So many times over the past twenty years, I have been tempted to say “enough!” and cry out to God to lead me and my family toward something else. In every situation, in every moment, where I thought that we should step away from Vineyard Church, the Lord said “No, stay”

I am here to call you all to prayer. To seek the face of the Lord. And I am asking every person who reads this message and this prayer to call upon the Lord to bless the Vineyard, to bless the people and the leaders of the Vineyard, to ask the Lord to be the One who is glorified in every thing. There is no ill will toward any person, or any situation, or any decision that was made. God is in control, and He will have His way, and all to His glory!

Prayer

Oh Father in Heaven, whose love for us knows no bounds, and knows no limits, I come before you today, as one who is painfully aware of my own shortcomings and frailties. I pray that You would undo the effects of my sin, and You would have mercy on me. Father, I know your heart for the people you have created is full of love and compassion towards them. I ask that You would bless each person. I especially pray for you, oh Lord, to bless the people of Vineyard Church and the people that you desire to touch through Vineyard Church. I pray that your Father’s Heart would win them all over to walking in their place as sons and daughters. I pray that Vineyard Church would be blessed to be an agent of your adoption agency, and that you would be glorified in all ways as you exercise your great and glorious plan to bring all people to yourself.

Jesus, you alone are the One who has been given all authority, who has demonstrated through your life and now through your reign, that you are the only One who can handle authority properly. It is to you, oh Lord Jesus, that we yield our lives. It is to you, Lord Jesus that we give our entire selves to. I ask that you would take your proper place in The Church, and that people would learn the blessing of allowing you to have your way. I pray that we would all yield to you. I pray that Vineyard Church would yield to you. I pray that every knee in the Northland would yield to you. I pray for every heart and for every life, that we would all understand your limitless authority, forgiveness, and power. I pray that the knowledge of you would cause us to all to lay aside any of our own needs, agendas, designs, and plans; and that we would only follow you, oh King and Mighty Savior! Help us all to walk in full submission to your will, and to your plans, and to your agenda. Make it so, oh Lord!

Holy Spirit, I acknowledge you as the One who brings the very presence of God into us, and I ask that you would live with us and in us and through us. I ask that you would bless the people of Vineyard Church. I ask that you would lead them, guide them, empower them, live through them. I pray that all truth, that you lead us to, would be known. I pray that all of your designs for The Church would come to pass. I pray that you would fill the people, the leadership, the board of directors, the worship teams, the serving people. I pray that they would all be filled by you in such a way that any person who comes to Vineyard Church would see you, would be drawn into a family relationship with the Father, and would come under the Lordship of Jesus. Holy Spirit – have your way in every life.

And so, Lord, I want to ask you to guard our hearts. That even if things have been said or unsaid, even if things have been done, or not done, even if things have offended, or have propped up, that You would fill our hearts with love for one another. That we may seek your best for each other, that you would be glorified in knowing that a people who are called by you would commit to love, and walking in love with one another. Lord, you show the world how people can walk in love. You show the world how The Church can be different, set apart, from the way that the world would deal with difficulty. You have your way, oh Lord.

Have your way, first in our hearts, and then in the hearts of all who you have called to be a part of Vineyard Church.

In the mighty name of Jesus,

Amen