Diocese of South Carolina

Proverbs 1:33 (VOICE)

But those who listen to me now will live under divine protection; they can rest knowing they are out of harm’s way.

Our Father in heaven,

We thank You that You are a covenant God, not a capricious God.  We thank You for the many promises of Holy Scripture.  We claim this promise for the Diocese of South Carolina.  Amen.

Diocese of South Carolina

Psalm 5:11-12 (NLT)

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them sing joyful praises forever.
Spread your protection over them,
that all who love your name may be filled with joy.
For you bless the godly, O Lord;
you surround them with your shield of love.

Our Father in heaven,

Spread Your protection over the congregations and property of the Diocese of South Carolina.  Fill them with joy and bless them.  We declare, They are surrounded by Your shield of love.  Amen.

Diocese of South Carolina

From Wikipedia: Philip the Evangelist appears several times in the Acts of the Apostles. He was one of the Seven chosen to care for the poor of the Christian community in Jerusalem (Acts 6). He preached and performed miracles in Samaria, and met and baptised an Ethiopian man, a eunuch, in Gaza, traditionally marking the start of the Ethiopian Church (Acts 8). Later, he lived in Caesarea Maritima with his four daughters who prophesied, where he was visited by Paul (Acts 21).

Acts 8:40
But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

Oh, for the spirit of compassion and the spirit of evangelism that begets the spirit of prophecy! Let it be in the Diocese of South Carolina in this season of trial, dear Lord.

Diocese of South Carolina

Ephesians 4:15-16 (ESV)
Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Our Father in heaven,
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from You, the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. There is so much property at stake in the appeal by TEC and its local agents against the Diocese of South Carolina.
O Father of lights, please protect the diocese from confusion, harassment, and division in this time of trial. May the communicants of the Diocese of South Carolina behold Your glory. Take their human frailties of spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical fatigue and build them up by Your love that they may be transformed into the image of Christ.
Amen.
James 1:17, 2 Corinthians 3:18

Primates’ gathering

The Archbishops and Primates of the Anglican Communion will gather in January 2016.

From Rev. Canon Phil Ashey of the American Anglican Council:

It is good to hope for a positive outcome from the Primates gathering in January. But it is even better to pray. Hope is good. Prayer is essential.

This is a time to pray for extraordinary courage on the part of all the Archbishops and Primates of the Anglican Communion who will be at Canterbury in January – to pray that they will do the right thing together. To pray that they will honor both truth and love by doing what Jesus would do, and saying what he would say. To pray that they will have the mind of Christ (Phil. 2:5-11) in the mind of the Church, and that they may finally take order of the Church.

But above all it is a time for us to set our hope in the right place, as the Psalmist reminds us:

“Find rest. O my soul, in God alone: my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, O people: pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.” (Psalm 62:5-8)

Amen.

Diocese of South Carolina

Luke 22:7-13 (NLT)
Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread arrived, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John ahead and said, “Go and prepare the Passover meal, so we can eat it together.”

“Where do you want us to prepare it?” they asked him.

He replied, “As soon as you enter Jerusalem, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. At the house he enters, say to the owner, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’ He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is where you should prepare our meal.” They went off to the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the Passover meal there.

Our Father in heaven,
We thank You that a man carrying a pitcher of water met the disciples. We humbly beseech the Holy Spirit to meet the disciples in the Diocese of South Carolina.
Jesus is Faithful and True.
Jesus warned us to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. We lift up the Diocese of South Carolina and pray that they will be holy and set apart for Your good work.
Jesus is Faithful and True.
Cleanse them by the washing of water by Your Holy Word. Help them to beware of false teaching and religious pride.
Jesus is Faithful and True.
You have redeemed the Diocese of South Carolina. Consider their trouble, for they have suffered much adversity. Have mercy upon them and set their feet in a large place, already furnished.
Jesus is Faithful and True.
We cry out for the Blood of the Lamb over them, their ministries, and their property. The Blood of the Lamb says to the angel of death, “You must pass over.”
Jesus is Faithful and True.

Ephesians 5:26, Psalm 31:5-8

Some ideas for this prayer came from Jacob’s Ladder.

Diocese of South Carolina

Our Father in heaven,

We thank You that Your mercies are new every morning. You are gracious and steadfast, abounding in mercy.

May Your hedge of protection be around the Diocese of South Carolina, the blood of Yeshua be over them and their property, and the whole armor of God be upon their communicants.

We pray that no weapon formed against them shall prosper or succeed: no witchcraft, no curses, no judgments, no evil-speaking, no demonic assignment, and no “snare of the fowler”.

We humbly ask for Your perfect justice and Your perfect mercy in the pending lawsuit. There is no crookedness that You cannot make straight; no injustice that You cannot make aright. Have mercy, Lord. Have mercy. Amen.

Reference: A portion of this prayer is derived from a prayer by Rick Ridings.

Diocese of South Carolina

1 Chronicles 29:8-9 (NKJV)
And whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord, into the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite. Then the people rejoiced, for they had offered willingly, because with a loyal heart they had offered willingly to the Lord; and King David also rejoiced greatly.

Jehiel–God lives

John 8:12,20a (NKJV)
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” . . . These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple.

1 Peter 2:4-5 (NKJV)
Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

O Father,
You indeed live! Our treasure lies in You alone.
In this season of uncertainty, may the light of life of Your Son Jesus shine through the Diocese of South Carolina as light shining through precious stones. Amen.

Diocese of South Carolina

Psalm 26:3a
For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes.

Psalm 123:1-2 (ESV)
To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!

For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes.

Behold, as the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant
to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
till he has mercy upon us.

For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes.

Our Father in heaven,
We thank You that Your eyes run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose hearts are completely Yours. Look to the Diocese of South Carolina, we pray. Amen.
2 Chronicles 16:9

South Carolina

Obed-edom was a Levite. He couldn’t go into the most holy place. He could move the tabernacle, but not see it. The name Obed means serving, honoring God in the right way; edom means someone who causes others to blush.

When David attempted to move the Ark without following God’s instructions to use the Levites, Uzzah was struck dead. The Ark was left in Obed-edom’s house in Kiriath-jearim for three months, and the Lord blessed the household of Obed-edom and everything he owned. God visited Obed-edom because he understood the holy. Obed-Edom stewarded the presence of God.

When the Ark was moved, Obed-Edom went with the Ark to Jerusalem. He was designated to be a gatekeeper, to play the lyre, and to guard the Ark (1 Chronicles 15:18,21,24). Once the Ark was established in Jerusalem, Obed-edom helped lead the people in worship before the Ark of the Lord (1 Chronicles 16:5). He continued to serve regularly before the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant as a gatekeeper.

The sons of Obed-edom were also gatekeepers–all eight of them. Obed-edom’s grandsons earned positions of great authority in the clan. These descendants of Obed-edom, all 62 of them, were very capable men, well qualified for their work. God had richly blessed Obed-edom (1 Chronicles 26:4-8).

Our choices affect our legacy.

Our Father in heaven,
We lift to You the litigation between the Episcopal Church, its local agents, and the Diocese of South Carolina. Each side has made its choices.
We ask for Your perfect justice. Grant a bountiful legacy to the stewards of the holiness of God. Amen.

South Carolina Litigation

The hearing of the appeal by TEC and its local agents against the Diocese of South Carolina starts on September 23.

We ponder the mystery that today’s court hearing for the South Carolina dioceses is on Yom Kippur, “the great day of covering over,”
and we honor Jesus, who paid the ransom for our sins with His precious blood.
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
We appeal to heaven and humbly ask for an alignment of this court case with Your perfect justice and righteousness.
We bless the South Carolina Court and Justices, the lawyers on both sides of this case, and the churches they represent.
May Your name be honored in all of the proceedings.
Your kingdom come to this hearing, Lord.
Your will be done as it is in heaven. Amen.

South Carolina litigation

The upcoming hearing of the appeal by TEC and its local agents against the Diocese of South Carolina is due to start on September 23.

For the LORD’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance.
You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.
In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste.
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive glory.
He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye,
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power.
like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions.
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive strength.
The LORD alone led him; no foreign god was with him.
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive honor.
He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him with the fruit of the fields.
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive riches.
He nourished him with honey from the rock, and with oil from the flinty crag,
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive wisdom.
with curds and milk from herd and flock and with fattened lambs and goats, with choice rams of Bashan and the finest kernels of wheat. You drank the foaming blood of the grape.
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive blessings.
Deuteronomy 32:9-14, Revelation 4:11, 5:12

Our Father in heaven,
We loose these songs of Moses and the angels over the courtroom hearings in the South Carolina litigation. Amen.

Diocese of South Carolina

Ezra 6:22 (ESV)
And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the Lord had made them joyful and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

Our Father in heaven,
We humbly request that You turn the heart of the judge to the Diocese of South Carolina in the upcoming litigation and aid the Diocese in the work of the house of God. Amen.

Diocese of South Carolina litigation

The upcoming hearing of the appeal by TEC and its local agents against the Diocese of South Carolina is due to start on September 23.

Psalm 22:3 (ESV)
Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.

Revelation 4:6,8 (ESV)
And before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures . . . And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!”

Our Father in heaven,

Enthroned upon the praises of Israel, enthroned upon the praises of the four living creatures, enthroned upon the praises of those who have been adopted as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ,

Holy is Your name.

We thank You for the blessings that You bestow upon the Diocese of South Carolina each and every day. You are her Provider, her Protector, and her Defender. You are her Good Shepherd.

The Diocese of South Carolina shall not want. You make her lie down in green pastures. You love her with a love that is beyond measure. You know her needs, and You sustain her, even in this season of litigation.

You lead her beside still waters. All of her fountains of joy are in You. You restore her soul.

You lead her in paths of righteousness for Your name’s sake. Your word is a lamp to her feet and a light to her path. Through Your precepts, You give her understanding.

Even though she walks through a valley of litigation, You are with her. She will fear no evil, for You guide her continually and satisfy her desire in scorched places and make her strong. Your rod and Your staff, they comfort her.

You prepare a table before her in the presence of her enemies. She delights in wine and milk without money, without price! She listens diligently to You and eats what is good. She delights herself in Your provision, and You anoint her head with the oil of gladness.

Her cup overflows, and she shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow her, and she shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen.

South Carolina

The upcoming hearing of the appeal by TEC and its local agents against the first instance decision in favor of the Diocese of South Carolina is due to start on September 23rd.

1 Chronicles 27:25 (AMP)
Over the king’s treasuries was Azmaveth son of Adiel; and over the treasuries in the country, cities, villages, and towers or forts was Jonathan son of Uzziah;

Azmaveth–strong as death
Adiel–the witness of the Lord
Jonathan–Yahweh has given
Uzziah–Yahweh has helped

Our Father in heaven,
Your witness, Your help, Your gifts are the treasures of the Diocese of South Carolina. We thank You for the bounty of Your treasuries.
You are the Lord of life, our Creator, and You overcome death. Be present to the Diocese of South Carolina during the ongoing litigation, we pray. Amen.