Sanctifying the Day — Asking and Asking Again
A Call to Worship —
1 “How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
2 Our souls long, yes, they faint
for Your courts O Lord;
our hearts and flesh sing for joy
to You, the living God.“So this morning,
draw our hearts to Yours.
Connect our minds to Your will.
Bend our spirits to say yes
to everything you desire of us,
and make us a people
who bring delight to You
and everyone You bring into our lives.
For the glory of Your name. Amen.”cf. adapted from Psalm 84:1-2
A Mid-Day Prayer for Revival
“Restore us, O God;
let your face shine, that we may be saved!” (vs. 3)
Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved! (vs. 7)
Restore us, O Lord God of hosts!
let your face shine, that we may be saved! (vs. 19)“Three times the psalmist asks the same thing, but each time with a growing intensity. And he keeps reminding Himself of who he is talking to by expanding on Your Name, reminding himself of how powerful you are.
Lord, We have been praying the same prayers over and over. We keep asking You to restore us, to revive us and we keep waiting for You to answer. Maybe that is what is happening now. Are You delaying the answer until we are truly desperate for deliverance? If that is so, make us more desperate still, that our revival and Your glory would be revealed and the world will know that Your power to save.”
cf. adapted from Psalm 80:2, 7, 19
This song by Michael W. Smith is one of the truly great modern choruses. Fantastic lyrics and soaring music coupled with an implied passion that is miraculous——-if real. Unfortunately, and I say with with deep sadness, it is possible to get swept up in the passion and music and moment and miss being truly in tune with its lyrics. Most of the versions of it on Youtube, in my opinion, are over-produced and work too hard to produce what only God’s Spirit can produce.
So before you listen, if you listen, ask God to do something miraculous in your spirit. Ask him to tune the strings of your heart to His Spirit. And don’t be afraid to spend more time than normal this afternoon in seeking His face.
A Benediction to Sanctify the Night
“May the Mighty One Who has done great things,
and Whose mercy goes on from generation to generation,
be our strength and shield.
May all the perils and fears that confounded us today
be laid at His feet this evening.
May His counsel guide us to His side;
and may our sleep be sweet this night,
that tomorrow we can serve Him with renewed passion.”cf. Luke 1:49-50
adapted from Benedictions: A Pocket Resource, 068
by Robert Vasholz
ChosenRebel's Blog 
Reblogged this on Praying for the millennials.
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I’m interested in thinking about the lyrics of some of the popular worship music, because I think we don’t really mean what we sing, and I’m uncomfortable singing stuff I don’t believe. There’s one song where we sing “we are laying down our lives for you” and I just can’t sing that line. I might be giving up things, giving away wealth, serving others but I’m not literally laying down my life for anyone.
In my work I am interacting with indigenous missionaries who may be martyred and have signed on for that possibility — maybe that’s why I’m hesitant to sing that lyric. About this song you posted — I think my brothers and sisters in developing countries are daily desperate for the Lord because they are in survival mode. They know far better than I what it is to depend upon the Lord, to be walking with him constantly.
Their relationships with the Lord are ALIVE. They pray for daily bread and the Lord provides. They pray for healings and people are healed without human help. They pray for protection from religious radicals and real angels show up. I am not desperate as they are. For me to sing “I’m desperate for You” is shameful (for me). I can sing “I’m grateful You are here” or “I know you are with me every second” or “You’ve never failed me”… that’s been my experience thus far. But desperation? No, not really unless I’m describing my condition as a sinner apart from Christ. Yes, in that case, I’m desperate for Christ. I wonder what the writer meant when he wrote “I’m desperate for you”. Oh well, I’m not a poetic lyricist, so file this under Random Remarks from a Contrarian.
A final thought: some of the current language used in ministry is overly heavy on adjectives that are better for a superhero comic book. “We are thrilled you are here!” Really? How about “We welcome you warmly” instead?
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