Finding inspiration

I wonder if someone was praying for me this morning? I just felt a burst of energy and desire to pray for the local church. I think in truth it all began yesterday as we prayed before the morning celebration. I found myself asking God to bless all the local churches as they met to worship and honour him. This followed through into our worship and my part in the day.

Then we began to look at Philippians, taking the first 11 verses as our text for the day. I found myself asking the question over and over again in my head, "How can we have God's people in our hearts?" I think I even asked it out loud at least twice!

Then, this morning, I wanted to make a note of a couple of verses from Romans, one of which was shred the previous Sunday at the end of our month of prayer by Harry, one of our older members. It was particularly relevant in the context of having previously been praying about being "son's and daughters of encouragement." This is the verse Harry shared:

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (15:5-6)

But the verse I was actually looking for, because of its link to our theme of joy in Philippians, was 14:7, which says:

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit

But in looking for that one on Thursday to share with the worship group I came across this:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (15:13)

These verses just inspire me. Hope, overflowing with the power of the Spirit, full of joy and peace, endurance and encouragement in unity. Powerful stuff when you let it percolate the dry layers of a weary spirit.