Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death
Psalm 116:5-7
Gracious is the LORD and righteous; Yes, our God is merciful. 6 The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. 7 Return to your rest, O my soul, for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
When I woke this morning by the tender nudging of Your Spirit, LORD, I thought about the fall season and how quickly it is approaching. I thought about the changing of the colors of the leaves and all their beauty.
As I continued in the vision, I also saw death. However, not as the death of a loved one, but the death of the things that lead to the death of families, relationships, memories, and hopes and dreams of our promised land, in which You guide those who trust You and follow Your will for us.
LORD of all seasons, I pray that by Your Spirit, as the leaves fall from the trees, let the leaves of unrighteousness, unforgiveness, resentment, bitterness, malice, and every fruit produced by an unforgiving heart fall from us. LORD, I realize now what an unforgiving heart produces and how it kills relationships, steals future memories, destroys families, even church families, and separates us from You, as the devil has planned to do so from the beginning. As the trees lay bare over the winter season, preserve our hearts and bodies from death; let holy repentance and healing take their course so that we may produce the fruit of Your Righteousness bountifully by Your Spirit. Let mercy grow where there was unforgiveness. Let blessing take the place of malice. Let compassion fill the emptiness resentment left behind, and let love overtake every bitter root that tries to choke out every good thing You placed in our hearts, for our good, and the good of others.
Heavenly Father, may this season be sacred in Your hiding place. Keep us hidden in Christ, where no weapons of the evil one nor his evil spirits can access.
As a gardener covers his trees to keep them safe from the frost, I ask that You cover our loved ones and us with the Blood of Jesus. Set guards over our mouths as we grieve and heal from the inside where You dwell in our hearts. LORD, our Redeemer, bring us out of our spiritual prisons; let us walk in the freedom from the Redemption of Christ in us. Where death lost its sting.
Let us be fully dressed in Him, our Mighty Warrior, bountifully full in every area of our lives, and demand that the enemy give back what they stole from us with interest. Let Your blessings flow freely according to the richness of Your mercy, grace, steadfast Love, and faithfulness. May Your blessings be so much we cannot contain them, nor should we store them for ourselves, but use them to bless others. In Christ Jesus, to God alone is the Glory, amen.
