Episode 108: Haggai 1:4
Dear friends, welcome to Peace Prayers. My name is Juli, the creator and host of the podcast, and I would love to be able to spend some time with you today. Our goal is to take a few moments and dive deep into God’s word before meditating on it ourselves. I’ll read a scripture from the Bible, and then we’ll pray it together over our lives. Invite a friend to listen in and let’s start our day with God’s peace. I am so excited to get started; thank you for joining me today.
You are listening to Episode 108 and today’s verse is Haggai 1:4
“Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”
Let’s pray together.
LORD, more and more I see us, even those who belong to You, fighting for independence and demanding our own rights. I see that we have become divided and so we give up on unity altogether. I see that in our own pride we declare that we don’t need each other and that we can worship You on our own. We think we can decide for ourselves what it best.
But, God, I read that You told me to keep meeting together. You told us to live in one Spirit. You told us we are all members of Your body. You told us that we are created for community. So why is that so hard?
And why do we think that everything else is more important than this? Why do we rush around our busy lives worrying over every single thing and declaring that we’ll give next time or we don’t have the time right now or maybe when the right thing comes along we’ll serve? I know I am guilty of this. I separate my church and my state when I was designed for my state of being to provide for the state of the church.
Help me look carefully into my heart, God, and see if I am keeping anything back from You. This is about my inner self, yes, about my control over my decisions and my own personal needs, but it also pertains to all the physical parts of my life. Do I say that You can have everything but my money? Do I dedicate everything to You but my time? Do I proclaim to serve You, but neglect the good work You have for me to do? What is there in me that is not following You? What do I secretly keep for myself?
I pray, Jesus, for my faith community. I pray for the leaders there, for the workers, for the attendees. I pray for the men, women, and children. I pray for everyone who steps through its doors, even though the building itself is not Your temple, we the people are. It is still a place You have provided for us to worship You, to help others, and to learn more about You, and to communicate and fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Please help me to be a help there, to know the place You’ve set for me. And I pray that I will not be so concerned for my own needs that I neglect others. I pray I trust You to be generous in my life so I am generous to others. Help me support the place I’ve made my home among Your people. In every way, LORD, in the tithes and offerings You asked me to give. In the time and effort and skills You have provided me. And may my priorities be there in support of the work You have established. And let it overflow to those in need as I know it does.
Jesus, may I honor You first and know You will always take care of me. And may I work with others to bring glory to Your name, peace to the conflicted, support to the weary, provision for the needy, and fellowship to the edification of those who believe with me.
I pray this in the compassionate and honoring name of Jesus. Amen.
That is the end of our collective prayer, but don’t forget that you can keep praying and meditating on this on your own. Thank you so much for joining me and I hope you have a peaceful rest of your day. I’d love to ask you a favor before we go and that is to please subscribe and leave a review for the podcast if you haven’t already. That is the best way to invite other people to join us in our prayers and it helps me more than you can know.
And let’s get to know each other better. Follow me over on Instagram at thejulihernandez where you can DM me prayer requests or suggestions on verses you’d like me to pray on the podcast or just let me know what’s going on in your life. Another way to get in touch with what I’m up to is on my website at www.thejulihernandez.com. My website hosts a transcription of each prayer so that you can pray them whenever you like. You’ll also see monthly blog posts that detail my next writing project and I can’t wait to engage with you on that as well. Let’s connect, but for now, Shalom.
