Counting Up

The Passover season is upon us and with it the hustle and bustle of cleaning homes and getting prepared for the days of Unleavened Bread. I usually am so focused on this that I miss what comes next. The counting of the Omer. The Omer is the span of days in between the 1st day of Passover and Shavuot which total 7 weeks. Shavuot is the Feast of Weeks, also known as Pentecost (because it occurs on day 50).

“You shall count seven weeks for yourself; you shall begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain. Then you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with a tribute of a freewill offering of your hand, which you shall give just as the Lord your God blesses you." Deuteronomy 16:9-10

I'd rather not look at the counting of the 49 days of the Omer as a countdown, but rather a counting up, or a counting forward to the great time of out-pouring of the Holy Spirit. It is a joyous occasion and something to look forward to!

I have seen instances where congregations choose these 49 days as a time to have targeted prayer. I have always thought that this was a great idea. So I wrote my own list and this is the targeted prayer I will pray each day during the Omer. Feel free to print this out and join me in prayer!

49 Days of Targeted Prayer During the Omer:
1. I pray for the Peace of Jerusalem.
2. I pray for the unborn, that they may not see abortion.
3. I pray for the orphans, that they know a father with Adonai.
4. I pray for those without husbands, that the Lord will be their covering.
5. I pray for the people with cancer, that they receive healing and are blessed with Shalom.
6. I pray for the family unit, that it returns to a focus on the Lord of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
7. I pray for the abused and beaten, that they find relief and hope in Adonai.
8. I pray for our youth, because they will be our leaders.
9. I pray for those who need jobs.
10. I pray for the poor.
11. I pray for the opportunity to witness and for the Holy Spirit to use me.
12. I pray for the unsaved souls, that they may see Yeshua and be filled with the Holy Spirit!
13. I pray for the future of my children.
14. I pray for the school systems who are molding the next generation.
15. I pray for people with financial stress.
16. I pray for people with spiritual stress.
17. I pray for people who are missionaries.
18. I pray for missionaries whose lives are at risk at this moment.
19. I pray for the eyes of Jewish people to open to their Messiah.
20. I pray for the leaders of our congregations, churches and synagogues.
21. I pray for the leaders of our cities and towns.
22. I pray for the leaders of our states and nations.
23. I pray for Barack Obama, the President of the United States specifically.
24. I pray for Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister specifically.
25. I pray for my husband, the leader of our household.
26. I pray for people who own and run their own businesses.
27. I pray for charitable organizations such as the Red Cross, and the United Way.
28. I pray for the financial stability of our nation.
29. I pray for the preservation of the freedom to worship the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.
30. I pray for the wisdom to prepare for end times.
31. I pray for the wisdom to bring my children up in the way they should go, so they do not depart from the Lord.
32. I pray for the adversary to be bound and cast out of our congregations, churches and synagogues.
33. I pray for a repentant heart to fall on all peoples, so they may seek the Lord's forgiveness and grace.
34. I pray for the people of God to learn to live healthier lifestyles so they can be better equipped to do the Lord's work.
35. I pray for the protection on God's people when they are witnessing to the nations.
36. I pray for the Christian churches to gain a better knowledge of the Feast Days of the Lord and how it applies to their life.
37. I pray for the United States armed forces serving in active duty or who are deployed away from home and their families.
38. I pray for the Israeli armed forces and their families.
39. I pray for the farmers and their crops.
40. I pray for a mild summer without harsh temperatures.
41. I pray for the work of my hands and that of my husband's to be pleasing to the Lord.
42. I pray for relationships to be mended in families and friends in the body of Messiah.
43. I pray that I do not get in the way of Your plans You have for me, Lord, please help me to live out Your will.
44. I pray for runaways.
45. I pray for gang members, drug dealers, prostitutes and other people like them, that they turn from their ways and seek out the Lord's ways.
46. I pray for the moral standard of society to rise up to the Lord's standard.
47. I pray for forgiveness of my sins, for trampling on the blood of Yeshua each time I sin.
48. I pray for whatever need or person enters my mind at this moment.
49. I pray for righteousness to rain down on us.

"You heavens above, rain down righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness grow with it; I, the LORD, have created it." Isaiah 45:8

Passover is about the Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world. Shavuot is when He sends back the Holy Spirit to help us until His return. Don't miss the point...He showers us with His Spirit until His return!! Baruch Hashem! Blessed is (His) Name!

"All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:25-27

Spring Cleaning

There are only 11 more days until Passover. I can't believe it. As I look at my kitchen and see all the items I will have to throw out, well it's just crazy. I don't know how my cabinets get so stuffed and full. There is no way my family will be able to eat all this stuff before Passover begins. Food bank, here we come! As I am planning my attack on clearing out my cabinets and making room for more appropriate things for Passover, like Matzah and Matzah meal. I am wondering...did the whole concept of Spring Cleaning come from this Festival? It is Jewish tradition to go through the entire house and clean out the leaven from the home.

"Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses;..." Exodus 12:15

Every inch of the house is scrubbed and cleaned so that not one crumb of bread or leavened item is left behind. (That is something that I will pretend to attempt with two small children, ages 3 and 2, underfoot.) The concept of cleaning out the leaven is an awesome one. In scripture, leaven is often referred to as sin.

"Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." 1 Corinthians 5:6-8

So during Passover, you are to remove the leaven from your home, or take the sin out of your life. You are reminding yourselves of the Perfect Passover Lamb, Yeshua, who died for our sins and made us clean. This year, it occurs to me that this Spring Cleaning should also be a time to make pledges. I pledge to no longer to hoard these baked goods and stock them up in my cabinets like there's no tomorrow and replace them with food that are good for my body. And I also pledge to go through my spiritual cabinet in my soul, remove the sin, and replace it with more love, patience, kindness, generosity, forgiveness, and gratefulness. And since I have made an effort to replace the bad, sinful, leavened things, with the good, healthy, unleavened things, maybe my Spring Cleaning won't be as difficult next year!