 Good morning, welcome to morning prayer on this beautiful morning that the Lord has made, that we get the pleasure, the honor, the joy of celebrating and rejoicing because we get to be glad in it. This is the day he has made, not our schedules, not our agendas, not the things that we don't even know that are gonna happen, they didn't make this day, the Lord has made this day, so we have the opportunity to rejoice. We have the pleasure in being glad in it. This morning, I wanna open up our time of praise and prayer, intercession and worship by reading out of Psalm 118, starting in verse one. The psalmist says, oh, give thanks to the Lord for he is good. The psalmist doesn't say the situation is good, he says the Lord is good. He doesn't say the circumstance is good, he says the Lord is good. And because the Lord is good, we can give thanks. We can give thanks regardless of our circumstance and regardless of our scene in life, regardless of the deficit, we have the honor, we have the privilege, we have the expectation that despite everything else being one way, the Lord is always good. And then he puts an exclamation on the goodness of the Lord by saying, for his steadfast love endures forever. Let Israel say, his steadfast love endures forever. Let the house of Aaron say, his steadfast love endures forever. Let those who fear the Lord say, his steadfast love endures forever. Right now, I want us to engage each of us where we're at, whether we're in this room or we're online, we're in our car, we're at home, maybe we're in our office and I don't know where we are at, but regardless of where we are at and what we are going through and what the schedule, the agenda of the day is, let us say this morning from the depths of our hearts, with the utmost conviction and expectation, the steadfast love endures forever. The steadfast love of the Lord endures forever. So with your mouth, from your heart, just begin to lavish the Lord with that decree that Lord, your steadfast love endures forever. My scene does not. My situation does not. My circumstance does not. But Lord, your steadfast love, it does endure forever. Just begin to speak that to the Lord. Begin to speak it out loud. Begin to declare it. Begin to confess it. With your voice, let your lungs spill air over your vocal cords and confess this truth, questions and our feelings. They are fleeting, but your steadfast love endures forever. Lord, our schedules, they come and go, but Lord, your steadfast love endures forever. Our problems and our pain, they come and they go, but Lord, your steadfast love endures forever. Lord, people, they come and they go, but Lord, your steadfast love endures forever. Lord, the foundations of this world, the foundations of the very galaxy above our heads, Lord, all under this truth that your steadfast love endures forever. Overwhelm us this morning, Lord, with your steadfast love. Consume us, Lord, with your steadfast love. Heal us according to your steadfast love. Set us free according to your steadfast love, God. Lord, your steadfast love endures forever. Your steadfast love, God. Your steadfast love endures forever. Faithful you to be on my To the setting of the same To the setting of the same Yarning of the sun To the setting of the same Yarning of the sun To the setting of the same Yarning of the setting of the same To the setting of the same Yarning of the sun To the setting of the same Yarning Return to your, return to your rest This small, return to your rest hours and hours and hours building this Lego Star Wars Lego thing it was the first one that he had completed without my help and he was very proud of it and I remembered him setting it down on the table and our lab walked by and with his tail the lab knocked it over and pieces went everywhere and my son was devastated I mean just pieces everywhere and I remember him picking up pieces and literally throwing them in my lab and he had no words coming from his mouth but just the actions of what he was doing was saying it all Lord he was saying can you put it back together dad can you put it back together the Lord has thrown a couple things on my heart heavy as we were just seeing that that some of us whether we're in this room or we're online right now our life our marriage is literally in pieces and we they're scattered around and we're trying to pick them up and put them back together and we can't we've tried this we've tried that we're weak we're weary we're we're out of tears at this point we're crying dry tears and we're needing the Lord to pick up those pieces and put our life back together and if that is you I just with your mouth the confession of your heart to say Lord that is me I am in pieces would you put me back together Lord I can't do it anymore I don't have what it takes I'm not strong enough I've tried and I failed I can't take it Lord would you put it back together you know my son had to bring it to me in order for me to put it back together would you bring it to the Lord this morning would you bring him the pieces of your life the pieces of your marriage the pieces of your situation the pieces of your circumstance would you bring it to the father and say Lord I can't do it anymore would you pick up the pieces and put it back together as the soul must set rise up and come to our help be deem us for the sake of your steadfast love Lord would you do that marriage is in pieces this morning Lord I address my verses to the king my tongue is like a pen of a ready scribe Lord this is our theme our heart overflows with this pleasing theme that you are our defender you are our deliverer are our great intercessor you are our great high priest and we recognize this morning that you love to pray for us that you love to intercede for us you love to stand on our behalf Lord you love it you love it Lord and so Lord because of that we hand you all the pieces of our fragments of our lives of our hearts of our issues of our problems in our pains and Lord we bring them to you with expectation with holy expectation God holy expectation Lord you are our deliverer you are our defender so Lord would you rise up and come to our help in our lives Lord would you rise up and come to the help of our cities God would you rise up and come to the help of our nation God we are in peril right now Lord and so we come to you our great intercessor asking for you to move in a mighty way would you move in a mighty way would you do mighty works at our midst God our hearts overflow with this pleasing theme you are defender you are deliverer Jesus it is you it is you Lord it is you Lord would you defend Lord would you deliver would you set people free would you heal hearts would you heal minds would you move would you move God thank you that you are to Moses the Lord will fight for you all you have to do is keep still despite the Israelites complaining and groaning you continued to deliver them you continued to fulfill your promises you parted the Red Sea you gave them bread from heaven you made water come out of the rock Lord all we have to do is be still to be silent and listen to what it is that you are calling us to do listen to the voice of the Lord calling and our wildernesses and our despair God we know that you hear us we know that you can free us from our despair we know that you can deliver us if we would just listen to your still small voice like you said to Elijah in Kings it's a still small voice another translation says a low whisper God we're listening for your low whisper to drown out the sounds of this world the the volume that this world says you have to live by the decision that this world says are the right things to do God we want deliverance from those things we know that you will transform us that you will free us that you said that you will not leave us as orphans but that you will come to us and so Lord we're saying right now in Jesus name come speak to us as we silence the world speak to us as we silence our own motives as we silence our own thoughts and we say Lord take them captive and make us obedient to you God you are our deliver you are our defender that you are our strong tower and our fortress Lord if you did all of those things for the Israelites when you brought them out of Egypt we know that you can do them for us right now in this moment when we call in the name of your son Jesus Christ your one and only son we know that this world is not gonna be without problems you told us that in this world you will have trouble but take heart you have overcome them so Lord in your strength and in your overcoming power and ability we just say deliver us from addiction deliver us from sin deliver us from sickness and pain and spiritual battles that have plagued us for so long we ask in Jesus name we're seeking so that we can find God you're knocking at the door and saying I am here will you open the door will you let me in I alone can free you I alone can deliver you from whatever's been holding you back and so in Jesus name we are asking we are bleeding we're on our knees praying for intercession God deliver us set us free from the snares that entangle us catch us set us free from pride set us free from the division and the polarization that we tend to gravitate toward my side versus their side us versus them set us free Lord set us free set us free Lord I want to turn our remaining time into focusing on praying for specific people and I want us to start with praying for Israel starting May 7th we as a church we're joining ministries and churches all around the world approximately 10 million people to spend 21 days to pray and fast for the nation of Israel for the people of Israel and I want us to begin praying into that now there's a great revivalist by the name of Charles Finney and before Charles Finney would go anywhere he sent before him a man by the name of father Nash and father Nash was his great intercessor and father Nash would go to his city before Finney and he would pray for the hearts of people before Finney would even go and that is what we are going to be doing right here right now we are praying before we even come to May 7th that the Lord would begin preparing hearts preparing souls and preparing minds for this great work that is about to be done so in Romans chapter 10 the great apostolic prayer brothers my heart's desire and prayer to God for them this is Israel for them is that they may be saved for I bear them witness that they have zeal for God but not according to knowledge for being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own they did not submit to God's righteousness for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to ever up into the law for righteousness to everyone who believes right now I want us to pray for the hearts of Israel Lord when you begin to soften hearts in Israel even now Lord even as pastor Lee taught this week we know that you have done a partial hardening of hearts Lord God we ask that right now Lord as May 7th approaches as we draw near to this time where your people are going to be gathering all around this world to pray for Israel God Lord I ask that you begin to soften hearts that you begin to loosen chains that have kept them tied down to righteousness of their own Lord I pray that you would begin to give dreams to the people of Israel that they would have prophetic dreams God that you would wake them up in the middle of the night with imagery of your son that they may see Jesus high and lifted up that they may see Jesus Yeshua Messiah Lord God and they would turn to Him Lord would you awaken them Lord Lord would you awaken them would you awaken them to Jesus God in Jesus name their defender in this hour that you be their deliverer in this hour Lord as enemies encroach upon all sides of them God would you be their defender would you be their deliverer God in this time would you deliver them would you defend them Lord would you would you show yourself to them through your mighty hand would you show yourself would you reveal yourself to them in a mighty way Lord with old men of Israel dream dreams with young men of Israel see visions with young girls and young women of Israel Lord God prophesy Lord God awaken them be their defender be their deliverer God or would you move in Israel Lord would you begin to move even now as we are gathered thousands of miles away God would you move would you move would you move Lord would you move Lord would you defend them would you deliver them Lord and Lord I even ask that right now as Paul said my heart's desire and prayer to God is for them Lord I pray that you would give us a heart your heart for Israel God would you give us your heart would you give us a heart transplant today God for a heart for Israel your heart for your chosen people God would you give us your heart for your people would you give us your heart for Jerusalem for God just as you wrote into Jerusalem in Luke 19 and you looked across it and you wept God Lord I pray that even done here that as we pray over Jerusalem but not only would we we've over Jerusalem God that we would hear for playing well and out Sego and Battle Creek and Grand Rapids and Grand Haven God Lord would you give us tears God because you've given us your heart for your people God give us tears Lord give us tears God you give us your heart for your people for the land for this land for Jerusalem for Israel Lord we ask that we pray and as we intercede for Israel that there will be a broad sweep of salvation that goes across that land Lord would there be a broad sweep of salvation across Israel Lord I pray that as we come toward May 7th that all of us would take a stand on the wall that we would be watchmen that we would be like Father Nash Lord God to Charles Finney be intercessors for Israel Lord give us your heart thank you for this day Lord you are our defender you are our deliverer so we go into this day with confidence and boldness and courage knowing that you are so good Lord and we give you thanks in Jesus name thank you for joining us this morning for prayer we will be back in the prayer room at noon and at 6 30 otherwise we'll see you on the live stream tomorrow morning have a blessed day