Thursday, August 5, 2010

revive 2010: day 5

God, today i'm praying for those struggling with a tough summer. i'm praying for those who are having a "dry" summer. i'm contending on behalf of those who are feeling "distant" from you or "disconnected" from you. God, tonight i'm taking a stand and i'm asking for you to touch hearts in the name of Jesus! bring the freshness of your love, rekindle hearts, may you be always be our firstlove.

Father, i am asking for your grace to touch hearts. i'm asking for your grace to stir hearts and compel hearts to draw near you once again. i'm praying against complacency and dull spirits. Father i'm praying against the spirit of apathy and lukewarmness. God i'm asking for the Holy Spirit to stir hearts to be moved to draw near to you. i'm asking for hearts to be awakened. God would you revive hearts. would you take what is dead and bring life to them.

Holy Spirit come, send revival in the hearts of your people.

~~~

be praying for people who may be in a hard/dry season. summer can always be hard for people who are away from community/in a hard family environment. ask God to meet people where they are at.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

revive 2010: day 4

"In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams."
-Joel, prophet of God
acts 2:17


God, today we are asking for the same power that you poured out upon those in Jerusalem, that you will pour it out upon UCSD. God we hold on to the truth that you are the same yesterday today and forever, and that you are able to do the same at UCSD as you did in Jerusalem 2000 years ago.

we pray for the fullness of what you promised. God we ask for your manifest presence to fall in a tangible way as it did on the day of pentecost. God we are asking for a tangible move of your Spirit upon your people, that with the preaching of Your word, thousands will come to faith. we are asking for your power to come upon the preaching of your word at UCSD, that your word will have same power to cut to the heart, so that thousands will repent and confess Jesus as LORD.

God i'm asking You to annoint the words of the preachers of the gospel at UCSD. i'm asking you would annoint the zero week speaker at Intervarsity and every speaker at large group with the power and conviction of Your word. would Your word bring power and authority, speak life, truth, and freedom. would Tour word speak life into dry bones. would the message of the love, power, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ bring healing and reconciliation. i'm asking for the word to come alive in bible studies, small groups, GIGs, everywhere Your word is spoken. let Your word be a living word. let it come alive.

in Jesus name amen.

~~~

today, read Acts chapter 2, the entire chapter. ask God to do the same at UCSD as He did in that chapter.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

revive 2010: day 3

"In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams."
-Joel, prophet of God acts 2:17


God, today we come into agreement with Your word, that which you have spoken through Joel, and that which you have confirmed through Peter in Acts 2. God, today we ask for the spirit of prophecy upon your people. We are asking that you will activate the eyes and the ears of your children, that we, as your children, may hear and see and know the things upon your heart.

God, would your people be ones who walk in the Spirit. would Your people be ones who recognize the presence of the Spirit in our lives, and be able to walk in the boldness, power, and authority that comes from the Spirit. would Your people be ones hungry to hear your voice, desperate to know what you are thinking, what you are feeling. we thank You God for the Spirit of prophecy that already dwells in us the moment we are born again. thank You God that the ability to hear your voice is a gift given freely to anyone who is found in You. help us to know our position of privilege, God. we do not want to live in anything short of being able to freely dialogue with our King, our Father, our Lover.

God, we are asking for your Spirit that gives us dreams and visions. speak to us God, and give us willing ears to hear. give us direction to how we can best serve You and love You. that when we are feeling weak and tired, give us ears to hear You tell us that You love us, that You delight in us, so that we can better receive Your love. and when we are having trouble loving those around us, speak to us and teach us how to better love others.

God we are asking for an outpouring of Your Spirit. give us supernatural visions and dreams, secrets upon Your heart, of how You desire to move. help us to hear Your voice, that we may better love You and love those around us. thank You for Your voice, which gives us discernment, and demonstrates supernatural power, wisdom, and knowledge beyond our own human ability. oh, that Your people would become Your mouthpiece of truth. oh, that we would be a people to declare your Truth, your joy, freedom, and life into this broken world. oh that Your people would rise up and speak words of healing, words of love and encouragement, that our words would build up and not tear down. oh God, may our words declare the goodness of Your son Jesus, that our very own words would usher in the kingdom of heaven into this earth. let it begin at UCSD. make it so, LORD.

in the name of Jesus amen.

~~~

today ask God to impart the spirit of prophecy on you and on those around you. the spirit of prophecy just means the ability to hear and declare the things upon God's heart. God's voice gives us direction and helps us to know what is on His heart. it enables us to speak life and truth into others in a supernatural way, things that we did not know on our own.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Lord, Keep Us With You

Jeremiah 13

A Linen Belt

1 This is what the LORD said to me: "Go and buy a linen belt and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water." 2 So I bought a belt, as the LORD directed, and put it around my waist.
3 Then the word of the LORD came to me a second time: 4 "Take the belt you bought and are wearing around your waist, and go now to Perath [a] and hide it there in a crevice in the rocks." 5 So I went and hid it at Perath, as the LORD told me.

6 Many days later the LORD said to me, "Go now to Perath and get the belt I told you to hide there." 7 So I went to Perath and dug up the belt and took it from the place where I had hidden it, but now it was ruined and completely useless.

8 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 9 "This is what the LORD says: 'In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 These wicked people, who refuse to listen to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts and go after other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt—completely useless! 11 For as a belt is bound around a man's waist, so I bound the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to me,' declares the LORD, 'to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.'


Lord, would You make us faithful and obedient. That even if we don't understand Your ways, we trust You and love You. Thank You that You do not waste time, that You use everything for a specific purpose and reason. Would You save UCSD from destruction, Lord, and pour out Your spirit in TRUTH and LOVE that we would be drawn to You not by empty rhetoric or enticing but shallow promises, but by Your lovingkindness, Your faithfulness, Your promises of restoration, joy, peace, and wholeness. Would we love You deeply, and set our gaze upon that.
Abba, raise up intercessors and lovers on campus who will listen to You and who will seek Your heart through prayer, fasting, and worship to give You room to move as You already have planned.
Abba, make us a campus who clings to You but does not turn away or shift out gaze. Make us like a belt that does not fall off, make us steadfast to You because other things just aren't appealing.
Lord, we trust Your timing and we will keep pursuing a move of the Holy Spirit, not convincing You to give it to us, but because it softens our hearts to receive what You already have planned.
Thank You for Your mercy, God, and grant us favor to see all people who don't know You come to love You and come to live in the fullness of what You have intended for every person, that we won't become like a linen belt that was once beautiful and purposeful but has fallen off and gone astray.
Thank You that Your ways are higher than our ways.
Abba, we wait for You in confidence that You are bringing your SHEKINAH GLORY to campus and to each of our lives.
In Jesus' name we pray,
Amen

revive 2010: day 2

9"This, then, is how you should pray:
" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread.
12Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.'
-Jesus, matthew 6

Father of Glory, we come before you once again, praying the same prayer that your son Jesus prayed, and we are asking for Your kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. God, we are asking for the fullness of the kingdom of heaven to come to UCSD. God we know so little about heaven, so we ask that you would give us the desire to dare to dream what heaven is even like, and pray the same would come to pass on earth.

but God we know that in heaven there is no physical pain, so sickness, and no diseases. so God we are asking you to make UCSD a disease-free, pain free place. we are asking for you to pour out your Spirit in such great measures that there will be no sick people, there will be no hurt people, because when Your kingdom comes and Your people lay hands on the sick, they will be instantly healed! let UCSD be a crutch-free, headache free, pain-free zone!

God, we also know that heaven is a place free of spiritual and emotional pain. in heaven there is no depression, no brokenness or hurt. God we are asking that you would break the spirit of depression that is hovering over UCSD. we are asking you to take away the loneliness that people suffer from and fill it with Your love. may people find true community not in frats or sorrorities, but in Your body only--in Intervarsity and the communities united by Your love.

finally, God we know that in heaven, every knee bows to YOU. God i'm asking for the spirit of idolatry to be broken over UCSD. i'm asking that the spirit of debauchery, of drunkenness would be broken in the name of Jesus. i'm asking that people at UCSD will not worship academics, grades, or partying, but that You will become the only object of our worship. God, let not our campus be one that worships a stupid sungod. in fact God, would you break that statue and make it crumble and fall to the ground (the ivy on the statue is already beginning to die!). God we hate drunkenness and partying because you hate it. we hate sexual sin, promiscuity, and impurity because you despise it. God i'm asking for Your Spirit to be poured out in such great measures that people will be getting drunk not off alcohol, but off your Spirit, and that people will be dancing not at parties but because we are worshipping You. God, i'm asking for a day that library walk will not be blasting party music, but will be filled with worship, as thousands of hands are raised and knees are bowed in worship to You, the only true God. i'm asking for lecture halls, for RIMAC stadium to be filled with people worshipping You.

make it so, LORD.
God, send revival to UCSD. in the name of Jesus amen.

~~~

when you don't know how to pray, it's not a bad idea to copy Jesus. today, ask God to break open your imagination, and dare to dream what God can do at UCSD--things that are found in heaven. think about something that you think exists in heaven, and pray the same would be so at UCSD.

Saturday, July 31, 2010

revive 2010: day 1

"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
-Jesus, luke 11:9-10

this is the promise we hold on to. that when we ask our good Father for gifts, He will be faithful, kind, and good to give them to us. but the key is, we must ask.
over these next 40 days, we will be asking. we will be asking God to give us good gifts. we hold on to His promise found in this word, spoken through His son Jesus.

God, starting today, and over these next 40 days, we stand. we stand before the Your Holy presence, in the presence of your angels, and we come before you as your children, and we are asking for the Holy Spirit. God, we stand on behalf of Intervarsity and UCSD, and we are asking for you to pour out your Holy Spirit upon your people. Give us the Holy Spirit. we are asking because You promised us that You will answer us when we ask. You promised us that when we ask, You will give us something better than we can ask or imagine, good gifts beyond all that we can comprehend.

so starting today, God, we will pray with confidence, knowing that every word we pray will reach the throne room of heaven. we pray with full assurance that each word we pray will not go unheard, but will be a sweet sound that reaches Your ears. we know that each word we pray will bring about change. we know know that our prayers will shake the foundations of the kingdom of darkness. we know that our prayers will shake the spiritual atmosphere of UCSD. we will stand confident that You will be faithful to your promise to answer our prayers.

God, thank you for your faithfulness.
in the name of Jesus amen.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

His joy is our strength

Recently the Lord has been showing me how the joy that comes from Him is truly our strength. In Nehemiah 8:10, as Ezra rads the law and all kinds of people listen and praise the Lord and understand the Law and rejoice in the Lord, Nehemiah, the governor, says that the joy of the Lord will be our strength. and the people, the Levites and all the other people there, rejoiced because they understood what he meant when he said that.
what does that mean? It's beautiful. it sounds GREAT. the joy of the Lord sounds pretty nice, and strength is always good. but how do they go together?
we are in a culture and a generation that emphasizes personal greatness and striving. where if we work hard enough, if we do the right things, if we have the right connections, we will "succeed" and have a lot of money and have high status. we live in a culture that tells us this is desirable and this is what will make us happy. Follow the American dream and you will be happy. But here we are, a culture that pursues these things as the depression and suicide rates increase every year. where there is more money and more striving but less satisfaction. where is this happiness? where is this fullness we SO desire? of course the answer is not in what the american dream wants us to believe. but our joy comes from the Lord, from the confidence in His faithfulness and providence and goodness and mercy. that He is who He says He is, that He is good and that His mercy endures forever.
He is a GLAD GLAD GOD who is in a GOOD MOOD who is waiting to lavish all kinds of ridiculously good love all over you...if only you ask! In Proverbs 8, it says that Jesus is around the throne dancing because He is so happy that we will be with Him (proverbs 8:30-31). He is the delight of the Lord, and He delights in us too. and He will totally share that with you too.
And as we grow in the confidence that the Lord is ALWAYS good, as we grow in love of His joyful gladness, His exceeding gladness rather than believing that He is mostly mad or mostly sad (which is not a belief that has Biblical backing), as we grow to see God as He is without our cultural filters, we see that we can live in an overflow of love for the Lord. that He doesn't demand for us to strive to love Him, we don't have to try so hard not to break any rules and we don't have to fight to be disciplined all the time, and when we fall we don't have to come before His throne in fear and regret, but rather know that while we have a holy fear, He is not mad at us but He rejoices that we choose to come back to Him even in our weak love.
as we grow in just enjoying God because he enjoys us, striving ceases. Our hearts change to want to follow His commands, to want to spend more time with Him. where seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness becomes natural and we see that everything else follows. our hearts come alive to a living, passionate God and He shows us that abundant life He promises us now and He reminds us of the promises He is still waiting to fulfill in the future. And we become strong because we have confidence in who God is because we have the joy of the Lord in our lives.
that's a KIND AND FUN God to give us strength through JOY. hehehehehe.
i can talk and talk about this but it really comes down to psalm 34:8: O taste and see that the Lord is good. and you will be ruined for anything less than the fullness and truth of God.
and it's REALLY good.