Godly Performance

Jeremiah 1:12

You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to perform it.

I’ve been thinking about prayer a lot lately. I bet I am not alone in that. I stumbled over this scripture today and it got me to thinking again. The best kind of prayer is when we pray God’s words and this verse makes it evident why that is true. Can you even picture that for a moment? Imagine God watching the earth for someone to speak His Word so He can rush in to perform it. Amazing. However, it brings up for me as many questions as it answers. Now I find myself asking what words I should be praying over each situation I am facing. In fact, I have not been standing on a particular scripture for the Covid situation, but I have found one I think will be my touchstone. It is Exodus 23: 25, “But you shall serve the Lord your God and He will bless your bread and your water; and I will remove sickness from your midst.” That is a promise from God. He told the Israelites if they would serve Him, they would be blessed and that He would remove sickness. Well, that is exactly what I want. Since He promised the Israelites to bless them and heal their land, then He promised me too because He is not one to show partiality (Deuteronomy 10: 17).

Whatever situation we are facing, instead of begging God to do something, we need to pick up our Bibles and find out what He has already promised. We, then, hold up that Word to Him and He performs it. He is watching for people to show up with His Word. This is not exactly the model of prayer most of us have been taught but it is what God’s Word says and that should carry some weight.

Find out what the Word says and then speak those Divine Words. That is how to pray.

Got Wisdom?

Proverb 2: 6 – 7

For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright.

Do you need wisdom, knowledge or understanding? Well, the Lord, our God, has stored these things for us so that they would be available in our time of need. Now, the real question is, “How do we avail ourselves of these things?” The answer is that you spend time in prayer. God is going to lead you in wisdom and knowledge. That is why he has stored them up; so that He can give them to you. You receive knowledge, wisdom and understanding from Him by spending time with Him. He will give you all that you require of Him.

I am a big proponent of “praying at all times.” By that I mean that I do not want you to await the perfect opportunity for prayer but rather talk with Him all day, every day. Talk with Him while you are pumping gas, grocery shopping and exercising. Talk with Him all of the time. Every time you think of something you need to pray about do it right then. But, there is also a need for quiet, private time with the Lord.

This is time when you move everything else out of your mind and focus solely on him. You want to live your life in a state of divine revelation. To do that you need focused time with Him. I am not saying that you cannot receive a deep and meaningful revelation while you are on the treadmill. You can. But you cannot live your life on snacks. Eventually you need to sit down and have a full meal. That is what that alone time with God is analogous to. Take time out of your schedule to just be with Him alone. Seek the wisdom, knowledge and understanding that you need for your life. And have your Bible handy because many times He gives you the word you need by pointing you to a scriptural passage.

Take time to be alone with your Dad. Listen to Him. Allow Him to lead you. He will lead you into the wisdom, knowledge and the understanding you need.

National Day of Prayer

Exodus 33: 18

“I pray You, show me Your glory!”

This is my prayer today. The theme for the National Day of Prayer is “Pray God’s glory across the earth.” Whomever chose the theme for this year must have had divine inspiration because it is the perfect prayer. It is curious that the National theme has a world-wide scope. This isn’t just about praying for our national leaders. It is about praying for God to show up across the whole world.

So, what is the glory of the Lord? You may have seen the term “Shekinah Glory” before. The Shekinah glory is the radiant presence of God. We have never needed His light and His presence more than today. His presence is His goodness. When Moses asked God to reveal His glory, God responded, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” God’s goodness and compassion are always in His presence and His presence is His glory. Isaiah wrote, “They will see the glory of the Lord, The majesty of our God.” In other words, the glory of the Lord reveals His majesty. One cannot be in the presence of the Lord, witness His glory and not be awed by His majesty.

God’s glory called to Moses from a burning bush which was not consumed by fire. His glory led the Israelites on their great exodus in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21). Ezekiel wrote, “The temple was filled with the cloud and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the Lord,” (Ezekiel 10: 4). On the Mount of Transfiguration, the radiance of God’s glory was described as splendor (Luke 9: 29 – 35). On the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2: 2 – 3) God’s glory appeared as tongues of fire. More recently, in 1906 at a little church on Azusa Street in Los Angeles, the building appeared to be on fire, but it turned out to be God’s glory. People actually called the fire department but one cannot quench this fire.

The idea I want to sow into you today is that God’s glory has dwelt on earth. People have, on many occasions, seen the Glory of God. In modern times, we may have lost touch with the exact nature of God’s glory, but it is nothing less than God’s manifesting presence in the earth. We need God, we need to see God. When Moses asked to see Yahweh’s glory, God answered, “Yes!” Never in our lifetimes have we needed God’s radiant presence more than we do today.

In my studies, I have discovered that God’s presence hearkens to a praying people. Do you want God to show up on planet earth? Prayer and praise are the forerunners of God. My heart cries out, “Father, I need you. Father! I need more of you.” Our world needs hungry hearts who will cry out to the Father with passion and determination, people who will meet at the foot of the cross and call upon the blood of Christ to redeem and rescue us. We need pray-ers desperately! We need leaders to turn their faces to God and ask for God’s wisdom even as each and every one of us does the same. We need a nation of people who will make prayer a priority. I pray, and I know that you do too, but this is a time for us all to increase. We need increase in our compassion, conviction and maybe the third word should be contrition. We need more than our morning prayers before we rush out the door or to our “work at home” computers. We need time of praying from the depth or our hearts and listening to the voice of the Lord. What is He saying to us? How is He leading us?

I hope that today you will put aside some of what you have planned and will make quiet time to call out to the Lord. Put your heart on your sleeve and let the Lord lead you by the heart. Let us all be united today and “Let us Pray.”

I have included links to all the scriptures I quoted today so that you can easily go and see them for yourself. Just click on the scripture cite and you will be teleported to that glory filled moment in time. Enjoy.

God Forsaken

Deuteronomy 31:8

The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.

Right now, many places in the world appear God forsaken. How do you feel about that statement? What do you think non-believers are thinking now? Do they, or we, see God’s hand? Is He asleep? How do we answer anyone’s doubts, even our own?

Stubborn faith is one answer. We choose to believe in love regardless of the current situation. How can this viral disaster occur, and hundreds of thousands lose their lives if God is love? Are we forsaken? Has God removed His grace or His protection?  We believe we are not forsaken because we choose to believe.  But can we know beyond our stubborn belief?

It is in times like these that we need to know God in our hearts, not just in our minds. We can say, “The Bible says . . .,” but in our hearts we need to know that Yahweh loves us and cares about us. I know God is present and listening because of the nudge upon me to pray. I’ve begun to develop prayer spots on my bike riding circuit where I stop, rest and pray. It’s turning into a thing where I am looking for good places to stop and pray for a few minutes. I am very aware this is not my thought or idea but something the Father is leading me into. He wants me to pray more because He wants more intercessors on the planet. Though I have never considered myself an intercessor, it is clear that Father wants me praying more than normal. This is one of the ways I know we are not forsaken. Our God is here and speaking.  He is leading us individually and collectively.

I have also seen blessing during this time. How can that be? How can there be any blessing in the midst of a world-wide viral outbreak? There is always blessing when God is near. His nature attracts blessing; it overflows from His presence. I am sure you have seen kindnesses that would have been uncommon previously. In those things, I see the goodness of God welling up in people and know that He is near.

When you look at the bad things that are happening around the world, it is hard to see the hand of God but when you look around your world, you may see indications of God’s love and grace. I hope you do. As you activate your faith, those things become more obvious and those are the things you may want to share with others. They are also the things which grow your faith. As we believe that God is present, we not only see Him better, but it becomes easier and more imperative for us to join with Him.

Tomorrow is the National Day of Prayer. Prayer is the natural outcome of belief that our Father is on the scene and paying attention. We are not forsaken and we know it. We need not fear nor be dismayed. God is going before us as our forward guard and preparing our way. He will tell us, “This is the way walk in it,” and then our faith activates. We are all in this together, not just as human beings, but with our Father too. He will never leave nor forsake us and knowing that gives us confidence.

Not My House

Psalm 91: 10

No evil will befall you, nor will any plague come near your tent.

This verse was written for today. There are many great utterances from the Lord which are appropriate for our current situation and I will be sending them to you over the next weeks but is there any verse more timely than this?

Psalm 91 is such a great chapter anyway. If you have not read it in a while, take some time to read it. You will find it greatly encouraging. You may find yourself thinking that the author was looking through a crystal ball when he wrote it. You know, sometimes working with God is that way. You are in the present, but He also has His mind on the future.

We can use this verse a couple of ways. First, as a prayer, and while I am in this thought, “Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray these words over every single person who reads this devotional. Lord, put a bubble of protection around them, their families and their homes. Father, I declare in the authority I have in the name of Jesus, that evil will not befall them and that no evil, plague or virus shall come near their abodes.”

Now, you can pray that every day – which brings me to the second use of this verse. Simply speak it over you, your family and your household daily. That is how we activate the gifts of God. First, of course, believe them and believe they are for you even if written a very long time ago. Second, believe these God utterances which have been captured in the Bible have actual meaning and power for you and for today. Then, speak them as if they are true, as if you believe them. What does that look like? “No evil shall come nigh me nor shall covid-19 or any other dis-ease come to my house.” Or, “I will not contract covid-19 nor will I get the flu.” It’s all about positive declarations made continually.

And here is one time I use them which sometimes puts people off, but we are talking about life and death here. If someone speaks fear in my presence or if someone asks if I am worried, I come out with “No evil shall come near me and no disease may enter my house.” Does it make you sound a little weird? Well, yeah. I don’t care. My health and my relationship with my God are more important than anyone’s opinion. This is key. It is very nice to receive the great verses, but it is critical that you know how to use them. That is why I am spending the extra time to write to you about application. You are getting training on how to walk in them and I am very much hoping you are applying yourself to using these teachings. I know this makes the devotional longer, but I feel a strong responsibility towards you. I am going to work hard to deliver to you the good news and a fresh Word from God daily.

God wants you safe. I want you safe. He has given you His good word and I am going to teach you how to wear it like a holy robe of His grace. You are clothed with the Word of God and it keeps you. Blessed be the Lord and praise to His name.

Prayer Time

1 Thessalonians 5:17

Pray without ceasing.

Never was there a more appropriate time for this verse, at least in our own lives. The world has suffered many challenges throughout history, but the coronavirus has touched almost every country in the world and that is big. This is our time. Wherever you live in the world, your nation needs you to pray. For once we do not have the excuse of being too busy. For once, we have time to spend with God.

Before too long, we will look back at this period in history and we will either be able to say we excelled and grew, or we wasted the time we had. I have made a personal decision to make this a time of personal improvement and acceleration. Rather than give into convenience foods, we have decided to come through this crisis having eaten well, exercised and weighing less. It would be the easiest thing in the world to use this predicament as an excuse to live on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and cereal. It would be just as easy to use the extra time I have in my calendar to feed my flesh. My household has decided to feed our bodies and our spirits wholesome food and use this time to grow in the Lord. I will be better at praying than ever before.

What are you going to do with your time? Are you going to spend it on Facebook and television? Today is the day to decide. If we are not careful, we will slide, unnoticed into apathy, wasting our time on frivolities when we could be nurturing our spirits, bodies and minds. We could be positively affecting the globe and our neighbors.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I think you are going to need some down time, whatever that means to you. For me, it usually means exercise and computer games. That is okay. These are stressful times and you need to know what destresses you. However, prayer is the absolute best thing you can do for your spirit, your soul and your body. They all feed on the connectivity with our Father. Your country, state, province, county, town, village, etc. needs you to have time with your Father too. We all need you praying. I need your prayers.

We can overcome coronavirus, and we can even come out stronger on the other side. I hope your spirit is sensitive to the loss of life and human suffering that are facts of life right now. Let it move you to prayer. Pray without ceasing. Never in your life has there been so great a need for believers to call upon the Father of all. The entire world needs us to stop talking about being Christians and get down to the serious business of being Christian. Cry out to the Lord with a loud voice. He is listening. He is waiting. Pray without ceasing. It’s what Paul told the church at Thessalonica.  It is good enough for us too.

What will the world say about Christians when we look back?  I hope they will see a faith filled group of praying people, people who believe in the saving power of their God.

Carried Away

Matthew 8: 16 – 17

And when evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill in order that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, “HE HIMSELF TOOK OUR INFIRMITIES, AND CARRIED AWAY OUR DISEASES.”

What do you love about this verse? We’ve read this before, but it has taken on new meaning in this current viral situation. Or, at least it’s importance and meaning are more present in our thinking. Personally, I love the part that says he carried away our diseases. Now that is something we can pray. In this verse, our Father has given us a prayer for eradicating the Corona virus. Do you see that?

I am in the mountains for a prolonged period of study and prayer. I was about to pick up the book I brought to read but saw my Bible lying there and just had a desire come over me to pick it up and hold it in my hands. I wanted to feel the leather cover and hear the sound the pages make. As I picked it up, it fell open to this verse. I was immediately impressed with this verse and God’s goodness.

He is sending us a verse so that not only can we be encouraged but also because it is a tool, even a weapon if you prefer. We have a new prayer. It is not only about having been healed, receiving our healing or even praying for the health of others. God, our compassionate Father, is telling us that we can pray for Jesus to carry away this disease. He is sending us a prayer and asking us to get into agreement with Him. Who can see this? Please shout back to me to let me know I am getting this through as the Lord is showing it to me.

How can I say it other than our Beloved Father and Lord has sent us a prayer for us all to pray, together? Jesus will carry this virus away. Where he carries it, I don’t know or care. I just know that Yahweh has sent us a point of contact. We can visualize Jesus and his angels roaming throughout the earth collecting all of the contagion and carting it out of the earth. You can see the angels destroying it with their flame throwers. There is a way out of this, and God has, this day, provided it. Use it.

We have transitioned from an Ivey Ministries prayer team to a prayer army. It is a necessary step at this time, but we need you. We need collective prayer, an army of pray-ers all praying in unison, praying the same thing from the same vision. Join our warrior army. Do not be bashful, be faithful. You have been called for this time. Now pull out your prayer guns and let’s get to work. This is not hard work either. I will send you an email of prayer requests – you pray. Easy peasy.

Reply to this email telling me you are willing to join our prayer force. Alternatively, email me at irorie@nulliveyministries.org. And, get your friends of faith to join us. This is a time for us to join together, so solicit every faith person you know. Together we can overcome this much faster than if we let the world deal with it. Our Father has indicated that He is ready if we will only cooperate with Him. Let’s do this!