Christus Victor

40 Days of Praise & Prayer - Day 40

2011-11-24T02:00:00.000-08:00

Today's Praise & Prayer Focus: Revelation 11:15-19; 15:1-4

Then theseventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying,

“The kingdomof the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shallreign forever and ever.”

And thetwenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces andworshiped God,
saying,

“We givethanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken yourgreat power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath came, andthe time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, theprophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, andfor destroying the destroyers of the earth.”

Then God’stemple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within histemple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, anearthquake, and heavy hail.

Then I sawanother sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues,which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished.

And I sawwhat appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who hadconquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing besidethe sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. And they sing the song of Moses, the servantof God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,

“Great andamazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of thenations! Who will notfear, O Lord, and glorify your name? Foryou alone are holy. All nations willcome and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

40 Days of Praise & Prayer - Day 39

2011-11-23T02:00:00.000-08:00

Today's Praise & Prayer Focus: James 5:13-16 (Pray & Sing)

Is anyoneamong you suffering? Let him pray.

Is anyonecheerful? Let him sing praise.

Is anyoneamong you sick? Let him call for theelders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in thename of the Lord. And theprayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

Therefore,confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may behealed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

40 Days of Praise & Prayer - Day 38

2011-11-22T02:00:00.000-08:00

Today's Praise & Prayer Focus: Acts 16:16-30 (Singing in the Stocks)

As we weregoing to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit ofdivination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and us, crying out, “Thesemen are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way ofsalvation.” And this shekept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and saidto the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.”And it came out that very hour.

But when herowners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas anddragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. And when they had brought them to themagistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. They advocate customs thatare not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.” The crowd joined in attacking them, and themagistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. And when they had inflictedmany blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keepthem safely. Havingreceived this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feetin the stocks.

Aboutmidnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and theprisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a greatearthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediatelyall the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.

When thejailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and wasabout to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do notharm yourself, for we are all here.” And the jailer called for lights and rushedin, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs,what must I do to be saved?”

40 Days of Praise & Prayer - Day 37

2011-11-21T02:00:00.000-08:00

Today's Praise & Prayer Focus: Lamentations 3:19-26 (God's Love Never Ends)

Remember myaffliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall!
My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

The Lord ismy portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

40 Days of Praise & Prayer - Day 36

2011-11-20T02:00:00.000-08:00

Today's Praise & Prayer Focus: 1 John 4:4-8; 1 Corinthians 13:4-7; Mark 12:29-31 (Love)

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, andwhoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God,because God is love.

Love ispatient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogantor rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.

Love bearsall things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

40 Days of Praise & Prayer - Day 35

2011-11-19T02:00:00.000-08:00

Today's Praise & Prayer Focus: Colossians 3:12-17 (Teach One Another in Song)

Put on then,as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility,meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one hasa complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgivenyou, so you also must forgive.

And aboveall these put on love, which binds everything together in perfectharmony.

And let thepeace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in onebody. And be thankful.

Let the wordof Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in allwisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in yourhearts to God.

And whateveryou do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, givingthanks to God the Father through him.

40 Days of Praise & Prayer - Day 34

2011-11-18T11:28:00.000-08:00

Today's Praise & Prayer Focus: Ephesians 5:15-21 (Speak to one another in song)

Lookcarefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, makingthe best use of the time, because the days are evil.

Therefore donot be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

And do notget drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart,

givingthanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our LordJesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence forChrist.

40 Days of Praise & Prayer - Day 33

2011-11-17T00:21:00.000-08:00

Today's Praise & Prayer Focus: Isaiah 40:27-31 (Mount up with the Wings of Eagles)

Why do yousay, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel,

“My way ishidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God”?

Have you notknown? Have you not heard?

The Lord isthe everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does notfaint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

He givespower to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.

Even youthsshall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;

they shallmount up with wings like eagles;

they shallrun and not be weary;

they shallwalk and not faint.

40 Days of Praise & Prayer - Day 32

2011-11-16T00:32:00.000-08:00

Today's Praise & Prayer Focus: Psalm 25:1-11 (I will lift up my soul to You, O Lord)

To you, O Lord,I lift up my soul.

O my God, inyou I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me.
Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed whoare wantonly treacherous.

Make me toknow your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; foryou I wait all the day long.

Rememberyour mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.
Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfastlove remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!

Good andupright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.
All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those whokeep his covenant and his testimonies.

For yourname’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great.

40 Days of Praise & Prayer - Day 31

2011-11-15T00:18:00.000-08:00

Today's Praise & Prayer Focus: Matthew 26:26-30 (In the hour of trial; sing.)

Now as theywere eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it tothe disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”

And he tooka cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it,all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which ispoured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

I tell you Iwill not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink itnew with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

And whenthey had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

40 Days of Praise & Prayer - Day 30

2011-11-14T01:49:00.000-08:00

Today's Praise & Prayer Focus: Psalm 144 (Blessed by the Lord, my Rock)

Blessed bethe Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; he is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and mydeliverer, my shield and he in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples underme.

O Lord, whatis man that you regard him, or the son of man that you think of him?
Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.

Bow yourheavens, O Lord, and come down! Touchthe mountains so that they smoke!
Flash forth the lightning and scatter them; send out your arrows and rout them!
Stretch out your hand from on high; rescue me and deliver me from the manywaters, from the hand of foreigners, whose mouths speak lies andwhose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

I will singa new song to you, O God; upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you, who gives victory to kings, who rescues David his servant from thecruel sword.

Rescue meand deliver me from the hand of foreigners, whose mouths speak lies and whoseright hand is a right hand of falsehood.

May our sonsin their youth be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars cutfor the structure of a palace; may our granaries be full, providingall kinds of produce; may our sheep bring forth thousands and ten thousands inour fields; may our cattle be heavy with young, suffering nomishap or failure in bearing; may there be no cry of distress in our streets!

Blessed arethe people to whom such blessings fall!

Blessed arethe people whose God is the Lord!

40 Days of Praise & Prayer - Day 29

2011-11-13T01:44:00.000-08:00

Today's Praise & Prayer Focus: Psalm 146 (I will Praise the Lord while I live)

Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord,O my soul!
I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while Ihave my being.

Put not yourtrust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
When his breath departs he returns to the earth; on that very day his plansperish.
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lordhis God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is inthem, who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for theoppressed, who gives food to the hungry.

The Lordsets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.

The Lordlifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, butthe way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations.

Praise the Lord!

40 Days of Praise & Prayer - Day 28

2011-11-12T01:40:00.000-08:00

Today's Praise & Prayer Focus: Nehemiah 12:27-43 (Dedication of the Temple)

And at thededication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites in all theirplaces, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness,with thanksgivings and with singing, with cymbals, harps, and lyres.

And the sonsof the singers gathered together from the district surrounding Jerusalem andfrom the villages of the Netophathites; also from Beth-gilgaland from the region of Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built forthemselves villages around Jerusalem. And the priests and the Levites purifiedthemselves, and they purified the people and the gates and the wall.

Then Ibrought the leaders of Judah up onto the wall and appointed two great choirsthat gave thanks. One went to the south on the wall to the Dung Gate. And after them wentHoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah, and Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, and Jeremiah, andcertain of the priests’ sons with trumpets: Zechariah the son of Jonathan, sonof Shemaiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Micaiah, son of Zaccur, son of Asaph; and his relatives, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai,Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man ofGod. And Ezra the scribe went before them.
At the Fountain Gate they went up straight before them by the stairs of thecity of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the house of David, to theWater Gate on the east.

The otherchoir of those who gave thanks went to the north, and I followed them with halfof the people, on the wall, above the Tower of the Ovens, to the Broad Wall, and above the Gate of Ephraim, and by the Gate of Yeshanah, and bythe Fish Gate and the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, to theSheep Gate; and they came to a halt at the Gate of the Guard.

So bothchoirs of those who gave thanks stood in the house of God, and I and half ofthe officials with me; and the priests Eliakim, Maaseiah,Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets;and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Mal-chijah, Elam, and Ezer.And the singers sang with Jezrahiah as their leader.

And theyoffered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoicewith great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalemwas heard far away.

40 Days of Praise & Prayer - Day 27

2011-11-11T01:32:00.000-08:00

Today's Praise & Prayer Focus: Psalm 8 (O Lord, Our Lord, How Majestic is Your Name)

O Lord, ourLord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.

Out of the mouthof babes and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, tostill the enemy and the avenger.

When I lookat your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which youhave set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, andthe son of man that you care for him?

Yet you havemade him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory andhonor.
You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put allthings under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts ofthe field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whateverpasses along the paths of the seas.

O Lord, ourLord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

40 Days of Praise & Prayer - Day 26

2011-11-10T01:31:00.000-08:00

Today's Praise & Prayer Focus: Matthew 6:25-34 (Seek First the Kingdom)

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

40 Days of Praise & Prayer - Day 25

2011-11-09T02:55:00.000-08:00

Today's Praise & Prayer Focus: Psalm 23 (The Lord is my Shepherd)

The Lord ismy shepherd; I shall not want.

He makes melie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear noevil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my headwith oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shalldwell in the house of the Lord forever.

40 Days of Praise & Prayer - Day 24

2011-11-08T14:49:00.000-08:00

Today's Praise & Prayer Focus: Luke 1:46-55 (My Soul Exalts the Lord)

And Marysaid,

“My soulmagnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.

For behold,from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who ismighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

And his mercyis for those who fear him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughtsof their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from theirthrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungrywith good things, and the rich he has sent empty away.

He hashelped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as hespoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

40 Days of Praise & Prayer - Day 23

2011-11-08T14:46:00.000-08:00

Today's Praise & Prayer Focus: Psalm 147 (It is good to sing Praises to God)

Praise theLord!

For it isgood to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise isfitting.

The Lordbuilds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.

Great is ourLord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.
The Lord lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground.

Sing to theLord with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre!

He coversthe heavens with clouds; he prepares rain for the earth; he makes grass grow onthe hills.
He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that cry.
His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legsof a man, but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, inthose who hope in his steadfast love.

Praise theLord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, OZion!
For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your children within you.
He makes peace in your borders; he fills you with the finest of the wheat.
He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.
He gives snow like wool; he scatters hoarfrost like ashes.
He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs; who can stand before his cold?
He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow and the watersflow.
He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and rules to Israel.
He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his rules.

Praise the Lord!

40 Days of Praise & Prayer - Day 22

2011-11-08T14:39:00.000-08:00

Today's Praise & Prayer Focus: Psalm 145 (Great is the Lord and Highly to be Praised)

I will extolyou, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever.

Every day Iwill bless you and praise your name forever and ever.

Great is theLord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.

Onegeneration shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mightyacts.

On theglorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare yourgreatness.
They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloudof your righteousness.

The Lord isgracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.

All your worksshall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your saints shall bless you!
They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power, to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds, and theglorious splendor of your kingdom.

Your kingdomis an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout allgenerations.

The Lord isfaithful in all his words and kind in all his works.
The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.
You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing.

The Lord isrighteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.

The Lord isnear to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and savesthem.
The Lord preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.

My mouthwill speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless his holy nameforever and ever.

40 Days of Praise & Prayer - Day 21

2011-11-05T01:57:00.000-07:00

Today's Praise & Prayer Focus: Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (Israel's Great Command)

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart andwith all your soul and with all your might.

And these words that I command you today shall be on yourheart.

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shalltalk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and whenyou lie down, and when you rise.

You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shallbe as frontlets between your eyes.

You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and onyour gates.

40 Days of Praise & Prayer - Day 20

2011-11-04T01:51:00.000-07:00

Today's Praise & Prayer Focus: Psalm 119:9-16 (How Shall the Young Keep Pure)

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.

With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from yourcommandments!

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sinagainst you.

Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statutes!

With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth.

In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in allriches.

I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on yourways.

I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget yourword.

40 Days of Praise & Prayer - Day 19

2011-11-03T01:20:00.000-07:00

Today's Praise & Prayer Focus: Philippians 3:7-11 (I Want to Know Christ)

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake ofChrist.

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassingworth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss ofall things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own thatcomes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, therighteousness from God that depends on faith—

That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, andmay share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, thatby any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

40 Days of Praise & Prayer - Day 18

2011-11-02T01:11:00.000-07:00

Today's Praise & Prayer Focus: Exodus 15:1-21 (Moses' Song of Deliverance)

Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord,saying, “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horseand his rider he has thrown into the sea.

The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become mysalvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I willexalt him.

The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name.

“Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea, andhis chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea. The floods coveredthem; they went down into the depths like a stone.

Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power, your right hand,O Lord, shatters the enemy.

In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow youradversaries; you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble.

At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up; thefloods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.

The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I willdivide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them. I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroythem.’

You blew with your wind; the sea covered them; they sank likelead in the mighty waters.

“Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesomein glorious deeds, doing wonders?

You stretched out your right hand; the earth swallowed them.

“You have led in your steadfast love the people whom youhave redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.

The peoples have heard; they tremble; pangs have seized theinhabitants of Philistia. Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed; tremblingseizes the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.

Terror and dread fall upon them; because of the greatness ofyour arm, they are still as a stone, till your people, O Lord, pass by, tillthe people pass by whom you have purchased.

You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain, theplace, O Lord, which you have made for your abode, the sanctuary, O Lord,which your hands have established.

The Lord will reign forever and ever.”

For when the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemenwent into the sea, the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them, butthe people of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea.

Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took atambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourinesand dancing.

And Miriam sang to them: “Sing to the Lord, for he hastriumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”

40 Days of Praise & Prayer - Day 17

2011-11-01T01:58:00.000-07:00

Today's Praise & Prayer Focus: Galatians 2:20 (I've Been Crucified With Christ)

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

40 Days of Praise & Prayer - Day 16

2011-10-31T02:03:00.000-07:00

Today's Praise & Prayer Focus: Romans 8:1-4 (There is now No Condemnation)

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

40 Days of Praise & Prayer - Day 15

2011-10-30T01:00:00.000-07:00

Today's Praise & Prayer Focus: Psalm 95:1-7 (Let us shout joyfully to the Lord)

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.

The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!

For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

40 Days of Praise & Prayer - Day 14

2011-10-29T01:55:00.000-07:00

Today's Praise & Prayer Focus: Psalm 42 (My Soul longs for You)

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?

My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me continually, “Where is your God?”

These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival.

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.

Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me.

By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.

I say to God, my rock: “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”

As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me continually, “Where is your God?”

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

40 Days of Praise & Prayer - Day 13

2011-10-28T01:49:00.000-07:00

Today's Praise & Prayer Focus: Psalm 51 (Create in Me A Clean Heart O God)

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.