Emmanuel » PWOC International Blog

Merry Christmas

Dec 302011

I pray that you are all having a great Holiday season.

Isaiah 9:6 says, “For unto us a child is born, to us a child is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Nighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Isaiah 7:14 says, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him, Emmanuel.”

These are words of promise out of the Old Testament. How much of that promise do we really hear and pay attention to? At Christmas we seem to concentrate on the child, the baby, the promise of a son and king who will take charge and run the world the way it should be run. This we see as the promise of the Messiah.

I think the more important part of the prophecy is the verse from Isaiah 7, that Matthew takes up as he introduces the Messiah. Matthew 1:22 says, “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet; ‘the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Ennanuel, which means, God with us.’”

The key word in all this is “Emmanuel.” God WITH us! Not just for the little while that Jesus was alive, but it is there in the promise and in the birth of the child, the Son of God. The promise is there at the crufifixion. The promise is there at the resurrection and a Pentecost. Most importantly the promise is here today with each and every one of us. It is the greatest promise we could ever imagine. God is with us in good and bad times, trials and tribulations, pain and pleasure, in everything that happens. GOD IS WITH US!

In prayer, we need to always remember that we are stretched at times to stand on faith to remember that God is with us no matter what is happening around us. He says that we are to seek Him and we shall find Him. He came to us in the flesh so that we could have His presence with us at all times. This Christmas season, I pray that you will know and remember that Christ our Lord is with us and He will never leave us nor forsake us.

I pray that the Lord will shine upon you during this Season of Joy in knowing His love for you and that He will always be with you.

Merry Christmas!
Jane Ahl

Prayer Points for December 20th -26th

Prayer Points

Dec 182009

²¹“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

²²Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

²³“BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME EMMANUEL,” which translated means, “GOD WITH US.”

Dear Father,

God I praise you for the glorious miracle of Jesus’ birth. I praise you that you, the God who spoke the universe into being, became a little baby, helpless and needy. Thank you for understanding how much we need you to come. Thank you for knowing how alone, how lost, how lonely we are for you.

I praise You for being Immanuel. We worship You, Immanuel. The God who wanted to be with us. The God who gave up everything to be with us. The God who desires and longs and looks for us. Thank you for searching for us. Thank you for dying for us. Thank you for drawing us to yourself. What an amazing, joyful, precious thing to know that You are Immanuel. You never leave us or forsake us. You bring us to your banquet table. You anoint us with your spirit and allow us to partner with you in the earth. Help us to lift You up in our lives so that other will be drawn to You. You give us your beautiful Name! We look forward to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb. We look forward to being with you forever.

Today, give us grace to slip away with You, to spend time with You, to worship You. Feed us with the apples and raisins of Your Word. We soak in Your Presence. We rest in Your goodness.

God, reveal yourself in us! Let us be so one with you that your glory blazes through our lives to touch others who are alone and afraid.

We love You, Immanuel, God with us! In Jesus Name, Amen