Day 12: Refreshment for Your Soul; Intimacy With God

Welcome to Day 12 of Morning and Night: 21 Days of Praying for Your Ministry! Today, in the morning, we are praying for refreshing for your own soul. In the evening, we are asking the Lord to bring you and the people you serve into greater levels of intimacy with Him.

Beloved, God wants to heal, restore, and refresh your soul today.

We all need this, even me. I’m very open about that. Life itself will drain you, and serving in ministry can be draining and stressful at times as well. No matter who you serve, or what spiritual gift or office you are operating in, we all need the Lord to heal, refresh, and restore our souls on a daily basis.

How do you receive that healing, refreshing, and restoration from the Lord?

You take a break from things and come to Jesus. You sit alone with Him in the quiet hours, pouring out your heart to Him in prayer. As the Scripture says in Psalm 55:

“Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved” (Psalm 55:22 NKJV).

You also listen to Him and soak in His Word. After all, Jesus Himself taught us that the words that He speaks are spirit, and they are LIFE:

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63 NKJV).

So, an easy way to get filled with Jesus’ life abundant is to soak in His Own words. That is why long periods of Bible study are necessary for every minister of the Gospel–including you.

(YES, you ARE a minister of the Gospel! If you don’t think you are, know that even being kind to people is a ministry! Can you be kind to others? Then you have a ministry! Believe it!) 🙂

As you soak in God’s presence, in His Word, in worship, and in prayer, both pouring out your heart to Him and listening to what He has to say, you will receive rest from Jesus. This is the rest He gives when He said this:

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30 NKJV).

Beloved, are you ready for the Lord to fill you with His rest today?

First, read these Scriptures to build your faith for rest and refreshment today:

Psalm 23:1-4: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:1-4 NKJV).

Psalm 68:7-10: “O God, when You went out before Your people, when You marched through the wilderness, the earth shook; the heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God; Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel. You, O God, sent a plentiful rain, whereby You confirmed Your inheritance, when it was weary. Your congregation dwelt in it; You, O God, provided from Your goodness for the poor” (Psalm 68:7-10 NKJV).

Isaiah 44:1-5: “Yet hear now, O Jacob My servant, and Israel whom I have chosen. Thus says the Lord who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you: ‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant; and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring; they will spring up among the grass like willows by the watercourses.’ One will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’; another will call himself by the name of Jacob; another will write with his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’ and name himself by the name of Israel” (Isaiah 44:1-5 NKJV).

Isaiah 43:20-21: “The beast of the field will honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My people, My chosen. This people I have formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise” (Isaiah 43:20-21 NKJV).

Jeremiah 31:14: “I will satiate the soul of the priests with abundance, and My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the Lord” (Jeremiah 31:14 NKJV).

Matthew 11:28-30: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30 NKJV).

Ezekiel 37:4-10: “Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.”’”

So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them.

Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, “Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”’” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army” (Ezekiel 37:4-10 NKJV).

And then pray as follows for the Lord to refresh your soul:

• Tell the Father that you come before Him in Jesus’ name.
• Thank Him and praise Him for being your Healer, Restorer, and Refresher–the Lover of your soul.
• Ask Him to forgive your sins and cover you with the blood of Jesus.
• Ask Him to fill you with His Holy Spirit and wisdom today.
• Pray for a new and fresh infilling of His fire and anointing.
• Ask the Lord to pour out His plentiful rain on you today, to confirm you (His inheritance) when you are weary. Pray that He would provide from His goodness for you in every way, even emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, as well as financially!
• Pray that He would make you extremely aware of His presence with you, and of His glory on you.
• Ask Him to pour water on your weary soul, and to pour floods upon everything in your life that is dry.
• Ask Him to pour out His Spirit on you and your descendants (both your literal children and the people to whom you minister).
• Pray that the Lord would flood your entire life with the refreshing water of His Spirit, and that every place that is desert or wilderness would become lush and fertile for you because of the presence of Jesus.
• Ask the Lord to satiate your soul with abundance, and to satisfy you with His goodness.
• Tell the Lord that you are coming to Him, for you have been laboring and are weary and heavy laden. Ask Him to give you rest, and to help you take His yoke upon yourself and learn from Him–for His yoke is easy and His burden light.
• Ask the Father in Jesus’ name for His Holy Spirit to come from the four winds and breathe on you, that you may live and be strong again, filled with life again, a functioning AND REFRESHED, HEALED, AND WHOLE part of His a great and mighty army.
• Ask Him to do all the same things for the people to whom you minister, and for your family as well.

Then, in the evening, pray for greater intimacy with God than you have ever experienced in your life.

Read these promises to build your faith for what that could look like:

Exodus 33:7-11: “Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the Lord went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp. So it was, whenever Moses went out to the tabernacle, that all the people rose, and each man stood at his tent door and watched Moses until he had gone into the tabernacle.

And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door.

So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle” (Exodus 33:7-11 NKJV).

Jeremiah 29:11-13: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:11-13 NKJV).

Matthew 6:33: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33 NKJV).

Matthew 22:37-40: “Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets’” (Matthew 22:37-40 NKJV).

And pray through these Scriptures as follows:

• Tell the Father that you come before Him in Jesus’ name.
• Thank Him for sending His Son Jesus to redeem us to Himself, so that we can have relationship with Him at all! Thank Him for forgiving your sins, and for separating them from you as far as the east is from the west!
• Thank Him and praise Him for His goodness, mercy, and kindness–and for the fact that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us!
• Tell the Lord that you love Him more than anything, and that you want to love Him and serve Him even more.
• Ask the Father to draw you closer to Jesus, to Himself, and to His Holy Spirit than you have ever been before.
• Ask Him to cleanse you and purge you and your life of anything that is not pleasing to Him, so that nothing will stand in the way of the more intimate relationship with Him that you desire.
• Ask Him to bring you to a place where He also speaks with you face to face, as a man speaks to his friend, as He did with Moses.
• Ask the Lord to help you pray, study His Word, fast, and seek Him first more than you have ever done before–and tell Him that you know He deserves that kind of dedication.
• Rededicate your time and priorities to Him in prayer. Ask Him for wisdom to know what changes to make, and how to structure your day, so that you seek Him early and late and long.
• Ask Him to make you a person who carries His manifest glory and presence in tangible form.
• Pray that He would help you to search for Him with all your heart, so that you will find Him and know Him more than ever before.
• Pray that all the things you need would be added to you in abundance as you dedicate yourself to seeking Him.
• Ask Him to help you love Him like He deserves to be loved: with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and with all your strength–and to love your neighbor as yourself, as is pleasing to Him.
• Pray that His Holy Spirit would woo you and draw you, and that He (the Father) would draw you to Himself and to Jesus, revealing Jesus to you; and that He would not leave you alone until you seek Him like He deserves to be sought!
• Thank Him for hearing and answering your prayer, and for helping you walk in wisdom in your seeking of Him, so that He will be first in your life both in word and in deed.
• Give Him praise and glory!

Beloved, our God is worthy of all our time, effort, and energy.

And if you will redouble your efforts to seek Him with all you’ve got, He will draw you close to Himself–closer than you have ever been before.

Do you want this? If so, leave a comment below!