
Prayer Preparation
During this season of social distancing due to the coronavirus, seek out others who you can connect with in prayer from a distance. Consider using a conference call line like www.FreeConferenceCall.com or video conference like Zoom. Need help? Please contact: [email protected]
Prepare your heart as you enter Prayer Connection with a couple of minutes of silent prayer. Think on the definition of power – the ability to act or have influence over others.
Our focus for this month is: He Rallies His Power
Read: “Please listen, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph’s descendants like a flock. O God, enthroned above the cherubim, display your radiant glory to Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. Show us your mighty power. Come to rescue us! Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved.” Psalm 80:1-3 (NLT)
Pray: Powerful Almighty God, in Your Presence, we are humbled by Your holiness, power, and grace. Still us in your ways as we meditate and pray about how You rally Your power in and through us, so that we might have Your influence over those who need Jesus.
Thank God:
- For His mighty power that is at work according to His Kingdom purposes.
- As we submit in repentance and faith to the Holy Spirit indwelling in us, His power can be activated within us.
- He sovereignly rallies His power in the world over those that follow His leading.
Pray for New Outreach Opportunities
Read: Psalm 60:12
“With God’s help we will do mighty things, for he will trample down our foes.”
Pray: Heavenly Father, when we think about Your mighty ways, we stand is awe of who You are, for we remember that You are the Great I AM, worthy of our hope and trust. We can find rest in Your awesome power that is at work in us.
Pray:
- Praise God for the new outreach opportunities that Zoom has brought to us, including bring in new women to our virtual outreaches.
- Asking God to rally His power to bring about renewal and revival in His Church and in the world.
- Asking the Lord to show us how to effectively reach out to others with His love and forgiveness. Confess the ways you desire to take control, and instead ask God to put His supernatural power on you and your team today.
Sharing Your Faith
Read: Acts 1:8
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Pray: O God, we thank you for the promise of the Holy Spirit that You have given us Your children. This Heavenly power is something that You stir in us which enables us to be witnesses for Your Gospel Good News.
Pray:
- Thanking God that Christians receive power from the Holy Spirit.
- Remembering that we serve the One who rose in power, the One True God.
- There is no other who can compare to Jesus, and His Holy Spirit’s power enables us to share our faith boldly and powerfully.
Pray for our Nation and Leaders
Read: Hebrews 1:3
“The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God and sustains everything by the mighty power of his command.”
Pray: For powerful faith in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ to be at moving in the hearts of our leaders here in the United States and abroad. What a powerful name it is…the name of Jesus!
Pray:
- Thank God that His power differs from worldly power and gives us the ability to do what is right and bring glory to Him.
- For great awakening in our country and around the world to know that Jesus is the greatest power on earth as in heaven.
- For our nation as it heads into election soon, that Jesus would powerfully radiate through His people, and truth would be brought forth among all the media frenzy and news reporting. Pray for our leaders to believe in the powerful name of Jesus.
Pray for the Stonecroft Family
Read: Ephesians 6:16b-17
“…hold up the shield of faith to stop fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
Pray: Heavenly Father, we are grateful that we can experience Your power through faith. Thank you for giving us the Your Word which is powerful, as well as the Holy Spirit that is at work within us.
Pray:
- Thank the Almighty that the Word of God is a powerful weapon for us to embrace during the good times, as well as the hard times.
- Faith over fear. To have great faith in the One who saved us. He is on the throne!
- With thanksgiving, we praise God that He rallies in power, He always wins in the end! We can trust in His ultimate power.
Prayer for Stonecroft’s Champions
CWC Zoom Virtual Outreach Groups in Tennessee, Pennsylvania, California, Arizona, Virginia, Kentucky, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Wisconsin, New Jersey, and more to come!
Pray for Stonecroft leaders such as Stonecroft Regional Administrators, District Consulting Coordinators, Regional Speaker Trainers, Regional Reps, Area Reps, Chairs, Prayer Consultants, and all new outreach leaders that they will be reminded that they are empowered by the Holy Spirit and, therefore, equipped to do the works He has called us to.
Pray for our international partners that they would sense the Lord rallying in power on their behalf as they cry out for His mighty strength to be at work in their lives.
Share Personal Requests
Pray for one another’s supplications and remember that your heavenly Father cares about your every need and He is a loving and sovereign Father over all His creation.
Closing Prayer
Father, we thank You for this Prayer Connection time. As we celebrate what is means to be a part of the family of God, may we be reminded of your faithfulness, love, and supernatural adoption of us. You always have had our best interests at heart so that we might be more Christ-like. Amen.
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