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Dr. Michael Heiser on some of the major problems with the idea of the Bible Codes...

PRAYERS FROM OLD TESTAMENT CHAPTERS – PART 6

Show me, O Adonai, Your mercy, and delight my heart with it. Let me find You, whom I so longingly seek. See, here is the man whom the robbers seized, mishandled, and left half dead on the road to Jericho. O kind-hearted Samaritan, come to my aid! I am the sheep who wandered into the wilderness; seek after me, and bring me home again to Your fold. Do with me what You will, that I may stay with You all the days of my life and praise You with all those who are with You in heaven for all eternity. (Jeremiah 50)

In the hour of my distress, when temptations I oppress, and when I my sins confess, Sweet Spirit, comfort me! When I lie within my bed, Sick in heart and sick in head, and with doubts discomforted, Sweet Spirit, comfort me! When the tapers now burn blue, and the comforters are few, and that number more than true, Sweet Spirit, comfort me! When the Judgment is revealed and that opened which was sealed when to thee I have appealed Sweet Spirit, comfort me! (Lamentations 3).

O Adonai Eloheinu Almighty, redeem my soul from its bondage, that I may be free to live henceforth, not for myself, but for You. Help me to put away self, and to remember that this life is not given for my ease, my enjoyment. It is a schooling time for the eternal home You have prepared for those who love You. Keep my eye steadily fixed on that haven of rest and peace, that I may not be faint nor be weary from the length of the way, but may strive to walk worthy of my high calling in all meekness and lowliness of heart. (Ezekiel 11).

You are wisdom, uncreated and eternal, the supreme first cause, above all being, sovereign Godhead, sovereign goodness, watching unseen the YHVH-inspired wisdom of Messianic/Christian people. Raise us, we pray, that we may totally respond to the supreme, unknown, ultimate, and splendid height of Your words, mysterious and inspired. There all YHVH’s secret matters lie covered and hidden under darkness profound and brilliant, silent and wise. You make what is ultimate and beyond brightness secretly to shine in all that is most dark. (Ezekiel 43).

O Adonai, great is the glory you have received from those whom you in your mercy have called. Adonai, protect all of Your servants. Stay with them to the end, for they will then glorify Your Name for all eternity. (Daniel 3).

Almighty and Everlasting YHVH, prepare us by all the events of life for our great and final change, for we know not how soon it may come upon us. May every opportunity of Holy meditation, and of public, social, and secret prayer, call our mind from this earthly scene, that we may be fitted for that everlasting state. When the shadows of evening shall come upon us, when age and sickness arrive, when human help shall fail us, be, O Adonai, the strength of our heart and our portion forever more. (Daniel 12).

Almighty and most merciful Father, whose mercy has kept me from the grave, grant that I may reflect on my past life and repent of the days and years in which I ignored Your grace and neglected my salvation. Help me to use the time You have given me, so that I may become more diligent in the studies You have given me. When at last I shall be called in judgment, may I be received as a good and faithful servant into everlasting happiness. For the sake of Yeshua Moshiach our Saviour. (Hosea 6).

O Adonai my Saviour and my Master, I, Your undeserving servant, with fear and trembling give thanks to Your loving goodness for all benefits which You have poured so abundantly upon me, Your servant. I fall down in adoration before You and offer You, O YHVH, my praises. With fervour I cry to You, O YHVH: Deliver me from all adversities, and mercifully fulfil in me those desires that may be pleasing to You. Hear me, O Adonai and have mercy, for You are the hope of all the earth. To You, with the Father and Ruach HaKodesh, be ascribed glory, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. (Joel 2).

O Adonai, look in pity on us poor pilgrims in the narrow way. Let us not go astray but reach at last our true home where our Father dwells. Guide and govern us from day to day, and bestow on us food and strength for body and soul that we may journey on in peace. Forgive us for having so often wavered or looked back, and let us march straight on in the way of your laws. May our last step be a safe and peaceful passage to the arms of Your love, and the blessed fellowship of the saints in light. Hear us, O Adonai and glorify Your Name in us that we may glorify you forever and ever. (Amos 5)

Blessed Adonai, who was tempted in all things like we are, has mercy on our frailty. Out of weakness give us strength. Grant to us your fear so that we may fear You only. Support us in time of temptation. Embolden us in time of danger. Help us to do Your work with good courage and to continue as Your faithful soldiers and servants to the end of our life; through Yeshua Moshiach our Saviour. (Jonah 2).

O Adonai, greatest and most true light, from which the light of the day and of the sun springs! O Light, which lightens every human who comes into the world! O Light, which knows no night or evening but is always at midday most clear and fair! Without You all is utter dark- ness; by You everything is resplendent. O Wisdom, Father of mercies, enlighten my mind, so that I may see only those things that please You and be blind to everything else. (Micah 7).

Grant, Almighty YHVH, that we may learn to rely on You and so trust Your blessing that we would avoid stealing and plunder and all other evil deeds. Keep us from all unlawful coveting. Help us to fear You and so learn to bear our poverty on earth by being content with the spiritual riches You offer us in Your gospel. As partakers in that Good News, may we cheerfully aspire to that fullness of all blessings, which we shall enjoy when we are perfectly united to You through Moshiach our Saviour. (Habakkuk 2).

O Adonai, help us to turn and seek You; for You have not forsaken Your creatures as we have forsaken You, our Elohim. Let us turn and seek You, for we know You are here in our heart when we confess to You, when we cast ourselves upon You and weep in Your bosom after all our rugged ways; and You gently wipe away our tears, and we weep more for joy; for You, Adonai, who made us, do remake and comfort us. (Zephaniah 2).

O YHVH, before whose face the generations rise and pass away: Age after age the living seeks You and finds that there is no end to Your faithfulness. Our forbears in their pilgrimages walked by your guidance and rested on your compassion. To their children You were the cloud by day and the pillar by night. Where but in You have we shelter from the storm and shadow, from the heat of life? Take now the veil from every heart, and join us in one communion with Your prophets and saints who have trusted in You and were not ashamed. Not because we merit it, but because of Your mercy, hear our prayer. (Zechariah 10).

Help me Adonai, to remember that religion is not to be confined to the church or closet nor exercised only in prayer and meditation, but that everywhere I am in Your presence. So may my every word and action have a moral content. (Malachi 2)

PRAYERS FROM OLD TESTAMENT CHAPTERS – PART 5

Keep me, O Adonai, while I remain on this earth, in a daily practice of serious seeking after You. Grant me an affectionate, believing walk with You, so that when You return, I will not be found hiding my talent or serving my flesh or asleep with my lamp unfilled, but waiting and longing for my Adonai, my glorious YHVH, for ever and ever. (Proverbs 3).

O Adonai, who is the giver of all good things, fill our hearts with gratitude for the food and drink laid before us. And as we fill our bellies, may we be sober and frugal in our eating, taking only that which is necessary to refresh ourselves for Your service. Let the pleasure we take in the bread that nourishes our earthly bodies be as nothing to the joy we take in the spiritual bread of Your truth, which nourishes the soul. (Proverbs 13).

O Adonai, who has so loved my soul, make me a lover of souls. Fill me with an unwearied, unconditional love, one that perceives keenly and endures strongly. Let such love enable others to do and be their best. Help me to be an advocate for the powerless and invisible. Take from me the spirit of nervousness and self-absorption. Being inwardly cured and thoroughly cleansed, may I am fit to love, steady to persevere. Let no sickness or accident, no task or weariness, make me ungracious to those about me, but in all things make me like Your Holy Son, Yeshua. (Proverbs 16).

YHVH of Truth, protector of Your people, come to the aid of all who are poor and oppressed. By the power of Your life-giving Word, lead us in the ways of peace and integrity, and give us the help we long for in Yeshua Moshiach our Saviour. (Proverbs 29).

The breath of life, O Adonai, seems spent. My body is tense, my mind filled with anxiety, yet I have no zest, no energy. I am helpless to allay my fears; I am incapable of relaxing my limbs. Dark thoughts constantly invade my head, and I have no power to resist them. . .. Friends no longer want to visit me. You have driven away my spiritual brethren. I am now an outcast from Your church. No longer have the flowers wanted to bloom for me. No longer have the trees come into leaf for me. No longer have the birds sung at my window. My fellow Christians condemn me as an idle sinner. Adonai, raise up my soul, revives my body. (Ecclesiastes 2).

Teach us, O Adonai and enable us to live the life of saints and angels. Take us out of the apathy, the irritability, the sensitiveness, the anarchy in which our souls lie, and fill them with Your fullness. Breathe on us with Your breath, which infuses energy and kindles fervour. In asking for fervour, we ask for all that we may need and all that You can give. In asking for fervour, we are asking for faith, hope, and charity; we are asking for that loyal perception of duty, which follows on yearning affection; we are asking for sanctity, peace, and joy, all at once. Nothing would be a trouble to us, nothing a difficulty, had we but fervour of soul. Adonai, in asking for fervour we are asking for You, for nothing short of You, O YHVH. Enter our hearts, and fill them with fervour by filling them with You. (Ecclesiastes 12).

Majestic Sovereign, Timeless Wisdom, Your kindness melts my hard, cold soul. Handsome Lover, Selfless Giver, Your beauty fills my dull, sad eyes. I am Yours, You made me. I am Yours, You called me. I am Yours, You saved me. I am Yours, You loved me. I will never leave Your presence. Give me death, give me life. Give me sickness, give me health. Give me honour, give me shame. Give me weakness, give me strength. I will have whatever You give. (Song of Songs 2).

I ask You, Adonai Yeshua, to develop in me, Your lover, an immeasurable urge toward You, an affection that is unbounded, a longing that is unrestrained, a fervour that throws discretion to the winds! The more worthwhile our love for You, all the more pressing does it become. Reason cannot hold it in check, fear does not make it tremble, and wise judgment does not temper it. (Song of Songs 8).

Merciful Father, we come to You confessing the sins of our civilization, in which we have all shared. We have been so bent upon our selfish ends that we would not stop to have mercy. When we have seen those whom the injustices of the world have bruised and beaten, we have passed by on the other side. We have built around ourselves the walls of privilege, within which we might not hear the passion of exploited men, the weeping of women, and the bitter cry of children robbed of happy youth. O YHVH of judgment, make us fit to ask for Your forgiveness before it is too late. (Isaiah 1).

Almighty YHVH and Father of light, a child is born for us and a son is given to us. Your eternal Word leaped down from heaven in the silent watches of the night, and now Your Church is filled with wonder at the nearness of her YHVH. Open our heart to receive his life and increase our vision with the rising of dawn, that our life may be filled with His glory and His peace, who lives and reigns for ever and ever. (Isaiah 9).

Adonai, we beseech You to help and defend us. Deliver the oppressed, pity the poor, uplift those who have fallen, be the portion of those in need, return to Your care those who have feed the hungry, strengthen the weak, and break the chains of the prisoners. May all people come to know that You only are YHVH, that Yeshua Moshiach is Your Son, and that we are Your people and the sheep of Your pasture.
(Isaiah 25).

O eternal and most glorious YHVH, You who assure us that precious in Your sight is the death of Your saints, enable us in life and death, seriously to consider the value, the price of a soul. It is precious, O Adonai, because Your image is stamped and imprinted upon it; precious, because the blood of Your Son was paid for it; precious, because Your blessed Spirit, Ruach HaKodesh, works upon it and tests it by His various fires; and precious, because it is entered into Your revenue and made part of Your treasure. (Isaiah 43)

I asked for strength that I might achieve; I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey. I asked for health that I might do greater things; I was given infirmity that I might do better things. I asked for riches that I might be happy; I was given poverty that I might be wise. I asked for power that I might have the praise of men; I was given weakness that I might feel the need of YHVH. I asked for all things that I might enjoy life; I was given life that I might enjoy all things. I got nothing that I had asked for but everything that I had hoped for. Almost despite myself my unspoken prayers were answered; I am, among all men, most richly blessed. (Isaiah 55).

Behold Adonai, an empty vessel that needs to be filled. My Adonai, fill it. My faith is weak; strengthen me. I am cold in love; warm me and make me fervent that my love may go out to my neighbour. I do not have a strong and firm faith; at times I doubt and am unable to trust You altogether. O Adonai, help me. Strengthen my faith and trust in You. In You I have sealed the treasures of all I have. I am poor; You are rich and did come to be merciful to the poor. I am a sinner; You are upright. With me there is an abundance of sin; in You is the fullness of righteousness. Therefore, I will remain with You of whom I can receive but to whom I may not give. (Isaiah 65).

Grant to me, O Adonai, to know what I ought to know, to love what I ought to love, to praise what delights You most, to value what is precious in Your sight, to hate what is offensive to You. Do not suffer me to judge according to the sight of my eyes nor to pass sentence according to the hearing of the ears of ignorant men; but to discern with true judgment between things visible and spiritual, and above all things to enquire what the good pleasure of Your will is. (Jeremiah 8).

O Adonai Almighty, Father un-begotten, upon us miserable sinners have mercy. O Adonai, who has redeemed the work of Your hands by Your only Son, have mercy upon us. O Adonai, blot out our offences, and upon Your people have mercy. O Moshiach, Brightness of the Father’s glory and the express image of His person, have mercy upon us. O Moshiach, who saved the world at the command of the Father, have mercy upon us. O Moshiach, Saviour of men, eternal life of angels, have mercy upon us. O Adonai, Spirit, the Comforter, Dispenser of pardon, have mercy upon us. O Adonai, Fountain of mercy and of sevenfold grace, have mercy upon us. O most bountiful Giver of gifts, Rabbeinu, Source of life, of Your goodness have mercy upon us. (Jeremiah 15).

Come forth from Your royal chambers, O Prince of all the kings of the earth. Put on the visible robes of Your imperial majesty. Take up that limitless sceptre that Your Almighty Father has bequeathed you. For now the voice of Your bride, the church, calls You, and all creatures sigh to be renewed. (Jeremiah 23).

Almighty and everlasting YHVH, the comfort of the sad, the strength of sufferers, let the prayers of those that cry out of any tribulation come to You, that all may rejoice to find that Your mercy is present with them in their afflictions. Through Yeshua Moshiach our Saviour. (Jeremiah 31).

PRAYERS FROM OLD TESTAMENT CHAPTERS – PART 4

Grant us grace to come near You with faith unshaken and full of hope to confess our trespasses and despise them. Let Your Spirit reprove us for our sins. Enlighten our hearts that we may see how greatly did we err, misbehave, and forsake the way. Grant us determination to forsake evil that we may be established in Your commandments and live to glorify Your holy Name. (Ezra 10)

Our weakness Adonai, gives You continual opportunity for displaying Your strength. And opposition to Your church gives You continual opportunity for displaying your power. Thus, at times of persecution, when we feel weak in the face of our enemies, sustain our heart with your strength, and defeat Your enemies by Your mighty power. And may the blood that Your faithful people shed today become the soil in which Your church grows and flourishes in the future. (Nehemiah 4).

Almighty YHVH, Father of our Maran Rabbeinu Yeshua Moshiach grant we pray, that we might be grounded and settled in Your truth by the coming of Your Ruach Kodesh in our hearts. What we do not know, reveal to us; What is lacking within us, make complete; That which we do not know, confirm in us; And keep us blameless in Your service, Through Yeshua Moshiach our Adonai. (Nehemiah 13).

Almighty YHVH, King of kings, who has called us into a Kingdom not of this world: Send forth Your Spirit, we pray, into the dark dwelling places of guilt and woe. Reach the heart of every oppression, and make arrogance silent before Your presence. Still the noise of our strife. Put to shame the false idols of every heart. Bring faith to the doubting, hope to those who fear, strength to the powerless, and comfort to all who mourn. O Adonai, bestow Your Word on faithful witnesses, so that Your Kingdom may come quickly. May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven; through Moshiach our Adonai. (Esther 4).

Abba, I abandon myself to You. Do with me as You will. Whatever You may do with me, I thank You. I am prepared for anything; I accept everything. Provided Your will is fulfilled in me and in all creatures, I ask for nothing more, my YHVH. I place my soul in Your hands. I give it to You, my Elohim, with all the love of my heart because I love You. And for me it is a necessity of love, this gift of myself, this placing of myself in Your hands without reserve in boundless confidence, because You are Abba. (Job 1)

O Almighty YHVH, when our vision fails and our understanding is darkened, when the ways of life seem hard and brightness of life is gone, grant to us the wisdom that deepens faith and enlarges trust. And whenever the ways in nature or in the soul are hard to understand, then may our quiet confidence, our patient trust, our living faith in You be great. . . . May we with a quiet mind at all times put our trust in You. (Job 12).

O YHVH, our great Companion, You are the light of minds that know You, the life of souls that love You and the strength of wills that serve You: Help us so to know You that we may truly love You, so to love You that we may fully serve You, who to serve is perfect freedom; through Yeshua Moshiach. (Job 28).

Hear us, O YHVH, the Father of our Adonai Yeshua Moshiach. Through Your Name the sea is calmed, the fire is quenched, and the grave and death are brought to nothing. You comfort those who are oppressed; You heal those who are suffering; those who are lost in the sea, You come to their aid. In like manner my Adonai, also come to help and deliver us from this time. For You are the true YHVH, the Help of those who are oppressed and in tribulation; and Yours is the power and the glory forever. (Job 37).

O YHVH, the King eternal, who divides the day from the darkness and turns the shadow of death into morning, drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our heart to keep Your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done Your will with cheerfulness while it was day, we may, when night comes, rejoice and give You thanks. (Psalms 5).

I thank You, my Elohim and King Most High, that You have given me these joys in Your creation, this ecstasy over the works of Your hands. I have made known the glory of Your works to men as far as my finite spirit was able to comprehend Your infinity. If I have said anything wholly unworthy of You or have aspired after my own glory, graciously forgive me. (Psalms 8).

O Most High, Almighty, and wonderful YHVH, to You belongs praise, glory, honour, and all blessing! Praised be my Adonai Eloheinu and His creatures and especially for the sun, who brings us the day and who brings us the light; fair is he and shines with very great splendour; O Adonai, he points us to You! (Psalms 19)

Grant us, we pray, the lost who hunger and thirst after righteousness; the longing for YHVH. Grant to us that drawing power by which everything in us shall call for You. Become necessary to us. With the morning and evening light, at noon and at midnight, may we feel the need of Your companionship. . . . Though You do not speak as man speaks, yet You can call out to us; and the soul shall know Your presence and shall understand by its own self what You mean. Grant to us this witness of the Spirit, this communion of the soul with You; and not only once or twice: May we abide in the light. (Psalms 27).

I confess Adonai, with thanksgiving that You have made me in Your image so that I can remember You, think of You, and love You. But that image is so worn and blotted out by faults, and darkened by the smoke of sin that it cannot do that for which it was made unless You renew and refashion it. Adonai, I am not trying to make my way to Your height, for my understanding is in no way equal to that, but I do desire to understand a little of Your truth, which my heart already believes and loves. (Psalms 51).

As the hand is made for holding and the eye for seeing, You have fashioned me for joy. Share with me the vision that shall find it everywhere: in the wild violet’s beauty; in the lark’s melody; in the face of a steadfast man; in a child’s smile; in a mother’s love; in the purity of Yeshua. (Psalms 65).

O Adonai Yeshua Moshiach, very bright Sun of the world, ever rising, never going down: We ask You to shine upon our spirit. You have driven away the night of sin and error by your inward light; let us now walk in the light of this day without stumbling. Hear our prayer, Adonai, who lives and reigns with the Father and Ruach HaKodesh now and forever. (Psalms 92).

O my Elohim, let me walk in the way of love, which knows not how to see self in anything whatsoever. But what love must it be? It must be an ardent love, a pure love, a courageous love, a love of charity, a humble love, and a constant love. O Adonai, give this love into my soul, that I may never more live nor breathe but out of a more pure love of Thee, my all and only YHVH. (Psalms 116).

Adonai, help us to love You; teach us to serve You. Give us Your strength that we may overcome our corrupt nature. Grant this day that we may have power from on high to resist every temptation; to confess Moshiach before men and women; to labour steadfastly with a single eye to Your glory; to live in the spirit of prayer, in faith, humility, self-denial, and love; and to walk before You in that narrow way that leads to eternal life. Fill us with love for others. Teach us to do good to all people, to visit and relieve the fatherless and the widows in their affliction. Adonai, for Your Name’s sake, hear us. (Psalms 138).

O sweet and loving YHVH, when I stay asleep too long, oblivious to all Your many blessings, then, please, wake me up and sing to me Your joyful song. It is a song without noise or notes; it is a song of love beyond words, of faith beyond the power of human telling. I can hear it in my soul when you awaken me to Your presence. (Psalms 147).

PRAYERS FROM OLD TESTAMENT CHAPTERS – PART 3

O YHVH, You Who are the Author of love and the Lover of pure peace and affection, let all who are terrified by fears, afflicted by poverty, harassed by tribulation, worn down by illness, be set free by Your indulgent tenderness, rose up by renewal of life and cherished by Your daily compassion. (1 Samuel 30)

Almighty YHVH, Father of mercies and giver of comfort: Deal graciously, we pray, with all who mourn; that, casting their care on You, they may know the consolation of Your love; through Yeshua Moshiach our Adonai. (2 Samuel 1).

O blessed Adonai and Saviour, who has commanded us to love one another, grant us grace that, having received Your undeserved bounty, we may love everyone in You and for You. We ask Your compassion for all; but especially for the friends whom Your love has given to us. Love them, O Fountain of love and make them love You with all their heart, with all their mind and with all their soul, that they may speak and do only what is pleasing to You…. Do to them what is useful for them, according to Your will, that they would always and everywhere be ruled and protected by You, attaining everlasting life; and to You, with the Father and Ruach HaKodesh, be all honour and praise forever and ever. (2 Samuel 9).

May YHVH, Who pardoned David through Nathan when he confessed his sins, and Peter weeping bitterly for his denial, and the sinful woman weeping at his feet and the publican and the Prodigal Son, may the same Elohim forgive thee all things… . Have no further care for the sins which thou hast confessed, depart in peace.
(2 Samuel 12).

O YHVH, the Source of all being and all joy, give us knowledge of ourselves, our powers and weaknesses, our spirit, our sympathy, our imagination, our knowledge, our truth; teach us by the standard of Your Word, by the judgments of others, by examinations of ourselves; give us the earnest desire to strengthen ourselves continually by study, by diligence, by prayer and meditation; and from all fancies, delusions and prejudices of habit or temper or society, save us and help us, we humbly beseech You, O Adonai. (1 Kings 3).

Almighty YHVH, enter our hearts and so fill us with Your love that, forsaking all evil desires, we may embrace You, our only good. Show us, in Your mercy Adonai Eloheinu, what You are to us. Say to our souls; I am Your salvation. Speak that we may hear. Our hearts are before you; open our ears; let us seek Your voice and cling to You. Do not hide Your face from us, we pray, O Adonai. Enlarge the narrowness of our souls that You may enter in. Repair the decayed mansions that You may dwell there. Hear us, O heavenly Father, for the sake of Your only Son, Yeshua Moshiach, our Adonai, who lives and reigns with You and Ruach HaKodesh, now and forever. (1 Kings 8).

Holy One, You promised the poor and needy ones that, when their tongues were parched and no water could be found, Your rivers would spring forth from the desert to relieve them. Today we thirst; bless us with Your living water. Break our drought; surge through our spirits, that we may live again. (1 Kings 17).

O Heavenly Father, the Father of all wisdom, understanding, and true strength, I humbly ask You to look mercifully upon me. Send Ruach HaKodesh into my heart, not only that I may understand according to Your wisdom how to bear temptation, but also how to defeat it. When I must join to fight in the field for the glory of Your Name, may I stand courageously in the confession of Your faith and truth, being strengthened by the defence of your right hand. May I continue to stand faithfully to the end of my life, through Yeshua Moshiach our Adonai. (1 Kings 22)

Father in heaven, draw our hearts to You, that our hearts may be where our treasures ought to be, that our minds and thoughts may look to Your Kingdom, whose citizens we are. Thus, when You shall call us hence, our departure may not be a painful separation from this world but a joyous meeting with You. Strengthen in our heart the conviction that in life, as in death, we belong to You. (2 Kings 2).

Gracious Father, we humbly beseech You for Your universal church. Fill it with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purge it; and where it is in error, direct it; where it is superstitious, rectify it; where anything is amiss, reform it; where it is right, strengthen and confirm it; where it is in want, furnish it; where it is divided and rent asunder, make up its breaches, O Holy One of Israel. (2 Kings 12).

Adonai, teach me the art of patience while I am well and give me the use of it when I am sick. In that day either lighten my burden or strengthen my back. Make me, who so often in my health have discovered my weakness presuming on my own strength, to be strong in my sickness when I solely rely on Your assistance. (2 Kings 20).

Adonai Elohim, Abba, we know that we are dear children of Yours and that You are our beloved Father, not because we deserve it, nor could we ever merit it, but because our dear Adonai, Your only begotten Son, Yeshua Moshiach, wills to be our brother and of His own accord offers and makes this blessing known to us. Since we may consider ourselves his brothers and sisters and he regards us as such, You will permit us to become and remain Your children forever. (1 Chronicles 4)

O Adonai Yeshua Moshiach, Good Shepherd of the sheep, who came to seek the lost and to gather them to Your fold, have compassion on those who have wandered from You; feed those who hunger, cause the weary to lie down in your pastures, heal those who are broken in heart, and strengthen those who are weak, that we, relying on Your care and being comforted by Your love, may abide in Your guidance to our life’s end; through Yeshua Moshiach our Master. (1 Chronicles 11).

Almighty YHVH, Father of all mercies, we, Your unworthy servants, give You humble and heartfelt thanks for all Your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all people. We bless You for our creation, preservation and all the blessings of this life, but above all for Your limitless love in the redemption of the world by our Adonai Yeshua Moshiach; for the means of grace and for the hope of glory. And, we humbly request, give us a sense of all Your mercies, that our heart may be openly thankful, and that we may show forth Your praise, not only with our lips but in our life, by giving up ourselves to Your service and by walking before You in Holiness and righteousness all our days, through Yeshua Moshiach our Saviour, to whom with You and Ruach HaKodesh be all honour and glory, world without end. (1 Chronicles 17).

Adonai Elohim, grant us grace to desire You with our whole heart, that so desiring, we may seek and find You; and so finding You, we may love You; and loving You, we may hate those sins from which You have redeemed us, for the sake of Maran Rabbeinu Yeshua Moshiach. (2 Chronicles 1).

Grant unto us, Almighty YHVH, the peace of Elohim that passes all understanding that we, amid the storms and troubles of this life, may rest in You, knowing that all things are within You. We are not only beneath Your eye but under Your care, governed by Your will and guarded by Your love. With a quiet heart may we see the storms of life, the cloud and the thick darkness, ever rejoicing to know that the darkness and the light are both alike to You. Guide, guard and govern us to the end, that none of us may fail to gain immortal life; through Yeshua Moshiach our Saviour. (2 Chronicles 14).

O gracious Father, who opens Your hand and fills all things living with plenteousness: Bless the lands and waters and multiply the harvests of the world; let Your Spirit go forth, that it may renew the face of the earth; show Your loving-kindness, that our land may give increase; and save us from selfish use of what You give, that men and women everywhere may give you thanks; through Moshiach our Adonai. (2 Chronicles 31).

Let us give thanks to Moshiach and offer Him continual praise, for He sanctifies us and calls us His brothers and sisters. Adonai, help us to grow in holiness. With single-minded devotion we dedicate this day to the honour of Your resurrection; may we make the whole of this day pleasing to You by our works of Holiness. As a sign of Your love, You renew each day for the sake of our well-being and happiness; renew us daily for the sake of Your glory. Teach us today to recognize Your presence in all men, especially in the poor and in those who mourn. Grant that we may live today in peace with all men, never rendering evil for evil. (Ezra 1).

PRAYERS FROM OLD TESTAMENT CHAPTERS – PART 2

Behold a company of guilty supplicants at Your footstool. O YHVH of all grace, work in us to will and to do Your good pleasure. Transform our being so that we may be the joy of many generations. Our understandings are darkened. Our heart is a heart of stone. Our very conscience also is defiled. Our affections are earthly and sensual. Open the eyes of our understanding. Purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living YHVH. Set our affections on things that are above. As He who has called us is Holy, so may we also be Holy in all manner of conversation and godliness. To the only wise YHVH, our Saviour, be glory and Majesty, forever and ever. (Numbers 21).

Bless all Your people, the flocks of Your fold. Send down into our hearts the peace of heaven, and grant us also the peace of this life. Give life to the souls of all of us, and let no deadly sin prevail against us or any of Your people. Deliver all who are in trouble, for You are our YHVH, who sets the captives free; Who gives hope to the hopeless, and help to the helpless; Who lifts up the fallen; And who is the haven of the shipwrecked. Give your pity, pardon, and refreshment to every Christian soul, whether in affliction or error. Preserve us in our pilgrimage through this life from hurt and danger. And grant that we may finish our lives. As Christians who are well-pleasing to You and free from sin And that we may have our portion and lot with all Your saints; For the sake of Yeshua Moshiach our Adonai and Saviour. (Numbers 33).

Enlighten us O Elohim, by Your Spirit, in the understanding of Your Word and grant us the grace to receive it in true fear and humility, that we may learn to put our trust in You, to fear and honour You, by glorifying Your Holy Name in all our life and to yield You the love and obedience which faithful servants owe to their master and children to their fathers, seeing it has led You to call us to the number of Your servants and children. (Deuteronomy 8).

Adonai, forgive me that when life’s circumstances lift me to the crest of the wave, I tend to forget Thee. Yet, like an errant child, I have blamed Thee with my every failure, even as I credit myself with every success. When my fears evaporate like the morning mist, then vainly I imagine that I am sufficient unto myself, that material resources and human resources are enough. I need Thee when the sun shines, lest I forget the storm and the dark. I need Thee when I am popular, when my friends and those who work beside me approve and compliment me. I need Thee more then, lest my head begin to swell. O YHVH, forgive me for my stupidity, my blindness in success, my lack of trust in Thee. Be Thou now my Saviour in success. Save me from conceit. Save me from pettiness. Save me from myself! And take this success, I pray, and use it for Thy glory. In Thy strength, I pray. (Deuteronomy 9).

We resign into Your hands our sleeping bodies, our cold hearths, and open doors. Give us to awaken with smiles; give us to labour smiling. As the sun returns in the east, so let our patience be renewed with dawn; as the sun lightens the world, so let our loving-kindness make bright this house of our habitation. (Deuteronomy 24).

Adonai Eloheinu teach us we pray, to ask rightly for the right blessings. Steer the vessel of our soul toward Your Heart, the tranquil Haven of all storm-tossed souls. Show us the way we should go. Renew a willing spirit within us. Let Your Spirit curb our wayward senses, and guide us to that which is our true good, to keep Your Laws and in all our works to rejoice in Your glorious and gladdening presence. For Yours is the glory and praise from all saints forever and ever. (Deuteronomy 30).

Grant us O Adonai, that with peace of mind we may face all that this new day is to bring. Help us to dedicate ourselves completely to Your Holy will. For every hour of this day, instruct and support us in all things. Whatever tidings we may receive during the day, teach us to accept tranquilly, in the firm conviction that all circumstances fulfil Your Holy Will. Govern our thoughts and feelings in all we do and say. When things unforeseen occur, let us not forget that everything comes from You. Teach us to behave sincerely and rationally toward every member of our family that we may bring confusion and sorrow to none. Bestow upon us our Adonai, strength to endure the fatigue of the day and to bear our part in all its passing events. Guide our will and teach us to pray, believe, hope, suffer, forgive and to love. (Joshua 1).

Adonai Elohim, great, eternal, wonderful in glory, cleanse us from our sins and from every thought displeasing to Thy goodness, cleanse our souls and bodies, our hearts and consciences that with a pure heart and a clear mind, with perfect love and calm hope, we may venture confidently and fearlessly to pray unto Thee, through Yeshua Moshiach our Adonai. (Joshua 7).

Give us O Adonai, a steadfast heart, which no unworthy affection may drag downward; give us an unconquered heart, which no tribulation can wear out; give us an upright heart, which no unworthy purpose may tempt aside. Bestow upon us also, Adonai Elohim, understanding to know You, diligence to seek You, wisdom to find You and a faithfulness that may finally embrace You; through Yeshua Moshiach our Saviour (Joshua 12).

Be our Joy and Hope, our Strength and Life, our Shield and Shepherd, our Portion forever. For happy are we if we continue in the love in which loved us; Holy are we when we love You unwaveringly. Therefore, You whose Name and essence is love, enkindle our hearts, enlighten our understandings, sanctify our wills and fill all the thoughts of our hearts; for Yeshua Moshiach’s sake. (Joshua 24)

O You who are Love and who sees all the suffering, injustice and misery which reign in the world; look mercifully upon the poor, the oppressed and all who are heavy laden with labour and sorrow. Fill our hearts with deep compassion for those who suffer and hasten the coming of Your Kingdom of justice and truth. (Judges 3).

O Love unspeakable and full of glory, whose majesty is not to destroy, but to save, saves us from ourselves. Our past relentlessly pursues us. Days we thought dead live over again; deeds we deemed buried meet us on the way; be our defence, O YHVH. Fill up that which our lives have left behind. Undo that which we have done amiss. Repair the places we have wasted, bind the hearts we have wounded. Dry the eyes which we have flooded. Make the evil we have done work for well, so that we ourselves would not know it. Through Moshiach our Adonai. (Judges 16).

Almighty YHVH, look with compassion on all who are living without You and on the multitudes who even in this land are scattered like sheep without a shepherd, or who in strange lands are far from the church of their fathers. Visit them with Your salvation. O heavenly Father, Adonai of the harvest, hear our prayers and sends forth workers into Your harvest. Fit and prepare them by Your grace for the work of their ministry. Give them the Spirit of power, love and of a sound mind. Strengthen them to endure hardness, and grant that both by their life and doctrine they may set forth Your glory and set forward the salvation of all people; through Yeshua Moshiach our Adonai. (Ruth 2).

O Eternal YHVH, You have made me and sustained me; You have blessed me all the days of my life and have taken care of me through all variety of accidents. Nothing happens to me except that which is in Your will. O let me never accuse You foolishly, nor offend You by my impatience and haughty pride, nor weaken the hands of those who minister to my needs. Let me pass through the valley of tears and the valley of the shadow of death with safety and peace, with a meek spirit and a sense of Your divine mercy. Grant this, eternal YHVH, gracious Father, in the \\
ame of our ever blessed Saviour Yeshua. (1 Samuel 1).

Blessed are You O Adonai Almighty YHVH, to whom our inmost thoughts are revealed: You know our needs much better than we ourselves can ask or imagine. Sovereign Adonai and ever-loving Redeemer, in the richness of Your mercy, give us pure hearts to call upon Your holy Name; lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil and order all things for our good. Because all glory, honour and praise are Yours by right, Father, Son and Ruach HaKodesh, now and for ever, to the ages of ages. (1 Samuel 7).

O Adonai Yeshua Moshiach, Who is like the shadow of a great rock in a weary land, You see Your weak creatures weary of labour, weary of pleasure, weary of hope deferred, weary of self. In Your abundant compassion and fellow feeling with us, and with Your unspeakable tenderness, bring us, we pray, to Your rest. (1 Samuel 21).

PRAYERS FROM OLD TESTAMENT CHAPTERS – PART 1

We give You thanks, most gracious YHVH, for the beauty of earth and sky and sea; for the richness of mountains, plains, and rivers; for the songs of birds and the loveliness of flowers. We praise You for these good gifts and pray that we may safeguard them for our posterity. Grant that we may continue to grow in our grateful enjoyment of Your abundant creation, to the honour and glory of Your Name, now and for ever. (Genesis 2).

Teach me, Adonai: Not to murmur at the multitude of business and the shortness of time. Not to magnify undertaken duties by seeming to suffer under them, but to treat them all as liberties. Not to call attention to crowded work or petty fatigues. Not to gather encouragement from appreciation by others, lest this should interfere with the purity of my motives. Not to seek praise, respect, gratitude or regard from others. Not to let myself be placed in favourable contrast with another. (Genesis 4).

The rainbow bending in the sky bedecked with sundry hues. Is like the seat of YHVH on high and seems to tell this news; that as thereby He promised to drown the world no more. So by the blood which Moshiach has shed He will our health restore… Unto such joys for to attain YHVH grants us all His grace. And send us after worldly pain in Heaven to have a place, where we may still enjoy the light which never shall decay. Adonai, for this mercy lends us might to see that joyful day. (Genesis 9).

Almighty YHVH, who has given us the privilege of making our common requests to You and has promised through Your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in His name You will be in the midst of them: Fulfil now, O Adonai, the desires and petitions of Your servants as may be best for us; granting us in this world a knowledge of Your truth and life everlasting in the world to come. (Genesis 18).

Shall I despair of Your mercy, O ELOHIM? Far is that from me. I am Your workmanship, created in Yeshua Moshiach. Give me grace therefore, to await Your leisure and patiently to bear what You require. Most assuredly I know that You will deliver me when it pleases You, for I do not doubt or mistrust You. You know what is good for me better than I do. Hear me, O merciful Father! For the sake of Your Son, whom You willed to be a sacrifice for my sins; to whom, with You and Ruach HaKodesh be all honour and glory. (Genesis 22).

Adonai Elohim, You are with me and You can help me. You were with me when I was taken and You are with me now. You strengthen me. The King Most High I serve is everywhere; in heaven and earth and the sea, but He is above them all, for all live in Him: All were created by Him and by Him only do they remain. I will worship only the true YHVH; You will I carry in my heart; no one on earth shall be able to separate me from You. (Genesis 32).

Adonai, by Your dealings with us, whether of joy or pain, of light or darkness, let us be brought to You. Let us value no treatment of Your grace simply because it makes us happy or because it makes us sad, because it gives us or denies us what we want; but may all that You send us bring us to You; that knowing Your perfectness, we may be sure in every disappointment You are still loving us, in every darkness You are still enlightening us and in every enforced idleness You are giving us life, as in his death You gave life to Your Son, our Saviour, Yeshua Moshiach. (Genesis 39).

Our hope is in YHVH, who gives help. Let us call upon Him, and say: Look kindly on your children, Adonai. Adonai, our Elohim, You made an eternal covenant with Your people. Keep us ever mindful of Your mighty deeds. Let Your ordained ministers grow toward perfect love and preserve Your faithful people in unity by the bond of peace. Be with us in our work of building the earthly city, that in building we may not labour in vain. Send workers into Your vineyard, and glorify Your Name among the nations. (Exodus 3).

O YHVH, whose eternal providence has embarked our souls in our bodies, not to expect any port of anchorage on the sea of this world, to steer directly through it to Your glorious Kingdom, preserve us from the dangers that on all sides assault us and keep our affections still fitly disposed to receive Your Holy inspirations, that being carried strongly forward by Ruach HaKodesh we may happily arrive at last in the haven of eternal salvation, through our Adonai Yeshua Moshiach. (Exodus 14).

May the strength of YHVH pilot us? May the power of YHVH preserve us? May the wisdom of YHVH instruct us? May the hand of YHVH protect us? May the way of YHVH direct us? May the shield of YHVH defend us? (Exodus 19).

Grant me O Adonai, to know that which is worth knowing, to love that which is worth loving, to praise that which pleases You most and to esteem highly that which is precious to You. (Exodus 25).

O Eternal Light shine in our hearts; O Eternal Goodness delivers us from evil; O Eternal Power be our support; O Eternal Wisdom scatters our darkness; O Eternal Pity have mercy upon us, that with all our heart and mind and soul and strength. We may seek Your face and be brought by Your infinite mercy to Your Holy presence, through Yeshua Moshiach our Adonai. (Exodus 34).

I need You to teach me day by day, according to each day’s opportunities and needs. Give me O my Adonai, that purity of conscience which alone can receive, which alone can improve Your inspiration. My ears are dull, so that I cannot hear Your voice. My eyes are dim, so that I cannot see Your gifts. You alone can quicken my hearing and purge my sight and cleanse and renew my heart. Teach me to sit at Your feet and to hear Your Word. (Leviticus 6).

Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred and strayed from Thy ways like lost sheep, we have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts, we have offended against Thy Holy Laws, we have left undone those things which we ought to have done and we have done those things which we ought not to have done. But Thou O Adonai, have mercy upon us, spare thou those who confess their faults, restore thou those who are penitent, according to Thy promises declared unto mankind. In Yeshua Moshiach our Adonai; And grant, O most merciful Father, for His sake, that we may hereafter live a godly, righteous and sober life, to the glory of Thy Holy Name. (Leviticus 16).

Grant us we pray, almighty and most merciful YHVH, fervently to desire, wisely to search out and perfectly to fulfil all that is well-pleasing to You this day. Order our worldly condition to the glory of Your Name; and, of all that You require us to do, grant us the knowledge, the desire and the ability, that we may so fulfil it as we ought; and may our path to You, we pray, be safe, straightforward and perfect to the end. (Leviticus 19).

Adonai, give us hearts never to forget Your love; but to remain there whatever we do, whether we sleep or wake, live or die or rise again to the life that is to come. For Your love is eternal life and everlasting rest; for this is life eternal to know You and Your infinite goodness. O let it’s flame never be quenched in our hearts; let it grow and brighten, till our whole souls are glowing and shining with its light and warmth. (Leviticus 25).

Almighty YHVH; You have made all things for us and us for Your glory. Sanctify our body and soul, our thoughts and our intentions, our words and actions that whatsoever we shall think speak or do. May by us be designed for the glorification of Your Name. And let no pride or self-seeking, no impure motive or unworthy praise, no little ends or low imagination stain our spirit, or profane any of our words and actions. But let our body be a servant to our spirit and both body and spirit servants of Yeshua Moshiach. (Numbers 3).

Bless all who worship You, from the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same. Of Your goodness, give us; with Your love, inspire us; by Your Spirit, guide us; by Your power, protect us; in Your mercy, receive us now and always. (Numbers 6).

Does the Bible condone slavery? That depends on what you mean by "condone". Like death, divorce, and polygamy, slavery is available in God's Law as a last-ditch tool for addressing some tough problems.

Slavery also makes a useful analogy when teaching about relationships and debt. See Paul's letters, for example. This doesn't mean that slavery is noble or desirable or that God necessarily wants anyone to be enslaved. Allowed doesn't mean encouraged.

Our Verse of the Week

Torah Portion: Behar

This portion talks about how we are to treat the earth, the ground, the literal "land" of Israel. It is as if God is speaking from the Mountain, in defense of the mountains and hills and valleys, the land on which things are grown.

God tells us that He owns the cattle on a thousand hills -- and He even owns the hills! In fact, we read this week that "the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants" (Leviticus 25:23, NIV).

I understand what it is to be a tenant. My husband and I have been married for almost 29 years, yet until last year, we had never owned our own home. We always had to have permission to hang pictures on the walls or decorate. We called our landlord if anything broke. We took extra-good care of things so that we could get our security deposit back when we moved out. However, the houses didn't belong to us.

We often forget that the very ground belongs to our King. We are aliens and His tenants. Therefore, when He says that the land must rest every 7 years, we must take Him seriously. He created the world, and He is its King. We are but His vassals who have been allowed to live on His land. He will provide for us, but we must always do what He says.