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Say unto your brothers, “Ammi,” and to your sisters, “Ruhamah.” Hosea 2:1 

Hosea is a beautiful story of God’s mercy. It showcases the long arm of God and the extent to which He will go to reach His children when they are far from Him. Throughout this prophetic book, God delivers some difficult words to the people He loves, and, unfortunately, they are well deserved. Their betrayal has been profound, and their disobedience heartbreaking.  His messages will be proclaimed with sobering clarity but the people aren’t in a place yet to take them to heart. They are enjoying their sin too much. 

In spite of this, God’s unchanging love for them is evident in the way He addresses them. “Ammi” means ‘my people’ and ‘Ruhamah’ means ‘those who have obtained mercy’. 

To make a fair comparison, let’s imagine a wife sitting down to have a difficult conversation with an unfaithful husband. She begins by addressing him as ‘my dear husband – who has already obtained mercy.’ Even if what follows is tough love, there is surely a foundation for the future. 

This reminds of me a scene between Peter and Jesus in the upper room, the night Jesus would be arrested. Peter tells Jesus, in a sincere flash of passion, that he is ready to die for Him. Jesus replies, “Not only aren’t you ready to give your life for Me, but before morning comes, you will deny that you know Me three times.” At this, Peter’s heart is full of anguish. It’s what Jesus says next that is so far from the confines of human limits. “Don’t be worried and upset.  Believe in God.  Believe also in me.” There is mercy before the sin; mercy that bridges the present and the future. 

You and I have a Savior who tells us that though we will fail Him today, we should not be consumed with hopelessness. This is not to say that we shouldn’t take our sin seriously, but only that He stands ready to forgive and extend mercy when we repent. Peter’s restoration with Jesus after the resurrection provides a picture of one who obtained unfathomable mercy. They ate a meal together, exchanged heartfelt words about ‘feeding the sheep’, and Peter went on to become the founding father of the New Testament church. The unspoken posture of his writings is, consistently, ‘one who has obtained mercy.’ 

For every way I have failed You, there is redemption. I fall on my knees in gratitude. Amen 

Yet the number of the sons of Israel will be like the sand of the sea. It will come to pass, in that place where it is said to them, “You are not My people,” it will be said, “You are the sons of the living God.” Hosea 1:10 

The nation of Israel was under God’s displeasure. They were walking in disobedience and God got creative in the methods He used for getting a message to His people.  He told Hosea to marry a prostitute. Then, God named each of Hosea’s three children with names that bore a targeted message. 1.) I will crush your fighting strength because you have forsaken Me. 2.) You will experience me as a God who has run out of mercy, so long as you fail to repent. 3.) Your rejection of Me will cause others to say that I am not your God.

 Each one was a tragic word which should have grieved the hearts of each Israelite but they continued to walk in perverted paths.  In spite of this, God followed up these messages with an additional one that began with the word “yet”. In that turn of a phrase, the message of salvation and redemption flowed from the mouth of a heartbroken Father. 

This three-letter word, ‘yet’, can still be heard as God expresses Himself in the New Covenant. 

You may not love Me, yet My love for you is unchanged. 

You may not search for Me, yet I pursue you and keep calling you by name. 

You may be chasing after other gods, yet I will keep sending my messengers to you, reminding you to come to me. 

You may believe that your sin has disqualified you from a real future, yet I have one waiting for you to claim after tears of repentance.

“Yet” is indicative of a value system that is other-worldly. We don’t experience it much here on Earth.  God wants us to know that we are citizens of His kingdom. What we really deserve is withheld when we repent of our sins. What we have not earned is freely given by a God who delights in being extravagant. 

I have failed so many times to love You, yet You loved me anyway. Your message still lives to the Israelites still lives.  For me, for my family, and for the land of Israel who does not yet acknowledge Your Son.  There is no greater love.  In Jesus name, Amen

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors. Genesis 37:2-3

Favoritism can be complicated. Jacob didn’t make Joseph his favorite to spite other righteous sons. Many of the others had already proven themselves to be troublemakers, bound up in foolishness. They had spurned their father’s ways, leaving a trail of disappointment and hurt.

I’m not defending the fact that Jacob showed favoritism. He acted unwisely and set things up for the other sons to hate their brother. From any sibling’s perspective, favoritism never ends well.

But from a parent’s perspective?  Well, the heart is a complicated thing. It can be difficult to have the same affection for each of your children. If one is bent toward evil, disrespects authority, and has no regard for family, isn’t it difficult to feel as attached to that one as much as another whose heart clearly belongs to God? It can be hard to disguise the pleasure you feel over the one that is righteous. It’s equally hard to hide the pain the other one inflicts when they act out against members of your family.  

This is where each mother and father needs Jesus desperately. Only He can heal the hurts caused by a wayward child. Only He can give the spiritual fuel necessary to love the renegade wisely. Only He can show parents how to bestow unconditional love to two kinds of children. How will the child who loves rebellion not see the delight in his parent’s eyes over the ‘good’ sibling? God is the only one who can write the relational roadmap for these dynamics.

In the long run, Jacob should have learned from his own troubled childhood. Favoritism hadn’t worked out well between he and Esau either. Unfortunately, he will repeat it again by failing to disguise his deep affection for Joseph. He will give him a coat, the kind of coat only a royal child would wear. This will fuel the other’s hatred for their brother. In spite of Jacob’s mistakes, God’s purpose for Joseph and the future of Israel will not be thwarted. That is comforting, isn’t it?  In the days ahead, we’ll be in awe of a God who does all things well ~ even when it appears our sin has destroyed all hope of a future.

You are the God of grace and redemption. Bind our families together in righteousness so that we still stand in the last day. In Jesus’ name, Amen

There is no gift more valuable than the gift of prayer. When we craft prayers for others, we invest in their future. Lianna Klassen, a Celtic Christian artist in the early 2000’s, wrote a song called, ‘The Future Belongs to the Intercessors.” As soon as I heard it, it was one of those phrases that stuck like glue.

While the most valuable of all gifts is prayer, casual and insincere promises of prayer can leave something to be desired. ‘I’ll pray for you’ is often the quick go-to line when someone needs to make a quick exit. It’s the believer’s equivalent to, ‘Have a nice day!’ Does everyone who says, ‘I’ll pray for you’ actually do it? We know the answer.

The person who needed it so desperately would be very discouraged if they knew that the one who promised to pray didn’t actually do it. It’s comforting to know that Jesus prays continually. We are never in a position where we have no one talking to the Father about us. Jesus sits at His Father’s side at this very moment and is praying for us with great detail, with intense passion, and with divine knowledge.

The night of Jesus’ arrest, He showed us the value of prayer. When He was preparing to say goodbye to His disciples, He broke into the longest prayer in the Bible. (John 17) It’s so weighty that we could spend years meditating on it and not scratch the surface. When my prayers habitually sound like this ~ “Jesus, please be near them and bless them”, I should know that I’m only skimming the surface. Scripture fuels my prayers with substance and fire.

Here are a few ideas from personal experience and from hanging around other intercessors.

• Ask the one you are praying for, ‘What is it you need from God?’  Listen before you begin praying. It need never be guesswork.
• Ask God to lead you to the right scriptures to undergird your prayers. Put their names in the passage.
• If someone is open, offer to pray for them right after they have shared their need. Be intentional to pray their story. Let them hear you verbalize to God why they need Him. Be sure to end your prayers with God’s promises!
• Say their name throughout the prayer and if the relationship warrants it, touch them. Hold their hand, put your hand on their arm or shoulder, because this may be the only tenderness they ever experience.
• Finally, I often ask the one who has asked me to pray for them, if they are also praying for themselves. It’s easy to expect someone else to do what I’m too lazy to do for myself. Corrie Ten Boom quote ~ “Dear Jesus…how foolish of me to have called for human help when You are here.

Lord, You know that effective prayer takes time.  I need Your help knowing whose spiritual soil is tilled and ready. Amen

If Jesus, when asked to teach His disciples how to pray, composed this prayer out of the perfection of His holiness, is this not the perfect prayer?  Perfect in comprehensive content, perfect in composition, even perfect in length.

How does it look for me to use this prayer as a template – expanding it as the Spirit leads?  Here is one of endless possibilities of personalization.

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. I bow low, prostrate before Your throne.  You are my Father, holy, and perfect. I am nothing.  You are everything.  Unless You enter my world today, it will be of no value.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I see my need right now, Lord.  I see my family’s needs.  Your kingdom needs to come down to our little place on earth.  In Your kingdom, there is righteousness.  Thy kingdom come to us.  In Your kingdom, there is peace.  Thy kingdom come to us.  In Your kingdom, there is structure and order.  Thy kingdom come to us.  May Your will be done here, in every way, just as it is done in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread. Give me hidden manna, Lord.  I embrace Your Word to my heart.  Open the eyes of my heart to see Your Word and understand it. Give me the grace to apply it.  May every member of my family today hunger for your daily bread.  Feed them so that they might live in Your abundance.  May we be a family who feasts on daily manna.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. I stand in the flow of Calvary.  Wash me clean, make me holy, that we may fellowship together without restriction.  I forgive those who will wrong me in any way today.  I put on Your forgiving Spirit as I live out my day.  I pray for every member of my family.  Mold each of them into a child of Yours who walks in Jesus’ lifestyle of forgiveness.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. I stand on Your promise that you will not give me more than I can bear.  The challenges, the sicknesses, the trials have all passed through Your sovereign hand.  Wherever I am assaulted, deliver me from evil.  Fight for me while I sleep, while I trust, while I do Your kingdom work.  Battle the unseen forces that I can’t see.  Make me battle ready to take every thought captive today, to put on the armor and stand in the victory You won for me at Calvary.

For Thine is the power, and the kingdom, and the glory forever, Amen.

Let’s make a prayer map for the following life scenario:

Your son, Tom, has grown up to be a distant and cold person. He was born during a very turbulent period of your life and you suspect he felt unsafe and unwanted.  At the time, you were extremely depressed.  From the time he was born, he has been closed off emotionally.  No matter how kind people are, no matter how warmly they reach out, he does not respond.

Legal Foundation:       

Lord, before heaven and earth, I stand in these truths. 

For he [Jesus] was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For I also am weak, but I will live with Him by the power of God.  2 Corinthians 13:4

 I trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.  Isaiah 26:4

It is he who made the earth by His power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.  Jeremiah 10:12 

God, who rules by His might forever, whose eyes keep watch on the nations, let not the rebellious exalt themselves.  Psalm 66:7

Heart of Stone:You know the circumstances of Tom’s birth. You knit him together in the womb and understood his primal responses to pain in a turbulent world.  This brings me comfort because You know how he is wired and what has comprised his heart of stone.  Kiss it to life, Lord Jesus.  Give him a heart of flesh.  Write Your Word on his heart so that he can know You and trust You.  Give him the courage to ‘feel’ again, even if that means working through the many painful memories Tom needs to confront.  Just because Tom has always been this way doesn’t mean You can’t do a new thing.  By faith, I perceive it. 

Lord, bless Tom, and keep him; Lord, make Your face to shine upon Tom and be gracious to him; Lift up Your countenance upon him and give him peace.  Numbers 6: 24-26

Let’s make a prayer map for the following life scenario:

Your mother-in-law was rushed to the hospital after suffering a mild heart attack. They admitted her for further testing and believe her heart has suffered some permanent damage.   This has sent your husband, David, into a tailspin. 

        1.) David and his mother have a love/hate relationship and he says he can’t live without her.  (*Soul tie)

        2.) David is irrational about her condition and her future.  He fears she will  die soon, but at the very least, her life as she’s known is over.  She has no future. He makes one gloomy prediction after another to the family. (*Fear and unbelief)  

Legal Foundation:

Lord, before heaven and earth, I stand in these truths.

For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God.  2 Corinthians 13:4

He is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded? Job 9:4

To Him who rides upon the highest heavens, which are from ancient times; Behold, He speaks forth with His voice, a mighty voice.  Psalm 68:33

Soul Tie:  Because I am one flesh with David, I am asking You to break the soul tie between David and his mother.  This is not of you.  Sever the toxic connection and forgive him for his idolatry.  Cleanse him of all effects of this unholy alliance.  Strengthen the connection between him and You.  Help him turn to you as His helper, for the things his mother has provided that has fed this co-dependency.  He can live without her because You are His life-source.  

I pray that the eyes of David’s heart will be enlightened so that he may know what is the hope of Your calling, what are the riches of the glory of Your inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of your power for David if he believes. Ephesians 1:18

Fear and Unbelief: Lord, David forecasts doom. In Your name, I ask you to be longsuffering about every potentially untrue and faithless word David has spoken regarding the future.  Use his mother’s frail health as a catalyst to teach David about faith in suffering.  Help him lean on you and the power of Your promises.  

Bind David to the truth and loose him from the effects of his faithless words.  May they have no binding effect over his mother’s life. Your Word says that You ‘deliver even the one who is not innocent because he is delivered through the cleanness of another’s hands.’   In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

You might be asking ~ ‘Can we ask God to hold back the consequences of another’s sin?’  Yes, we can ask God to withhold judgment for a while longer.

“He delivers even the one who is not innocent, who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”  Job 22:30 

“Therefore he said he would destroy them—had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them.   Psalm 106:23

If we are right with God, our intercession for others moves the heart of God and often results in God withholding judgment. He is long-suffering, historically, giving room for repentance and heart change.

Let’s make a prayer map for the following life scenario:

You are going to attend an important meeting in a restaurant.  You are concerned about its outcome because a lot hangs on the success or failure of it.  You know you need to pray strategically so that you can give voice to each area that needs God’s attention and intervention. 

Start by asking the question ~ ‘How would the enemy tamper with this meeting to prevent a kingdom outcome?’

1.    Facilitating a noisy booth for your conversation.

2.    Stirring up angst in your waiter.

3.    Bringing an illness to someone in your party.  

4.    Creating a lack of unity through poor communication. 

5.    Distracting all involved from discerning the voice of God’s Spirit.

Legal Foundation:

Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.  Psalm 45:7   

You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands;they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment.  But you are the same, and your years will have no end.   Hebrews 1:10-12

Lord, you know the spiritual potential of this meeting.  I ask for you to guard it from behind, before, above and beneath. I ask You to be in charge of the table, the waitress, and all the environmental factors that could make or break this discussion.  Let Your peace descend on our booth and on our servers.

In Jesus’ name, I ask you to deliver us from evil, from all forces that would bring disunity and misunderstanding.  Loose us to enjoy perfect spiritual synergy, each hearing Your Spirit speaking to us simultaneously.  On this day, we are committed to find Your purpose, to honor You in our fellowship, and making You great in every plan we carve out for the future.   In Jesus name, I pray.

A SAMPLE PERSONAL PRAYER MAP  

I should always start with a prayer map for myself.  It’s imperative that I take inventory of my own life so that I can target all the ways my personal fence line has been compromised.

As with all prayer maps, I start with a legal foundation.

Legal Foundation:

Before heaven and earth, I stand in these truths.  

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”  Col. 1:17

Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.  Psalm 90:2

For you, LORD, are the most High over all the earth!  You have set your glory in the heavens.”  Psalm 8:1

Great is my Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.”  Psalm 147:5 

Next, I move on to the main part of the prayer map where individual issues are addressed. 

1. I start by taking inventory of generational bents.  I’m specific, naming each one, and breaking them with the prayer that was provided in an earlier devotional.  Prayer is then followed up by discipleship and daily obedience.
2. I ask God to show me if I have a soul tie with anyone. Where do I feel I’m being overpowered, even manipulated?  Do I emotionally depend on someone so much that if they fail to give what I feel I need from them, I’m sure I won’t survive?  I break the soul tie by repenting of it in prayer, asking God to sever it.  I turn to Christ for the very things the other person was providing. And I lean on Him for the strength to resist the one who is controlling.  
3. I take a hard look at whether or not I have made inner vows throughout my life that continue to control me.  They are vows that begin with ~ “I swear I will never ______.”  Or, “I swear I will ___________.”  In these vows, I am the one in control.  God is not acknowledged.  I repent of the vows, one by one, and become conscious of trusting God in the areas I had previously vowed to take care of myself. 
4. I ask God to show me if I have a heart of stone.  How was it formed?  I ask God to free me from hiding, to call me out from behind protective walls, to awaken my heart and show me how to trust and receive His love.  
5. I recall the significant lies that have been spoken over my life.  They were cursing words according to scripture. Insults, stereotypes, nicknames, gloomy predictions.  If they have shaped my life, they need to be broken and God’s corresponding truths need to be embraced.  
6. Lastly, I ask God to show me if I have a set of pet lies that hold me hostage.  Perhaps I don’t believe God can forgive a certain sin.  Or, that all hope for a redemptive future has been erased by my past sins.  I identify the lies and work them out alongside the promises and precepts of scripture.  

I will not have issues in all of these areas, most likely.  If something doesn’t pertain to me, I skip it.  The goal is for me to identify personal strongholds and blindspots and then tackle each of them strategically in prayer.  

To review these topics, you can go to the home page and search for all devotionals by date.  I am praying for you if you are going to begin to  craft a customized prayer for yourself.  This will be a project, carved out over a long period of time.  Don’t wait to pray it until it’s completely finished.  Start with what you have.  As you see changes, you will feel spiritual adrenalin to keep going. We have a powerful God who delights to see us experience resurrection power in the areas we have been held captive.

Where does another person’s free will weigh into the results of my prayer map?    

Christine, I can spend many hours prayerfully crafting a prayer map for someone, but in the end, they could reject Christ or choose not to change.  Isn’t that true?

Yes, that is true.  God never overrides free will.  However, Prayer Mapping is valuable because of what it sets up in, and around, a person ~ giving them the best possible scenario to make a decision toward Jesus and away from the evil one.  

The god of this world lives to deceive and to distort.  Paul says in II Corinthians that ‘he blinds the minds of the unbeliever so that he cannot see the glory of God.’  For anyone to come out from under deception, there must be prayer for that person.  In Prayer Mapping, we learn to take our God-given authority and restrict the enemy’s ability to continue to deceive them.  We give them a war-free zone to consider the Gospel.  They are able to hear the truth and make their own decision apart from the swirling activity of the enemy.  If they are bent to believe and allow God to open their eyes, it will be in this spiritually calm atmosphere.  Will some still reject Jesus?  Certainly.  Wide is the road that leads to destruction.  But the ones who will choose Jesus need every spiritual advantage, accomplished through prayer, to see His glory and believe.  

Christine, I can spend many hours prayerfully crafting a prayer map for someone, but in the end, they could reject Christ or choose not to change.  Isn’t that true?

Yes, that is true.  God never overrides free will.  However, Prayer Mapping is valuable because of what it sets up in, and around, a person ~ giving them the best possible scenario to make a decision toward Jesus and away from the evil one.  

The god of this world lives to deceive and to distort.  Paul says in II Corinthians that ‘he blinds the minds of the unbeliever so that he cannot see the glory of God.’  For anyone to come out from under deception, there must be prayer for that person.  In Prayer Mapping, we learn to take our God-given authority and restrict the enemy’s ability to continue to deceive them.  We give them a war-free zone to consider the Gospel.  They are able to hear the truth and make their own decision apart from the swirling activity of the enemy.  If they are bent to believe and allow God to open their eyes, it will be in this spiritually calm atmosphere.  Will some still reject Jesus?  Certainly.  Wide is the road that leads to destruction.  But the ones who will choose Jesus need every spiritual advantage, accomplished through prayer, to see His glory and believe.