Hey Hope Church Family, Today is Day 1 of our Prayer Focus. Each day we will post a daily Prayer Focus to lead you through this time of seeking God together.
Today's Focus: ##**"God, You Have My Attention".**
If you're anything like me, attention is something that comes and goes. It's easy to be fully engaged watching a tv show, but when your circumstances are less exciting, it's easy to become distracted and lose attention.
What does it look like to give God your focused attention? In a world jam-packed with distractions, how do we intentionally and deliberately say "God, You Have My Attention"?
In Psalm 27:4 the Psalmist declares his heart to God by saying... "The one thing I ask of the LORD--the thing I seek most--is to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, delighting in the LORD's perfections and meditating in his Temple."
The first step to giving God our Attention is:
**1. Expressing our Desire to be in God's Presence**
That's right. It's that simple. The Bible tells us that out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. Just as the writer of Psalm 27 says in many words "I want to be with God", so it is with you and I, when your heart desires to be with God, you express that out loud to him in simple and honest prayers. Take some time today to simply say "God, I want to be with you." Write, journal or simply speak your hearts desire to the Lord. As you are expressing, also add in the things you desire during this time such as asking to hear His voice more clearly, or to experience deep revelation in His word...etc.
Secondly, after you have expressed your desire...
**2. Set aside time with as few distractions as possible**
This could be 15-30 minutes in the morning, noon and night. Or it could be a much longer time period once per day. Let's face it, removing distractions is hard for everyone that owns a cell phone. So, you got it... that cell phone needs to be placed somewhere (or put on airplane mode) where it won't have your attention during these quiet times with the Lord. If you have a busy house, then wake up early or go for a drive in the car after the kids are sleeping. But whatever you do, give a solid effort to remove distractions and make this time regular throughout the next week. I promise you won't regret it.
Last and certainly not least...
**3. Immerse yourself with Truth**
Hebrews 4:12 says... "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Find a book of the Bible, a collection of Psalms or look up a list of Bible passages about seeking God and read through them regularly. If you don't have a regular Bible reading rhythm, be patient with yourself and don't get discouraged if you don't fully understand everything right away. As you daily spend time in the Word of God, God's truth will become a record that replays in your mind throughout the day. It will penetrate every area of your life. Just give it time and watch how your attention will be fixed on God by immersing yourself with the truth. But don't just read the truth, sing the truth, journal the truth and pray the truth also.
Brothers and sisters... Let's make this a day of declaration to our God. A day where we humbly express our desire, set aside time, and make a decision to immerse ourselves with the truth. In all of these things we are saying... GOD YOU HAVE MY ATTENTION.
Let's press in to Him for our church, our families, our city and our world.
Thanks for joining us on this journey. I can't wait to hear how God used this time in your life.
Sincerely,
Pastor Kaleb
God You have My Attention
Prayer & Fasting Focus, Day 1
January 8, 2019 • Pastor Kaleb Hurley
Community Focus 5
January 20, 2019
Good morning Hope Church! Today is the last prayer focus we have to share with you for this season. We hope that you have been able to establish a discipline of prayer in your life and have gained some tools for how and what to pray for during those times. We encourage you to continue to challenge yourself to create prayer focuses and seek the Lord in all things! If you have a story of what God has been doing in your life during this season, we would love to hear it! Just send us a reply and we will get in touch with you! ##Local Churches **To be the Light of the World** In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus is calling the church to be a light to those living in darkness, to proclaim truth and life, and for the work of the church to bring glory to God. Pray this would be true of the local churches in Albert Lea, that our city would proclaim the name of Jesus and bring glory to God in all our efforts. **Authentic Community** Pray for the believers of each church to experience true and authentic community in the way God designed it to be. Just like the believers described in Acts 2, to be people who gather together to learn about the Lord and how to follow him, and to do life together. **Unity among believers in Albert Lea** Ask God to reveal any divisions and to bring about forgiveness and reconciliation in the lives of those who have discord. Pray against any further divisions and that the enemy would have no hold in creating contempt between believers and congregations. ##Gold Cross & Medical Professionals **To have eyes to see people with the compassion of the Lord** Pray that they would have tender hearts and show the Love of Christ to all people who are in their care. Pray for patience as they treat and help individuals and compassion for what they are going through. **For skill in their work** Pray that doctors and other medical professionals would be able to skillfully apply their education and practice to each situation for the best outcome. **Wisdom in difficult decisions** Doctors often have to guide individuals and families through very challenging decisions, pray that they would have divine insight into the best choices to make for those in need of care.
Community Focus 4
January 19, 2019
##AZ-One The AZ-One Board & Leaders help to provide support to a variety of ministries like Shinefest, JACOM, Men's 33 Series, and more. They are a group of business leaders, pastors and community members who share a common heart to see unity in our City. **Protection for the Leadership** The leaders carry many responsibilities in the workplace, ministries, and community. As you might have noticed, we believe it is so important to pray for protection against the enemy, especially people who are working to spread the Gospel, so let's cover them in your prayers! **Men's 33 Series** Pray for the upcoming Men's Study, that there would be men who rise up, welcome challenges, and grow in their faith and role as the head of their households. Pray their would be life transformation by the power of the Holy Spirit though this upcoming study. **Unity** Let's partner with their vision to bring people and churches from all different denominations together to establish community among all and to work together to further the gospel. ##City Leaders Pray for the Albert Lea City leaders like Mayor Vern Rasmussen, the Ward Councilors, City Manager, and others. **God Honoring Decisions** These leaders have to make big decisions for our community on a regular basis. Ask the Lord to give them wisdom and discernment in each of those decisions that would not only be the best choice for the community, but would be in alignment with the Word of God. **Favor with Community** Pray that the community would honor and support leadership. Pray against any divisions in our community that political matters can cause. **Beacons of Light** Pray that God would get ahold of the hearts of the leaders that have been appointed and they would use their influence to bring glory to God.
Community Focus 3
January 18, 2019
##Shinefest Every year, businesses, individuals, churches, and service organizations come together to help Shinefest take on projects to help fix homes, help with yard work, and do repairs for people in our community. Let's begin to cover their week of service in prayer. **Pray for Discernment on the Neighborhood to focus on in 2019** There are many areas in our community who need help with home projects, yard work, and also to be blessed by volunteers being the hands and feet of Jesus. Pray that God would highlight the neighborhood to focus their efforts in this year and that he would go before the Shinefest volunteers to soften the hearts of the people not just to receive help, but also the hope of the gospel. **Pray for Volunteers** The entire effort to help bless neighborhoods is volunteer led. Pray for an an abundance of volunteers and pray that the volunteers would be in step with the Holy Spirit, and for opportunities for them to minister to broken people in the neighborhood. Pray and ask God if it could be you! **Pray for Leadership** The leaders of Shinefest work hard year-round to make this event happen. Pray for the Lord to continue to move in and through their lives, that he would be an ever-present help in all of their jobs, families, responsibilities, and resources. Pray against the schemes of the enemy in the work of their hands and for wisdom in all of their leadership of Shinefest. ##Board and Lodge The Board & Lodge is an extended care program offered by Fountain Centers to help in the treatment of individuals who are at high risk for relapse. They provide support through counseling, nutrition, recreation, transportation, and healthy living skills. **Pray for their Transition** For many of the men who take advantage of this program, it is the last step of their treatment before making the transition back to responsibilities, families, and decisions. Pray that they handle the transition well! **Pray for Support** Pray they would also look to the Lord and the church for support. We see many of the people come to Hope Church and experience God for the first time, pray that they would continue to seek the Lord and be plugged into a local church. **Resources** Another challenge to transitioning back to responsibility is often finding housing, jobs, and resources to allow for their newly learned patterns of healthy living to grow in. Pray that opportunities would open up doors and allow them to build a new God-honoring lifestyle.