Men of the Morning Prayer Line

Dear Heavenly Father, You are Lord and God.  We know from Your Word that a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart is a sacrifice, O God, that You will not despise. We come before you now to offer ourselves to you Lord God – all of us – each body, each mind and each soul.  All we have, all we are, are Yours and Yours alone. We confess Lord, that we are sinners and we humbly ask for Your forgiveness for all the sins we have committed. We repent of our sins Lord, and with your help, we choose to turn away from them as we proceed in the opposite direction, turning to You alone. In the name of Jesus, we also choose to forgive all those who have ever wronged us or who have ever spoken slanderous words against us.  We bless each one of them in the name of Jesus and pray that the love and peace of Jesus will fall heavily upon them now. Lord God, we freely and most willingly submit our wills before you now, and ask that from now on, You and only You, will lead ea...

Let us pray. Heavenly Father we know as it is written that Jesus died for all so that we should no longer live for ourselves but for him who died for us and was raised again, therefore if anyone is in Christ they are a new creation; the old has gone and the new is here! All of the men here this morning are from God, we are reconciled to You through your Son Christ and given His ministry of reconciliation... we are therefore Christ ambassadors and God the Father is making his appeal through each of us here this morning. This is true because each of us is created in the image of God. We are His sons and called to his ministry. Jesus is who we proclaim as Lord and King. We are called to listen, learn and teach everyone His wisdom, so that they may grow and fully mature in Christ. We should never doubt ourselves when it comes to our relationship with Christ. We call His name in humility and He calls our names in pride. Our goal should always be Christ centered. We labor and strive with ...

Let us pray. God our Father - Our primary purpose in our marriages is not to receive, but rather to be Your agent of blessing to our wives. We are your working hand blessing our brides with every touch of our hand; Your hand at work Lord. As we submit to you Lord, so to we submit to our wives lifting them up to you and giving thanks for her. We pray that our wives accept Your will for them and submit to us, their husbands, lifting us up to our Savior and obeying everything we ask of them in the name of the Lord. Jesus, the men here want to be filled with Your courage and strength. We want to live by every word that comes from Your mouth and speak boldly about what You can and will do. Any threats against our marriage are wimpy compared to Your great power. In the Bible Joshua put his godless enemies to death. He listened to Your voice and obeyed You. You gave him authority to accomplish Your will. He lifted Your Glory up and commanded the sun to stand still, and You made...

​Dear God, Help us to focus on you today, remembering that the gift of Christ, Immanuel, is our most treasured gift for the whole year through. Fill us with your joy and the peace of your Spirit. Direct our hearts and minds towards you. Thank you for your reminder that both in seasons of celebration and in seasons of brokenness, you’re still with us. You never leave us. Thank you for your daily Presence in our lives, that we can be assured your heart is towards us, your eyes are over us, and your ears are open to our prayers. Thank you that You surround us with favor as with a Your Shield, we are safe in your care. We choose to press in close to you today… In Jesus’ name, Amen! Amen! Amen! SCRIPTURE ​ Luke 2:17-20 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds retu...

​"It is a common temptation of Satan to make us give up the reading of the Word and prayer when our enjoyment is gone; as if it were of no use to read the Scriptures when we do not enjoy them, and as if it were no use to pray when we have no spirit of prayer. The truth is that, in order to enjoy the Word, we ought to continue to read it, and the way to obtain a spirit of prayer is to continue praying. The less we read the Word of God, the less we desire to read it, and the less we pray, the less we desire to pray." So, let us pray Heavenly Father, we look up to you in this time of change. Allow us to have the courage to change our lives for the better. Allow all our burdens to be risen up to You as we know that You will see us through. Forgive those who have done evil and allow us to do the same. Teach us to love with an open heart and open spirit. Take time for Your men today to help with all our trials You have set out for us and allow us the strength and energy to foll...

Almighty God, You are the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. You hold all authority in heaven and earth. As we approach your throne of grace, we seek to give you the respect you deserve. We come before you acknowledging the areas of responsibility you have put in our lives. You have ordained that we be the leaders in our homes, in our churches, and in our workplaces. We ask you to raise us up to be the best leaders we can be this day. We bow our heads, and we bow our wills to you today. By faith, we believe that you are bringing us the wisdom and guidance that we need this day.  We declare that we will cooperate with you as you bring our minds, w ill , and emotions into agreement with your plans and purposes. Today, the day of joy returns and crowns another year with peace and goodwill.Help us rightly to remember the birth of Jesus that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds and the worship of the wise men. Close the doors of hate and ope...

Let us pray. Jesus Our Savior - As we love, honor and respect you so too we pray that we will love our enemies as you love them. Yes, the flesh makes this behavior tough, but when we come to you in immediate prayer we are strengthened and lifted up to concur all burdens. When we pray for those who persecute us God the Father calls the sun to rise on the evil and the good. So... We pray that they will grow in love: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight. We pray that they will make wise choices: so that You will help them discern what is best. We pray that they will live with integrity: and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ. We pray that our enemies will become like Jesus: filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Our Savior — to the glory and praise of God. We pray a prayer of thanks to You Lord for the many gifts and graces You give to Your men here this morning and for the people that come into our lives who me...

Father, in the Name of Jesus, help us realize that as believers, our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Our acknowledgment that Your presence on a daily basis makes our faith in You a reality. We believe that You, heavenly Father, are leading and guiding us by the Holy Spirit through our spirits, and illuminating our minds. As we yield to the Holy Spirit, we believe that our steps are directed by You, LORD. We commit and trust ourselves wholly to Your guidance, expecting You to cause our thoughts to become agreeable to Your will, so our plans will be established and successful. We trust in You, LORD, with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding. As we acknowledge You, You direct us in paths of righteousness. All we have to do is do with You always in mind. We confess that as we become more God-inside minded, we can more easily recognize the inward witness of the Holy Spirit. We hear the voice of the Good Shepherd, and a stranger’s voice we will not follow. We are ...

Today and yesterday I was emailing back and forth with a relative of mine and I was inspired to write down four attitudes that help me turn negative experiences into positives. 1. Appreciate that it could have been worse. However bad a circumstance seems and feels, it could always be worse. It may seem unnatural and perhaps silly to think of hypothetical situations when you have a real problem at hand, but thinking of all the ways the situation could have been worse makes it so much easier to accept and pray for a solution. 2. Trust that everything happens for a reason. Whether good or bad, there’s a spiritual reason behind everything. Realize that if a door closed, it’s because what was behind it wasn’t meant for you. The world is so unpredictable. Things happen suddenly, unexpectedly. We want to feel we are in control of our own existence. In some ways, we are, in some ways we're not. We are ruled by our own level of faith because in a Christians live there is no such thing ...

I love movies as much as I love music. I can recall a scene from a film for darn near every event in my life. Few haven't seen the film, Forrest Gump. In recent weeks I have reflected on old Lieutenant Dan and his violent argument with God the Father. Remember the scene? He was fed up. Enough! Up the main mast and into the crow"s nest he went, to have it out once and for all with God. Drenching rain, thunder, lightning, cursing, yelling, screaming forth to God. "IS THAT ALL YOU GOT!" Lt. Dan yells! The crackle of several thunder bursts breaks through the dark black clouds followed by a multitude of lightning bursts as God responds to His angry child. Dan laughs and yells out rude epithets and flexes profane gestures to the violent night sky. All this ends as the scene shifts to the next day with Lt. Dan laying on his back facing a clear sunny morning sky beaming down upon him on a wooden pier. His face gleamed with an expression of total peace and satisfaction. I...

Father God, We thank You and praise You today for the miracle of Your Son's birth. Thank You for bringing great JOY to the whole world! Thank You for giving us the assurance that because You came to us in the form of a human, we who believe in Jesus can know with absolute certainty that we'll spend eternity with You. We thank You, Lord, for the many reasons we have been given a merry Christmas. And we rejoice for each blessing. New life. New love. A home. A job. New opportunities. Second chances. And more. We know, Lord, that You bring the sun and the moon and set the stars in motion. You tell the ocean where to stop and the snow when to start. And we thank You for the mighty gift of Your creation. Thank You, Father, for spiritual leaders and faith-filled friends who keep encouraging us when we are close to giving up. And although we have many reasons to rejoice today, Lord, we also know December 25th can be not-so-merry for a whole host of reasons. We pray for those who a...

I have been asked and heard the question asked several times, “If God is so good why does God allow so much evil in the world?” Answers vary on this query and many times are laced with theological complexities that confuse most people. I enjoy these types of questions that doubt the simple nature our Creator.  Why does God allow evil in the world? He does not allow. We do. We create the negativity and we distribute it around the world. So often those that question God believe Him to be in charge of the world. On the contrary, we are in charge. We inherited a perfect world as a gift from the Creator. If our will as a community of human children was to return the world to its perfect state all we need do is good to each other the world would slowly heal.  Another common question is, “Why doesn't God just fix it?” Remember this is our world, and if God repaired our every little mess we’d be nothing more than His slaves or He ours.  One of the greatest gifts endowe...

Heavenly Father -  We are holding grudges, deep ones, some that have lasted a lifetime. Many choose not to let go of, the anger we feel towards those who “wronged” us in the past, even though Lord we have a strong desire and put in a concerted effort into really letting it go, does not seem to work.  Why do we hold grudges Father when they are in fact quite painful to maintain, and often seem to work against what we really want? Why do we keep our personal wounds open and active, living in past experiences of pain which prevent new experiences from being able to happen? What keeps us stuck Lord when we want to move on and let go? Most important Father, teach us how can we let go.  Lord teach us to know that our grudges come with an identity. With our grudge intact, we know who we are—a person who was “wronged.” As much as we don’t like it, there also exists a kind of rightness and strength in this unrighteous identity. We have something that defines us—our anger and...

​All this talk of “My Jesus is better than your Jesus” is totally silly to me. I’m certain just saying that is offensive to someone, somewhere. Oh well.  Anyhow, I love my faith and I’m never ashamed or fearful to share it. However I am aware that many of us are from different backgrounds. We are raised up to believe in different faiths. We are intrinsically motivated differently. With this always in mind and understanding certain people's motives when it comes to matters of faith, here’s how I start off all my conversations about my faith in Christ:  "Before we get started I want to preface our conversation with this statement. Please understand that I am very happy to discuss faith with you. I enter into our conversation with no agenda. I am not here to convert you to my belief nor am I here to be converted to yours. Truly what I want is for both of us to openly share our beliefs. Doing this will allow us to find middle ground and on this ground together you and I will ...

What really makes you happy in life? Is happiness equated to wealth, money, possessions, or is it value you find in doing your job well, having a loving family, your health, and an inner peace?  F or those who think that they are owed a living, a better job, or a bigger home or a flashy new vehicle, I have some news. You are not owed any in life. And, for those who think that they are not lucky and that is the reason others are getting ahead, I also have some other news. The real facts are these: luck is what you make yourself, and that luck comes from being prepared to take advantage of any opportunity that is available.  Unfortunately, there is something that is going around this flu season and you must ensure that you inoculate yourself from it - it's called the 'poor me syndrome.' Now, for some, they already have built up an adequate immune system that fights or wards off this syndrome but even the best prepared can fall victim to its trap from time to time. Even th...

"​The world will not always appreciate the good that you do, but it will put you down for the one mistake that you make. Rise above that criticism and stay strong! Don’t amplify that one (negative) thing. Instead look to the Light for guidance and inspiration. And lastly, remember don’t let compliments go to your head and don’t let criticism get to your heart."  Amen! Amen! Amen! Scripture Romans 8:18 "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."

A few months ago a good friend of mine approached me with tears in his eyes and said that as of that moment he had no faith in God. I invited him to private area, and we talked about his lack of faith. He was hurting. The first thing that I told him was that it's normal, absolutely normal to lose one's faith in times of despair. I did not quote scripture, I did not preach, I did not judge. Instead I simply stated that as a man looking at another man in pain my love for him is unconditional. I truly believe that love is the greatest gift of all. But another phenomenal gift is the gift of choice. You see choice is something that we face on a daily basis and the decisions we make when faced with these choices are what shape us into the men that we are. I talked with my friend and we reflected on our past; the darkest points of my life were caused by the choices I made in the situations that I found myself in. In every case when I did not listen to my conscience telling me to d...

Sometimes it’s hard to trust God especially when we don’t see any change in our circumstances. We exercise our faith mostly when we go through trials that force us to rely on God. Employment and financial challenges can be some of the most faith-building seasons in our life because God has an opportunity to reveal Himself as a provider, promise-keeper, and Father.  Just think about the story of Job. He was wealthy, led a holy lifestyle, and walked in righteousness…the Bible says he was blameless before God. When God allowed the enemy to touch his circumstances pulling his wealth, family and even his health, Job maintained his position before God. When we go through trials or witness another family member or friend face the weight on his or hers soul there is typically a holier level of living that God desires for all of us to reach. The process may not always be fun but it will be worth it.  As we patiently wait on the Lord to turnaround ours or others financial situations, ...