Happy Wednesday! 

What a wonderful Day!  We are in the midst of a Kairos Prison Ministry Weekend.  Bruce is the leader for the weekend. He and a strong team carry the gospel to those 42 residents whom God has set apart for these few days to hear the gospel and carry it out from there to the other residents. It is not the intention of Kairos to get these folks out of prison, but to help then live a life of hope while inside. 

Prayer:  “LORD, you have brought us to this place to do Your will in proclaiming Your Word.  May we each be receptive and attentive to the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

Today in one of the Chapel times on the support team, we talked about intercessory prayer.  I likened intercessory prayer to lawyers and judges.  We hire lawyers not because they know the law.  We hire lawyers because they know how to talk to judges.  Lawyers communicate our intentions to a judge in language they each understand.  The same is true about praying intercessory prayers through the Holy Spirit.  I would never presume to speak the heavenly language of God, but when we pray to God through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit speaks to God in holy language making our desires and needs known to God.  The Holy Spirit intercedes for us to plead our case.  This kind of prayer is the greatest tool against the enemy we have against the evil one.

As prayer warriors we are praying intercessory prayers for the residents, the team inside and the support staff.  It is powerful praying.  When you pray, remember the power is not in the one who prays, but in the One who hears the prayer. 

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes. Count your blessings and say your prayers.  Love you all so very much, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Prayer alert:  Travis goes in for an interview with Starbucks tomorrow to become an assistant manager.  Please offer an extra prayer for him.

Prayer:  Please keep Dave and Carme Russell in your prayers as they inter Dave’s Mother tomorrow and Geni sings the service.  Peace, gc

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am only moved by what I believe and I believe God.

Happy Monday!

The services for David Russell’s mother, Jane, will be Friday, April 20 in McKinney, Texas. The burial will be at the National Cemetery in Grand Prairie, Texas beside her beloved husband, Richard. Due to our commitments with the Kairos Prison Ministry Weekend in Wichita Falls, Bruce and I will be unable to attend. In our absence Geni will not only be attending, but will lift her beautiful voice and sing the service. Please continue to pray for this most precious family as they mourn their loss, but celebrate the life of this most precious woman. Pray for Geni as she shares her God given gift of a glorious voice raised in praise to the living God.

Also, please pray for Travis. Tomorrow he goes for a mock interview for an assistant manager’s position within Starbucks. He will go in on Friday for the real interview with the district manager. If he is offered the position of assistant manager he will have to leave the Randol Mill Store and will work at the Starbucks by Central Market in Fort Worth. This is a wonderful opportunity for Travis and Starbucks will gain a wonderful young man on his way up!

Prayer: Father, this week is Your week. Speak truth and hope into my life. Give me ears to hear You speak. Grant me discipline to open Your Word in order to listen to Your voice. Whatever is before me, give me what I need at that moment. Even now, I listen to You. May You alone be praised. Amen.

James 5: 13, 14 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. If there anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

Do you love to pray? If any of you know me, you know that I love to pray. Prayer occurs when we bring something before God and then listen to what God has to say to us. Upon the authority of God’s Word we are commanded to call upon the church spiritual leaders and ask them to pray over us when we are sick. So many of us do not think to pray first. We try to work things out for ourselves before inviting God to be a part of helping us work things out. Sometimes we are so overwhelmed that we ask God just to take it and work it out for us. When there are those around us who are in desperate need, then whatever their need may be, we must offer the need to the highest level; the throne of grace on which the King of Glory sits. We ask God to step into the situation in a personal and miraculous way, making His Presence known.

We all have needs which must be met. Pride will take us by the hand and tell that we can work it out ourselves. Stubbornness in us will cause us to just try to wait it out and believe that things will simply improve. That is sort of like trying to teach a child to read. As someone who has taught a great number of children to read, I don’t stop after the first lesson. I continue to teach until the learner has grasped not only the calling of the words, but the meaning of the text.

By continuing to pray past the first time, we can discern hidden messages of God meant for us. We get to hear these messages because we are covered in the Holy Spirit and believe in the name of Jesus. When we talk to God let us invite the promise of the day to each of us through the voice of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will move into our thoughts and hearts giving the confidence that God will move upon us and assure us with his Holy Presence.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes. Count your blessings and say your prayers. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am only moved by what I believe and I believe God.

Blessed Sunday to you all.

Davis Russell’s mother passed away quietly this afternoon. Please continue to pray for David and his family in the loss of their mother. The service will be on Friday in McKinney.

Prayer: “Father, You are an awesome God! I give You praise and glory for the powerful moving of Your Holy Spirit within my heart. You have blessed my life beyond measure. You have endowed me with an abundance of joy and peace. My cup is running over! If only I could convey the depths of my soul with others so they, too, might know Your grace and mercy. I praise You in the morning as I look forward to the beauty of this day. Hallelujah!”

1 Corinthians 2: 10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

The verse for today tells us the Apostle Paul spoke a godly truth to the church at Corinth. The truth is that God speaks the hidden truths about Himself only to those who have the Holy Spirit dwelling within themselves. I pondered this thought and I have my own thought concerning vs. 10.

A number of years ago Bruce and I went to Shakespeare in the Park. We sat at a table and the play began. If you have never or are not a regular reader of Shakespeare it takes a while to understand the language. The words were in English, but the language was difficult to understand. It took about 30 minutes but finally, after intently listening, the play began to make sense to us and we enjoyed the rest of the play. We did not have an ear for the language of Shakespeare at the beginning of the play.

I would never suppose to understand the language of heaven. It is a language I am not meant to understand yet. But God in His infinite wisdom gives us glimpses into heaven through His Word. But His Word only makes sense to us because the interpreter lives within us and helps us with the language. For us to understand the language of heaven, a totally spiritual language, the Spirit of God must live within us. Those who are not of God do not comprehend God or understand God’s Word; it sounds like babble.

God came to us in the Person of Jesus Christ in order to reveal Himself to those who would believe in God by faith. Let us praise God for the gift of salvation and thank Him for the Holy Spirit that teaches us and pleads our case before God in the language of heaven and allows God to be revealed in our very being.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes. Please continue your prayers for our friends David and Carme. Count your blessings and say your prayers. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am only moved by what I believe and I believe God.