Our Power Through Prayer

"The praying that makes a prayerful ministry is not the meager praying added only as flavoring to give it a pleasant taste. But, the praying must be in the body, form, blood, and bones. Prayer is no petty duty put into a corner. It is no piecemeal performance made out of the fragments of time that have been snatched from business and other engagements of life. The best of our time, and the heart of our time and strength, must be given to prayer." 
​E.M. Bounds-  Power Through Prayer, 1910

My heart shakes every time I read this, not in a judgmental way, but rather in a progressive convicting one. My simple, immediate reaction is to... pray.
Today, I cry out this simple prayer
before the throne, and want to invite you to join:

"Father, I believe in the power of prayer. Would you stretch my belief wide? Would you help me comprehend further and deeper, even if through 'plainness', how a  fervent prayerful life is its substance? I still fall short of grasping your infinite greatness and vastness. Would you grant me to experience the power and spiritual magnitude found in you, as I connect and rest in you, both for me,  and your children? Would you let me be moved by that prayer-pull (towards you) that brings intimacy, and makes us one? Would you help me see how praying in your name destroys strongholds, and shifts your Kingdom into the freedom for which you freed us? Can you elevate all my spiritual and physical senses to a higher plane and grant me a peek at how prayer aligns and
​brings heaven to earth?

​ Revive our encounter!
Let me see you face to face.

Help me long for and love you so violently, my beloved, that all I passionately desire is to sit with you, quietly paying attention to what you have to say, not letting your words out of my sight, keeping them within my heart, and obeying them.

Father, just like blood carries the oxygen in our vessels, may Your Spirit breathe the prayer oxygen in me, in us, until the resulting chemical reactions transform us into vessels of real love,  grace, submission,  humility and your truth.

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​Let prayer be the backbone of The Phileo House, too, Lord.
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Help us give YOU our prime energy and attention through that special connection every day, every moment, and be open to your promptings throughout the day,  Holy Spirit.
May prayer be our first priority, not our last resort. Help us to give you the best of our time, not the leftovers. Neither prayer be an afterthought, but our innermost core.
May we be the strong branches attached to you, The Vine, through prayer.
May we taste and see the goodness found within it,  wanting more and more of it, for it is YOU whom we'll  delight in... exactly as you did with the Father while you walked among us.

​And, may each one of our prayers-- be  of gratitude, praise, or cries for help , deliverance,  healing, peace, clarity, or provision-- be the breath and the power source of our ministry. 
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Only in that way will we see your power manifested in our weakness; and in our service to unsheltered women, their kids, and the world.

Thanks, Jesus, for your utmost sacrifice at the cross, for leaving our Advocate, the Holy Spirit, with and in us after going to the Father, and for sitting us in heavenly places with you.
 Thanks for the promise that as we draw near to you, you will draw near to us. You are our reason.

We trust you, Lord. Thanks for your faithfulness and unlimited grace.
In your Name, Jesus Christ, I pray, and rest,
​
Amen."


​P.S. I love you.

​What a powerful statement by Pastor Edward McKendree Bounds. Did it strike a cord within you? Would centering your heart in continuous prayer bring a more spacious perspective to your life? (1 Thes 5:17)

P.S. Thanks, dear friends and partners for surrounding us at The Phileo House with your love and intentional prayers.
​We are doing the same for you.