Dream Prayer Challenge: Day 31

How majestic is the name of The Lord God, Most High!

It's amazing to me that The Most High God is so concerned with me! You created me to function best when I worship You, and because You love me, You keep chasing after me until I can hear Your voice and recognize The Good Way. My life is only in order when I place You are above all.

You even made an individual place for me to fit in Your Kingdom! What an honor and delight! This role you've made for me is something I can't begin to accomplish in my own strength. I can only fulfill it empowered by Your perfect Love.

You have begun to show me which things don't benefit me, and when I release them there is room for me to receive all those things You've planned for my good. Continue this work in me, O God! I want the refreshing of Your Spirit to dispel all that was old, and bring in more and more of what is new and delightful in Your eyes.

Open my eyes to see the things You choose to reveal. Open my understanding to receive more of the Truth in Your Word, in visions and in dreams, in every way You want to speak. I am filled with wonder and anticipation. Having seen only a glimpse of what is to come, I am enthralled! Thank you, Father God! I thank you and praise you! There is no other way for me but this. AMEN.

For it was I, the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt. 

Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.

Psalm 81:10

Dream Prayer Challenge: Day 30

Bread of Life,

You have given me a taste of the good life. Your banquet of goodness and mercy satisfy every longing in my heart. Jesus, you are the only bread that satisfies.

Make my appetite for You grow. I hunger and thirst for Your righteousness. It's purity makes me choke on anything else. I'm repulsed by the thought of my own efforts to be good enough. I have no goodness in me apart from You. I only want Your goodness to be magnified in my life. 

Surely, the dreams you give me when I lay down to rest reflect Your glory. Even in the darkest hour of the night I see the light of Your Love revealed!

Attract others to this banquet! There is room for everyone at Your table, if only they will come. Make us ready to receive You, as our Lord and God of all! AMEN.

They waited for me as one waits for rain, 

as one opens his mouth to drink in a spring rain shower.

Job 29:23

Dream Prayer Challenge: Day 29

My Savior, Jesus Christ,

Every thought today, is on the altar before you. Transform my mind and my heart to an environment where evil things are extinguished. When the enemy tempts me with a selfish desire, or an accusation, let it quickly be drenched by Your Spirit. Let there by no fuel found in me to feed those things into flame. As they quickly die out, blow away the cold embers of anything that is not nurtured in an atmosphere of Love.

Each day, I am tempted. Each day I need your purification. I'm so thankful that You are working to make me free of the things that once held my thoughts captive! My attention is on You more fully as we continue to walk together. You are opening my mind to Your ways, to the new thoughts, new ways of seeing others, new affections, new dreams, all the things that engage You. 

I choose not to resist you, Holy Spirit. Unleash the desire for Your dreams within my heart, and establish the reign of Your power to accomplish them. AMEN.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Luke 12:34

Dream Prayer Challenge: Day 28

O Lord,

Examine my heart. Search me through and through. Uncover what I've hidden away, reveal what I take for granted. 

I want the things I hold dear to be the treasures you've put in my heart. Are there things I've overlooked that don't please You? Have mercy on me and eradicate them.

Has my foolish tongue given away the praise due You only, to any other thing in my life? Please, Lord, make me aware of my speech. No earthly thing deserves my praise like You. 

What is my fondest dream? Have I lain in bed setting my heart on any earthly thing?
My longing is not meant for television shows or sports or celebrities. Not for a new clothes, not for trendy designers, nor the goods they produce. All my worship and adoration belongs to You, My King.

What do I really treasure? If it's not you, it can be lost! So, no matter how painful, do the surgery, extract the false god from my affections and replace it with a more intense love for You, Lord. AMEN.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Luke 12:34

Dream Prayer Challenge; Day 27

Precious Jesus,

I start this day with You. I bow before you, and lay all my needs at your feet, all my desires, and my agenda. I lay them down in Your presence. My worries, my fears, my doubts. I release them all to You. You can have them. Give me back only what is good for me to carry today. You know exactly what I can bear.

By the end of the day, I will be spent. Especially if I took back some of those things I gave to you in this morning! It's never a conscious choice, but at some point in the day, I notice I'm slumped under the same old burden. It somehow wound up on my shoulders again. How did it get there? Did I really take it back from you?  

You are so good. So faithful. You receive every burden, but You don't wrestle them from me. When I rest tonight I will rest in your arms, your tender mercies renewing me.

"When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches." Psalms 63:6. Even when I fall asleep, your thoughts influence me. With your help, I will learn to let go. Thank you, Jesus, for your patient way with me. Amen.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Luke 12:34

Dream Prayer Challenge: Day 26

Lord,

What do you want me to do me do today? What can I do that will give you joy when you see it? Let me hear you today, as I lean in to hear what is on your mind. Keep me in sync with your desires. 

When it's time to gleefully chase butterflies instead of being bitter, help me follow your guidance. Or, when You whisper that it's time to still my rattling irritations and spend precious moments quietly listening to the birds singing, teach me to treasure that experience with You. And when I am settled in laziness, empower me to resist the power of the easy chair and submit to Your Spirit's power to move me.

When storms of life rage, use my mouth to speak words to calm the turmoil instead of stirring it up. Lead me to someone who desperately needs the gift you put in my hands to share today, so they will be thankful to You for providing.

A day with You is worth more than a hundred years apart from You! Each night with You is filled with wonder. You restore me and challenge me through visions in the night. AMEN.

Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4

Dream Prayer Challenge: Day 25

Jesus, 

You are my anchor, my sail, and my wind. You keep me firmly established in truth. You have bound me to You, so I cannot drift away at the mercy of the tides. Your power billows and blows, directing me into places I've never known or imagined. 

You are my compass, and my map. Only You know where this journey leads. You direct me  to the left or right, turn by turn, moment by moment. It's not about  getting from point A to point B. No, I'm commissioned to travel with You, in Your companionship and in Your service, continuously throughout this voyage. Where ever I go, I go with You.

You are my vessel, my provision, and my cargo. You hold me and keep me safe through every stormy tempest. My supply will never run out because I rest in You. You are the treasure I hold which is always ample enough to share with anyone who is in need.

While asleep or awake, while I toil or when at rest. From start to finish, I am yours. Amen.

Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4

Dream Prayer Challenge: Day 24

The LORD, He is God. He is ruler of all heaven and earth. Let us be glad in His presence, Let us celebrate with songs of His goodness.

To speak His name elevates my spirit into the heavenly realm which is filled with His glory, never-ending, wave upon wave of glory, rolling out like a gleaming ocean tide. I am adrift in the power of Your Holiness, My God and My King! I worship You. I must worship You.

Holy, holy, holy, is The Lord! The multitudes of angelic voices are not enough to praise You. Let every voice acknowledge your worthiness. Let everything that has breath praise You! Every creature, every plant, even the rocks of the earth, let all of creation cry out, Holy is The Lord God Almighty!

What trouble have I, in your presence? What sorrow can I remember while gazing into your goodness and majesty? What were those things that caused worry or fear? In Your presence they are erased. Like the morning mist, at the heat of the day, not a trace remains.

In Your presence there is no room for doubt. When I hear You speak, I believe. What You show me, I know is true. What You dream, I yearn for. Take me now to the place where I can completely accept and receive everything You choose to impart. AMEN.

Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4

Dream Prayer Challenge: Day 23

I lift my eyes to the Lord who reigns on high! I raise my voice to praise you, Mighty King of Glory!

Your handiwork is spread farther than we can explore. You created this earthly playground and it's heavens for your children, you've made it so vast that our reach will never grasp the ends of it. And what I find even more wondrous than your creation is the unknowable depths of your love, the unrestrained oceans of your grace and mercy! To consider your goodness brings delight to my heart.

How silly we must be in your eyes, when we haughtily disagree with the way you do things! What fools we would appear, if you were less loving and kind. But you are more gentle and kind than any human father. You never tire of providing joys for your children, or correcting and protecting us, for our good. Your patience and forgiveness never run out.

You have made us to love you, to glorify your name. You made each one of us unique, and have hidden within each heart a unique desire that can only be satisfied by following you. You gave me a unique reason to seek you, to respond when I heard you call my name. You made me and you know me. The God who created everything knows me, and loves me! I give my praise to the King of Glory! AMEN.

Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4

Dream Prayer Challenge: Day 22

Rabbi Jesus,

You have written your commands in my heart so I am not helpless to know which way to go. Even so, I'm helpless to fulfill and satisfy the demands of the law apart from you. It is so simple; love the Lord my God above all else, and love all your children the way you love them, without criticism, judgement, or rejection. Simple to understand. Not simple to do. 

Why do I chase after so many other things? They don't lead anyplace I want to go! What is the relentless attraction to compete with others or belittle them? When will my ignoble impulses be permanently conquered? When will the evil desires of my flesh be merely a memory? 

For as long as I live in this frail body, the battle rages. Every fiber of my being is racked with the process of renewal, out of the fallen DNA of my father Adam, being transformed into the redeemed genetic code of my Father God. Jesus, by the power of Your Spirit in me, each day's battle brings me closer to the final end of this war. 

Let your Spirit reign in me. Loose your power to transform me. Release in my mind and heart  images of the purpose for the creature you designed me to be, and move me into the completion of your desires. AMEN.

Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. 

Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. 

Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.

2 Timothy 2:22

Dream Prayer Challenge: Day 21

My Good Shepherd,

I know your voice. When you call me, I know it's you. When you direct me, I know which is The Way. You have nurtured me and raised me to want to be close to you. 

And yet I turn away. I don't always choose to respond immediately to your call. Somehow the innocent things that distract me seem to become entanglements as time goes on. And the longer I indulge my whims the harder it is to hear you. 

Use my dreams tonight to alert me to the fruitless seeds I've allowed to take hold. I never intend to grow deaf to your voice, I want to hear you. But somehow it happens. Your voice seems so hard to discern when I've grown too fond of other things. And when that happens, life gets hard. Those things I pursue for fun lead me to a joyless life. 

Show me which pleasures need to be rooted out or contained so they can't spread like weeds, taking my energy from good things, stealing the attention that belongs to you. Please, Lord, if I wander, let the end of every entanglement come quickly and bring me back to you for help.

Keep me in the fold of gentle sheep who follow you closely enough to know your moods. I want to feel it when your head turns and I want to look where you look, to see what you see. 

Use this prayer journey to connect me with other sheep who love you. AMEN.

Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. 
Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. 
Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.
2 Timothy 2:22

Dream Prayer Challenge: Day 20

Jesus, Word of Life,

When you speak it is like electricity! Holy Spirit, when I sense your presence the atmosphere crackles and sings with your power! Your words are so full of life, even the power of creation is wrapped in your words, your commands! The immensity of your power is incredible. But I am such a small, fragile creature. What a challenge it must be to find ways to reduce, no, condense yourself to a portion fit for me to receive. Only a kernel of your goodness can fit into my understanding.

Thank you for diffusing a portion of your message into my spirit while I dream. It is a beautiful way to commune with you, receive from you, with my intellectual barriers down. When I sleep, I put myself completely in your care, in your hands, in your trust. No other force has any right to speak to me when I sleep. Only you. I want to hear you. Speak to me. AMEN.

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

Hebrews 4:12

Dream Prayer challenge: Day 19

Heavenly Father, My Daddy God

You know me better than I know myself. From the beginning of time you knew all my ways from end to end. You chose for me to become a part of your grand scheme for all eternity! How amazing is that!?!

It is more than I can fathom how a Father of so many can know each child to so intimately! You know me by name. You know my favorite things and my pet peeves. You know all my secrets, even the ones I pretend aren't there. 

It is only because I am secure in Jesus, I can ask you this; show me those secrets. Show me the things I've been hiding from. The things I've refused to deal with. I want to allow you to open any festering wound so you can heal it. I trust you. 

Use my dreams to teach me and to encourage me. Holy Spirit, speak to me in the night.

I am asking you for this as well; It's so hard to look at the things within me that I don't want to see. Would you send something beautiful to keep me going through the discomfort of healing? You know the things I like. Please send some beautiful message, something I will recognize, directly from your heart to mine. 

Examining my heart, healing old issues, this is your work, not mine. I yield to you. By trusting in Jesus I rest from all my labors. All the favor I will ever need was won by him. Tonight when I rest, and all day while I work, keep me mindful that I have nothing to earn from you, Thank you, Father God, that In Jesus Christ you have given me perpetual sabbath rest. AMEN. 

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

Hebrews 4:12

Dream Prayer Challenge: Day 18

Living Word, who existed from the beginning, and who is God,

Just as I use words to explain my mind, my purpose; You, Jesus, came to make plain the mind and purpose and heart of The Father. Only through You can we understand him, or approach him, as his children. What a glorious purpose you fulfill, and so beautifully! I praise you!

I read your written Word and it comes alive. By your Spirit, a scripture I've read many times, leaps off the page more vividly - at just the moment I need it. You illumine the Word with meaning I could not derive on my own. You deepen my understanding. You compound my comprehension. You multiply my wisdom with your own. 

O, how I love you, Jesus, Living Word of God! I cherish the Holy Scriptures inspired by your Spirit. But I treasure even more the life-giving Word from your Spirit as it springs up within me. Let your Word bubble up, describing truth far beyond my natural reach. Holy Spirit, bubble up and teach me to see the unexplored wealth within each common experience. Bubble up, and make me truly alive and powerful, as you are within me. AMEN.

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

Hebrews 4:12

Dream Prayer Challenge: Day 17

Dear Jesus,

I love to hear you. I know when I've heard your voice. It was mysterious. I was uncertain, at first. But now I know there is a big difference between my thoughts and your voice speaking within me. You say loving things. You are never critical of me. You never belittle me, or speak harshly. You NEVER accuse me. 

I know I've heard you because of how your word effects me. I feel life. I have less pain. I am more hopeful. I gain wisdom. I forgive others. I seek to help those who need it.

When you speak in my dreams, it is beautiful. When I'm awake, I want to hear you, too, but I might also cling to my own ideas and agendas. But when I'm asleep, my obstinate nature sleeps, too! You have more leeway to reign in me as you ought.

You and I both have freedom in my dreams. I want to run through fields of adventure with you, where ever you will take me. And when I awake, I want to be a more compliant child, more joyful, more radiant, and more readily sharing your love and kindness with others. Jesus, whatever it takes, make me more like you. AMEN.

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

Hebrews 4:12

Dream Prayer Challenge: Day 16

Holy God, Master of Justice and Mercy,

Make me mindful of the danger of delaying obedience to you. I don't want to just skip around the edge of obedience. I want to be smack in the middle of it, at all times. 

You are wonderfully forgiving and merciful. Even so, you allow consequences when I tarry among my own impure desires, daydreaming of disobedience. Merely entertaining, or prolonging the thoughts that go against The Way is perilous. Indulging my selfishness has a price too painful to pay! 

Help me! Rescue me from my fallen nature. I will not cling to it at the cost of losing you. Open my eyes to the risk. Warn me before I fall! And don't let me be deaf to your warning! Send messages everywhere I look while I'm awake, and in every dream while I sleep. Please don't let me avoid hearing your cry.

Reveal anything that offends you, or that will cause a detour in my path. With your help, I will climb higher. That's my goal, one step after another, closer to you.  AMEN.

So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things...

Romans 1:24

Dream Prayer Challenge; Day 15

Gracious God of Heaven and Earth,

Is there an end to your patience? I really don't want to know. I don't want to experience it's limits. I only know how incredibly patient you were with me. 

I pushed away from you and did my own thing for awhile. You hung in. You stayed close. You didn't leave me. Until then, I didn't know you were like that.

I thought you were a demanding god, who delights in punishment, who requires sacrifice, and fawning servility, and frequent groveling at altars. How did I get that impression? That's not you at all! And the harder I tried to be "good" for that god, the more I felt like a failure inside.

At one point, that terrible, false idea of who you are made me run away from you.  I couldn't be good enough! Who would want to be, anyway? 

So, I played with all the fun things the world has to offer - just trying to keep my senses busy, so I could ignore that still small voice calling my name. Night and day, unrelenting, I could sense you protecting me where ever I was, whatever I did, and gently encouraging me, even when I dream.

Softly and tenderly, you kept telling me that you love me. While I was dirty and grimy and covered in the residue of that life, you loved me. When I was my filthiest, you made me completely clean!

What a miracle you got through to me! Thank you, that there is no place I can escape from your love. Thank you for welcoming me and adopting me as your own beloved child. AMEN.

So I let them follow their own stubborn desires, 

living according to their own ideas.

Psalm 81:12

Dream Prayer Challenge: Day 14

Jesus, Lover of my soul, 

I bow my heart before you. When I kneel in your presence there's no other option but to be honest with you. You've seen all the things I've done. You've seen me when I pretend to be better than I really am - and that's pretty embarrassing, to think of you being right there with me while I fake it. And you've seen me when I truly meant well, I really tried, but I got off track and wound up doing something stupid, like repeating the same, old mistake....again. 
And yet you love me. You keep me. Whether I do good or bad, You keep hanging on to me.

I know it's because you love perfectly, without any requirement from me. Unconditionally. 

And just right now, it occurred to me to wonder, is it also because you can see my future, completed self? Do you hold before you the image of each of your children as we will be when we are no longer divided between your kingdom and this earthly one? 

O how I long to see that! To see what you see when you look with eyes of love at your children. Open my eyes, Lord. And my heart. AMEN.

For as he thinks within himself, so he is...

Proverbs 23:7

Dream Prayer Challenge: Day 13

Loving Father, 

How beautiful are all your ways! My God, how far and how deep is your gaze! 
Look in me. I am washed clean, by your grace and mercy! It's only because of your Son's sacrifice that I can stand before the gaze of my Father in Heaven! 

It is amazing to me, this grace. 

But I still look at everything your grace has covered. I see an ungodly desire to earn your love, which is only given freely. I don't always act like I believe you made me totally free from the power of sin and death, and I might have to help, somehow. Like I should do something to keep this beautiful gift.

Have mercy! Lead me out of the habits of guilt and shame. Lead me up into higher planes with you. Holy Spirit, examine me to find the places where unbelief lies in wait to snare me from the exalted position you won for me. 

Jesus, you died for my sake, so now I'm not just some low creature, some human animal; I am a child of the one, true, living God. To comprehend this is beyond me!

Shine the pure light of this truth until it permeates my heart and soul. Make every corner of my spirit transparent. Suss out my selfish ideas and replace each one with your generous love. 

Dream with me, guide me into those places I've hidden from. Holy Spirit, you know every part of me, you've already seen everything I've tried to hide, or hide from. Now, I need you to hold my hand so I can bear to examine the unruly ways of my heart, the shadows of my former, sin-filled life. AMEN.

For as he thinks within himself, so he is...

Proverbs 23:7

Dream Prayer Challenge: Day 12

My Redeemer,

When we walk together, is it like a dance? Do we move together like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers? You lead, while I follow perfectly in sync with you, gliding into every graceful step you take, even though backwards and in high heels? If only. 

But at least I hope to be like a little child who is learning the steps, tip-toeing on The Father's feet, while he gently telegraphs each move in order not to lose me. It's enough to be a child. It's what the Father wants of me, to come to you like a little child.

We will make perfect dance partners, eventually. For now, keep it simple. Just teach me the steps for today. One, two, three. One, two, three. I trust you with tomorrow. AMEN.

A man’s steps are from the LORD; how then can man understand his way?

Proverbs 20:24

Dream Prayer Challenge: Day 11

My Jesus, 

I acknowledge that I am yours to command. I often get headstrong and resist your direction. I wrestle with my nature, this flesh and blood that is bent toward self-direction and autonomy. 

In my willful moments I set out on my own particular way - or my own particular version of Your way. Next thing I know I'm on the wrong path completely, or I find myself fallen flat out on the ground, or knee-deep in whatever muck I wandered into. 

Jesus, will you help me up again? Will you send your Spirit to teach me to be content to walk with you? How will I ever learn to give up on going my own way? 

I praise you for forgiving...everything! No matter how often, or far I turn away. When I stop to think of looking back to the place I left you, you're already right beside me with open arms. You are always near.

Show me how complete your love and forgiveness are. Describe the pleasure you take in rescuing me. Speak to me of your delight when I walk obediently with you. Teach me to honor you with all my steps. AMEN.

A man’s steps are from the LORD; how then can man understand his way?

Proverbs 20:24

Dream Prayer challenge: Day 10

O Lord, My God, 

How will I find my way through this world unless you impart understanding and wisdom? 

I couldn't even find my way into this world without you. You planned my life long before I took my first breath, before I was hidden away like a secret within my mother's womb.

You whispered your desires for me and they were carried by the wind of your Spirit, which brought life, and I grew. I was formed by your breath like a bubble. If you ever withdrew from me, I would collapse.

You must have spoken to me then, while I was in hiding. You surely showed me many things, perhaps even the whole course for my life. But if so, I came into this world knowing that I'd forget all I once knew. 

Even while not knowing, I knew You. My heart was empty until I found you, because you had called me by name, so long ago. You created my soul to be in unrest until I came to you. It's the deepest truth I hold; I was made to belong to you. 

Help me turn away from the distractions of this world, the harshness, the false sense of urgency of every little thing in this earthly realm.

Pull the cord and draw back the curtain to that time before. O Jesus, show me the pictures and images that delight you. Dwell with me in my spirit, speak to me in ways I can't explain, give me insight to live as your Word instructs me. AMEN.

A man’s steps are from the LORD; how then can man understand his way?

Proverbs 20:24

Dream Prayer Challenge: Day 9

Holy Spirit, teach me now. I bow before you. I'm ready to receive. 

You have established a course and plotted every single step. Your eye has seen everything along the way and planned for it. You've prepared for every detail.

Your grand scheme is beyond my comprehension. The scope is above my understanding. And you know me, since I don't really get the big picture from your perspective I try to find short cuts and search for an easier route. 

That's not your desire. You are in it for the companionship along the journey. And I want your companionship, too! 

Teach me to be content to walk in today's light, enjoying the steps we can take right now, in the moment. Let me relish the companionship of your Love more than the knowledge of what is next. 

Let me hear your voice throughout the day and night. Let me be ready to respond to Your voice at any moment. 

When I sleep at night and while I work all day, delight me with symbolic images of your dreams, so I will turn to You for understanding, continually seeking you. AMEN.

A man’s steps are from the LORD; how then can man understand his way?

Proverbs 20:24

Dream Prayer Challenge: Day 8

Lord of Hope,

Oh, how it lifts my spirit to praise you! Thank you for the gift of worship. By it, you change my view and my focus is elevated to a higher plane. My desires and dreams will chase after you, my God and my King!

When I praise you I also recognize the enemies of praise within me. Your pure light of love reveals the dark places in my heart so I can be free. I'm not a slave to these things any longer, I've been adopted to reign in freedom, like my Heavenly Father, and under his direction.

I confess that I still harbor those dark things in my heart. Forgive me. Help me to let them go. 

As I receive your forgiveness, remove the weight of my sin, so I can soar as you intend. I let go of my anger, resentment, bitterness, and fear. Remove their effects from me. 

Give me complete freedom to dream with You, Holy Spirit, as you reveal new possibilities, new revelations, new dreams. AMEN.

LORD, I know that people's lives are not their own; 

it is not for them to direct their steps.  

Jeremiah 10:23

Dream Prayer Challenge: Day 7

Almighty God,

Although you are my Heavenly Father, you are so much more. 

There are no other gods who can compare with your majesty, Most High God. 

You are the Ancient of Days, who established his house of love, mercy, and grace before the foundations of the earth were laid. 

You are my Rock, my sure foundation, the certainty of all I hope for. My dreams, my desires, my hope and my faith rest in you.

Any knowledge I have that is not from you is uncertain and will pass away. You are Truth and Light. Apart from you is only darkness and folly.

You are my Deliverer and my Fortress. You are my Savior, my Healer. You are my Righteousness. 

I humble myself before you. I worship you, my God and my King. Do with me as you will, and I will be blessed to be called a child of the King. AMEN.

LORD, I know that people's lives are not their own; 

it is not for them to direct their steps.  

Jeremiah 10:23

Dream Prayer Challenge: Day 6

Lord Jesus, 

I see your example of love in the Gospels, and the way your disciples lived by your example throughout the New Testament scriptures. 

Have I idealized them? Have I removed humanity from them? I can't see myself among them. I'm not in their league, even though I love you and want to follow you. 

Your disciples did amazing things! They brought the Good News of salvation, healed the sick, raised the dead, they were empowered and led by your Spirit and by angels, through visions and dreams. 

They expected amazing things because you taught them to and they believed you. 

I believe you, too. Help me believe more, with the same faith you gave to them. 

When I awaken each morning, let me wake in awareness that I am established in faith by YOU. AMEN.

The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.

Proverbs 16:9

Dream Prayer Challenge: Day 5

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,

I lift my eyes to you. Lord, I deeply want to be open to your plans. But there is always a part of me that resists. Like a silly monkey with its hand stuck in a trap, tightly grasping a banana, my obstinate desire for control keeps me stuck. 

I can't do this by an act of my will. I've tried. My conscious mind has set out to relinquish control many times, only to realize moments later I'm stuck again. I've latched hold of something so hard that my clenched fingers ache.

Holy Spirit, this is a job for you! I'm asking for your help. Use your power and all those you command to move behind the scenes where I'm not aware, when I'm awake and while I sleep. I want to be influenced by You. 

Tonight, tell me a story while I rest. Night by night, while I drift into sleep, relax this little monkey's fist. Show me how beautiful it is to rest in your plans and dreams for me.  AMEN.

The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.

Proverbs 16:9

Dream Prayer Challenge: Day 4

Heavenly Author of All Things,

You have written my story, in full. 

I am like a favorite book on your shelf, the one you delight in reading over and over, especially the good parts I haven't experienced yet.

I know those "future pages" are part of why you take such delight in me, your child. You've seen the end of my story since the very beginning.

Give me moments today to be quiet in you, to reflect and enjoy your presence. I choose to open the eyes of my heart to see the hints you want to share with me about those coming days in order to prepare me. 

When I lay down to sleep tonight, let me settle my spirit into yours and receive all the beauty and wonder you see. While I rest in you, O Lord, do your work in me. AMEN.

The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.

Proverbs 16:9