 Well good morning. Welcome to morning prayer here this Monday morning. If you're in the prayer room let's stand to our feet this morning. For those of you who are joining us from home, I want to encourage you that grab your Bible, your notebook, pen, coffee, tea, whatever it is that helps you this morning. And let's bring our heart into focus as we start our week and we start our day in the presence of the Lord ministering to the heart of God and then being ministered to by the Lord and His Word that strengthens, builds us up, encourages us, edifies us, and gives us a template and a road that we can walk on all day, all week of our lives. This morning I want to just focus our hearts in around the throne room scene that John the Apostle saw in the book of Revelation chapter five. It says, in between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a lamb standing as though it had been slain with seven horns and with seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth and he went and he took the scroll from the hand of him who was seated on the throne when he had taken the scroll the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb each holding a harp and golden bowl full of incense which are the prayers of the saints and they sang a new song saying worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals for you were slain and by your blood you've ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God and they shall reign on the earth and then I looked and heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels numbering myriads and myriads thousands of thousands saying worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing I love this scene because it reminds us that even though we're here in this world that there's a higher reality and there's a higher throne and that's the one that we're here today to pray to here on earth our prayers oftentimes feel like they're empty they're just kind of like air that bounce off the ceiling but the bible says that your prayers actually fill the bowls of heaven and we join our voices in with those who are beholding Jesus who's the lamb that was slain before the foundations of the world and the one thing that heaven and earth both agree upon this morning is that he is the only one who's worthy Jesus Christ is the only one who's worthy he's the one who opened the scroll of salvation he's the one that still bears the marks in his hands and in his feet he's the perfect spotless lamb of God who's redeemed us from every continent people group situation and he's worthy so this morning I want us to just ascend with our spirit before the throne in our mind's eye and just see the one who's seated on the throne and join in with our prayers and our praise singing a new song to the Lord and the new song is worthy worthy are you Jesus worthy are you there's no one like you worthy are you no one perfect no one spotless like you no one who can open the scrolls like you no one who has control over history no one who is the beginning the end and everything in between no one that the angels fall before and worship no one who is able to capture the prayers of saints that seem insignificant and yet contain them in golden bulls before heaven that are the intercessions of the saints no one who can hear and receive the new song that comes out of a grateful heart but this morning Lord we turn our eyes to you our attention to you Jesus the worthy one we praise you this morning well let's go before I'm in worship we're transformed from glory to glory as we be lards that are so easily distracted are centered on who you are centered on your presence centered on your worth Jesus our great intercessor to Jesus the one who is our high priest and Lord it's in your name and by your blood that we call you in the remembrance of your words this morning want to invite everyone to have your bibles open to Matthew chapter five we're going to be praying Jesus's words right back to him and asking him to help develop cultivate and manifest attributes of a kingdom person that Jesus gives us in the Beatitudes of Matthew five one through twelve Matthew five one through twelve Jesus said as he opened his mouth and he taught them he said blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy blessed are the poor in heart for they shall see God blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you Lord today we draw near to you bringing you into remembrance of your words sitting them before you and recognizing that these are the pathways into your presence the pathways into the blessing of knowing you the fellowship of your suffering and the power of your resurrection and holy spirit as we read these attributes we recognize that these are not the natural responses of the human heart these are the polar opposite of what our flesh desires to respond with it's a work of the holy spirit it's a work of sanctification in us to see these become reality so we surrender to you holy spirit and say Lord we want these to be in our hearts we want these to be manifest in our life so we begin by saying Lord for those who are poor in spirit you said theirs is the kingdom of heaven Lord we come with humility recognizing that we have poverty of soul recognizing that in ourselves we can do nothing and we have nothing that we may be rich and wealthy in the natural but all of us come to the cross poor in spirit Lord I pray today for a revelation in our hearts of how bankrupt we are spiritually without you because it's when we have that revelation that our heart is actually opened up to receive the riches of the kingdom of god the riches of knowing you far greater than anything else far greater than that which our pride can produce far greater than that which the acclaim of man can give Lord we say we are poor in wretched but you are rich in mercy Lord would you awaken our hearts to recognize how much we need you or how much we need you Jesus today we say we need you oh how we need you Lord today we're praying your words that says those who mourn for they shall be comforted Lord we're praying for that today for those who are mourning right now whose hearts are broken who are in the midst of grief difficult circumstances turmoil or where they just feel overwhelmed today maybe it's a parent who just feels overwhelmed at what they see their children going through or the the woman who's lost her husband or those that are grieving the loss of their children Jesus you said that you're the one who comforts those who mourn you said you would give us the oil of gladness instead of ashes you would give us beauty you said that the Holy Spirit would come and he would be the comforter Lord today would you release the blessing of comfort from heaven over those who mourn today Lord there are some things that no man can help heal in another person but the power of heaven and the oil that comes from you Jesus the oil of comforts the oil of gladness the joy from the fullness of your presence Lord they can heal the brokenhearted find up the brokenhearted you come up alongside of those who mourn so that they're not alone you come up alongside and you give consolation to those you have lost those who have been wrongfully used and abused and lives have been shattered Lord pain and grief is not the final word comfort and healing is your it's your promise it's the blessing and so we're praying that the blessing of comfort over those today let it be healing and a balm affiliate to those places in our life where grief has taken up residence Jesus we need your comfort comfort those who mourn in Zion and in everything or that you're more than enough there's no deficit in you there's no lack in you Lord you're never perplexed you're never anxious Lord you are all we ask that today you would release the inheritance to those who are meek today Lord in humility like Jesus humbled himself and came into the earth in the form of the servant and the likeness of man and humbled himself even to obedience obedience upon death death on the cross and you said let the same mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who was even though in the form of God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but he emptied himself and humbled himself Lord today we want to be the meek before you we want to walk the pathway of humility before you the world says the way to the top is through arrogance and pride through being bombastic it's through self-interest but you said to consider the interests of others before ourselves you said that he who is last shall be made first and so Lord today we humble ourselves in your presence because we believe in humility there is a blessing a kingdom blessing for you to release in our life that will result in inheriting the nations of the earth while the world fights and contends to gain more and more of the world you said that the one who tries to gain his life will actually lose it but the one who lays it down will actually gain it and today we say Jesus we choose you we choose the kingdom and in that choosing and humbling ourselves everything that we need is added to us everything that we could possibly ever need everything that our human hearts want to be anxious for today we lay it all down before you and we humbly and meekly Jesus all we want is you all we want is you and we trust that when we give everything to you Lord you're going to lead us into the fullness of our inheritance today Jesus for they shall be satisfied Lord I pray that not only this prayer room and those who are joining us but across your church or that you would stir up and renew spiritual hunger and thirst within your people just as Jesus said I have food to eat that you know not of and that is to do the will of my father just as David said in Psalm 63 I hunger and thirst for you oh god as in a dry and a weary land nothing in this earth can satisfy the longing of the human heart just you your presence said in Isaiah 51 everyone who thirst oh let him come and drink and he who hungers let him come and eat without cost Lord you spread a table for us in the presence of my our enemies today we choose to come to the table of the Lord and to feast on your presence to rejoice in your word we say the hunger of our heart is more of you don't you said that we will only be satisfied when we hunger and when we thirst for you Lord let that even be true in our community let a spirit of conviction move throughout the streets in the neighborhoods the suburbs of our cities where people become hungry and thirsty to know God hungry and thirsty for holiness righteousness where the cotton candy of culture no longer satisfies where the junk food of self-interest fades for a moment and we're left still longing and hungering for the real thing Jesus you are the real thing you're the bread of life you're the living water we hunger where it says blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God we've been asked by several church leaders in our city to pray for the issue of gun violence in our city that has just overtaken Kalamazoo almost daily there's a shooting and a new death and it seems as if God is mobilizing the body of Christ in our city to pray and to partner with law enforcement as well as all kinds of other agencies on a multifaceted front to deal with this issue but as we know violence like this it's demonic in its orientation and it's a spiritual battle so we're praying today Lord for you to raise up in our city peacemakers those with wisdom those with authority those with discernment who will engage on the street level as well as in the halls of our city with godly wisdom and the desire to bring peace to our city Lord the devil is violent the devil is the one who comes to steal to kill and to destroy and to destroy young people's lives even before they've started and right now is the redeemed of the Lord we stand in intercession for our city and we say the devil is not the Lord of this city Jesus is Lord of this city Lord have your way and we're praying Father that you would raise up peacemakers in this city to resolve this issue of conflict gang violence shooting robbery crime lawlessness will not abound we declare the kingdom of God over this city we declare peace we declare reconciliation we declare unity we declare authority respect and honor for those who are in high places and we say Lord would you raise up church leaders pastors and those who are street evangelists law enforcement officers and godly government to partner together with the church in prayer to see our city healed in Jesus name young people restored father gun violence put away Lord the human heart is deceived and wicked and hatred and murder it flows out of the heart we're praying Father that you would change hearts of this city so that we can see lawlessness decrease and the kingdom of God fully come Lord raise up peacemakers in this hour in the name of Jesus the Lord pastor of centerpoint is asked mazu to pray over our city every day in the month of june put it up on the screens here let's all pray this together King Jesus awaken the sleeping giant of your church in our city as we pray and collaborate to seek the common good for our region open our eyes and hands to the marginalized and our voices for the voiceless we endeavor to live in such countercultural lives that our places of work and neighborhoods will experience the beauty and power of the gospel give us such an unquenchable passion for you and your word that we can't help but tell others about Jesus and his unstoppable kingdom for the glory of Jesus and the advancement of his kingdom thank you for joining us today remind you that we're here morning noon and night today and noon and then tonight is 6 30 p.m. come and join us if you're at home come and join us God is on the move in our city your prayers matter and we're called to be a praying and worshiping people from the heart of our city have a great day