Judy Arnold

Psalm 5:12 "For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield." And Job 10:12 "You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit."

Precious one, know the assurance of your Father's blessing, his presence, his favor, and his surrounding grace. Who you are and everything you have is the result of his favor. He is your sun and shield, and his honor validates you (Ps. 84:11). Your Abba wants to take you as his precious child right up next to his heart today. He will keep you close and make his face shine on you and be gracious to you (Num. 6:24-25). Your Father smiles on you today with his compassion and his full blessing as you seek him (Isa. 30:18). He has written this day of your life in his book. He knew you before you were born (Ps. 139:16). You are constantly on his mind (Ps. 139:17-18).

Be blessed to know that your Father's providence goes before you to provide for your every need. He is with you to strengthen you and keep you from harm (1 Chron. 4:10). Be blessed as his favor rests on his appointed work through your hands (Ps. 90:17), because his purposes and power for you are great.

Precious one, you need favor with your authorities whom God has placed over you and with those in decision-making positions (Ezra 7:27; Neh. 1:11). His Word says, "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases" (Pro. 21:1). Be blessed as God breaks through all hindrances and uses all concerned with you to fulfill his will on your behalf.

Let your Abba protect your emotions, as he surrounds you with the shield of his presence (Ps. 5:12). He promises that weeping may endure for a night, his anger is but for a moment, but joy comes in the morning, and his favor lasts for your lifetime (Ps. 30:5). He keeps you today in the favor of his love and faithfulness (Pro. 3:3-4). He withholds no good thing from you as you live before him blamelessly (Ps. 84:11).

Be blessed in the name of the One who rejoices today in doing you good (Jer. 32:41).

From You Are Blessed In The Names of God © 2008 by Sylvia Gunter
Available at www.thefathersbusiness.com

Intercessory Worship

Do you feel that God promised you something, and it has been too long in coming? Maybe you are feeling desperate and even despairing. Hope deferred makes the heart sick when it is set on our expectations in our time frame. You've asked "Why, Lord? Where is it? What's going on? Why are You silent? When will You fulfill Your promises?" You have examined your heart to see if there is sin in your life. It seems that God is far away, and the heavens are brass. You've bargained and pleaded, maybe even pouted a little.

David knew that taking up his harp in the midst of pain connected him with God in a special deep way. In Psalm 42 and 43, ten times he asked "Why?" Two times he asked "Where?" and once he asked "When?" He described abandonment, oppression, betrayal, and accusation at the hands of wicked and deceitful men. In the course of two short psalms, he recorded a range of intense conflicting emotions: thirst and satisfaction, fear and courage, doubt and faith, dejection and hope, despair and assurance of blessing, disturbance and peace, impatience and resolve, pouting and praise, tears and singing, accusation and vindication, rejection and confidence, weakness and strength, darkness and light, oppression and deliverance, mourning and joy.

Amid all that, David heard God's songs in the night and sang tephillahs, prayer hymns or prayers set to music. Four times in 16 verses, he broke into praise and thanksgiving. "I will praise You with the harp, O God, my God. I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God." The word yet means continuance, again, repeatedly, still, more, all life long. David was saying that regardless of his circumstances, he was devoted to praising the Lord. In another place, he said that his heart was fixed and steadfast, making music and praising God for His great love, which never changes.

As we come into His presence with sacrifices of worship, we come before Him in spirit and in truth. In the presence of the King of glory, we enjoy His matchless power and care, and He brings to mind others that He wants us to present before Him. The real heart of intercessory worship is seeking His Face, then seeking His heart, not His hand.

Intercessory worship employs the name of God to attract the presence and power of God into a time and place for particular people. I have seen God do amazing things in response to praise and worship obedience, where I simply exalted Him as God by faith and let Him be God. Intercessory worship is faith in action. We don't see the answer, but we know the character of the One who is faithful. Intercessory worship is as simple as singing "He is Lord," which declares the authority of the rule of Jesus in all things.

Intercessory worship praises God even when the situation doesn't change immediately, because He places His presence in our hearts in His promises, His vision, and His purposes. And we will yet praise Him for His answer that He will bring forth in His appointed time.

From Prayer Essentials For Living In His Presence, Vol 2, page 116-117 © 2000 by Sylvia Gunter
Available at www.thefathersbusiness.com

Seeing God's Fingerprints

Listen with your spirit to God's Word. Psalm 66:5 "Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man's behalf!"

Beloved one, I bless you with seeing your Father's fingerprints on your life. I bless you with your Father planting reminders of himself and his majesty everywhere around you. I bless you with appreciating that the heavens declare the glory of God and everything around you proclaims the work of his hands. I bless you with remembering and celebrating his mercy and grace in all that touches you. I bless you with knowing that your Father has made everything beautiful for its own time. I bless you as he makes himself known to you more profoundly and intimately. I bless you with deep awareness that he has planted eternity in your heart.

Be in awe that the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end is so incredible. I bless you with knowing that your Father's plans for your life are too numerous to comprehend or even imagine. I bless you with tracing his hand and understanding how particulars fit into his cosmic picture. I bless you with glimpses of his whole design, as his image within you longs to see the beauty of it all, to know the meaning of it all, to discern the ultimate purpose of it all. I bless you with grasping the strategy of heaven, at least in part, but I also bless your spirit to entrust your desire to know into his all-knowing.

I bless you with coming to your heavenly Father, with drawing near with your heart and your spirit to him. I bless you with seeing with fresh perspective what your Father has done for you, the awesome miracles he is doing for you. I bless you with seeing with thanksgiving and gratitude God's working in your life and in your world. I bless you with celebrating the heritage of blessings your Father has invested in you. I bless you with counting your blessings, never ceasing to give glory to God as you were created to do. I bless you with fulfillment in joining the heavenly chorus of worship of your heavenly Father for his character, his availability, his Father-heart, his love, his mercy, and on and on.

I bless you, beloved one, with enlarging your spirit. I bless you with room to breathe free, to become, to grow, to fill the whole frame of God's masterpiece of your life. I bless you with receiving your life from the hand of your Father. His plans are marvelous. I bless you to appreciate your awesome, overwhelming creativity and intricate design and the design of everybody and everything in your world. I bless you with more revelation into the plans and purposes of your Father's heart for you, and in you, and through you, and for others, and for the place and community in which you live.

I bless you in the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

Refreshment - Isaiah 40:31

Hear God's Word for you in Isaiah 40:31. "Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

You may be exhausted and at the edge of your endurance from running the race of life. You may be weary and weighed down by demands and tensions. You may need strengthening and refreshment with God's holy strength to receive his enabling grace for each day. Be blessed as you are lifted into your Abba's presence to receive his love. Lift your eyes to him, and receive his eye-to-eye, face-to-face fresh touch of his love in all its fullness. He sets the godly ones apart for himself. He committed himself to you as your Abba, and he will meet all your needs today, because those who seek him will not lack any good thing. He has covenanted to heal and strengthen you spirit, soul, and body. He pledges to defeat Satan's plans of attack in physical and emotional areas that are vulnerable.

Receive his Spirit of revelation, wisdom and understanding, so that you take only his yoke and do the things that fulfill his divine purposes. You can be confident in his ability and presence at work in your life in everything that touches you. You have his favor and blessing as a shield.

Remember your God-given place in his scheme of things. See the cross and run there and hide from all stresses and pressures. His resurrection power and his ascended authority and glory outshine all the plans of the enemy to oppress you. He will lighten your steps as you mount up with wings as an eagle, as you run and do not grow weary, as you walk and do not faint. That's his sure word to those who wait on him. Be still inside, and look to him and receive a fresh touch of the power of the Holy Spirit. Let him refill and rejuvenate you so that you will have a full supply from which to water others. Hear God speaking to you as you draw close to him.

God gives you grace for today, and then tomorrow he gives a whole new supply of himself. Receive his sweet presence each moment, and rest in feeling secure in him. When you don't know the outcome of your situation, it is safe not to know, because he is good. Be blessed to open up to new trust in your Father. It is his will and design that you take your full God-given authority, evicting all fear and doubt and discouragement, because his perfect love casts out your fear.

The blood of Jesus heals where there is pain and hurt. His hands hold the answer in the situations closest to your heart, the ones that have wearied you the most. Know that God holds the key for every person and circumstance that has claim upon your spiritual, emotional, and practical responsibility. God's reconciling grace is ready for all relationships to enjoy his unity and the sweet fellowship of his presence. Exchange your strength for his. Be blessed in the power and the glory of his great strength.

Be Blessed in the name of the Lord who is your strength and your song (Isaiah 12:2)