David Roper- Prayer is worship. Our praying should be full of adoration, affection, and fondness for God —
that He is who He is; that He created us in order to have someone on whom He could shower His love; that He stretched out His arms on the cross; that He intends, in the fullest sense, to make whole men and women out of us.

In worship, as the old word worth-ship implies, we declare what we value the most. It's one of the best ways in the world to love God. (Google image, Lady praying for God to do the impossible)

Prayer is the highest expression of our dependence on God. It's asking for what we want. We can ask for anything — even the most difficult things. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" (Philippians 4:6). Anything large enough to occupy our minds is large enough to hang a prayer on. (Excerpted and adapted from Seeing God, by David Roper)

Let's pray-

Father, as David points out to us that our praying needs to be full of adoration, affection and fondness for You, we humbly ask for Your Spirit to enable us to meet You with great fondness of heart.

Knowing that Christ's arms were stretched out on the cross for us, creates within us the desire to become whole men and women for His glory. We declare that we value You the most, so we ask that Your Spirit help us worship from our hearts today.

As prayer can be the highest expression of our dependence upon You, it's why we ask for help. Enable us to believe for anything — even the most difficult things that trouble us, which may look impossible. Help us to not be anxious about anything, but to trust You by prayer and thanksgiving, knowing that You are determined to fight for us in every situation. Let our declaration be, "But God!"

Prayer, by its nature is requesting, not insisting or clamoring. We will ask and then wait with patience and submission until You grant us our requests, or something better.
Help us understand what You are saying to us in Your Word and unite our fragmented hearts. A quiet place of prayer gives us comfort, instructions, and help to learn to express our heart's desires.

Our deep desire is to magnify You in and through our living. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen

606-610- one-line Scriptures for those of you who want to learn some more verses this week- or to review them from when they were first posted-

606- Pro. 16:2 "All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits."

607- 1 Cor. 4:16 Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me."

608- Pro. 20:22 "Say not thou, I will recompense evil: but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee."

609- Ps. 34:6 "This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles."

610- Ps. 103:8 "The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy."

Quote for today-

A Hebrew Prophetic View On 2022

"In the midst of this chaos, let us remember that our God is a God of restoration and order. The message of the number 22 shows us that God can, and will, turn sorrow and chaos into order and joy as we turn to Him. Let us take hope for the year ahead and believe God for better things to come in 2022."

Words of wisdom-

Do you have family memories of shared times? It could be that each of them was interesting and gets better at every telling. Going places and doing things together can also make some memories of difficult times our best times. Let’s be open and ready to make new memories with friends and loved ones this Christmas.

Today's guest post-

I Took Care of That

Diana Derringer-

"A few days before Christmas, my nephew and his family visited us.

Our family room nativity scene drew his two boys like a magnet. As they picked up each piece, we discussed that character’s role in the Christmas story."

Upcoming posts:

#31 Jesus, A Man of Prayer

Alvin Vandergriend

#32 Paul, the Man Who Prayed Continually

Alvin Vandergriend

No Impossible Obstacles

Xochitl Dixon

#33 Elijah, An Ordinary Man Who Prayed Powerfully

Alvin Vandergriend

The North Country Christian Fellowship Center Churches,

located in the St. Lawrence county of NY,

broadcast their Sunday services at 10 or 10:15