We begin our prayer time in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. + Amen.
“I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.” Martin Luther
‘Adoration’
Exodus 15:1-2; “Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: “I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea. “The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.”
As you sit reading this, the cold of winter is upon us and we have endured at least one major winter storm thus far here in the Midwest U.S. There will always be a tomorrow, as that is how our Creator planned it. Tomorrow; either here in the temporary shelter on this side of Heaven or tomorrow, rejoicing inside our permanent home in Heaven; He is always daily providing for our well-being here and has prepared a place for us in His home on the ‘other side’ of here.
A time of ‘Adoration’ to our Heavenly Father.
· Please take time to sit and consider how our Triune God comes to us through His ‘WORD’ every day and how He has impacted your life.
· Think about the provisions, protection and love that surrounds you because of His unfailing love for you.
· Give thanks for where God has placed you and the gifts that you were given to use for Him along your journey.
‘Confession’
Psalm 32:5; “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.”
We were born, sinful and unclean, through no fault of our own, but because of the sins of our parents, grandparents…Adam and Eve.
God sent His only Son to die for our sins. Jesus did everything right while he was here on this earth. He loves you with a love that cannot be measured. He gave to the world when no thanks were returned to Him. He healed when there was no hope, and He died without complaint. Jesus did nothing wrong and everything right; all this for you. He lived for you and died for you. Our sins nailed Him to the cross on Calvary and kept Him there until His life on earth had ended.
· A time of personal confession.
John 3:16-17, 36; “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”
Our sins are placed at the base of the cross...His cross, and we give thanks that the times we have fallen short in the eyes of our Heavenly Father have been washed clean and we have been forgiven through the Blood of our Risen Savior Jesus Christ.
‘Thanksgiving’
Psalm 107:1-3; “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story; those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.”
As my earthly age increases, there are more times when I get a nudge of Lutheran Guilt for not giving thanks to my Heavenly Father for all the blessings He continues to pour into and along my journey. There are times when I have sat and counted my fingers, one by one to help me count those blessings. Today, will you please indulge me for a moment, and using just your mind and fingers, please do a mental inventory of your kitchen and pantry and count them one by one on your fingers? Is there an empty shelf in your cupboards to be found? While being given a ‘tour’ of many rural homes in Haiti that question would have been; are there any shelves in the cupboards with food? Sadly, we tend to ‘overlook’ God’s providence in our lives each and every day; the devil reminds us that ‘we’ bought the food. Take just a moment to give thanks for what we have today, what was left in the refrigerator from yesterday and what will be coming into your belly tomorrow. Give thanks for the Trinity HOPE meal that will be served to a child in a Christian school in Haiti today and tomorrow.
Ephesians 5:1-3; “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.”
Heavenly Father, we come to You now with hearts, minds and words filled with ‘Thanksgiving’.”
· We give thanks for our Creator, Redeemer and Holy Spirit.
· We give thanks for having a Savior.
· We give thanks our providence; monetary, food, clothing and shelter. As we give of our first fruits may we also give a portion of our best to His children who need the assistance we can provide.
· We give You thanks for the Haitian children who are not only the prime purpose of Trinity HOPE but also Your missionaries for the present and future generations in Haiti who will bring the true message of Salvation to lives who have never known.
· We give You thanks for making it possible for us to bringing additional funds into our programs so we can now be feeding over 52,000 children in Christian schools throughout Haiti.
‘Supplications’
Our Triune God created everything for us to use for His Glory and we continue to daily receive from His Hand; meeting our needs and sharing with others who are living in challenging and chaos filled times; taking His Light into the darkness of their neighborhoods.
Genesis 1:29-31; “Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground; everything that has the breath of life in it, I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning; the sixth day.”
Next month, we begin the season of Lent, and recall the passion of our Savior enduring the challenge of taking upon Himself the sins of our world. Jesus came down from Heaven and gave us His ultimate sacrifice so that we might enjoy eternity with Him in Paradise. Please spend each and every day of this month to prepare for the reason and importance of the season of Lent.
Heavenly Father, we bring our supplications before You;
· Heavenly Father, please continue to lead and bless Trinity HOPE with Your loving hand; may we always strive to accomplish Your will.
· Bless the workers here in the U.S. and in Haiti and give them courage as they face challenges from the evil foe. Provide them with courage, endurance and love.
· Heavenly Father, please protect and direct your children to bring peace and stability to the Haitian government and wherever there is unrest in your world.
· Eternal Father, may we see the signs of Your mighty hands and sense the beginning of the end to the gang fed chaos throughout Haiti.
Lord God, bless Your Word wherever it is proclaimed. Make it a Word of power and peace to convert those not yet Your own and to confirm those who have come to saving faith. May Your Word pass from the ear to the heart, from the heart to the lip and from the lip to the life that, as You have promised, Your Word may achieve the purpose for which You sent it; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
2 Corinthians 13:11-14; “Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints send their greetings. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
“I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have graciously kept me this day; and I pray that You would forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.” Martin Luther
May God go before you to guide you; may His arms be beneath you to support you, around you to protect you and above you to bless you. And may the blessings of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you always dear sister and brother in Christ,
In His love, Jay Brinkmeyer