to give You ultimate praise! Looking over my prayers for Ric that I almost had no hope in, and seeing how You have answered them incredibly beyond my imagination has been utterly awe-inspiring! You are so good! You are so powerful! Only You could have done what You have with Ric, and I praise You for it!

Remind me of this in times that I do not have faith You are listening, Father. You have listened before, to prayers I prayed months ago, and You were preparing it beyond what I could see. I praise You for being so wise and powerful! You are so good! You are brilliant! This transformation in Ric is astounding and I am moved deeply by how great and wonderful You are.

You have listened! You have heard! You have answered, and I bow before You now, to say THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Father, this is a miracle, this a changed heart! Continue to bless Ric with strength to continue talking with Russell and encourage him to seek You. Protect Ric with Your strength and keep him from wandering away. May he stay focused on You and understand this is a battle that You are fighting, he is not alone, nor is it by his strength, but Yours. May he surrender it to You and continue fighting the Good Fight that You have set before him for Your name’s sake. My God, You are so good!

Encourage Ric, Father. Grant him Your strength. Bless him with Your wisdom, speak through him. And bless Your beautiful and wonderful name, God. Jehovah Jireh!

for Russell’s life to turn to You. I know prayer is powerful, and I know You are listening and desire to work in his life. We invite You, we invite You to come and glorify Your name through Russell’s life. Turn him to seek Your face—he already knows things will not bring him the fulfillment he desires, but God, he is not looking to You, You who can bring that satisfaction. Work in his heart, Father, and send the Holy Spirit upon him. Holy Spirit, You are capable of changing the heart, so I pray You will open Russell’s eyes to Your glory and righteousness, Your holiness and sanctity. Allow him to realize his modest place before You, unworthy and filthy, unfit for Your love. Open his eyes wide to the judgment that comes because of these two things—where You stand and where he stands. But lead him to the cross, to see that this judgment has already been taken care of through Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Father, show him Your love! Let him know and somehow understand to an extent, because we are not capable of understanding your incomprehensible love, that You have forgiven him and there is nothing he can do to earn his salvation but by faith. Open his eyes. Soften his heart. Encourage him. Send friends to him. Keep him going through each day. I ask, in Jesus’ name, that we would hang out this Tuesday and have a deep conversation that will glorify Your name. Prepare him, Father, and protect him. I love You and I praise You for who You are. You are good, You are so good! Thank You for taking my punishment upon Yourself so I may never taste the sting of Death. Praise You!

I’m tired of beating my wings, only to lift myself an inch off the ground. I’m tired of beating my wings, only to fall back down, further and further into the world. Where have I allowed myself to go, and why am I wandering?

I have not been sentenced to forty years wandering in the wilderness, yet I continue circling around in this dry season, wasting away time that could be spent in the promised land where milk and honey flow. Oh, how I long to be there, Father!

But humbly, humbly, Father, You open my eyes to the unseen. I will experience this promised land, but right now there is a lesson to be learned. I am lonely, I am confused, I am frustrated with myself, I am unmotivated, undirected, unwilling. If I entered the promised land today I would not enjoy it. So You graciously allow me the time in the wilderness to learn how to be content with You in any circumstance.

I will praise You in the wilderness. I will praise You when I am alone. And I will praise You when I am in the promised land.

Let me not be manipulative, nor deceitful, nor wasteful. Help me to use every moment, this very moment and the next, to glorify You. 

Amen.

for Russell to be incredibly and wonderfully transformed by Your awesome power. 

You are great, Lord, and You bless those You love. You are capable of all things, and I am in utter awe of how intricate and beautiful Your plans are. You pull through in all situations, You are ever-present. Your intelligence is beyond my own, unmatched among all the nations and the universe. How holy is Your name! How great are Your works among Your people! I love You, Father, I love You!

You are so very important to me, Father, and I am willing to enter into unknown territory to share Your name and what You have done. I desire You deeply, Lord, and I find my joy in You. I am fulfilled, overflowing with satisfaction when I am walking in line with Your will bringing Your name praise!

So I praise You once more, for tonight You have done a good work. You provided the opportunity and courage for me to talk with Russell about You. How amazing it was to hear him speak and be honest and open. He was so willing, Father, and I credit You for that.

I ask You, Father, because I know—I know—You have power beyond what I could ever fathom, that You continue to drastically and relentlessly work in Russell’s heart to desire You. Wrestle with him, Daddy, and do not let him go!

I pray he may find joy in You and be satisfied in You. I pray he will seek after You and continue searching until he has found You, the God of the Bible and the God of the universe and all creation. Do not let him go, Father!

Keep him safe, and I ask that You may open his eyes while guiding him to You, Daddy. May he praise Your name.

I pray he will continue to have the drive that he has now, but that he will also rely heavily upon You. May You pull through in his life, for the sake of Your name, Father! I pray You will speak to his heart and move mountains in his life, open doors, and guide him towards You. No matter what situations he is struggling with or enduring, I pray he will rely upon You for strength and wisdom, comfort and joy.

You know my heart desires deeply for him to turn to You and praise Your name. You know my heart cries out that he will seek and find You, Father. I wait with patient hope on Your name, Daddy, Abba Father. You are good and You are capable of all things. You are powerful and You are enough. Your love is better than life, Father!

So I pray Russell will think about his future and think about his eternity and realize how pure and holy You are, Lord. May he be overwhelmed with the realization of how glorious You are, wholly set apart. And I pray in Jesus’ name he will recognize the sin in his life and see the comparison between Your beauty and his filth. May he recognize also the judgment that comes because of this—and God, in Your Son’s holy and precious name, the Name above all other names, I pray he will turn his life over to You once and for all and begin following You faithfully and boldly. Work in him, Father Lord, that he may bring You glory.

May You be glorified, You alone. Your name be praised, for it is great, Father!

With the sincerest of hearts, I praise You and am in awe of what You have done tonight, Daddy! Amen.

for Laura. Move mountains with her, Father. Bless her, Daddy, and cover her in Your grace and comfort her in these difficult times. May she be real with You, Daddy. I am sincere in this, Father, may she boldly let down her guard and be vulnerable before You.

that Manuel and I go to the Harvest Crusade. I come boldly with this, Father. But Your will be done, not my own.

that we may be blessed so we may bless others.

Already, I am entering into tonight with temptation on my mind. Fight with me, Father, for I need Your strength to overcome this! I see a battle coming soon, and I want to be prepared, by surrounding myself with You, Daddy. Pour Your strength upon me, cover me in Your love that I may be satisfied only in You, Father. Thank you! Praises, praises to You, Father! You are enough for me, more than enough. You are more than enough and I do not need anything else apart from You. Open my eyes to the deadly sin that is invading my thoughts. Protect me and give me strength not to give in, Daddy.

And now I pray once more for Emma, Zachary, Andrea, and myself to continue to grow in Your, Daddy. May we focus on our eyes on You only and open our hearts entirely to You. Continue to bless us with others who love You and can be an example for us. May we never use them as a substitute, though, for looking to Christ. I pray we will be more and more Christ-like, as You have called us to be. I pray You will hear our prayers and answer us, Father. Do not turn away from us! 

I pray for our families’ safety tonight, that we may all be safe in our travels and flights, Father. You are the Almighty Protector and we give You praise for upholding us with Your righteous hand. Amen.

I pray for Alex tonight, Daddy, with a somewhat heavy heart. For so long she ha been convinced of lies and living distant from You. I pray You will open her spiritual eyes so she may fully see You and chase desperately and relentlessly after You. Create in her a thirst for You, to be closer than she’s ever been. May she seek You and have a personal, non-ritualistic relationship with You. Move mountains in her heart, Father, and continue to use Andrea as a source of light to reveal Your own character, God. Amen.

Mathieu has also been weighing on my heart heavily these past couple days. Do what You will with him, Father. Continue to stir in his heart and reveal Yourself to him. May he chase after You and become a man of God. Let him chase after Your heart.

And Father, I pray Jason will have better influences in his life.

Be real to me, Father. Be real to me. Come, Father, I invite You into my life right now. Be here, Father. Be real. I search desperately for You. I am looking to You for wisdom and strength, I am depending on You, Daddy. Do not turn away from me! Be here, be real.

You are working in Jason’s life beyond what I can see. Your plan is better than mine. You are God, and I—I am not.

Your will be done, Father, not my own. Bless Your name, bless Your holy name. You are good, Father, You are good!

to You tonight to give You praise. You are such an awesome God, and to see You move so quickly in my life and others’ is mind-blowing. You are so powerful, God, and You choose to grace us with Your presence, but who are we? Who are we, Father, that You look upon us with such deep, unceasing love? I can only praise You for this, Father.

Now, I come to You with Your kingdom in mind. Manuel, as You know even more than I do, is desperate for You. He doesn’t even realize this most often. But, Daddy, tonight I look to You for help in guiding him back to the Truth that You are enough for him.  He can struggle to gain acceptance from those he looks up to, but without even trying, You have accepted him and called him to Yourself. Let him hear, Father, Your calling upon his life, and draw him back to You for Your name’s sake. May he glorify Your name. Daddy, I look forward to the day I get to sing praises with my friend, praises to You, Daddy! Continue to move in his life, stay near to him so when he enters times of troubles, You are not far off. Remember Your child, and cover him in Your love. Comfort him, Father, and let him know there is nothing he can do to escape Your love. We praise You for this unconditional promise, Lord! Your name be praised, forever and ever! Amen.

Father, I also come to You with unending hope for Jason. One day his knee will bow to You and he will proclaim Your name as the one above all other names—but Daddy, I desperately pray that he chooses to do this willingly and out of adoration for You, Father. Bless him, and open his eyes to see You. May he thirst for You and seek You out. Please never stop calling his name, never stop pursuing him, Daddy. Woo him to Yourself, let him taste what his eyes have once seen. Send the Holy Spirit upon him, and do not let him hesitate to search for You. Remove the chains of bondage that entangle him so greatly, shine Your light into his life. And may I be an ever-present example of Your love, without being a temptation, Daddy.

Lord, Andrea, Emma, and I all pray for our families’ safety. My parents are going sailing for over a week and I pray they will remain safe, Father. Andrea’s brother is flying home soon, and we ask that his flight go well. Emma’s dad is also flying back, so we ask humbly that You allow things to go smoothly. And with Andrea, her mom, and her brother going to Washington tomorrow, we ask that You bless their trip. We know You are not our slave, performing everything we ask of You, Father. We come humbly before You, knowing You are the King of all creation. But we are Your children and we know we can boldly approach Your throne, and whatever we ask that is according to Your will, we will receive. So we remember Your faithfulness and praise You, Daddy, for already keeping our families safe. Thank You, Father!

Daddy, it is such a blessing to see You move so powerfully in Emma’s life. Thank You for tonight, Daddy, thank You. Thank You for allowing me the opportunity to see her grow closer to You and deeper in her relationship with You over these past couple years, it has been such a pleasing thing to watch! May she continue to grow more intimate and open with You, Daddy, relying fully upon Your strong power. You are capable of all things and You are faithful, God, so I pray she will acknowledge that daily and rest in Your presence. Grant her peace where she needs it, Father, and help guide her to a place where she can fall into Your arms in times of troubles. Bless her, Father, that she may bless others.

God, I praise You once more for how much Zachary has grown. What a blessing it is to hear how much You have touched his life, even tonight. I pray he will burn with passion for You and hear Your call upon his life. May he hear Your call and go out into the world, spreading the Good News that he knows is true. Guide him and bless him with people who will minister to him. May he have the means, granted by You, to go and spread Your precious name to the ends of the Earth. And Daddy, I pray he will seek a girl who chases after Your heart. Let him not foolishly chase after a faulty relationship, but trust in You and follow You wherever You lead. Amen.

We praise You, Father, for allowing Andrea the chance to choose which school she wants to enroll in. Thank You for blessing her in this way, but now we come to You and ask what You desire. Lead her, Daddy, to wherever You want her to go, and she will follow. If You have given her this option to choose for herself, then I pray that is evident to her, Father, that she will not stand still out of fear, but will go. Father, may we all remember to go in situations You are silent, that we may find out where You want us. Amen.

Daddy, I also come to You with a breaking heart. Veronica does not want this baby, this miracle that You have so magnificently created. I ask that this baby will be loved, not only by You—though You are enough—but also by whoever may take care of it. Whether Veronica comes to a point that she does love the child or it is adopted, I pray You will bless this child’s life. Keep it safe, and may it always know of Your incredible love, Father. May it have a safe and loving home. Amen.

Father, I now close with one more thing to ask of You: I pray Andrea, Emma, and I will continue to grow closer to each other and strengthen our relationship so we may bless Your name. Give us a spirit of power and of wisdom, as You already have, and help us to embrace it, Father. May our schedules be open every single week so we can meet up and spend time in fellowship by reading Your word. Guide us and move us to a new place, Father, outside of our comfort zone. May we be bold in our faith and be active in spreading the gospel. This is for You, Father, this is all for You! We praise Your holy and precious name.

We pray this in Jesus’ name, the Name above all other names, Amen.

Father, I cannot wait for the day I enter into Your kingdom and sing praises to Your name. I will be in the midst of the largest crowd imaginable and we will be shouting praises to Your name! It will be beautiful, no matter how tone-deaf some of us will be, no matter how loudly we proclaim the glory of Your name, no matter if we sing off key or if our voices go flat. Father, our worship will be beautiful because of Who we are singing to. Because You are beautiful.