Stevemidkiff's Blog

Teach us, O Lord,

the way of Your Word

and we’ll keep it to the end.

Psalm 119:33

God, teach us lessons for living

so we can stay on course

our entire life

We’ll run the course

You lay out for us

if you’ll just show us how.

Psalm 119:32

Fill us with Your Word.

Energize us to read Your Word,

Stimulate us to listen too

and study Your voice,

Motivate us too memorize

and meditate on Your Word.

Make us godly.

Teach us Your truth.

Enlarge our heart into an

intimate relationship with You

PRAY FOR ILLUMINATION

Psalm 119:34

Give us understanding,

too keep Your Word

too observe thoughts

with our whole heart.

Give us insight so we can

do what You tell us.

Grow our obedience into

deeper responsiveness

with You

Clarify Your will

Show us Your ways.

Make us doers of Your Word.

Keep us from just

being hearers.

Deliver us from the

self deception of being

superficial hearers

We don’t want just

pretentious head knowledge.

Give us practical heart

knowledge in living

interactions with Your

Spirit

When the Spirit of truth comes,

He will guide us into all the truth

John 16:13

PRAY FOR INFLUENCE

Psalm 119:35

Lead us in the path of

Your Word, for we

delight in it.

Guide us down the road

of Your Word ; we love

traveling Your freeway!

Give us Your perfect

GPS to each individual

step and every correct turn

Help us in navigating our

life and keep us from

haphazardly following

any irrational irritability

Give us Your wisdom for

every move

Surround us with wise

counselors, godly advisers

and compassionate

encouragers

PRAY FOR INCLINATION

Psalm 119:36

Incline our heart to Your

testimonies and not to

selfish gain!

Give us a bent for Your

words

an attraction for Your

wisdom

Make Your Word more

valuable to us then

piling up monetary loot

Develop in us a love for

Your voice Lord over

our selfish desire

Make Your infinite worth

our focus and not just the

increasing of our net worth

Direct us in sacrificial giving

and deliver us from being

selfish misers

Inspire us in generosity

Cause us to be a great

blessing to all in our

community and environment

Inspire us to be sincere

and genuine so others

will realize we really

mean it.

PRAY ABOUT DISTRACTION

Psalm 119:37

Turn away our eyes from

beholding vanity and

quicken us in Your way.

Divert our eyes from toys

and trinkets,

invigorate us in a

disciplined life.

Clearly show us what

is right and what You want

Show us how it’s not what

we do

But what you’ve done

for us, in us and what

Your doing through us

Divert us from immersing

ourselves in what You hate

Make us pure in our

thought life

Lead us away from

temptation

Put unavoidable checks

in our heart

Turn our eyes away

from worthless frivolity

.

PRAY FOR ACCREDITATION

Psalm 119:38

Establish Your Word to us,

we are devoted to Your

respectful fear.

Affirm your promises to us.

We know You give promises

to all who fear You.

Keep us true to Your promises.

Empower us to keep

Your covenant.

Give us courageous

confidence in our

conquest of Your

promised land for us

Grant us Your victory

and never allow us to

be defeated,

deflated or

discouraged.

Validate our faith with

Your faithfulness

PRAY FOR EXONERATION

Psalm 119:39

Turn away our reproach

we fear being shamed:

for Your judgments and

decisions are good.

Deflect the harsh words

of our critics we know

what You say is always

so good.

Keep us from the dread

of reproach.

Deliver us from accusations

that wreck our reputation.

But when our character

and person is besmirched

let us lean on Your beauty

Turn our reproach away

through Your Word.

Make us to be above

reproach

Protect us from the

accusations of wrongdoing

Give us wisdom and a

prudent response when

attacked by slander

Drench us in Your grace

so that accusations don’t

stick.

Enable our lives to deflect

criticism by a good

reputation and You

sterling character.

PRAY FOR PERFECTION

Psalm 119:40

Behold, we have longed

after Your Word:

help us live in Your

righteousness.

See how hungry we are

for Your counsel;

preserve our life in

Your righteous ways!

Fill us with Your eternal life.

Flood us with Your Spiritual

fruit

Pour in us Your Abundant life

Fill us with Your love

and affection for others

Fill us with Your joy and

exuberance about life

Fill us with Your peace and

serenity,

Make us untroubled, calm

and tranquil

Sometimes we feel like a

small cork in the stormy sea

Sometimes we feel like a

light feather in the raging

wind

Stabilize us with Your voice

Fill us with Your long-suffering

Fill us with Your patient,

Grace us in Your forbearing

Give us the leverage of

tolerance and an

uncomplaining soul

Fill us with Your gentleness

Make us compassionate,

Make us kind, tender and

caring

Father I got so wroth and

find myself easily frustrated

Fill us with Your goodness

Give us a passion to do

what’s right and good

Fill us with Your faith

Make us committed, loyal,

trusting and faithful

Fill us with Your Meekness

Make us undemanding,

easy going, relaxed,

and hassle free to be with,

Deliver us from forcing our

way of life

Fill us with Your temperance

Make us disciplined,

energize us by wisdom

Give us prudence

Make us a shelter of

Christ-exalting,

neighbor-loving and

compassion-giving

Please Lord live through

us and make us

life giving energy givers

that are filled with Your

tender love.

Adapted from many influences

RECOVER ALL THOSE

WHO ARE CAPTURED

ISA. 61:1-5

Drench us in Your vast

unmeasurable love O Lord

We pant and our soul

hungers for You O God

Our heart thirsts for God,

for the living God

Please come and appear

before us O God

Fill us O Lord with Your Spirit

Keep giving us Your enabling

Let us release those in bondage

RESOURCES IN THE LORD

THE SPIRITS ABILITY

The Spirit of the Lord God

is on us

Give us awareness of You Lord

Let us hear You

Let us touch you

Let us be touched in You

Fill us with Your Holy Spirit

THE SPIRITS ANOINTING

because the Lord has anointed us

Enfold us in

Your powerful embrace

THE SPIRITS ARTICULATION

to preach

O Lord,

You’re the master of recovery

please use us

in the lives of all we love

Give us wisdom

in releasing the captured

Pour Your resources through us

Enable us with

the Spirits powerful ability

Flood us in Your Spirits anointing

Drench us with Your fragrance

Fill us with

Your life enhancing aroma

Shine through us Christ’s beauty

REJUVENATION

TO THE CONTRITE

HELP TO THE COMPLIANT

good tidings unto the meek

HEALING TO THE CRUSHED

He has sent us to bind up

the brokenhearted

Fill our mouth with

words that emancipate

Generate Your Spirit

of receptive meekness

Give us opportunities

to touch others

Give us the healing oils

to relieve in Your love

Give us Your salve of solace

to smother broken hearts

RECOVERY TO THE CAPTURED

OPPORTUNITY

to proclaim liberty to the captives

OPENING

the opening of the prison

to them that are bound

OUTLOOK

To proclaim the acceptable year

of the Lord and the day of

vengeance of our God

Avail us in every opening

to assert Your liberty from

the incarcerating

confinement of sin

Place in our hand

a key to every cage

live through our life the

fascinations of Your intentions

Give us the rapt anticipation of

Your immediate spiritual presence

and Your soon coming

REASSURANCE TO THE CRYING

COMFORT FOR DIRGE

to comfort all that mourn

Bring in Your supportive

soothing and reassuring relief

CHOOSING FOR

DIRECTION-LESSNESS

To appoint unto them

that mourn in Zion

In the midst of the rejection of

unemployment and idle redundancy

fill our lives

with successful achievements

fill our lives with a sense

of selective attainment

fill our lives with

realized accomplishment

CHARM FOR CATASTROPHE

to give unto us beauty for ashes

In the ash heap

of diminished fading

In the deteriorating fragments

of charred remains

bring your beauty

Fill with the attraction

of Your loveliness

CELEBRATION FOR DEPRESSION

the oil of joy for mourning

Embellish with the intricate

embroidery of Your love

Comfort in Your smoothing oils

Give Your joy in our

grieving bereavements

CLOTHING FOR DRABNESS

the garment of praise

for the Spirit of heaviness

Enrapture us with the robes

of Your celestial adornments

The clothing of admiring attire

replace each weight in

Your buoyant bounce

COMPREHENSIVENESS

that they might be called

trees of righteousness

Root us in how everything

in our lives works for what’s right

Rebuild in the forests of Your grace

CONNECTED

the planting of the Lord

COMPELLING

that he might be glorified

Show us how that it’s all in

time with your spring planting

Plant Your glorious blooms in us

RESTORATION TO

THE COLLAPSED

RENOVATION

And they shall build the old wastes

RESURRECTION

they shall raise up

the former desolations

REPAIR

and they shall repair

the waste cities

RENEWAL

the desolations of

many generations

Give us the resourcefulness

to see that nothing is wasted

That everyone and all

things are rebuild-able

that what appears to be desolate

can be resurrected in Your rising

repaired in Your overhauling

re-constructiveness

renewed for future generations

to resonate Your praises

In this life,

we may never see

how God is using our trials.

But one day

we will be grateful for them.

All we can do now is trust

That He

who made the lame walk

and the blind see,

That He

who died on a cross

so we could spend eternity

with Him,

is going to do

the very best thing for us.

It all comes down to trust.

Will we trust our circumstances

that constantly change?

Or will we trust God

who is unchanging?

“The difficulty in praying

is being ourselves,

just ourselves,

our unlovely and unspiritual selves,

our doubting and cynical selves”

from Dumbfounded Praying

“Worship is an ongoing process,

taking place at all times in all places.

Once properly understood,

worship is a freeing,

a liberating activity,

if it is rightly focused

it is immensely rewarding

as it encompasses all of life.”

Harold Best

“Master, they say that when

I seem To be in speech

with you,

Since you make no replies,

it’s all a dream —

One talker aping two.

They are half right,

but not as they Imagine;

rather, I Seek in myself

the things I meant to say,

And lo! The wells are dry.

Then, seeing me empty,

you forsake

The Listener’s role,

and through My dead

lips breathe and into

utterance wake

The thoughts I never knew.

And thus you neither

need reply Nor can;

thus, while we seem

Two talking,

thou art One forever,

and I No dreamer,

but thy dream.

C. S. LEWIS

When down in the sea

in ships,

We do business

in great waters;

we see the works of the Lord,

We see His wonders

in the deep

Psalm 107:23-24

Gisbertus Voetius

was a Dutch writer

and an intense student

of God’s Word.

He lived in the early

1600s and his

prolific writings are

just beginning to be

translated.

He lived on the coast

of Holland

Udemans had a large

heart for common laborers,

especially seafaring people.

First among his books was

“The Spiritual Compass” (1617),

He notes that To avoid

sandbars and hidden rocks,

no seafarer, skipper,

or fisherman will dare

to sail the oceans without

a good compass.

Joel Beeke wrote

But, many people sail on the

sea of life without regard

to the perils of their own

souls danger, that arise

from the devil,

from the world,

and from their own flesh.

There are complaints that

the catch at sea is

decreasing daily;

the boat owners invest

heavily but see little in return.

He writes

God has made the sea and

the dry land

And God alone us the only

Lord and Master of both,

and without His will neither

sea nor land will supply

anything fruitful.

Udemans writes:

“For this reason, if we want to

sail the sea profitably,

For our spiritual and our

physical prosperity,

then the Lord Christ

must be our Admiral,

the Holy Spirit

must be our Pilot,

God’s Word

must be our compass,

faith must be our ship,

hope must be our anchor,

and prayer must be our convoy.

If we are so equipped,

we need have no fear,

even if the sea fumed

and tossed so much

that the mountains would

collapse due to her tumult,

and even if the world perished

and the hills tumbled into

the sea,

since God is on board

with us”

Ps. 46

We have to learn that every

wind that blows is fair for

Heaven.

The thing that helps nobody,

is a dead calm.

North or south, east or west,

it matters not, every wind

helps towards our blessed port.

We need the agitation of storms

in the seas of our life.

Udemans writes his treatise

and composes 100s of pages

discussing the specific tasks

of the godly seafarer.

He explains how we must

conduct ourselves while on a

journey and how we must live

after we return home.

He then explains the history

of Paul’s shipwrecks,

and provides numerous prayers

for various aspects of seafaring.

The book concludes with

Jonah’s song of praise from

the fish’s belly Jonah 2

His poignant thoughts on

worshipping God in the acidic

soup of the fishes belly are

incredibly heart rending and

moving.

Udemans in his love

of Gods Word and in

his joy in composing missives

and copious writings had

earned him extreme

slander and mockery

from savage haters

He knew the pungent sharp

astringent of defaming

denigration

Udemans second seafaring

volume

“Merchant’s Ship” 1637

is an allegorical explanation

of Moses’ blessing on Zebulon

and Issachar

Deut. 33:18–19

He writes voluminously with

incredible mystic analysis

and pages of amazing and

Ingenious analogies that are

insightfully riveting.

A year later he penned a

journal of jottings called

a “Spiritual Rudder

of the Merchant’s Vessel”

1638

This considerably larger work

is, a “faithful testimony

of how the merchant

and the mariner

must conduct themselves

in their dealings under all

circumstances, in war and

in peace, before God

and man, on the water and

on land, but especially among

those who reject Christ.

He went into great length

on how to move faith

from our private

inner world

to the public market

place of others.

One of his more humorous

treatments is that Udemans

did not hesitate to write on

Controversial practical and

ethical issues of his day.

In 1643, he entered into a

debate about whether it was

wrong for men to have long

hair by writing his last book,

“Absalom’s Hair,” a robust

treatise against men having

long hair and it’s vanity.

Udemans chose to publish

this book under a pseudonym

(Iranaeus Poimenander),

probably because he wrote

the book in a rather strong

and fiery manner.

In this debate, he chose to

support the side of Gisbertus

Voetius, Carolus de Maets

(1597–1651), and

Jacobus Borstius (1612–1680),

all of whom, based on

1 Corinthians 11:14, had

strongly opposed the

then-current fashion of men

wearing long hair.

Mark Guy Pesars shares

The old Cornishman prayer:

“O Lord, send us out to sea

out in the deep water.

Here we are so close to the

rocks and where stringed

breezes with the devil,

Can knock us all to pieces.

Lord, send us out to sea

out in the deep water,

where we shall have room

enough to get a glorious

victory.”.

The psalmist underlines in

Psalm 107 a cyclical analysis

in various Circumstances

and environments

Each cycle has

The dreadful conditions,

The dismal confession,

The dramatic conclusion,

The determined conviction.

He reminds us that we have

no more faith at any time

than we have in our hour

of trial.

As C. H. Spurgeon noted

“All that will not bear to be

tested are full of

mere carnal confidences

Fair-weather faith is

no faith at all.”

When we see a storm at sea.

We are tossed like a cork on

mountainous waves.

A seasoned sailor may venture

too far from land,

the winds have arisen,

and the navigation

lights are lost.

The little vessel is at the mercy

of the raging deep,

and all hope is lost.

In Udemans’s book

“The Peace of Jerusalem” (1627)

He writes of the nations

and the Murderous hate

for the Jews among the nations

Of the world.

How Israel finds themselves

in a constant raging storm

of persecution and satanic

savagery.

The Jews were driven out

of there homeland and as

they wandered from country

to country they were clubbed

and harassed.

Out of the 80 nations they

sought haven they were

reduced to 50 % of their

original community

they were rejected

over and over.

Their population was

Slaughtered in the

persecutions of one

hellish holocaust after

Another until God

shepherded them back

to the safe harbor

of their promised land.

“They that go down to the

sea in ships, that do business

in great waters; these see

the works of the Lord,

and His wonders in the deep.

For He commands, and raises

the stormy wind, which lifts up

the waves thereof.

They mount up to the heaven,

they go down again to

the depths:

their soul is melted because

of trouble.

They reel to and fro,

They stagger like a

drunken man, and are at

their wits’ end.”

“God makes the storm a calm.…

He brings them to their

desired haven.

Oh that men would praise

the Lord for His goodness,

and for His wonderful works

to the children of men!

Let them exalt Him also

in the congregation of

the people, and praise

Him in the assembly of

the elders”

In Psalms 107 we go from a

what John Phillips notes as

“In a spiritual desert”

We feel so lost.

Do we find ourselves looking

this way and that in

our circumstances,

without the slightest idea

which is the right way to turn

or what is the right

step to take?

Every step seems to be

the wrong one.

God alone can guide us

The way to stand tall is to

crouch before God in the Knees

of our heart

Are we in a spiritual dungeon?

Our circumstances have

hemmed us in.

We feel bound and chained

and, like a prisoner in a

death cell, we find ourselves

driven to desperation.

The only clear answer is

Bow before our Lord

He has all the keys

Or

Are we lying on

a spiritual deathbed?

Our souls are sick to death;

we are knotted up inside

and our situations seem

hopeless.

We‘ve lost all our appetites

for everything,

life has lost its charm.

Things we once enjoyed

are a dead weight on our

hearts.

Only

Jesus, He is the one

who lifts our hearts

in resurrection

from the stench of death

Or

Are we lashed on the wreckage

Out in the spiritual deep?

We‘re overwhelmed because

the circumstances surrounding

us are ominous and frightening.

We are like a drunken person.

We are at the mercy of

our circumstances.

We stagger from one hopeless

effort to another.

God’s Spirit speaks words of

comfort in our aching soul.

There’s a cause,

There’s a cure and

There’s always

a creative comfort

from Christ’s

calming communication

God has a purpose in

turning rivers into a

wilderness,

the watersprings

into dry ground;

a fruitful land

into barrenness,

And it’s to turn us

deeper to

Himself and closer into

His loving embrace

Quill the storms in me

Lord Jesus please we plead with You

calm the storm

Throughout all time

Our greatest source, the Bible,

Tells our historical past

and our prophetic future

We see You God time after time,

supernaturally intervening

into our natural world.

Jesus while You walked this earth

as a man,

You calmed the raging storms

of nature

You quelled the turbulent storms

in our hearts.

Your miracles are always

for the purpose of revealing Yourself

to us

and displaying Your power

as evidence

of Your authority and control.

Your ultimate goal is that we

might witness God’s glory

and turn to You in a loving

and a trusting personal relationship.

We believe that You God

have the power to calm our storm

Help us where our doubt

Help us in our unbelief that blinds us

God would You bring glory to Yourself

by miraculously calming these

insane storms colliding all around us.

We concede and bow our hearts

in awe before Your power God

You only have the authority to act

and intervene in

the strongest of storms

And our plea is that You will

immediately intrude

into every area of chaotic raging

that’s destructively tearing the fabric

of peace and security everywhere,

Would You speak the word that melts

us and the hearts of people.

We cry for Your

compassionate impact

on each precious life.

That we all might see and recognize

Your power, glory and love.

Help us supernaturally to endure

the tossing of the storms

and speak through our responses

Your great love and blessings

We know Your mysterious ways

and that it’s not always

Your will Father

to relieve us of suffering

and the oddities of

Our confusing surroundings.

Give us the words to explain

these difficult truths

We’re surrounded in a sin-drenched,

erratic and unstable world

There is disaster,

There is illness

There is calamity everywhere.

The fact that we haven’t been

wiped out or vaporized

in our own folly millenniums ago

is a miracle of Your

compassionate mercy

We see Jesus falling on His face

in a garden.

How poetic for a garden of perfection

was where our fall into chaos began

We hear Jesus crying

“My Father, if it be possible,

let this cup pass from me;

nevertheless, not as I will,

but as you will.”

Matthew 26:39

We hear Jesus’ pleadings from

“rescue me” to “strengthen me”.

If You choose not to

remove the storms,

Give us the ability to calm

the raging storm within us

Grace us to provide peace,

strength, guidance, comfort

and inner power unlike ever known.

We Pray that if the storms remain,

give us a spirit of endurance

and a

“peace that passes all understanding”

Philippians 4:7

Your Peace in the middle of chaos

is a greater miracle

Use these storms please

Thank You that You God

work everything for our good

That You use terrible situations

for Your redeeming purposes

Romans 8:28

That bad never triumphs over

Your Grace and Your good

When Dr. Carey was suffering from a dangerous illness,

He was asked,

“If Your sickness is fatal, what passage do you want as the text for your funeral sermon?”

He replied,

“Oh, I feel that such a poor sinful creature is unworthy to have anything said about him;

but if a funeral sermon must be preached, let it be from the words,

Have mercy upon me, O God,

according to Your lovingkindness;

according to the multitude of Your tender mercies

blot out my transgressions.

He directed in his will that the following inscription and nothing more should be cut on his gravestone:

William Carey, Born August 17th, 1761: Died – –

A wretched, poor, and helpless worm On thy kind arms I fall.”

The basic premise of performance

based religionists is that

if you try hard to be good,

things will go well for you

That is totally wrong.

As Keller noted

“Jesus lived perfectly yet suffered

rejection and ruthless heart

rending pains”

that He would be our perfect

Savior

Isn’t this our motivation

to seek Jesus?

We need a Savior every moment.

So when all kinds of trials and

temptations crowd into our lives

When problems keep piling in

lining up to take an unscheduled

disrupting aggravation on us

don’t resent and grudge them

as intruders, yes problem are a

personal abomination to us,

but welcome them as friends!

Realize that they come to test

our faith and to push us into

our Savior’s embrace

They produce in us this special

quality of endurance.

Let Jesus into each situation

This is a process of developing

Christ’s motivating endurance

And His mature Spirit filling.

character is what frees us.

In this process, we ask God to

guide us in each problem.

He promises His wisdom and

He’s perfect in generosity.

We can trust God, to save us in

His time and way

E. M. Bounds notes;

“The experience of our adversity

forms the content of our prayers.

Asking for relief.

Looking for escape.

Hoping for deliverance.”

That’s Jesus drawing near asking

us to come close to Him.

Jesus loves messed up people

actually messed up people

are all that there are