How to Pray for Our World + Verses on Prayer

Scripture speaks so much and so well of prayer.

"You will pray to me and I will listen." -Jeremiah 29:12

"We can have confidence knowing that if what we ask fits with the will of YHWH, he will give it to us." -1 John 5:14

"Pray for those who persecute you." -Matthew 5:44

"What you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours." -Mark 11:24

"The prayers of the upright please YHWH." -Proverbs 15:8

"Be faithful in prayer." -Romans 12:12

"The Messiah told them this parable to show them they should always pray and not give up." -Luke 18:1

"Do not be anxious about anything, instead pray about everything giving thanks and praise." -Philippians 4:6

"Pray without ceasing." -1 Thessalonians 5:17

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear them and forgive their sin, and heal their land." -2 Chronicles 7:14

I could go on, but you can see that there are many calls in Scripture for us to pray. And so much reassurance that he hears us and will answer us. And amazing things happen when we cry out to him!

So what's holding us back? It's time to pray. 

I'm sure you don't need a recap on the times that we are in. It's been an interesting last few months to say the least. During times of natural disaster, personal emergency, health difficulties, life disruption, or any time in general we always are given the amazing option to approach the Creator with our needs. Have we been doing that? Are we boldly going to YHWH's throne to petition him?

In past times of national crisis or natural disaster that has been an overt call to prayer. On the nightly news, from the pulpits, on social media, on billboards, at rallies, in newspapers, you would be encouraged or reminded to pray for our nation. But this time around the attention is on thanking our "first responders." If a prayer was said for every yard sign, commercial, or online post that glorifies first responders, what kind of impact would that have on our lives? Our society? Our economy? Our national value system? The peace in our hearts?

It's time to take back our birthright of being able to boldly approach the Living God. We need to stand up for our communities and intercede for them. It's time to take authority over the works of the enemy and declare that there is room for the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth.

 I may not know how to fix the problems in our world, but I have access to the one who does! My skills and abilities might be limited. My fiances might be lacking. I may not have my doctrine worked out perfectly, but I can approach YHWH himself and ask for help in any area there is a need. We have the opportunity to pray to the King of the Universe. We can ask the Creator of all things for help. 

Let's pray for:

-Your family, community, nation, the world in general. 

-That people would not operate in fear but in the courage of the Creator.

-That there would be widespread repentance and that hearts would be opened to the truth.

-For the physical, spiritual, and emotional health of the people in your community.

-Pray that what the enemy intended for evil would be used for good by YHWH. Declare that chaos would be cut off from your life and the lives of those around you.

-For the persecuted believers worldwide.

-That your community would be a place where the commandments are known and honored!

-The Holy Spirit would be poured out on us during this time.

-That there would be revelation and correct understanding of Scripture within the faith community.

-Pray for anyone you are having difficulty or conflict with.

-For congregational leaders and pastors to have wisdom and serve YHWH with excellence. 

-Pray that leaders in governments would sincerely desire to honor and serve YHWH and their decisions would be godly.

-Pray that people would see the beauty of the Messiah.

-That YHWH's name would be known and honored throughout the world.

A few reminders about prayer:

-Short is okay!

There is no time criteria that prayers must meet to be effective. Small prayers anytime are powerful. Help me with this. Let everyone in that situation see your truth. May my family know your love and peace. Heal that person.

-It doesn't have to be formal or fancy.

A lot of people feel like they don't know how to pray. If you're feeling this way I encourage you to just start! It's okay to be 100% honest with the Creator and share your heart with him as you would a friend. Tell him your struggles, your worries, how you've been feeling; ask questions, request blessings, give him praise. 

-Remind yourself.

If you feel like you forget to pray then make it a point to remind yourself. Put a note on your to-do list or calendar. Put a sticky note on a mirror or set a reminder on your phone. Include specific prompts if you wish. When you see this reminder pray one sentence, or more if you feel like it. Get in the habit of praying each time you get in your car or empty the dishwasher. See this post for more ideas.

-Do it right now.

Literally. Tell YHWH something right now or ask him for help in any area. When you have a thought like "I need to pray about that," then do so immediately! Again one sentence is better than nothing. No matter where you are or how much time you have, you can approach the Living God with your needs.

Praying Scripture: Luke 8:48

It's been a while since our last praying Scripture post, but I think this one is too good not to share!

The story of the woman with the issue of blood is so encouraging. Twelve years of struggle, countless visits to doctors, spending her life savings to try and find a solution, nothing that helped, no beneficial remedy, so much frustration...and it's fixed as soon as she comes in contact with the Messiah.

Who doesn't need to be reminded of this story? Maybe what you need healing for isn't an issue with blood, or even a physical ailment. Maybe you've struggled with depression or anxiety. Perhaps there is addiction or an ongoing battle with a specific sin in your life. Have you been plagued by doubt or fear? Is there a family history of heart disease that worries you? No matter how resigned you may be feeling to whatever struggle you have, contact with the Messiah can bring healing and transformation to you!

I wonder about the rest of this woman's story. We know she was desperate for healing, to the point where she had spent everything she had trying to get help from doctors. Did the people in her life realize her desperation? When they learned of her plan to touch Yahusha, were they supportive or did they think it was yet another waste of time? Maybe they even tried to talk her out of going to see him that day. Did they tell her she just needed to accept this issue and get used to it? I'm sure they had a long list of reasons why the Messiah wouldn't help her. Nevertheless she persisted. And Yahusha healed her that day.

And he said to her, "Take courage, daughter. Your belief has healed you. Go in peace." -Luke 8:48

There can't be a lot of sentences more beautiful than that. When the Messiah calls you daughter and tells you that you can have peace and that you're healed...there's not a lot more you could ask. I find myself wanting that kind of faith, the kinds that heals. We all need that.

A prayer from Luke 8:48 (along with other Scripture):

YHWH, thank you for the incredible honor and gift of being called your child! Help me to live out of the courage that comes from knowing I belong to you. I ask that you would transform my mind by changing the way I think, so that I might have the kind of faith and beliefs that are healing - not only to myself but to those in my life as well. Thank you that all things are possible with you, and that just a touch from you is healing. Help me to be persistent in getting to you, no matter what anyone else says. Your word says that your garment fills the Temple. Thank you that it is plenty wide enough for each of us to grab onto for healing. Let your peace rule my heart and help me to live in the wholeness you have for me.

Shavuot Provision: Celebrating Enough

Count seven weeks for yourself. Begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain (First Fruits), and you shall perform the Festival of Weeks to YHWH your Elohim, according to the voluntary offering from your hand, which you give as YHWH your Elohim blesses you. -Deuteronomy 16:9-10

Shauvot. Pentecost. The Feast of Weeks. First Fruits of the Wheat Harvest. The fourth of YHWH's set apart times. Scripture instructs us to count fifty days after First Fruits (this one of the barley harvest) during the Week of Unleavened Bread to arrive at this set apart time. The fifty days is where the name 'Pentecost' comes from with the Greek root of the word being fifty. So if you're familiar with Pentecost in Scripture, just know that it is another name for Shavuot.

What is this holy day?

Shavuot is a party for physical provision. Since it happens in the late Spring, there is joy that winter is over and we made it through the dangerous cold and lack of resources. The wheat was just harvested and there is enough. This was no small thing with wheat taking up a large portion of the Israelite's diet. Since most of us are largely withdrawn from the worries of the harvest we miss what a relief and joy it is to see the provision for us and our families for the next year. Shavuot is about celebrating that YHWH meets our needs. No matter the time and place we can all agree that YHWH's gift of provision is worth celebrating. Give thanks and be glad that your needs are met.

Did you know that this set apart time was kept in the New Testament? Yes, even after the resurrection and ascension of the Messiah, we see the Disciples counting the days diligently to the arrival of Shavuot (Acts 2:1). Indeed, when they received the Holy Spirit they were gathered together celebrating this set apart time of YHWH. And why were they doing this? Don't miss that the Messiah expressly instructed them to wait in Jerusalem to receive the Holy Spirit before heading out of town and country to spread the good news (Acts 1:4-5). With this instruction, Yahusha upheld a commandment of YHWH found in Deuteronomy 16:16 which instructs Israelite men to appear before YHWH at his set apart place on Shavuot.

As a side note, while many of us have heard it was just the twelve disciples in an upper room, Scripture says the a rushing mighty wind filled the house where they were. What house could this be? The Temple of course. In Hebrew this was called the Beit Hamikdash and beit means house in Hebrew. The Disciples were in the house. There is no way this was a family home because we know there were over 3,000 people present! (Acts 2:41) So the Disciples were keeping the commandment found in Deuteronomy even after the Messiah ascended into Heaven.

It's significant that YHWH poured out the Holy Spirit at a time where people were celebrating physical provision. When you rely on wheat for survival, it's worth celebrating and praising YHWH that he provides enough. And what about our needs for spiritual sustenance? By likening the need for physical nourishment we see how desperate our need is for the Holy Spirit in our lives. As the Israelites would have been starved without wheat, what would happen to us without the Holy Spirit? How would your life be if it lacked love, and joy, and peace, and faithfulness? It's a reminder of Moses' words, "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of YHWH," (Deuteronomy 8:3) which is especially appropriate because the ten commandments were given at Shavuot as well.

Shavuot is a reminder that there is enough for our needs. Enough in the cupboard. Enough healing for all of us. Enough of the Holy Spirit to go around. Enough joy to overcome sorrow. Enough discernment to make good decisions. There is enough. And there is still more. He provides.

Who is Shavuot for?

Anyone who wants to give thanks for YHWH providing for them. Or anyone who thinks following the example of the Disciples and the instructions of Scripture to serve YHWH in this way. Or anyone looking to have more of the Holy Spirit in their life. While you can ask any day, there is certainly not a time more appropriate than Shavuot!

In Vayikra 23:17 we are instructed to wave two loaves of bread before YHWH. I like the symbolism of the two loaves because it signifies abundance and our needs being provided for. Not one but two. The two houses of Israel are also called to mind, and YHWH expects both the natural born Israelite and those grafted in to celebrate his set apart times. The animals coming two by two to Noah's ark and then multiplying to fill the earth is also symbolized by these two loaves, which YHWH will multiply to provide for us throughout the coming year. Of course the ten commandments were given on two tablets as well.

Shavuot is a time to not only celebrate the word of YHWH being given to us on tablets, but also having it written on our hearts. Once again, YHWH wants to pour out the Holy Spirit to give us a better understanding of his word, ability to walk in the gifts and the fruit of the Spirit, that many would come to him.

Verses to pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit:

I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away. Because if I don't go away the Holy Spirit will not come to you. -John 16:7

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my ways and obey my commandments. -Ezekiel 36:26-27

Where the Spirit of YHWH is there is freedom. -2 Corinthians 3:17

So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts, how much more will the Father keep giving the Holy Spirit from Heaven to those who keep asking him. -Luke 11:13

To each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for profiting, for to one is given a word of wisdom, to another a word of knowledge, to another belief, and to another gifts of healing, and to another operations of powers, and to another prophecy, to another discernment, to another kinds of tongues, to another interpretation of tongues. -1 Corinthians 12:7-10

I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams will cover the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring and my blessings on your descendants. -Isaiah 44:3

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustworthiness, gentleness, and self control. -Galatians 5:22

I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. And your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. And also on the male servants and on the female servants I shall pour out my Spirit in those days. -Joel 2:28-29

I baptized you with water, but the Messiah will baptize you in the Holy Spirit. -Mark 1:8

Have a very happy Shavuot!

Related posts:

The Beginner's Guide to Shavuot
Seven Ways to Celebrate Shavuot
Shavuot Dessert Ideas

Increase Our Numbers Like Sheep

Who's heard this verse before? Ezekiel 36:37 - "This says the Master YHWH: I will once again allow the house of Israel to call upon Me, to do this for them: increase their numbers like sheep." 

The house of Israel is the name for the ten northern tribes. Tribes that are now lost in the nations: they left the land of Israel, intermarried with other cultures and basically disappeared without a trace. However they are not lost to YHWH. He knows where his people are and promises that one day he will restore all twelve tribes together.

Since these people are not lost to YHWH, how are they considered lost? It's because the world and the people themselves have no idea that YHWH longs for them to turn to him and come back into his kingdom. Most people in our culture are lost. They've lost their bearings. They've lost the compass of YHWH's instructions as directions to live by. They have no idea that it's likely they have physical ancestry in the people who spent forty years wandering the desert. They have not been taught how to follow YHWH. He longs for individuals worldwide to turn back and become part of his people. He wants them back.

Do you see the implications that this verse gives? Since all who turn to YHWH and serve him get grafted into Israel (whether or not they have family lineage there), that means that you get to pray this. That Israel would grow and grow like crazy.

YHWH has given us the gift of this prayer. Something he will bring about, we can be part of by praying for him to bring the lost sheep of Israel back. More and more people will become part of the community that serves YHWH, keeps his feasts, sets apart the Sabbath day, follows his instructions, and glorifies the life and death of Yahusha. He will bring them back.

Increase our numbers like sheep.

Related posts:
The Two Houses: Israel and Judah in Scripture
Understanding the Other 88% of the Bible

Praying Scripure: Tehillim 1

In Isaiah 55:11 YHWH says that his words aren't empty and he accomplishes what he intends through them. So praying his words is a pretty genius idea, right?

I've broken down the first Psalm and added corresponding prayers to each verse. You definitely don't need to use my words verbatim but I wanted to give you an idea of what I meant by, "praying Scripture." Give it a try and you will find it deeply meaningful. Not to mention, simple to do. Feel free make this a prayer for your family or someone else.

Tehillim/Psalm 1

Verse 1: How blessed are those who reject the advice of the wicked, don't stand on the way of sin, or sit where scoffers sit!

Verse 1 prayer: YHWH, don't let me listen to the wicked or take ungodly advice, and don't let me live my life in sin.

Verse 2: The blessed delight in YHWH's Torah; on his Torah they meditate day and night.

Verse 2 prayer: For I want to delight in your Torah. Give me understanding of your words and write them on my heart.

Verse 3: Like trees planted by streams they bear their fruit in season. Their leaves never wither, everything they do succeeds.

Verse 3 prayer: Plant me like a tree beside your living water. Prune me to bring forth fruit in season, for I want to be pleasing in your site. Thank you that you won't leave me to wither; and thank you for blessing my life.

Verse 4: Not so the wicked, who are like chaff driven by the wind.

Verse 4 prayer:You do not bless those who choose wickedness; they are like chaff that the wind blows away. YHWH, drive wickedness out of me and out of my life.

Verse 5: Because of this the wicked won't stand up to the judgment, nor will sinners at the congregation of the righteous.

Verse 5 prayer: For they shall not stand in your family, and there won't be wrongdoing in the congregation of the righteous. Let me be righteous before you so that I belong in your congregation.

Verse 6: YHWH watches over the way of the righteous but the way of the wicked is doomed.

Verse 6 prayer: Thank you that the ways of the wicked will perish but that the righteous will walk in your ways. YHWH, teach me to walk in your ways so that I may be considered righteous in your eyes.

Shabbat shalom!