Isaiah 35:10 ‘Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away’

• DAY 30 BIBLE READING

REVELATION11-20


• DAY 30 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:10

UNSPEAKABLE JOY

In the 1830s Alexis de Tocqueville said that, ‘the incomplete joys of this world will never satisfy (the human) heart. In America the pursuit of happiness, he noted resulted in ‘ a strange melancholy that haunt the inhabitants in the midst of the abundance.’ What is the cause of this ‘strange melancholy’ ‘that permeates our society even during boom times and turns to despair in times of economic depression, it comes from taking what de Tocqueville calls ‘the incomplete joy of this world.’

In Revelation 21:4 we read Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’

In Philip Stibbe’s book ‘Road to Freedom’ he describes what is what like, when the Japanese commandant realized that the war was over , and he knew that the Rangoon jail would be recaptured, how he marched the Allied prisoners north and left them to wait for the Allies to arrive. . With guards having left, the Brigadier informed his soldiers that they were no longer POWs but free men. Philip Stibbe describes the joy., the freed prisoners felt. Then began the long journey home to Britain. He tells how the aeroplane that he and some of his comrades were flying in suddenly broke through the clouds to reveal the beautiful green landscape of Britain beneath. He speaks of the unspeakable joy of homecoming.


• Lord we long for revival in our land, we long for that new day when the dwelling of God will be with man, and we will be at home with you. We pray for a breaking out of your kingdom life in and through us today. We know the incomplete joys of this world will not satisfy… Lord lead us along that highway of holiness, we long for that day when sorrow and morning will flee away, when the ransomed of the Lord will return and will enter Zion with singing. Come, Lord Jesus

THIS IS THE LAST OF THE 30 DAILY DEVOTIONALS.HOPE TO CONTINUE LATER THIS YEAR.

Keller, T. Counterfeit Gods, x, xi

Tocqueville, A. Democracy in America, 296

Stibbe, M. I am your Father, 208

Stibbe, P. Return via Rangoon, 199-221

Isaiah 35:10 ‘Gladness and joy will overtake them'

• DAY 29 BIBLE READING

REVELATION1-10


• DAY 29 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:10

WHEN THE HOLINESS OF GOD GOES PUBLIC

We know that salvation has come into this world and it will come fully at the end of this age.In Romans 8 we read that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth. Tom Wright says in 'Surprised by hope' ‘The early Christians did not believe in ’progress’, that the world was getting better and better under its own steam. They believed that God was going to do for the whole cosmos what he had done for Jesus at Easter…. The whole creation…. is on tiptoe with expectation, longing for the day when God’s children are revealed, when their resurrection will herald new life.’

Here at the end of Isaiah 35 we are caught up with some of the joy of this glorious future that is ahead of us. The whole of creation is going to be redeemed and restored. Isaiah 55:12 says ‘ the trees of the field will clap their hands.’ But Jesus told us to pray for the kingdom of God to come TODAY and as we pursue the Lord,as we ask for the Lord to take us on his highway of holiness,we can be encouraged that although the gladness and joy will overtake us at the end of this present age, the joy of the coming kingdom can break out TODAY.

Corey Russell expressed this passion for the kingdom to come today at the One Thing Conference in December 2013 at the `International House of Prayer in Kansas City . He said I want the manifest presence of God in my life, in our churches and in our cities, in this nation . I am desperate for the revival spirit to touch this nation. I don’t worship revival, I worship Jesus but revival is Jesus. It is the manifest presence of God when the holiness of God goes public, when the glory of God goes pubic, when God’s presence breaks in and when God shifts that landscape, where there is a tangible geographical zone , where the Lord breaks into bars and into crack houses.’


• Lord we wait on tip-toe in expectation for the glory of God to be revealed… we long for revival in our lives , we long for it in our churches we long for it in our nation. Break into our lives today we pray. We are desperate , we are hungry for you Lord Jesus. Change the landscape Lord and let the joy of the coming kingdom break out in my life, my family's life and my church today.

Wright, T Surprised by hope, 104, 115

Russell, C . One Thing Conference 2013, 31/12/13

Isaiah 35:10 They will enter Zion with singing,

• DAY 28 BIBLE READING

2 Peter 1- Jude


• DAY 28 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:9

TAKE US HIGHER IN PRAISE


Wesley Duewell says that ‘praise and worship prepare us to prevail in prayer and are themselves a means of prevailing during our prayer.' Why? He says that:

'Praise focuses our hearts on God. Praise is key in prevailing prayer.

Praise cleanses our hearts of cares , fears and earth-centred thoughts. We need to enter God’s presence and shut the door behind us on the world. To prevail effectively we must forget all other duties, activities involvements and concerns. Praise pulls the curtain over extraneous things. Praise shuts the door on intruding ideas, our normal thought life and satanic suggestions. It shuts you in with God and his angels.

Praise increases faith Praise gives you the spirit of triumph and overcoming. Praise fires you with holy zeal. It lifts you above the battles To the perspective of God’s throne.

Praise invokes God’s presence God manifests his presence in the midst of His praise. God is enthroned among his praising creatures.

Praise confounds the enemy Praise beats back the powers of darkness, scatters the demon opponents and frustrates Satan’s strategies.‘


• Huegel said ‘ The highest expression of faith is not prayer in its ordinary sense of petition, but prayer in its sublimest expression of praise. Lord, draws us closer to you. We long to enter Zion with singing on our lips. Take us deeper with you in prayer, and take us higher in praise.

Duewell, W. Mighty prevailing prayer, 167-170

Isaiah 35:9,10 But only the redeemed will walk there, and the ransomed of the Lord will return

• DAY 27 BIBLE READING

James 1 – 1 Peter 5


• DAY 27 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:9

JESUS GAVE HIS LIFE AS A RANSOM FOR MANY - GIVING UP RIGHTS

Matthew 20:28 “Just as the Son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many

Jesus out of love, came to earth as a servant, giving up his rights

Jesus left the secure loving relationship with His Father in heaven and came to earth as a servant :- Phil 2:6 “ Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing taking the very nature of a servant” Luke 22:77 “ I am among you as one who serves” Matthew 20:28 “ Just as the Son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many”

Jesus came to do the will of Father

Jesus came to do the will of the Father, to establish the kingdom of God. We have been given free wills to choose to submit to God and his will. Are there any areas in our lives where God cannot get his will done because we are holding on to rights ?Are you prepared to follow Jesus and out of love give up your rights so that you might do the will of the Father ?

Have you given up your rights?

The right to your future The right to marriage The right to money The right to education The right to success The right to health The right to freedom The right to your own culture The right to your own class and background The right to your family and friends The right to a good reputation The right to have a ministry

Have you given up these rights ? Are you available to go wherever God calls ? Is God able to accomplish his will though you ? As you give up these rights, so you will press on to take hold of that for which Christ first took hold of you.


• Lord I am available to do your will. Show me where there are rights I am not relinquishing. I yield my life afresh to you

Isaiah 35:8 ‘…it will be for those who walk in that Way’

• DAY 26 BIBLE READING

Hebrews 4 – Hebrews 13


• DAY 26 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:9,10

A TEACHABLE HEART

How eager are we to do what Jesus is telling us to do. Are we teachable? Sometimes it seemed as though Jesus told parables because he was waiting for his disciples to ask him for an explanation. Only the humble and teachable would ask for an explanation. When Jesus said 'I am the bread of Life, Eat my flesh, Drink my blood' - was he purposely making it difficult for his disciples to understand? Many of those in the crowds following Jesus were possibly approaching God as a means to meet their own selfish desires - free lunches, and escape from Hell, but Jesus clearly wanted and still wants true followers who follow him because it is right, because they know who he is.

Jesus was looking for teachable hearts and it seems that throughout the Bible, there are stories of the Lord testing people, as he looks for teachable hearts. In the Old Testament Adam and Eve were tested with the tree of knowledge of good and evil Abraham was tested on Mount Moriah with Isaac. Joseph was tested with his handling of dreams as young man with the advances of Potiphar's wife and his time in jail. Moses had two seasons of 40 years in the wilderness, one as a fugitive and one as leader of the Children of Israel and he became 'the meekest man in all the earth'. In Deuteronomy 8:2 we read ' Remember how the Lord led you in the desert.. to test your heart'. David was persecuted by Saul and was tested. Daniel was tested - Would he remain true to the Lord, when praying might cost him his life. Nebuchadnezzar was tested in Dan 4:33 and he lost his sanity but in the end praised God. In the New Testament. Nicodemus did not understand what was meant by "born again" and asked Jesus to explain. The rich young ruler was challenged to give away his possessions but this revealed his heart. Again and again the Lord was looking for teachable hearts

Are you teachable? If we think we have 'got it' pretty much now, then we are not teachable.Are you willing to be taught by those who are younger and less experienced than you ? Are you open to correction. Are you only open to correction from certain people- only those you respect or who you feel are more mature than you.

God has exciting plans for us but they require change. Are we willing to give up old ways for the new ?The good is the enemy of the best. Some have said in jest that 'Blessed are the flexible for they will not be broken' but are we flexible? Flexibility can mean a willingness to wait for God's time. Learn to dream with the Lord. Are we yielded to God? Or are we the kind of people who insist on our own way? Love does not insist on its own way. We don't have rights we have privileges. Are you free from tradition? A tradition is a principle that becomes a prison. Are you willing to be a new channel for leadership. Every new act of the Lord needs someone to start it. God can use you to be a channel for his creativity. Every new move of God needs someone to step back and let God do it. Do you have a desire for more truth? Are you wiling to make a greater commitment. Jesus learned obedience through what he suffered Hebrews 12 The cross was a final step of obedience. New heights are built on new depths. In order to be a channel for the new thing that God wants to do through you, you need to receive the new thing God wants to do in you


• Lord show me where I am inflexible and resistant to change. I want to be willing to change and respond to your initiatives in my life. I want to be a teachable disciple. I want to be one of those who walk in your way and do not depart from it. Help me Lord.

Isaiah 35:8 The unclean will not journey on it;

• DAY 25 BIBLE READING

2 Timothy 1 – Hebrews 3


• DAY 25 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:1

SET APART – CLEANSED FROM 'THE PRIDE OF LIFE'(1 John 2:16)

The proud tend to be over-impressed with themselves. Jesus’ disciples were proud. Mark 9:33-36. If you do get over-impressed with yourself, humble yourself. Pride is particularly a problem if God has done great things through you. We may be proud that God has used us. It is important to remain humble and to recognise that without the Lord you can do nothing of significance. It is important not to promote yourself. Be appointed by the appropriate person where possible. If there is someone more qualified than you to take your position be prepared to be replaced

Insecurity is rooted in pride. If you have some leadership responsibility – some indications that you are insecure could be :- If as a leader you are focusing on our own weaknesses and you are trying to hide them. If you have a self-concern that is rooted in a basic lack of trust in God. If you do not receive correction well. Any word of reproof seems like rejection If someone has criticised you and you react back. If you tend to be domineering, over-controlling people. If you are defensive, interpreting innocent attitudes as rebellion If you look to your position or title for recognition. If you are always trying to prove a point.


• Lord help me to have a sober judgment of myself, not to strive for leadership but to do the will of God. Show me where activity even Christian activity is taking more time in my life to the detriment of my walk with you, Lord. Show me my blindspots, where my hidden insecurities are masking an insidious pride. Have your way in my life and separate me from every bit of pride, I pray.

Isaiah 35:8 The unclean will not journey on it;

• DAY 24 BIBLE READING

2 Thess 1- 1 Tim 6


• DAY 24 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:8

SET APART – CLEANSED FROM THE LUSTS OF THE FLESH -GREED

Nietsche foretold that money in Western culture would become perhaps its main counterfeit God. Tim Keller says that Jesus warns far more often about greed than about sex, yet almost no-one thinks they are guilty of it. Therefore we should all begin with a working hypothesis that this could easily be a problem for me.’ Paul says greed is a form of idolatry (Colossians 3:5, Ephesians 5:5) Luke teaches us the same thing in his Gospel. Jesus says to his listeners ‘Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed, for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. For Jesus greed is not just money but excessive anxiety about it,’ says Keller.

Paul’s letter to the Corinthians says: ‘ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich 2 Corinthians 8,9. Keller explains what Paul is saying as, ’Jesus gave up all his treasure in heaven, in order to make you his treasure, for you are a treasured people ( I Peter 2:9-10) When you see him dying to make you his treasure, that will make him yours. Money will cease to be the currency of your significance and security, and you will want to bless others with what you have. To the degree that you grasp the Gospel, money will have no dominion over you. Think of his costly grace until it changes you into a generous people.


• Lord show me where money is an idol in my life and cleanse me, where money and greed has become an idol in my heart. I yield to you, my love for possessions, my love for the security that comes with a healthy bank balance. Set me apart, Lord from every form of greed.

Isaiah 35:8 The unclean wil not journey on it

• DAY 23 BIBLE READING

Phil 1- 1 Thess 5


• DAY 23 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL



Isaiah 35:8

Isaiah 35:8 SET APART – CLEANSED FROM THE LUSTS OF THE EYES

The lusts of the eye, the lusts of the flesh and the pride of life. These are the three basic sins in the garden of Eden, that Jesus was tempted with in the wilderness and that are referred to in I John 2:16. ‘ For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does – come not from the Father but from the world.’ As we seek a more intimate prayer life as we seek the presence of the Lord, for revival in our personal prayer lives we need to separate ourselves from these sins.

In seeking to separate our selves from sexual uncleanness, it is helpful to recognize that when we are in a tempting situation, we need to acknowledge it and get out of it. Sexual sin begins with flirting with it. Often sexual sin begins in the mind. Control of your imagination is important. Actively switch off and choose to think pure thoughts. Find and develop a peer group of one or more members of the same sex with whom you can be honest. Flee temptation. Don't get into a counselling situation with the opposite sex. Be very wary of selfishly meeting your own emotional needs. Avoid the appearance of evil.

In sexual relationships, it is also helpful to recognize that romantic relationships are one specific type of relationship and that they are good in their place. God created romantic attraction. Just as we control how much we eat, eating a certain amount three times a day, we need to control how we relate to the opposite sex. God has provided ‘logical loving limits’. A very clear logical loving limit that God has provided is ‘no sex before marriage.’ God knows what is best for us. He made us. He is not a spoil-sport. He designed the intimacies and ecstasies of sex for the marriage relationship. God is not a restrictor but he is by nature a fulfiller.


• Thank you Lord for my sexuality. Thank you for who you created me to be. Help me to live a pure life. Show me how to journey on the highway of holiness, how to deal with tempting situations, how to flee evil and where appropriate to develop those peer relationships where I can be open and honest. I confess those sins of lusting with my eyes that you are bringing to my attention right now. I receive your forgiveness and I receive your cleansing. Thank you Lord.

Isaiah 35:8 The unclean will not journey on it

• DAY 22 BIBLE READING

Galatians 5- Ephesians 6


• DAY 22 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:8

CLEANSED FROM IDOLS

Tim Keller in his book ‘Counterfeit Gods’ says “What is an idol? It is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give. A counterfeit God is anything so central and essential to your life that, should you lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living. An idol is whatever you look at and say, in your heart of hearts,if I have that then I’ll feel my life has meaning, then I’ll know I have value, then I’ll feel significant and secure. There are many ways to describe that kind of relationship to something, but perhaps the best one is worship.”

Are there any things in our hearts that are holding us back as we pursue him. If we have been worshipping other things we need to repent of submitting to those idols of the heart.

What is REPENTANCE ?

Repentance is not an invitation, it is a command . Acts 17:30,31 God commands all men to repent. Repentance is forsaking all known sin. Repentance is :-

THOUGHT - conviction of past sins - The word repent literally means to change one’s mind. It is different from condemnation. Conviction is specific not general.

WORD - confession of past sins - verbal confession requires identifying them and accepting responsibility for them. It means speaking the same as God.

DEED - correction of past sins - restitution -This is necessary for the sake of justice and for the sake of personal guilt . It is also a roadblock to future sin.

As we journey on the highway of holiness the promise of scripture is that it is possible to be cleansed from all unrighteousness – every idol in our hearts. I John 1:9 says ‘ If we confess our sins , he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’


• Lord show me those things, those counterfeit gods that have had the affections of my heart, that have been holding me back in my pursuit of you. I choose you Lord Jesus. I turn from every idol. As you have convicted me of….. so I confess that to you now. Thank you for your forgiveness and your cleansing. I follow you on your highway of holiness.

Keller, T. Counterfeit Gods, xviii

Isaiah 35:8 The unclean will not journey on it

• DAY 21 BIBLE READING

2 Cor 6 – Galatians 4


• DAY 21 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:8 SET APART – THE NAZIRITE LIFESTYLE

A ‘Nazarite or Nazirite’ in the bible was one who was ‘set apart, purified, or made to reflect the glory of God.’ There are a number of examples of Nazarites in the bible, people who were set apart, sometimes just for a season, including Samson, Samuel, John the Baptist and Apostle Paul.

Jim Goll and Lou Engle say ‘One of the marks of Nazirites was that they would not eat grapes, raisins or drink wine or grape juice. Why not? What does abstaining from these things have to do with radical separation from God. These holy lovers of God denied themselves the legitimate pleasures of this life in exchange for the extreme pleasure of knowing God. By abstaining from grapes and all their products they were saying to God ‘all our fountains of joy are in you.’

In John 17:19, Jesus said ‘I was sanctified ; I was set apart so that you could be set apart’ and Paul said in Ephesians 1:13 ‘ you were given the Holy Spirit so that you could be sanctified, so that you could be set apart’. John Mulinde says ‘These scriptures help us to realize that we were called to be set apart unto God. Our lives belong to him, we were purchased by his blood. Giving our lives to God is the minimum requirement of what it means for us to be a Christian. However people lose sight of the command to give themselves fully to God. When they lose sight of the call to be set apart, they begin to cast off restraint.’ If we do not make a firm resolve to set ourselves apart, we too will be pressurized to compromise by the world and its system.

Lord show me where I have become careless, casting off restraint and taking on the standards of the world. Wake me up where I have become lethargic. Show me what radical abandonment to your purposes….and walking on the highway of holiness looks like in my life. Bring me to that place where I am ready to walk the ‘set apart’ life that you Lord are calling me to. Help me Lord.

Mulinde, J. The wake-up call, 74-81

Goll, J. and Engle, L. Elijah’s revolution, 72

Isaiah 35:8 The unclean will not journey on it

• DAY 20 BIBLE READING

1 Cor 11 - 2 Cor 5


• DAY 20 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:8

SET APART

John Mulinde,from Uganda, founder of World Trumpet Mission shares how the Lord called him, the evening before the World Trade Centre tragedy in 2001 to live a different lifestyle of being ‘set apart for God.’ John Mulinde says that he felt the Lord say to him,

‘ The world is changing faster than you are adjusting, and the issues you are dealing with are getting more and more challenging…. Unless you set yourself apart from me and allow me to work deeply within you, you will also drift along on the same current you will not even be able to stand in the days ahead. …Pay heed and hear my call: Set yourself apart for Me! This is my call to you.’

John Mulinde felt the Lord saying that this was about more than just a few days prayer and fasting. This was a much longer and deeper undertaking. This was a call to sow his life into the cause he believed in....the Great Commission.

The terrorists responsible for the atrocities on September 11th knew what they were signing up for, they distanced themselves from the things that mean everything to the rest of us, the things that are important to us as ‘normal people’. In a similar way if we are going to make a real difference in the world today, we are going to have to shed a lot of things we cherish, and change our priorities and our discipline, in a radically new way. The Lord is seeking to take us to levels far beyond what we could be capable of in normal circumstances. We need to respond to his call to be set apart for him- this is ‘the call of the hour’ says John Mulinde, a wake-up call to radically abandon our lives to God.


• Lord…I choose to follow you, Lord Jesus on the highway of holiness. I pray for a national awakening in our land Lord, but as I do so ….begin with me...Prepare me Lord.. Show me the constraints that are holding me back from living a life that is completely set apart for you Lord, set apart for your purposes… I am here to do your will.

Mulinde, J. Set apart for God: the call to a surrendered life, 27, 28, 36

Mulinde, J. The wake-up call, 59-63

Isaiah 35:8 It will be called the way of holiness

• DAY 19 BIBLE READING

I Corinthians 1-10


• DAY 19 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 40 says ‘make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up and every mountain and hill made low.’

EVERY VALLEY OF REJECTION AND NEGATIVE SELF-IMAGE

Do you have a negative self –image? Yesterday we noted that thinking more lowly of yourself than you ought is inverted pride.

Having a negative self-image can result in a lack of faith and limit what God can do in your life, and can hinder your ability to love other people. A negative self-image can develop from regarding the world’s evaluation too highly e.g. outward appearance, physical attractiveness, abilities, background, material possessions. A negative self-image can result from rejection from authority figures in your life in the past, from parents, friends and teachers. It can also result from wrong teaching, by believing that inferiority is humility. Humility is willing to be known for you who you really are, and this includes a right acceptance of ones strengths and abilities.

Overcoming a negative self-image is possible through the renewing of your minds, through meditation on the word of God, through confessing truth, through forgiving people who have hurt you, through receiving healing prayer. There are some key truths that can set you free. God accepts you and loves you the way you are with all your imperfections and failings, in spite of your weakness he is bringing you to maturity. You are a valuable person because you are made in God’s image. You are a son/daughter of the King of kings. You are a unique person. Do not compare yourself negatively with others. You are valuable because you can bring pleasure to God by your love and because you can bless other people by your love and encouragement


•Show me how my negative self-image can hinder what you want to do in my life and can hinder me in loving others. Help me to be are honest, open and transparent and show me that inverted pride is a valley that needs dealing with in my life May your glory be revealed in and through my life. Make a straight way in my wilderness that you might be revealed more in my life, I pray.

Isaiah 35:8 It will be called the way of holiness

• DAY 18 BIBLE READING

Romans 6 - 16


• DAY 18 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 40 says ‘make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up and every mountain and hill made low.’

REMOVING THE MOUNTAIN OF PRIDE

How seriously do you see ‘pride’ as a mountain in your life that needs removing? As we seek to make a straight way, a highway for our God, a way of holiness, we need to see that the big problem that hinders our relationships in this world is ‘pride.’

If man and woman were made for relationship, relationship with God and one another, one could argue that ever since sin has entered the world, every problem in this world is now a relationship problem. If you do nothing else you need to be a good relator. If every problem is a relationship problem and you are not a good relator you are part of the problem and not part of the answer. ASK YOURSELF THE QUESTION – Am I part of the problem or part of the answer ? It is important to determine in your heart “ I want to be a good relator”

Why is pride the big problem that hinders relationships? Pride is thinking more highly of yourself than you ought, OR Thinking more lowly of yourself than you ought (inverted pride). If you walk in humility and I walk in humility it is impossible for the two of us to not get alone. Humility is the willingness to be known for who you are. Unity is nothing less than corporate humility

The major problem in the world is selfishness born out of pride. One of the reasons we have difficulty relating to people is that we want them to be like us. There are no weird people on this planet. There are just different people. A major hindrance to relationships is the inability to appreciate the differences between people. Romans 12:18 “ If it is possible as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone ” You will never relate well unless you are devoted to relationship.

Good relationship is based on truth. Abstain from what is evil and cling towards what is good. If you are living in the truth you are easier to relate to because you are honest, open and transparent.


•I seek you Lord, revive me in may walk with you and show me if there is any offensive way in me, show me my pride. Show me where I am not committed to relationships, where I am proud and selfish and where I am not honest open and transparent. Make a straight way in my wilderness,in me Lord, a highway for my God.

Sherman, D. Love Sex and realtionships

Isaiah 35:8 It will be called the way of holiness

• DAY 17 BIBLE READING

Acts 27-Romans 5


• DAY 17 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:8

PRACTICAL HOLINESS

Dallas Willard says salvation is not just a decision, it is a life, a way of life. He asks ‘Why do we look upon salvation as a moment that began our religious life rather than as the daily life we receive from God.He says ‘A close look at Jesus’ ‘great acts’ of humility, faith and compassion recorded in the Gospel narratives finds them to be moments in a life pervasively and deeply characterized by solitude fasting and prayer and service. Surely then the lives of his followers must be just as deeply characterized by the same practices.’

John Wesley was deeply impacted by “Thomas a Kempis’ The Imitation of Christ.’( After the Bible possibly the most widely read book in the world). In the opening lines, Thomas a Kempis says –'He who follows me can never walk in darkness, says the Lord. By these words, Christ urges us to mould our lives and characters in the image of his, if we wish to be truly enlightened and freed from all blindness of heart. Let us therefore see that we endeavour beyond all else to meditate on the life of Christ’

As Wesley sought to mould his life in the image of Christ and to be freed from blindness of heart, he began to form 'band meetings' which focussed on practical holiness, encouraging confession of sin and radical accountability in small groups. As we pray that Lord would open up the wells of salvation in our nation once again as he did in the Methodist awakening in the eighteenth century, lets pray also for wells of salvation to be opened in us.


• Proverbs 20:5 says ‘The thoughts of a man's heart are like a deep well.’ Lord help me to share deeply concerning the thoughts of my heart. Where my Christian life is a façade, give me the courage to be open and honest, and where I have blindspots, free me from all blindness of heart. Conform me into your image Lord, as I follow you and your way of life.

Willard, D The Spirit of the disciplines 28, 29

Isaiah 35:8 It will be called the way of holiness

• DAY 16 BIBLE READING

Acts 18-26


• DAY16 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:8


THE JESUS WAY – TAKING THE EASY YOKE

GK Chesterton said ‘Christianity has not been tried and found wanting as it has been found difficult and left untried.’ There is an almost universal belief in the immense difficulty of being a real Christian. However Dallas Willard reminds us that Proverbs 13:15 says that the way of the transgressor is hard and we know from observation that to depart from righteousness is to choose a life of crushing burdens, failures and disappointments.

If Jesus is ‘The Way’…. is the way that Jesus calls us to follow really a very difficult one? The Christian way of life is according to Jesus a matter of taking on an easy yoke. In all honesty most Christians find Jesus' statement more an expression of hope or even a mere wish than a statement about the substance of their lives, says Dallas Willard

The ease, the lightness and the power of his ‘way’ we rarely enjoy much less see. The early Christians were called people of the way. One of the earliest Christian teachings is called the Didache – the teaching of the 12, which essentially documents 2 ways - the way of life and the way of death. Maybe the difference between these two ways should be more of a focus for us as we pray and pursue a more intimate walk with Jesus.

That way of Life, Dallas Willard suggests is the disciplined Christian life. He says that just as a baseball player would not expect to excel when playing in the ‘Big game’ without preparing himself with seriously focussed exercise and training… so also.. to think that following Jesus is about loving our enemies, going the second mile, turning the other cheek, while living the rest of our lives as everyone else does.. is a strategy bound to fail. The spiritual disciplines are a road less traveled. .

Repentance from sin and choosing to respond to the Gospel is not a once in a life decision – it is a daily walk as is the daily life living the Christian disciplines, of prayer, fasting, study etc . This daily walk is an easy one according to Jesus. This is the highway in the wilderness that we read of in Isaiah 35:8 He calls us to follow Him on that Highway of holiness, he calls us to take up His easy yoke and follow in his footsteps

Lord I thank you that in my weakness, your grace is sufficient for me. I am unable to live a holy life by myself. You came that we might have life and have it abundantly. Help me to take on your easy yoke, to live that life of abundance and to follow you along that highway of holiness. Help me, Lord.

br />• Lord Willard, D. The Spirit of the Disciplines, 3-10

Isaiah 35:8 And a highway will be there; it will be called the way of holiness

• DAY 15 BIBLE READING

Acts 8-17


• DAY 15 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 40:3

EVERY VALLEY SHALL BE RAISED UP, EVERY MOUNTAIN AND HILL MADE LOW

Nicky Gumbel in his book ‘The Heart of revival’ says concerning Isaiah 40:3‘….it declares the king is coming to his people. In many parts of the world, people prepare for a royal visitor by building roads, flattening bumps and filling in potholes. When God comes, valleys will be filled in and mountains will be flattened. The whole creation will sing for joy.’ As we prepare for our King to come, as we pray for personal and national revival, there is a new level of heart preparation that is necessary.

Duncan Campbell, who God used powerfully in the Lewes revival writes “Our confidence that revival is coming is based on God’s promise; his word and his character... He alone can bring about a true revival… Nevertheless it does not take place independently of human beings. We have a part to play.’

Personal and national revival are ultimately God’s sovereign work but in preparation we can yield to him those mountains and valleys in our lives, that are in the way of his coming…we can call out to him to come and prepare a way in us. That way is the way of holiness.

Sergio Scatalini who was prominent in the Argentinian revival in the 1980s says if you are not seeking the fire of his holiness you are in a different movement from the one that Jesus began. Earlier in Isaiah 35 we looked at how the Holy Spirit may be likened to streams of water. The Holy Spirit is also referred to in Scripture as coming with fire (Matthew 3:11). Sergio Scatalini suggests three dimensions in which you can live your life in the Holy Spirit.He says FiRST you become a seeker of the fire. Make it a lifelong journey to seek God. SECOND become a fire carrier. As you continue to seek him, allow the Holy Spirit to descend upon you mightily. You cannot produce this, but you can live in constant readiness for this to happen. THIRDLY become fire-carried. Get to a point where you are so surrendered to God that he finds no resistance. The fire of God will guide you. You sense you are led by the Spirit and carried by His power


• Lord, make a straight way in my wilderness , may a highway be prepared in me. Show me the mountains and valleys in my life, that are in the way of your coming, and as I seek the fire of your holiness….may it be my lifelong journey to be a fire-carrier and to be carried by your fire. Lead me by your spirit and carry me by your power, I pray.

Gumbel, N. The heart of revival, 26, 36

Scatalini, S. The fire of his holiness, 182

Isaiah 35:7 In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and papyrus will grow.

• DAY 14 BIBLE READING

Acts 1-7


• DAY 14 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:7

RENEWING OF THE MIND

We live in a world where some tend to overemphasize and others tend to under-emphasize the devil and the demonic realm. The truth is that the Devil does exist. There are areas in your life and my life where the enemy has strongholds. Ephesians 6 is quite clear. We are at war, whether we like it or not. We have no option. The enemy uses opportunities to gain access into our lives when we give legal ground to him through sin, through emotional crises, through ignorance , through the occult. Footholds for the enemy may be gained through influence from the WORLD, the FLESH and the DEVIL

The Good News is that Jesus has won the victory over the enemy, and those areas in our lives that were once haunts for the enemy can be transformed. The Lord wants to redeem and restore every area that has been under the control of the enemy. The enemy can sow lies into our minds. There is truth in the simple saying… sow a thought, reap an action, sow an action reap a habit sow a habit reap a destiny. It is in the area of the mind that the enemy often gains ground and can have significant long-term impact on our lives. The enemy tempted Jesus in the wilderness. His mind was the battleground and he countered each temptation with scriptures that the Holy Spirit gave him.

As we call out to the Lord to lead us by his Holy Spirit in our prayer lives, let us also call out to Him for His help and for a renewal of our minds, where ground has been lost to the enemy. We need our minds to be renewed because we are in a war and our minds are battlefields.

Romans 12:1,2 Therefore, I urge you in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - which is your spiritual worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- his good pleasing and perfect will.


• Lord I pray for renewal in my prayer life. I ask for revelation by your spirit of every area where I have been influenced by the world, the flesh and the devil, the haunts where jackals once lay. Thank you that the renewing of my mind is possible through the finished work of the cross. I offer my body as a living sacrifice. Transform and renew my mind. Bring healing restoration and redemption to every area that has been a haunt to the enemy in my life . May new life break out where there has been darkness, I pray.

Sherman, D. Spiritual Warfare for Every Christian: How to Live in Victory and Re-take the Land

Isaiah 35:7. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs.

• DAY 13 BIBLE READING

John 14-21


• DAY 13 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:7

Claudio Friedzen, author of ‘Holy Spirit, I am hungry for you’ and pastor of a large church in Buenos Aires, in Argentine says that ‘deserts are times of preparation.’

He reminds us that Deuteronomy 8 2-3 says ‘remember how the Lord God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and test up in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.’

Friedzen says that deserts are the places where God teaches us. He teaches us through the circumstances of life. Through these we are shaped, cleansed and strengthened. In the desert of trials, God deals with our character. They are times of brokenness, so that from our inner being the precious perfume of the Spirit may flow freely.

God led Elijah to a brook in the midst of a great period of drought. Very often God dries up the brook for us and leads us to pray, fast and to seek his face, because the circumstances that surround us have become adverse.

What is God’s purpose in doing this? He knows that through the desert experience bubbling springs can come forth. Allow God to teach you in your desert that the only fountain is Himself.

Hebrews 12 5-6 says ‘ My son do not make light of the Lord’s discipline and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.’


• Lord thank you for calling me as your son, for discipling and transforming me through the Holy Spirit from day to day. Turn the trials that I am facing at present that feel like a desert into opportunities for the Holy Spirit to flow through my life. I thirst for you Holy Spirit. Come and break through my challenging circumstances … let my burning sand become a pool turn my thirsty ground into bubbling springs, I pray.

Friedzen, C. Holy Spirit I am hungry for you, 17-42

Isaiah 35:6 “and streams in the desert.”

• DAY 12 BIBLE READING

John 7-13


• DAY 12 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:6

HOW DOES THE HOLY SPIRIT HELP US PRAY?

How does the Holy Spirit help us pray? Wesley Duewell says ‘No Christian has fully understood the burden on the heart of the Holy Spirit as He longs for, loves and identifies with all the suffering, heartaches and heartburdens of Christians across the world. There is never a discouragement, a hidden tear, or an unspoken pain that the Holy Spirit does not feel completely and personally. Never an injustice, a sorrow or a heartbreak that the tender Holy Spirit does not feel completely and personally. Never an injustice a sorrow, or a heartbreak that the tender Holy Spirit does not suffer with us.’

‘In addition however the Holy Spirit yearns and longs for all the broken lives, broken homes, hurting unsaved millions of the world. He feels their tragedy. He suffers from their hatred and violence. He carries the suffering of our world upon his holy heart. God the Father God the son and God the Holy Spirit share the same love and the same longings and compassion. The Holy Spirit longs to flood your heart with the holy yearning agape love of the triune God.’

‘Romans 5:5 explains that God pours out his love into your heart by the Holy Spirit. What love is this? It is the love that caused Jesus to come to earth, go to the cross and to die for you v 8. The love that the Spirit longs to pour and flood into your being is the self-giving, longing love of God we see in Jesus.’

‘The Holy Spirit does not want just a minimum portion of that love somehow to rub off or seep into your nature. He longs to pour and pour that love into your being and through you out to the hurting world .He wants this love to be manifested in your words and your actions, but more constantly and perhaps more powerfully than all else, in your praying.’

You can love more people through prayer than any other way. You can love by your prayer, people who avoid or resist you. You can love people anywhere in the world by your prayer. The more you pour out God’s love through your prayer and your actions the more the Spirit will pour in as you ask Him. God gives the Spirit to those who ask. Luke 11:13


• Lord I do not know how to pray. May streams flow in my desert places. Come and fill me with your Holy Spirit. May the self-giving, longing, love of God well up in me . Flood my heart with the yearning love of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. May the love of God gush forth, may it break out in my wilderness and may your love as it flows through me in prayer, heal our suffering, needy lost and broken world.

Duewell, W Mighty Prevailing Prayer 118,119

Isaiah 35:6 Water will gush forth in the wilderness

• DAY11 BIBLE READING

John 1-6


• DAY11 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:6

HOW MUCH MORE SHALL YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER GIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT TO THEM THAT ASK

The Holy Spirit is compared in Scripture to living water. We need the empowering of the Holy Spirit to gush through us in our prayer lives. Without the streams of the Holy Spirit flowing through us, our prayer lives are like a desert. Do we desire.. do we long for the Holy Spirit to flood our lives?

The Bible tells us that Jesus came that we might have life and have it abundantly. Jesus was introduced as the one ‘who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ (John 1:33). ‘He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Luke 3:16). Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit in the desert (Luke 4:1) and he came out of the desert in the power of the Spirit (Luke 4:14). He began his ministry with the Holy Spirit on him ’.. the Spirit of the Lord is on me ‘(Luke 4:17-19). After the resurrection Jesus promised ‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses..” (Acts 1:8) Then the Holy Spirit is poured out on Pentecost. (Acts 2:17)

If you are to have a more abundant prayer life, if you are to pray and do the works of the kingdom then you need the Holy Spirit. How do you receive the Holy Spirit?

YOU NEED TO KNOW THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT IS FOR YOU “The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off”

YOU NEED TO ASK When Jesus taught the disciples about prayer, he said “Ask and it will be given to you.... for everyone who asks receives....How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit give to those who ask Him” Luke 11:9-13 Jesus is the baptizer in the Holy Spirit and he loves you and he wants to baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire, so why don’t you ask him to come and baptize you.

YOU NEED TO BE THIRSTY The kind of people who are so hungry and so want to be filled with the Holy Spirit, that they have put their reserves down - they receive easily. Others who have come with much fear, may find it more difficult. The Holy Spirit is gentle like a dove- he wants to come because he is invited. He will fill you to overflowing. If we are thirsty and believe, we can receive. Jesus said “If anyone is thirsty let Him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”


• In this season of prayer I cry out to you Father, that you would fill me with the Holy Spirit. Fill me, refresh me, revive me. May the waters of the Holy Spirit gush through my wilderness. Holy Spirit I thirst for you. Thank you, that you hear my prayer

Isaiah 35:6 Then will the lame leap like a dear and the mute tongue shout for joy.

• DAY 10 BIBLE READING

Luke 18-24


• DAY 10 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:6

FREEDOM FROM EVERY CRIPPLING CALAMITY OF THE PAST

Have you been crippled through a personal failure or tragedy? It can be difficult to move on from the devastation of life’s calamities. One of the worst ordeals for the soul is the death of a loved one. Such a loss can leave us excessively burdened and trapped in the past.

The story of Abraham’s father, Terah gives us an insightful picture of a man who could not depart from the loss of a loved one. Terah had three sons: Abram, Nahor and Haran. The Bible tells us ‘Haran died in the presence of his father’ Genesis 11:28 To lose your son can produce terrible heartache; to have him die in your arms can be utterly devastating. In time, Terah took his family and left Ur of the Chaldeans in search of a new destiny in Canaan. En route however Terah passed through a city with the same name as his deceased son. Instead of continuing on to Canaan, the Scripture says Terah ‘went as far as Haran and settled there.’

Longing for a deceased loved one is normal. However life’s tragedies also have a way of obligating us to a false loyalty which prohibits the release of our pain. And Terah died in Haran. Not only did Terah settle in Haran he died there. Whatever the reason, Terah was never able to live beyond Haran’s death.

We must also see that as painful as the loss of a loved one is we cannot permit the wounds of the past to nullify what God has for us in our future. Even if we enter limping, we must not settle for something outside our destiny. God’s grace is here now. With His help, we must choose to journey on to Canaan or we too will die in Haran. Today where we have been crippled by life’s calamites of the past, God wants to restore joy to his people. You may have been weighed down by personal failure or tragedy. Christ came to bind up the broken hearted. Is 61:3. He wants to turn around our deepest wounds and worst failures. As we read in Hosea . The valley of Achor will become a door of hope. Hosea 2:15

No longer will church attendance be a penance for your failures. Where once sorrow and heaviness reigned, he gives a ‘garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise for a spirit of fainting’ Is 61:3. Where once you were crippled you will leap like a dear. Where you have been silenced by the pain of the tragedies in your life, YOU WILL SHOUT FOR JOY.


• Lord, free me where my walk with you has been crippled by tragedy in my life. Give me a garland for ashes and the oil of joy for mourning. Where I have suffered pain and sadness let there be joy. Thank you for your promise that the lame will leap like a dear and the mute will shout for joy. Turn around my deepest wounds and my darkest failures, and turn my valleys into a door of hope.

Frangipane, F In the days of his Presence 77-79

Isaiah 35:5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of deaf unstopped.

• DAY 9 BIBLE READING

Luke 11-17


• DAY 9 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:5 WE CAN HEAR HIS VOICE

Jesus, when he walked on this earth gave sight to the blind and unblocked physical ears and he continues to heal today. It is one of the signs that follow those that believe in Him. Mark 16:17 As the Lord takes us on the journey from spiritual desert to oasis, he removes spiritual blockages from our lives. As the kingdom comes in our lives, as the Lord hears and answers prayer, as we draw closer in relationship to our Father in heaven then let us pray that every spiritual blockage to seeing and hearing will be removed also. He is drawing us into deeper relationship with us – he longs for deeper intimacy with us – he longs for our spiritual eyes to be opened and for our spiritual ears to be unstopped.

One blockage to hearing God’s voice clearly can be a serious misconception regarding God’s character. Maybe it feels to you as though He is like a hard task master, a Frankenstein figure. … that you are unable to please Him whatever you do or maybe you feel that he is a benevolent but distant Father Christmas and when “the blessings stop coming through”, you feel that you must be out of the will of God. Either way, you have a distorted view of God .The picture we are given in the bible is that God is a loving Father who desires intimacy with us, yet He is also the most powerful being in the universe. Do you really know that in your heart of hearts? Is that your understanding of God and your present experience ? How well do you really know God ? We can know God personally, and we can hear his voice, and see his hand at work in our lives. Jesus promised in John 10:27 “My sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me.”



How can I cultivate a listening environment where I can hear Father God more clearly ? A few suggestions -By drawing apart for times of silence and solitude - By ‘ praying and listening as you can when you can ’ e.g. redeeming the time when commuting alone to work by car - By keeping a journal.


• Lord, open my eyes that I might see you more clearly and open my ears that I might hear you voice more clearly too. Reveal to me that you truly are a loving father who desires intimacy with me. Let every spiritual blockage in my life be broken Lord. Soften the hard ground in my heart and let rivers of life flow into my relationship with you, Lord

Murray, A With Christ in the School of Prayer 10,11

Isaiah 35:4 He will come to save you

• DAY 8 BIBLE READING

Luke 6-10


• DAY 8 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:4 HE WILL COME TO SAVE YOU

THE LORD JESUS WILL BRING SALVATION TO THOSE WHO ARE WAITING FOR HIM (HEBREWS 9:28)

After 70 years in captivity in exile Israel would be in a place of desolation and feeling totally abandoned by God…. 70 years would be a long time .. It would feel as though God had totally disregarded her, that he had forgotten and rejected her .. as if his hands were tied somehow and he was for some reason unable to act.

In Isaiah 40 we read of God bringing comfort (verse 1) and coming with saving power (verse 9). God was big enough to act on her behalf… and he would do so… He would dramatically intervene in rescuing her from captivity and from exile…and Jesus would dramatically intervene in human history many years later…. and he will do so again … in the second coming at the end of history.

In the journey of praying and seeking God for answers to prayer, seeking national revival and personal revival it is important to keep praying like the persistent widow (Luke 18) until the answer comes…..the persistent widow kept coming to the unjust judge asking for justice against her adversary, until he gave in and gave her justice. Following his parable of the persistent widow, Jesus in Luke 18 says …’however, when the Son of man comes will he find faith on the earth?’

God’s promise is ‘he will come to save you.’ Yield to the Lord’s will, persevere in prayer and wait before the Lord. He will surely come.


• Lord I hold on to your promise that you will come and save me. You are my saviour and deliverer. You have saved me from my sins on the cross and I trust that you will save and deliver me completely from all my present struggles, my apparently unanswered prayers …I bring them to you today. In my weakness with my fearful heart…. I yield to your will. I will keep praying and I will wait for your deliverance. Come Lord Jesus.

Isaiah 35:4 he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution

• DAY 7 BIBLE READING

Luke 1-5


• DAY 7 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:4 he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution

HE WILL JUDGE SIN

If we are Jesus’ disciples, seeking a more intimate prayer life with Him, we will be seeking to follow him, yielding to his authority in our lives preparing for his coming …. so that he will come and reign in us. He will come…. but are we yielded and are we open to him dealing with areas in our lives that are not submitted, knowing that he will judge sin in our lives?

Here are a few key areas where you and I need to be yielded. Ask the Holy Spirit to highlight any specific areas where you do not have a disciplined Christian life – read over the list below slowly-

Are you an example to others? - e.g. punctuality, quiet times, ‘weight’, thought life, attitude to work, tidiness, courtesy, use of time, dress, faithfulness in assignments etc.

Are you growing in faith? If so is this demonstrated by active participation in church meetings, in prayer, praise and spiritual gifts?

Are you growing in humility evidenced by willingness to open your life to others? Are you growing in ability to share other people’s problems with compassion and faith?

Are you positive in attitude and showing wisdom and restraint in your speech? Are you growing in your desire and ability to share your faith with non-Christians? Are you willing to act on counsel and to receive correction with humility. Do you show initiative together with being a good follower?

Are you growing in confidence and in your ability to help others, becoming free from feelings of inferiority and inadequacy? Are you free from resentment and anger, and able to quickly forgive those who have hurt you? Are you growing in faith and responsibility with money i.e. you are a cheerful giver to God’s work. Also are you quick to pay your bills? Do you have good relationships in marriage and with your children? Are you maintaining good relationships with others in the church and with leaders?

Knowing that he will judge sin when he comes, will we yield these areas of our lives to the Lord now and repent where we are not yielded to Him? Do not slip into condemnation believing the lie that you are a compete failure in every area… but if the Holy Spirit is highlighting ( convicting you) of a particular area which you know needs to change – confess it to the Lord! As you confess it… believe the promise in I John 1:9. If we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. As you confess your sin to the Lord , you are cleansed and you are forgiven!


• I confess the following specific areas where I am not following you closely Lord Jesus ……In your mercy Lord forgive me and help me to walk in your ways. I receive your forgiveness and your cleansing and yield this area of my life to you and as I submit it to you today I ask you for your help to change.

Isaiah 35:4 '...your God will come.'

• DAY 6 BIBLE READING

Mark 10-16


• DAY 6 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:4

YOUR GOD WILL COME

‘If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done to you’ John 15:7

E.M. Bounds says ‘Prayer is not a duty which must be performed, to ease obligation and to quiet conscience.. Prayer is the child’s request not to the winds, not to the world, but to the Father. Prayer is the outstretched arms of the child for the Father’s help. Prayer is the child’s cry calling to the Father’s ear, the Father’s heart, and to the Father’s ability, which the Father is to hear, the Father is to feel, and which the Father is to relieve. Prayer is the seeking of God’s great good, which will not come if we do not pray.'

God wants to answer our prayers… he wants to come and respond …. but will we abide in Christ, will we approach Him as a child approaches a father ? He is calling us to pray. He longs for us to enter into life with him, but are we abiding in the Son?

Andrew Murray says 'It is Christ whom the Father always hears; God is in Christ, and can only be reached by being in Him, to be in Him is the way to have our prayer heard; fully and wholly abiding in Him; we have the right to ask whatsoever we will, and the promise that it shall be done unto us.'

God will come .. it will be done to us, according to our asking, as we abide in Christ, as we abide in the Son.


• Let the truth that you want to answer my prayers sink deep into my heart, Lord. Come and let it be done to me according to my asking as I abide in Christ. I stretch out my arms to you Father.Come and hear my prayer.

Bounds, E.M Complete works, 230-233

Murray, A. With Christ in the School of Prayer,150,151

Isaiah 35:3 Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear;”

• DAY 5 BIBLE READING

Mark 4-9


• DAY 5 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:3

HAVE FAITH IN THE PROMISES OF GOD. DO NOT FEAR

The devotional on Day 1 asked the question –‘How do you see your prayer time? Do you see it chiefly as an obligation or duty …as a means of maintaining your own Christian life. If your prayer life is motivated primarily by a sense of obligation or duty then it is really guilt and fear that are the driving forces behind your prayer life. If you have a rising faith that is quickened by the promises of God that He will answer your prayers and if you have a growing desire for those prayers to be answered, then you are well placed to begin to cry out to God in prayer and supplication.

Fraser wrote ‘ real supplication is the child of heartfelt desire, and cannot prevail without it; a desire not of earth nor of our sinful hearts, but wrought into us by God himself. Oh for such desires ! There is a sense in which your deep holy desire is in itself prayer. We read in Psalm 10:17 ‘ You hear O Lord the desire of the afflicted… you listen to their cry…’ Andrew Murray says ‘desire is the soul of prayer, and the cause of insufficient or unsuccessful prayer is very much to be found in the lack or feebleness of desire.’

Instead of fear and guilt, before we pray we should surrender our emotions, surrender our desires. Fear is the enemy of faith in the promises of God. Yield every bit of fear and anxiety and surrender wholeheartedly to the will of God.

Call out to God for your desires to be stirred..…and persevere.. and when you are sure that you know the will of God concerning a matter that God has placed on your heart, do not give up until you have prevailed with God and God has lifted the prayer burden from you. Without the dynamic of perseverance much prayer remains unanswered. If the wilderness is surely to blossom, if life is going to break out in our personal prayer lives and if revival is break out in our nation then we will need to be listen to God’s promises, believe them and allow Godly desires to grow in us, so that we hold on in faith and persevere in prayer until the answer comes. There is no other way. It is by faith and perseverance that we inherit the promises of God.. not by fear and doubt.


• Lord I surrender my fears to you. Fears of not being acceptable. Having been orphaned at the Fall, in the garden of Eden, so I surrender that deep fear of rejection to you Lord. Thank you Lord Jesus that you have made a way for me to be restored into relationship with the Father. I pray for that quickening of my faith and the stirring of my desire to pray. Revive me by your Spirit, strengthen and steady me again that through faith and perseverance I might inherit the promises of God!

Duewel, W Mighty Prevailing Prayer, 67, 68, 149, 150

Fraser, Mrs J.O Fraser and Prayer

Isaiah 35:2 The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendour of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendour of our God.

• DAY 4 BIBLE READING

Matthew 25-28, Mark 1-3


• DAY 4 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:2

LET THE FATHER’S GLORY BE OUR CHIEF OBJECT IN PRAYER

Andrew Murray says ‘That the Father may be glorified in the Son; it is to this end that Jesus on His throne in glory will do all we ask in his name.’ See John 14:13 ‘Every answer to prayer he gives will have this as its object; when there is no prospect of this object being obtained, He will not answer. It follows as a matter of course that this must be with us, as with Jesus the essential element of our petitions; the glory of the Father must be the aim and end , the very soul and life of our prayer.

It was so with Jesus when he was on earth, ‘I seek not mine own honour: I seek the honour of Him that sent me; in these words we have the keynote of His life. In the first words of the high priestly prayer He says: Father glorify your son that your Son may glorify you .’I have glorified you on earth, glorify me with yourself.’ The ground on which he asks to be taken up into the glory he had with the Father, is the twofold one: He has glorified Him on earth; He will still glorify Him in heaven. What he asks is only to enable Him to glorify the Father more. It is as we enter into sympathy with Jesus on this point, and gratify Him by making the Father’s glory our chief object in prayer too that our prayer cannot fail of an answer. There is nothing of which the Beloved Son has said more distinctly that it will glorify the Father than this, His doing what we ask; He will not, therefore, let any opportunity slip of securing this object. Let us make his aim ours: let glory of the Father be the link between our asking His doing: such a prayer must prevail.

This word of Jesus comes indeed as a sharp two-edged sword piercing even to dividing of soul and spirit, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. Jesus in his prayers on earth, in His intercessions in heaven, in His promise of an answer to our prayers from there makes this His first object - the glory of His Father. Is it so with us too? Or are not in large measure self-interest and self-will the strongest motives urging us to pray? Or if we cannot see that this is the case, have we not to acknowledge that the distinct conscious longing for the glory of the Father is not what animates our prayers? And yet it must be so.


• Lord may the glory of the Father be the aim and the end , the very soul and life of my prayer. I yield my self-will, my own fleshly desires to you and say may your will be done and your kingdom come in and through me. … for it is all about your glory, Lord. I yield to you this day. May more of your glory Father and more of your splendour be revealed this day as I pray.

Murray, A With Christ in the School of Prayer 49, 143, 144,145

Isaiah 35: 1,2 Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.

• DAY 3 BIBLE READING

Matthew 17-24


• DAY 3 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:1,2

HE SAYS THAT YOUR PRAYER WILL BE JOY-FILLED

In John 16:24, Jesus says ‘Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive and your joy will be complete.’ Andrew Murray says, ‘ The power of this promise lies in a loving relationship between us as children and the Father in heaven; when we live and walk in that relationship, the prayer of faith and its answer will be the natural result.’ He says Live as a child before God and pray as a child and… you will most assuredly be heard.

‘And what is the true child-life? The answer can be found in any home. The child that by preference forsakes the father’s house, that has no pleasure in the presence and love and obedience of the father and still thinks to ask and obtain what he will, will surely be disappointed. On the country he to whom communication with the father, and the honour and love of the father are the joy of his life, will find that it is the father’s joy to grant his requests’. Scripture says ‘As many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the children of God:’ the childlike privilege of asking is inseparable from the childlike life under the leading of the Spirit. He that gives himself to be led by the Spirit in his life, will be led by him in his prayers too and he will find that Fatherlike giving is the Divine response to childlike living. As Jesus says ‘Ask and you will receive and your joy will be complete.’

Beni Johnson says, intercessors should be the happiest people on the planet because they know the plans of God. God is in a good mood and he wants to give good gifts to His children. As intercessors our job is to look ahead to the good gifts that God wants to give to us and to agree with those plans. We read in Hebrews12:2 that ‘Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God’. Jesus endured so much while he was here on earth and he endured it for the promise of joy that was set before him. Jesus is into joy! Beni Johnson says ‘joy is the pulse of heaven. As we align ourselves with the will of the Father, his kingdom will come on earth as it is in heaven and joy will break out! Like the crocus it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.




• Thank you Lord for your promise ‘Ask and you will receive and your joy will be complete’ As it is the Father’s joy to grant his child’s requests, so teach me how to pray child-like prayers, led by your spirit, in accordance with your will and may joy break our here on earth as in heaven. Lord, teach me how to pray.

Murray, A With Christ in the School of Prayer 48-53

Johnson, B The happy intercessor 80, 84

Isaiah 35:1 The wilderness will rejoice and blossom.

• DAY 2 BIBLE READING

Matthew 9-16


• DAY 2 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:1

THE FATHER WANTS TO ANSWER YOUR PRAYERS

Jesus says that the Father ‘waits to hear every prayer of faith’…. ‘to give us whatsoever we will’, and ‘whatsoever we ask in his name’. Are these promises bearing fruit in your prayer life?

In Matthew 7:7,8 we read ‘Ask and it shall be given you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you; for every one that asks receives, and he that seeks finds and to him that knocks it shall be opened.’ Andrew Murray says, ‘We cannot but feel how in this sixfold repetition he wants to impress deep on our minds this one truth, that we may and must most confidently expect an answer to our prayer…. that the Lord should have thought it needful in so many forms to repeat the truth, is a lesson of deep import. He therefore at the very outset of His instruction to those who would learn to pray, seeks to lodge this truth deep into their hearts; prayer does avail much; ask and you shall receive; every one that asks, receives. This is the fixed eternal law of the kingdom: if you ask and receive not, it must be because there is something amiss or wanting in prayer.

As a child has to prove a sum to be correct, so the proof that we have prayed aright is the answer. If we ask and receive not, it is because we have not learned to pray aright…. Let us seek not only just in our seasons of prayer, but at all times, to hold fast the joyful assurance: man’s prayer on earth and God’s answer in heaven are meant for each other. Let us trust Jesus to teach us to pray that the answer can come.

Andrew Murray says, ‘We have become so accustomed to limit the wonderful love and the large promises of our God, that we cannot read the simplest and clearest statement of our Lord and without the qualifying clauses by which by which we guard and expound them. If there is one thing I think the church needs to learn, it is that God means prayer to have an answer, and that it has not entered into the heart of man to conceive what God will do for His child who gives himself to believe that his prayer will be heard. God hears prayer; this is a truth universally admitted but of which very few understand the meaning or experience the power.’

Many complain they had not the power to pray in faith, to pray the effectual prayer that availeth much. Andrew Murray says ‘the message I bring is that Jesus is waiting, is longing to teach them this. Christ is our life; in heaven He ever lives to pray; His life in us is an ever-praying life, if we will but trust Him for it. Christ teaches us to pray not only by example, by instruction, by command, by promises but by showing us himself the ever-living intercessor as our Life. It is when we believe this and go and abide in Him for our prayer-life too, that our fears of not being able to pray aright will vanish, and we shall joyfully and triumphally trust our Lord to teach us to pray, to be Himself the life and the power of our prayer


• Thank you Lord for your promise to give to me whatsoever I ask in your name. May the truth that you Father intend my prayers to be answered take root in my heart. Teach me to pray, Lord Jesus. You Lord ever-live to pray. You are my life. Give me that joyful assurance that my prayers on earth and your answer in heaven are meant for each other. LET MY WILDERNESS REJOICE AND BLOSSOM AS YOUR LIFE, YOUR EVER-PRAYING LIFE FLOWS THROUGH ME.

Murray, A With Christ in the School of Prayer 10,11