PRAYER OF A GOOD SHEPHERD!--by Father David DFO 813 2 December, 1978
At an emergency council meeting after receiving "The Nebuchadnezzar Revelation":
1. AMEN, LORD, WE JUST ASK THEE TO HAVE THY WAY. Thy will be done. You know what's best, Lord, in Jesus' Name. We know we're nothing, Lord, we don't have anything & without Thee we are nothing, only nothing. As You said, "Without Me ye are nothing." And we certainly are nothing, Lord, all of us, everyone of us, without You.
2. SO WE JUST ASK YOU, LORD, TO LEAD US & GUIDE US, & open our hearts & our minds to Thy truth, & help us to understand it, Lord, & to follow it. Thy will be done. We have a problem facing us, Lord. We have a decision to make & we prefer to be together in prayer before Thee, to be united in heart & mind, of one spirit, & to feel that we are definitely doing Thy will, to know that we're in the center of Thy will.
3. JUST GIVE US THE WISDOM WE NEED, Lord, to be as wise as serpents, Lord, & yet harmless as doves. In Jesus' Name we ask for Thy glory, have Thy way. Amen.
4. THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THESE HERE SAFELY, Lord. We thank You for this warm cozy comfortable place to meet, & fellowship that Thou has provided, Lord, through the kindness of others. Bless them for it, Lord, in Jesus' name. Have Thy will about it in the future. Bless the families that are left behind at home & the absent ones, Lord. Keep them safely in Thy care, lead & guide them, Lord, that they may find what you want, or not find it, Lord, if it's not there, if it's not Your way.
5. MAY THEY FEEL THY SPIRIT & THY LOVE & THY SIMPLICITY, LORD, & Thy humility--the realities, Lord, not the deceitfulness of riches, but the realities of love & the truth.
6. MAY THY DAUGHTER BE A SHINING EXAMPLE, & her workers, of the real values, Lord, of life, of the kindness & the humility & the love & the deep spirituality, Lord, that is needed now to contend with the forces of the Enemy who have entered into some. Lord, help us, Lord, in Jesus' Name!
7. YOU SAID WHEN THE ENEMY COMES IN LIKE A FLOOD, the Spirit of God will raise a standard against him (Ps.59:19). But also You said that we should do our part. You said, "Resist the Enemy & he shall flee from thee" (Ja.4:7). We can't just be passive & expect You to do it all--we have to resist & be good fighters, Lord, to resist the Enemy, & to rely on Thy Word & Thy Truth & Thy love, to know that we are going to be the victors, come what may.
8. THOU ART GOING TO WIN THIS WAR, LORD.--Perhaps not every single battle. Sometimes, Lord, we even learn by our defeats, very needed lessons. We learn also by our mistakes, very needed lessons, in order to teach others not to make the same mistakes, not to enter into the same frays, to incur the same defeats, but to stay in the narrow path of Thy will, very close, in tune with Thy Spirit, to know we're where we belong, & that we love You, Jesus, & that we are what we're supposed to be, as nothing as we are. At least we have You. Thank You Jesus! Praise You Lord!
9. FORGIVE THOSE WHO THINK THEY HAVE MORE & could perhaps even do without us or Thee, & who think they are something, against which Thy Word warns: That we should never think too highly of ourselves, & to beware lest he that thinketh that he standeth should fall, & that pride comes definitely before a fall (Ro.12:3; 1Co.10:12; Pr.16:18).
10. IN JESUS' NAME, HELP US NEVER TO BE LIFTED UP or to be novices in pride & fall under the condemnation of the Enemy. Help none of us to be guilty Lord, to think that we are anything. As Thy Word warns us, those who think they are anything or something, they're really nothing, even worse than nothing (1Co.8:2; Luke 8:18).
11. WHEN THEY THINK THEY'RE SOMETHING, then they think they're something sometimes without You, which is worse than nothing. We're all nothing, Lord, but at least we have You, Jesus. But nothing without You is really nothing, a very very big dangerous hole, a deep pit, into which even others might fall.
12. O GOD, KEEP US FILLED WITH YOU, Jesus, so that we shall not go astray, Lord, & we shall not be a pit that others shall stumble into, as the case which we have to deal with today. In Jesus' Name.
13. GIVE US LOVE, GIVE US PATIENCE, give us great great wisdom which we need in this delicate situation for which we've called this emergency council, Lord, of Thy children, Thy little ones, Lord. We're all little ones before Thee.
14. WE'RE HERE TO WAIT UPON YOU, to hear Your answers to know what we should do to preserve Thy Kingdom, to jealously guard Thy sheep as good shepherds, who are even willing to lay down our lives for our sheep.
15. YOU'VE COMMISSIONED US, LORD. This is the greatest job we have to do--to feed Thy sheep, & to go into all the world & preach the Gospel to every creature, & we've done the best we know how to try to do this & encourage others to do it & thru' Thy Word.
16. WE THANK THEE FOR HOW MIGHTILY THOU HAST BLESSED US--from nothing to still nothing, Lord, but You have rallied many others together with us to follow & even precede us into many fields which we have never even entered, Lord, ourselves. They have gone before us & gone beyond us & even, Lord, as You have said of Your own disciples, "Greater works than these shall ye do because I go to my father" (Jn.14:12).
17. LORD, OUR OWN DISCIPLES ARE DOING GREATER WORKS out there in the field today than we have ever done--mighty works & miracles & salvations & great sacrifice, strong fighting, Lord, many have suffered things which we have never suffered. And so we know their crown is going to be great, for the first indeed shall be last, & the last will be first (Mt.20:16).
18. SO WE THANK YOU, LORD, FOR THE LITTLE ONES that are out there fighting the battle at the very battlefront, Lord, facing the enemies. Help us, O God (weeps) to not forget to pray for them & keep them in mind, Lord, that they are the ones that are really fighting the battle.
19. THEY ARE WHY WE'RE HERE, LORD, to oversee & to care for them, to make sure that they're properly fed & guarded & cared for the best we can, Lord, by Thy Word & by prayer. We can't be there, Lord. We can't support them there, Lord. We have nothing, we cannot guard them from everything, Lord, or protect them. But You can, thru' prayer & Thy Spirit & Thy angels, Lord, watching over them.
20. BUT HELP US TO NEVER FORGET TO PRAY FOR THEM, Lord, that they are why we're here, & that's our only excuse for living & our only excuse for existence. Our only reason, Lord, for being useful to Thee in any way, is for their sake. So we ask Thee to help us to remember that & never forget it, Lord, & to care for them as we should.
21. WE HAVE BEEN ANGRY WITH UNDERSHEPHERDS & WITH HIRELINGS, Lord, who cared nothing for the sheep, who made the sheep lay down their lives for them, rather than laying down their lives for the sheep. Help us, Lord. We've tried to get rid of these hirelings, those hirelings that existed before.
22. WE THANK YOU, LORD, FOR THOSE WHO WERE GOOD SHEPHERDS & faithful & cared for the sheep & laid down their lives daily for the sheep, Lord. Bless them & keep them & continue to make them a blessing, Lord. We know that You will raise up shepherds after Thine own heart to care for Thy sheep, Lord, wherever they may be, & a man's talents shall make room for him, & if they're worthy of being a good shepherd, Lord, then they will be & You'll make them so, & the sheep will follow them because they know Thy voice.
23. HELP US TO BE THE SAME, ALL OF US, LORD, GOOD SHEPHERDS of Thy sheep, good stewards of Thy Kingdom, Lord, whom You can trust with the task of feeding them most of all & caring for them, Lord, as well, guarding them from the wolves & the Devil who goeth about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, & who stands day & night accusing Thy saints & trying to divide, trying to subvert & propagandising & lying & causing doubts & fears.
24. BUT WE KNOW, LORD, THAT THY SHEEP, AS THOU HAST PROMISED, KNOW THY VOICE & they will follow Thee, & a stranger they will not follow (Jn.10:4,5,27). Hallelujah! Thank You Lord for that. So we fear not, Lord. We know these that are really Thine will know the truth & know Thee & know Thy voice & they will follow Thee, Jesus.
25. THANK YOU, LORD, THEY ARE NOT DECEIVED BY THE ENEMY & all of his tricky ways. He's not smart enough to outsmart You, Lord. He only hangs himself. And so we thank Thee, Lord, for Thy protection. We thank Thee, Lord, for Thy Spirit that we know is true. Thank You Jesus!
26. THANK YOU FOR THIS REVELATION (SEE "THE NEBUCHADNEZZAR REVELATION," No.763) we had last night, Lord, such a beautiful guidance & so perfectly aptly fits this particular situation, Lord, when we cried out desperately, "Why, why, why? How come? How could it be?" You answered so clearly, & You'd even already given the same answer to the one in question, & yet she resisted.
27. MY LORD, MY GOD, HOW PATIENT YOU ARE, HOW LOVING, how tender, how kind You are even to these rebellious stubborn bull-headed goat-like sheep, the Aries with the great horns & the great pride & the stubbornness. Lord, there came a time when you broke horns like that & You humbled them, Lord, & stamped them under foot.
28. WE DON'T KNOW HOW YOU'RE GOING TO DO IT, LORD. We just gave up last night, Lord, because we know we can't do it. And she herself has said we cannot do it. We cannot change her. And we can't, Lord. We've tried. But only You can change her. And we just told You, Lord, well, we can't do it, You'll have to change her.
29. AND SUDDENLY YOU GAVE US THAT WONDERFUL BEAUTIFUL STORY. It was such a beautiful picture of Thy tender mercy & love & patience & great great wisdom, how You deal with Thy children in such love & such long suffering & such patience, but nevertheless firmly & sometimes drastically to humble them. Hallelujah! Thank You Lord!
30. THANK THEE FOR THY CHASTENING ROD which we have all felt if we're sons. "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth & scourgeth every son whom He receiveth" (He.12:6). Thank You Lord! It's such a compliment to know that we're Thy sons, because we all feel Thy chastening rod when we get out of line or make mistakes or wander astray.
31. AND WE KNOW YOU'RE ABOUT TO DO THIS WITH THE ONE IN QUESTION that we have to discuss today, so important & so very precious to You, Lord, & whom You have dealt with in great love.--As a brand snatched from the burning & lifted up from the dust & nothing, but now she thinks she's something.--
32. STILL NOBODY BUT THE ENEMY HAS DECEIVED HER WITH THE DECEITFULNESS OF RICHES & she thinks she can even do without us & without Thee, that she's still what she is. But we know You're going to show her, according to what You showed us, In Jesus' Name, Thank You Lord! Praise You Lord! Hallelujah!
33. GIVE US LOVE TODAY, LORD. "Above all things have fervent love one toward another" (1Pt.4:8). Let us not condemn in pride, let us not be as the Scribes & the Pharisees: "I thank Thee, O God, that I am not as this man", the publican, the sinner. If we're lifted up in pride & glad we're not like the sinner, Lord, then we're even worse. We're self-righteous & hypocritical. Help us, Lord, to know that except by Thy grace we wouldn't be here, we would be just like them & worse, except by Thy love & Thy mercy & Thy grace.
34. HELP US TO ALSO HAVE LOVE & MERCY & GRACE, LONGSUFFERING, Lord, as we have had, we believe, in this case. And let us continue to do whatever You want us to do. Thy will be done.
35. WE KNOW PERHAPS YOU BROUGHT THESE TOGETHER, LORD, TO TEACH THEM A LESSON & again to teach them to seek Thy face earnestly & Thy will & Thy voice, to stay close to You lest it happen to them, & also to know how to deal with a brother or sister who has strayed away, how to deal with them in love, how to chasten, how to try to get back on the path of the flock,
36. JUST TEACH US, LORD, TO BE LIKE YOU, JESUS--humble & sweet & loving & patient, long-suffering. Praise You Lord! Thank You Jesus! We are nothing, Lord, but Thou art everything, & if ever we get in the way, Lord,
37. WE'D RATHER YOU'D REMOVE US THAN LET US REMAIN & BE A STUMBLING BLOCK to others, as this one has been a stumbling stone to so many, & has caused so many to err, & so many to stumble, & so many to depart from the straight & the narrow way, & from Thy Word, Lord, & from Thy way. O Jesus, help us, Jesus! Help us, Lord! Help us, Lord, in Jesus' name! Thank You Lord!
38. HELP US NOT TO WORRY, LORD, because we trust You, Lord, & we keep our mind stayed on Thee, & Thou keepest us in perfect peace, because we know You're going to handle the situation & You know what's best to do, & we know that You're in control, Lord.
39. WE JUST ASK THEE TO HELP US TO FOLLOW THEE & to know what You want us to do in order to cooperate with You as Your undershephereds, to follow You, our great Shepherd, in Thy path, the way You would lead, & how You would have us correct this pitiful, poor little sheep that has been acting more like a goat lately, though, lest she put on the clothing of the wolves. Help, Lord, in Jesus' name. In Jesus' name' give us love. Whatsoever we do or say today, Lord, do help us to do all to the glory of God--in Jesus' name.
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family