The Sanctuary - Guided Prayers with Heather Carlisle: Recent Episodes
Heather Carlisle
These guided prayers are meant to help you come away from the chaos, to rest, and hear the heart of the Father. Through heart-felt scripture reading and Spirit-breathed prayer, take a few minutes to open yourself to God's peace and life-giving voice. Episodes are organized by current series book of the Bible and by topic, published every Thursday.
For more ways to connect with Heather Carlisle of the Sanctuary: www.thesanctuarycoaching.com instagram: @glimpses.of.the.sanctuary facebook: /thesanctuarycoaching
In this episode of guided prayer, we thank God for this picture in Esther 6 of what it's like to have the King on your side. We lay down all our best self-defense tactics, because we can trust that the King of Kings has already decided He delights to honor us, and that cannot be undone by any whisperings of our enemy.
In today's episode of guided prayer from Esther 5, we step into the invitation of the King to present our petitions to him. We are reminded that He is eager to hear what we need, and eager to give it, because He is well pleased with us. We can commune with him at the table, unrushed and unpanicked, because we are confident of his love for us.
In today's episode, we find ourselves in this pivotal moment in the Esther story, where the destruction of the Jews is imminent, and Mordecai calls on Esther to use her influence with the King to change history. We recognize we too have been given a royal position through the blood of Jesus, to be a great intercessor for the world around us. Lord, help us recognize these pivotal moments, when you want to partner with us to bring heaven to earth through our lives.
In this episode we find ourselves right in the middle of Esther's story, where the enemy seems to be winning in his plans against God's people, and the even the king sends the edict and seals it with his signet ring. We see that even when situations look darkest and so full of despair, God is working. We invite him in to those places in our lives that have also looked very final, like a total loss, and look to his supreme authority to turn everything around.
In today's episode we peer into Esther's story where she is chosen to by the King to be queen because of the favor she has with him. Where we see a story of women competing and striving to be summoned by the King, we offer our gratitude for the way of Grace that Jesus paved for us. That we have been chosen to rule and reign with the King, not because of anything we have done, but because we have been covered by the suffering love of the Son. Our acceptance has been eternally decided.
In this new season of the podcast, we dive into the book of Esther and listen for the Spirit to stir us to commune with him. At the beginning of chapter 1, we read about a wildly generous king, who wanted to show off the splendor of his kingdom and resources by throwing these lavish parties to bless the people in his kingdom. Our spirits are awakened to how much more generous the God of heaven and earth longs to be to us, and we invite him to reveal more of this facet of himself to us as we pray.
In today's episode, we receive the power that Perfect Love carries for us. Even in the desert places of life, we have a solid place to rest our head, right on our Beloved. This love is one we can count on, one that cannot be quenched or put out or stopped. This Love is like a blazing fire that pursues us all the days of our lives.
in today's episode, we connect with God over this love poem. We hear of the fresh love he has for us. We soak in the way He loves every part of us, both inside and out. We pause and take in the fact that we are our Beloved's and His desire is toward us! We say yes to the invitation to live a lifestyle of being with our Lover, always looking for new adventures together, and expecting to see His goodness around every corner.
In this episode, we soak in the Love we've always longed for. The Love that chooses us, above all others. He says no others are even worth trying to compare to us. We are His unique, perfect one. We ask him to help us unwind in this Perfect Love.
In this episode, we begin by inviting the God who is waiting at our door to come inside. We talk with him about times that we had trouble sensing his closeness, times when we went looking for love and ended up hurt by even people we thought we could trust. The Savior steps into those wounded places, and stands there dripping with the blood that is proof of true love, a sacrificial love. He invites us to taste and see how pure, trustworthy, and faithful he is.
In this episode, we connect with the Savior by receiving from a God who loves every detail of us, both inside and out. We hear that he calls us flawless when all we can see in ourselves is every shortcoming and broken place. We commune with a God who loves not just out of obligation, but out of a place of desire for us. We invite Him to show us deep revelation of this love fresh, so when the wind blows on us we can be a fragrance of this Perfect Love to the world around us.
In today's episode, we connect with God and receive his love from Song of Songs 3. We are painted beautiful imagery of the Savior coming for us, fragranced with suffering love, inviting us in to the bridal car with him. In this secret place, we are guarded by the mightiest of angel warriors who are completely prepared for battle and the terrors of the night. There is nothing we might face for which the Savior is unprepared, and so here is a place to rest.
In this episode we get beautiful pictures of the Love of God as the stag that bounds over mountains to get to us, the tree that produces sweet fruit, and the One who calls our true face and voice beautiful no matter how raw it might be. Today we choose to receive it and give thanks for it.
As we begin the new season of guided prayers, today we reflect and receive the Love contained in the first chapter of Song of Songs. As we read how he loves us and calls us beautiful even our most unkept state, in our darkest weaknesses, we are filled with gratitude for a love that is otherworldly. We soak up being with a Lover who is stable and true, one who is the very foundation of our relationship, so it can't be shaken.
In our final episode in the book of Psalms, we thank God for his desire to be provider in every way. We acknowledge that our strength is nothing, that it's all been him. Every meal we eat, every time we have energy when we didn't think we had an ounce left, and every rescue that happened because he heard our cry. We lift our eyes up and praise the one who is our source, and the one who never ignores the cries of his children!
In this familiar psalm, we are reassured of the depths God goes to search and know us. He knows our every thought, every plan, every tendency, every quirk, and he never stops seeking us out, to know us more. And while he knows us better than any other, he promises to also stay nearer than anyone else. He is with us every moment, from our rising to our resting, from conception to death and beyond. We can breathe a sigh of relief to have the Savior our heart has longed for.
In this episode we soak in truths that we desperately need. The truth that God is the builder of everything in our lives. We can stay up late, we can rise early, we can try our hardest and end up with nothing but rubble and exhaustion to show for it. When we choose to let him build and follow his lead, we get the rest he longs to give us. He is the watchman guarding us and our family's lives, so we can unwind and enjoy our days.
In this episode, our hearts join in celebrating and believing in a God who redeems his people. We receive pictures of hope where we have felt empty. We cling to the promise that those who sow in tears, those who have been in a season of mourning, those who have given when they had nothing to give, and those who stepped out in faith when it was hard, they all will reap in joy and in a harvest!
In this episode, we take a moment to appreciate how different our life is because of God's help. We give him the honor he is due for all the times that we should have drowned in our lives, but his strong hand saved us. Because of Jesus, we rejoice that we have been freed from the cage that we were trapped in. We are free!
In this Psalm we receive the truth that His love endures forever. We open up to believe that he is always right next to us, experiencing what we do with us, ready to be our help right when we need it. We express gratitude for the way the Kingdom works, that those that are rejected by man are raised up to places of honor and importance.
Today, in this Psalm, we agree with what God says about us, his righteous ones because of Jesus. We confess that our children will be mighty in the land, and stronger than their foes. We thank him for making us generous and giving us every resource we need to keep giving and caring for the people around us. We rest easy because we, as his children, have a choice to never be shaken or fear bad news, because we trust him. We ask his help to really believe this reality.
In this episode, we open our hearts and minds with gratitude to God for all the benefits he promises us. We tell our soul all the reasons to praise him: for forgiveness we don’t deserve, for renewing health in our bodies, for redemption that never ends. We thank him for his steady compassion and love that he crowns us with, that he makes space for the weakness in our humanity. We stand in awe of a God who wants to satisfy us with good things.
This episode is for those moments when we are so discouraged we can barely find the words to pray. We cry out to God to help us as we feel so alone and heavy and like all joy is gone. Then we remember. God with us. We call on him because we remember how he always has compassion on us, how he always comes to save. We know he sits with us in our ruins and helps us rebuild. Our faith rises that now is the time of salvation.
In this episode, we reflect on the truth that God's very foundation is righteousness and justice. He's not going to rest until his justice is finished in the earth. We thank him for his promises to us, his people, that he is guarding us on every side, and he shines his warm light on us, even when the world around is very dark. We can rest because he is on our side righting every wrong.
In this episode, we renew our minds to the reality of how powerful our God is. We picture him clothed in majesty and strength, ruling and reigning over all the earth forever and ever. We can walk in peace today as we picture him ruling over even the scary and noisy things that we encounter in our day.
In today's episode, we hear God's heart for us to live protected and safe with him. We allow ourselves to hope and trust again, that even when the worst and scariest things are swirling all around us, we are inaccessible because we are in the secret place with him. We breathe a sigh of relief as we rest in a God who loves to satisfy us with his salvation.
In today's episode, we are reminded that God is not like men. He is not short tempered and impatient with us, but abounding in love and faithfulness. He comes to us each and every time we call in times of trouble. He is the one we can count on, and we thank him for who he is.
In today episode, we prayer through a familiar psalm with fresh passion. We tell the Lord how much we long to be near him in his house more than anywhere else. We admit our lack of strength in ourselves and lean into his strength. We receive fresh faith to believe that when we do that, even the valley of weeping we are in will become a place of refreshing like springs. We hear his promise that since we are blameless in Jesus, He is not withholding any good thing from us.
In this episode, we connect with God and let him align the questions of our soul that doubt his saving and goodness with the solid places in the Spirit that recount our history of his faithful deliverance. We are reminded that even the roaring waters that try to intimidate us are actually afraid of our Almighty God. We can choose to remember as a way of fighting fear today.
In this episode, we are invited into rejoicing and being very glad, because our God is already beginning to arise and scatter enemies. We thank God for his kind character to always put the lonely into warm homes and free those who are bound by lack. Because of who he, is we can celebrate and enjoy today!