Your Teachings

I study your instructions; I examine your teachings. (Psalm 119:15 GNB)

Today's meditation:

• May the Word of the Lord bring us both comfort and challenge. May it open our eyes to see God's love, but also to obey his commission to share God's love with others.

Pray today:

• For the remaining chapel services this semester to be effective in communicating the Gospel, for our students to receive the Word of the Lord.
• For those who have yet to make a commitment to Christ to do so, for those who need to grow in Christ to find pathways of understanding.
• For the planning and implementation of chapel services next semester, for every speaker and program to be anointed, for effective teaching and preaching, for life-changing responses among the hearers.

Pray First! Pray Through!

No Fear

The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me? (Psalm 118:6 NLT)

Today's meditation:

• People can cause quite a fuss and disruption, but they cannot defeat the Lord nor change his plans.

Pray today:

• For God to advance the mission of Emmanuel College quickly, for confidence in approaching every conference call and every meeting with those who have the power to thrust us forward.
• For our narrow view to expand to a God-sized view, for fears to disappear when we focus on God who is for us.
• For meetings and calls this week to be covered with prayer, to be saturated with the favor of God.

Pray First! Pray Through!

Faithfulness

All heaven will praise your great wonders, Lord; myriads of angels will praise you for your faithfulness. (Psalm 89:5 NLT)

Today's meditation:

• Another Lord's Day. Another opportunity to gather with other believers and worship the Lord. Never take it for granted.

Pray today:

• For praise to be upon our lips, no matter circumstances, trouble or pain, for our memories to be alive with the great wonders God has already performed, for our hope to be sure that the miracles will continue.
• For us to rest in the thought of the faithfulness of God, to remember the deadend that turned out to be a new beginning, to remember the darkest valley that became green pastures and still waters, to remember the steepest mountain that turned into a pinnacle of victory and a panorama of the wonder of God's grace. 
• For us to join the myriads of angels today in praise and adoration of the Lord our God to whom be glory and honor both now and forever.

Pray First! Pray Through!

God Who Saves

Our God is a God who saves! The Sovereign Lord rescues us from death. (Psalm 68:20 NLT)

Today's meditation:

• Troubles, reversals, broken plans. Thank God he is sovereign over all. And, he saves us from it all.

Pray today:

• For the Emmanuel College community to remember that God saves, for us to submit our lives and our future to the Lord.
• For us to break out of patterns of defeat and decay, for a new dawn with limitless possibilities, for faith to believe God to fulfill promises of purpose that are beyond our limited vision.
• For rescue from the shackles of debt, for freedom from any kind of enslavement, especially attitudes that limit action, for us to be saved to serve. 

Pray First! Pray Through!

Praise the Lord

Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who lives from everlasting to everlasting! And all the people shouted "Amen" and praised the Lord. (2 Chronicles 16:36 NLT)

Today's meditation:

• Passing through the many seasons of life, some comfortable and others not so much, praising the Lord should be our constant.

Pray today:

• For the Emmanuel College community as we enter the final weeks of the semester, for us to give praise to the Lord because he is our God, for us to give thanks for the opportunity we have to serve him.
• For our students to honor the Lord with their best efforts, whether academic, spiritual, or otherwise, for those who have much work to do in preparing for exams and final assignments to commit to the work and give thanks for the opportunity to learn.
• For faculty and staff to be energized and encouraged by students who are learning well, but also by those who may be struggling but working hard, for the Emmanuel community to be devoted to God and committed to one another.

Pray First! Pray Through!

My Flock

You are my flock, the sheep of my pasture. You are my people, and I am your God.  I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. (Ezekiel 34:31 NLT)

Today's meditation:

• Parallels are often drawn between sheep and people because we have similarities, namely, a predisposition to get into trouble which means we need a lot of help just to get by. So, let's lean into the Good Shepherd and carefully follow him.

Pray today:

• For the flock of God at Emmanuel to listen carefully to the guidance of the Lord, for us to follow his voice to his pasture where he feeds us, where he protects, restores, and prospers us.
• For the word of the Lord to be spoken over us, words of comfort and forgiveness, words of action and courage, words of healing and favor.
• For the people of God at Emmanuel to worship the Sovereign Lord with total abandon, with shouts of praise and exaltation, with expressions of joy and thanksgiving - because He is our God!

Pray First! Pray Through!

They Will Know

In this way, they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them. And they will know that they, the people of Israel, are my people, says the Sovereign Lord. (Ezekiel 34:30 NLT)

Today's meditation:

• By blessing Israel and freeing them from their bondage, the world knew God was with them, had forgiven them, had redeemed them, and today, something similar is happening at Emmanuel College where our very name testifies to his presence with us, where our actions reveal obedience, where his miracles display his loving sovereignty.

Pray today:

• For doubters and believers alike to be drawn to Emmanuel College through the miraculous provisions of the Lord, for them to see here what they seldom see elsewhere.
• For the people of Emmanuel to shun the temptation to walk in our own ways, and instead, to draw closer to him, the one who never leaves, never forsakes, and is always with us.
• For adoration and worship of the Sovereign Lord to precede the return from captivity, for our worship to be genuine whether chained or free, for our praise to be exuberant because he is our God and he is with us through it all. 

Pray First! Pray Through!