Prayer Works Morning Devotion November 13, 2025

Thus Says The Lord-Who God Says He Is, His Commandments and Promises

Ezekiel 36:20-28 "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God "

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Good morning, good morning, good morning everybody. I hope you had a wonderful and restful night and that you are ready for another day with the Lord.  

Now, brothers and sisters, today we have a very wonderful passage to look at because it's going to help us understand how change happens in us as human beings. And it's important and necessary because we all need to constantly be changing.  

So let us go to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you this morning for your goodness and your mercy towards us. We thank you, Lord, for all that you are doing and what you are going to do.  

We thank you, Lord, for where you have brought us from and where we are standing now. We thank you, Lord, that wherever you find us, you never leave us. You are constantly always guiding us towards victory on different fronts.  

Victory over the flesh, victory over the enemy, victory over this world. So, Father, I pray today that as we come together in communion, as we come together to fellowship with one another, and to take heed and hear from the Holy Spirit. 

I pray, Lord, that you open the eyes of our hearts and give us clear understanding so that we are never found wanting.  

Father, I pray for your grace, for your divine purpose, and I also pray for this day that God as you give us daily bread, may we go into this world and be whatever you have called us to become in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray, Amen and Amen.  

So, brothers and sisters, today we are in Ezekiel 36: 20-29. Our focus in this passage of scripture is going to be verse 26 to 28. So, Ezekiel chapter 36, verse 20, all the way to 28, but focus is 26 to 28.  

And wherever they went among the nations they profaned my holy name, for it was said of them. So this is Ezekiel talking, this is God talking about the children of Israelite. These are the Lord's people, and yet they had to leave his land.  

I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel profaned among nations where they had gone. So, this is a lesson. God always has concern for his holy name. He doesn't want it to be profane.  

22, Therefore say to the house of Israel, this is what the sovereign Lord says, it is not for your sake, house of Israel, that I'm going to do these things but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among nations where you have gone.  

I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations. The name you have profaned among them, then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares Sovereign Lord.  

When I am proved holy, through you before their eyes. For I will take you out of the nations. I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean.  

I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart. Verse 26, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 

And I will put my spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors. You will be my people, and I will be your God.  

Now, Ezekiel is writing to the children of Israelite. But the metaphor behind this passage of scripture for you and I is that the destination, instead of being the Promised Land, the destination is Heaven for us.  

But the principle remains the same. I will give you, God himself, because he doesn't want his name to be profane, because he's concerned about his holy name, how it is looked and how it is used, how it is seen, because he loves holiness.  

He says I am going to give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. and I will remove from your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.  

When He has done that, then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors. You will be my people and I will be your God.  

Now, the last part, then I will leave you in the land I gave you, it simply means for us today that the kingdom that Jesus brought and said it's in your heart, that's where you will live, until His kingdom shows up when Jesus returns.  

But currently, that kingdom is in your heart. So, when you take the same passage of scripture, verse 28, it says, then I will give you, I will live, then you will live in the land I gave you. In other words, you will live in the kingdom that I put in your heart.  

Now, verse 26, brothers and sisters, is important because this is how we change. This is how we change, change as we know it, we have heard it being spoken of in the worldly times, that there are things that you have to do in order to change.  

There are so many suggestions out there that you will find if you are going to change from one thing to another. But in the Kingdom of God, change only happens when God is sanctioning it. You can't do it by yourself.  

This is how I know we can't do it by ourselves. It's because Jesus had to come. If we could do it ourselves, then there was no need to send Jesus. But Jesus came so that change, real change can take place in us.  

So God will perform a complete spiritual transformation in a person, replacing a person's hard, rebellious nature with one that is sensitive and obedient to him. This change is not self-generated at all.  

But it is a gift from God that includes the Holy Spirit working and enabling an individual to change the desires of their heart and follow His will and live a renewed life. It can be done only by the Holy Spirit.  

Which means if there are areas in our lives that we are either struggling with, that we want to see change. Self-help books are not going to help you.  

They are necessary, they play their role, but the ultimate change that we desire only takes place when God removes out of you and I a heart of stone.  

So he says, I will give you a new heart. And a new heart is really a change in desires, a change in will, a change in character. It shifts a person from being stubborn and rebellious to one that is receptive, committed to God's ways.  

Now, when you get a new heart, it means that your intentions about things, about life, about whatever it is that you do, whatever you find yourself doing, your intentions simply comes down to pleasing God and to follow his statutes and his commandments.  

And that's complete change. Then he says, accompanying a new heart is a new spirit. A new spirit is renewed, is a renewed inner being with a relationship with God. This is done by the Holy Spirit coming to live inside a person and giving them a new life and total guidance. 

So God now guides you in everything that you do. Because once you have His Spirit in you, that's why the scripture says, let this mind that was in Christ be in you also. That only happens when there is a new spirit that has been put in you.  

That's the Holy Spirit functioning as an aid in your whole entire existence and life. Then the third thing, it says, I'm going to take a heart of stone that you possess and exchange it with a heart of flesh.  

And we say the heart of stone represents a heart, unresponsive, and disobedient nature, which started with Adam. And we all possessed it, until God, by His mercy and grace, called us into salvation.  

And once we were in salvation, it was His job to totally transform and change you from the person that you used to be, to the person you are now. Now, that transformation did not end on that particular day.  

It's still happening. Now, there are certain things in us that are so stubborn that it's going to take an act and the will of God to deal with.  

And until those things are submitted to God, and allowing him to work in you and remove those areas in you that are hearts of stones, then change, real change, is very difficult to attain.  

This is why when you see people try to do things by themselves, they might successfully accomplish some victory, but now, when you really look at this scripture, I'm sure we can look at this scripture differently now. 

That says that when a demonic spirit is cast away from a person, that you will go to an arid place, and once in a while he will come and check if that person is killing.  

If he is, then you will go and solicitate other seven more powerful demonic spirits, so that that person is worse than the original state they were in when the demonic spirit was cast out.  

So now, when you look at that scripture, you then realize that permanent change, it has to be divine, it has to be God-ordained, where he removes out of you, and out of you and me, a heart of stone, and gives us a new spirit. 

And removes a heart of stone and gives a heart of flesh, and gives you a new heart. The language that's being used here is so powerful and strong, because when you think about it, how do you change a human heart? 

Your emotions, your will, your mind, the way you function, we all have a certain way that we grew up. Things that we learned, we were taught when we were young. And some things are very difficult to change because they are embedded in the crevice of our being.  

But, the scripture is telling us, that it is an act of God to experience total change. So, brothers and sisters, this passage of scriptures explains how change takes place in a human being, in a life.  

Now, mind you, who Ezekiel is writing to, Ezekiel, even though the metaphor pertains, and the standard that's being set here, pertains to all of humanity, but at this particular juncture, Ezekiel was writing to the nation of Israel.  

And we all know how belligerent they were. And God was trying, and had been trying, to change the whole nation since he brought them out of Egypt. And by this time, there's generations that have gone by, and this change had not taken place yet.  

So he sent his prophet. He says, your acts and the way you do things has caused nations and my name to be profaned. I don't look good in other nations because of you. And for us, God does not look good because of what the church has done and is doing.  

Because of what you and I, who are the representative of God in the earth, the salt and the light. The way we conduct ourselves, God says, has profaned my name and I'm concerned because I deal with holiness.  

And I'm concerned about my holy name. So I'm going to do something about it. And that something is I have to change you, not to change things. God is not so much about changing environments than he is about changing people.  

Because when people are changed, they will change their environment. So when you hear people say, God changed this nation, what we're talking about is God changed the people in this nation's hearts.  

Remove the heart of stone and give us a new spirit and replace this hardening of hearts that we all carry with the heart of flesh, so that there can be divine transformation. And without God, that is impossible to attain.  

We can't legislate morality. We can't do it. It's an act of God. This is how true change takes place in all of us. So, the areas, now this comes back to us, the areas in our lives where we struggle with, those are the areas where we need to submit them to God. 

So that he can replace the heart of stone pertaining to those things and give you a new heart, and then replace a heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh, so that we can have divine transformation.  

So it's important. This is how change takes place. This is how change takes place. So, in other words, in this passage of scripture, it sums up human beings that you have corrupt hearts, and there are hearts that have been changed.  

And the hearts that have been changed, they have been changed by God, because he's concerned about his holy name. And when we get a new heart, we get a new spirit. So that real transformation in us takes place.  

This is how no one can ever tell the day something they used to do disappeared out of their heart and their soul. Because you know, you just realize at a later date that, oh, you no longer love that.  

Because the Holy Spirit will have done a work inside of you. That's why it's called regeneration. Where God is slowly, it's a gift it's a gift. Change, real change is a gift from God. It's not a work.  

It's a gift that God gives you when he wants to change you and shift you from being one person to another. This is why I'm always saying that the longer you are a believer, the sweeter you should become.  

The more patient, loving, caring, humble you should be if you are allowing God to change you. Because it's impossible to have the gift of the Holy Spirit inside of you and walk with you for decades and not change. 

It's just impossible. How? Because God's desire is to continuously changes until one day we are translated into spiritual beings, where our flesh dies and what remains is a whole spirit that is transformed, that will return to sit and live in his presence.  

That's the ultimate goal, so which means that we have to constantly change into that person that we will become when we get translated.  

That's why change is important. That's why we can't leave areas of our lives unchanged if we know there is something in there that needs to be dealt with, submitted to God.  

And He will show you what He is doing in you. He can transform you so that regeneration continues to happen until you are translated. So we got to deal with the heart of stones, the areas in our lives that are hard.  

We got to submit those to God. Again, why is God doing this? Because He is concerned about His holy name, how it is perceived, how people looked upon it, He's concerned about that.  

So every time you see somebody cursing God, or saying they don't like change, it's because somebody who is saved did something, and causing now for the name of God to be profaned.  

So we have to desire total change, because if we are to enter into His glory, we have to constantly be changed until we are translated into glorified beings, so we can live in the presence of the Almighty God. 

So, today, homework assignment, is to take these little areas in our lives that are hard and give them to God, because He is concerned about His holy name, so that He can do a work in you and I.  

So that total change, total change in things, in some areas in our lives, is attained. So once again, God was going to give us a new heart, a new spirit, replace a new heart of stone with a heart of flesh so that we can have divine transformation. 

Let us go to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, our blessed redeemer, words cannot express the magnitude of who you are. You are holy and holy and holy and holy. And that's your concern, holiness. 

That we live holy circumspect life, so that your name will remain holy among the nations. So I pray Lord for these your people, that we all desire to continuously and change, because it is your will for us to be changed so that we can eventually be translated.  

I pray, Lord, that may your Spirit continue to guide us in all things true, in all things right. Left alone, we cannot do it. That's why you sent Jesus, and ultimately the Holy Spirit to live inside of us. The Spirit that will explain everything.  

So I pray, Lord, that may we not hide areas in our lives where transformation is needed. Help us to expose the very essence of who we are to you, so that transformation continues to take place.  

Even the things that we hold on to, by default. I pray that you open the eyes of our heart. Let that new heart that you have put in us see the very true things that need to live outside of us, so that we can expose them to this Gospel.  

Father, I pray for grace to abound and peace to abound in the midst of all these challenges that we face. I pray for healing, emotional, physical healing. And while we are in this neighborhood, we lift up Nadia's mom, that God, you are going to transform this wonderful soul, even in this hour.  

We are believing you for great things to take place, even through this season, of her life. I pray, Lord, that if there is any amongst us who might be sick, your scripture says your spirit was present and it was present to heal them all.  

So heal every single one first. Father, we extend the benefits of this kingdom to our children. We know your kingdom will be passed from one generation to the next.  

So Father, as we incubate it, and as we foster your kingdom in our hearts, may we outpour it and give it to the next generation, so they can run their race with new hearts, new spirit, with hearts of flesh. 

So that they are divinely transformed into a generation that you desire them to be. As we go throughout this day, help us to have a clear understanding of what it is that you desire to do in the Earth.  

Pray for your will to be done in the Earth as it is in Heaven. As you continue to give us today's bread, also help us and lead us not into temptation, but continue to deliver us so that we are totally changed as beings.  

I pray now for new hearts that are receptive to your commands and committed to God's plan and vision. Pray for your spirit to continue to renew our inner being and as you replace the heart of stone with the heart of flesh, we are forever grateful.  

Thank you for divine transformation. Thank you for being our God and for us being your children, because that's the ultimate goal. Now lead us into today, as we do all that you have called us to do. 

And by your grace and by your authority and by your power, we will stand and proclaim the kingdom of God come and thy will be done. We thank you for these your people. Now bless all of us in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray, Amen and Amen.  

Brothers and sisters, may the Lord bless you. May you have an incredible phenomenal day and may he guide you into all things true and all things right.  

We will see you tomorrow morning and please don't forget to submit your prayer request so that we can continue to lift each other up in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We'll see you tomorrow.