Freewrite for My City

Today I am praying for my city. "Seek God for the welfare of the city." I meditated in John 17. So I am praying for oneness and unity. 

I sat out on my deck (outdoor office) and was reminded of coming to live here 42 years ago in September. This is a special place. It is where I truly found you, God. I was surrounded by people who loved you (and people who pretended to love you to manipulate me, but I learned that early on and said, "BYE BYE" to one particular person), and I grew. I am praying that you make the believers one, but I also pray that you make us a mighty grove of oak trees.

They will be called oaks of righteousness, 

a planting of the LORD

for the display of his splendor. (Isaiah 61:3)  

I keep seeing the spring flowers pop up in all their glory, only to come back a few days later to see them wither and die. Yet, the mighty oaks of Corvallis have stood strong for hundreds of years. So, I say, "Yes, Lord! We want to see the body of Christ grow into a mighty grove of oak trees, not just oak trees standing alone either."  I pray it will be so. I pray we go "deeper still" into the soils of your love, extending roots deep rather than just be spring flowers who pop up and are gone tomorrow. 

I in them and You in Me, in order that they may become one and perfectly united, that the world may know and [definitely] recognize that You sent Me, and that You have loved them [even] as You have loved Me. (John 17:23, AMP)