WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Prevailing Prayer Publishing Date: 2018-03-18T06:00:44-07:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/prevailing-prayer/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:16.400 You can't build a prevailing church unless you raise a church that knows how to prevail 00:00:16.400 --> 00:00:18.280 in prayer. 00:00:18.280 --> 00:00:23.280 You can't build a prevailing church, as in a church that has the ability to overcome 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:32.280 situations without raising a church that contends in prevailing prayer, as in the kind of prayer 00:00:32.280 --> 00:00:35.200 that helps you break through things. 00:00:35.200 --> 00:00:39.960 So that's what we said three weeks ago. 00:00:39.960 --> 00:00:45.640 And by the way, Matthew 16, 19 says that, I will build my church and the gates of hell 00:00:45.640 --> 00:00:47.680 shall not prevail against it. 00:00:47.680 --> 00:00:53.640 So know that you have an active enemy called the devil who also likes to prevail. 00:00:53.640 --> 00:00:55.640 So prevailing is not a Christian word. 00:00:55.640 --> 00:00:58.600 Prevailing is just a word that anybody can take and use. 00:00:58.600 --> 00:01:04.120 And so Satan or the devil, hell, loves prevailing too. 00:01:04.120 --> 00:01:07.920 And so how do we define prevailing so that we know what we're talking about? 00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:30.160 To contend, to engage in battle, to overcome, to not be beaten, to grapple or wrestle and 00:01:30.160 --> 00:01:34.040 win. 00:01:34.040 --> 00:01:35.800 This is what we mean by prevailing. 00:01:35.800 --> 00:01:39.540 And God wants to build a prevailing church here on earth. 00:01:39.540 --> 00:01:44.520 He doesn't want churches that don't know how to battle. 00:01:44.520 --> 00:01:48.340 He doesn't want a church that does not know how to wrestle and grapple and win, jockey 00:01:48.340 --> 00:01:50.160 for position and win. 00:01:50.160 --> 00:01:54.760 He does not want churches to be overcome, but wants churches that know how to overcome. 00:01:54.760 --> 00:02:02.480 He wants churches that have a desire to contend, have this gleeful anticipation of a fight, 00:02:02.480 --> 00:02:04.160 which is so alien to our way of thinking. 00:02:04.160 --> 00:02:08.360 But that's the kind of church he wants to build. 00:02:08.360 --> 00:02:12.240 But to build a prevailing church, you must have a people that understand prevailing prayer, 00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:18.520 as in the kind of prayer that contends, the kind of prayer that engages in battle, the 00:02:18.520 --> 00:02:22.500 kind of prayer that overcomes, the kind of prayer that does not get beaten, and the kind 00:02:22.500 --> 00:02:27.420 of prayer that wrestles and jockeys for position. 00:02:27.420 --> 00:02:32.480 And over the next, hopefully, a couple of months, we'll be going over this, but today 00:02:32.480 --> 00:02:33.620 we just start. 00:02:33.620 --> 00:02:36.060 And so Satan also likes prevailing. 00:02:36.060 --> 00:02:37.660 Satan also likes prevailing. 00:02:37.660 --> 00:02:44.780 And our lives have had so many situations where we saw the enemy prevail, where things 00:02:44.780 --> 00:02:48.140 broke in our lives, where things were beaten in our lives, where things were trampled down 00:02:48.140 --> 00:02:49.140 in our lives. 00:02:50.140 --> 00:03:00.940 And so there are two methods that the devil uses to prevail. 00:03:00.940 --> 00:03:03.900 The first one is he tries to ravage. 00:03:03.900 --> 00:03:06.460 He tries to ravage. 00:03:06.460 --> 00:03:11.140 He tries to ravage. 00:03:11.140 --> 00:03:14.340 And then the second one is he tries to corrode. 00:03:14.340 --> 00:03:22.980 And both are different in that ravaging is an outright onslaught that has, that cannot 00:03:22.980 --> 00:03:23.980 be mistaken. 00:03:23.980 --> 00:03:30.260 It just is wave after wave of attack till a person crumbles because of just absolute 00:03:30.260 --> 00:03:32.160 hopelessness and weariness. 00:03:32.160 --> 00:03:40.820 And corrosion is a slow acid drip where it just keeps gnawing at you till, in the end, 00:03:40.820 --> 00:03:42.340 it's hollowed out from inside. 00:03:42.340 --> 00:03:44.500 And you see both these methods in the Bible. 00:03:44.500 --> 00:03:52.660 So if you go to Judges chapter 6 verses 3 to 6, Judges 6, 3 to 6, you'll see that happening 00:03:52.660 --> 00:03:54.540 there. 00:03:54.540 --> 00:04:00.980 Judges chapter 6, verse 3 to 6, Judges 6, 3 to 6, and I'm reading. 00:04:00.980 --> 00:04:11.340 It says here, whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and 00:04:11.340 --> 00:04:14.580 other Eastern people invaded the country. 00:04:14.580 --> 00:04:20.780 They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living 00:04:20.780 --> 00:04:24.780 thing for Israel, neither sheep, nor cattle, nor donkeys. 00:04:24.780 --> 00:04:28.980 They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. 00:04:28.980 --> 00:04:32.060 It was impossible to count the men and their camels. 00:04:32.060 --> 00:04:35.340 They invaded the land to ravage it. 00:04:35.340 --> 00:04:39.160 Midians so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help. 00:04:39.160 --> 00:04:42.920 This is when wave after wave just comes against you. 00:04:42.920 --> 00:04:45.600 Just when you, this is what happened to Job. 00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:49.960 Job heard some bad news and while he's still trying to figure out that bad news, here comes 00:04:49.960 --> 00:04:52.520 more bad news and then more and then more. 00:04:52.520 --> 00:04:57.040 Where the intent is, can I bring you down to your knees because you can't handle the 00:04:57.040 --> 00:04:58.960 onslaughts I'm bringing. 00:04:58.960 --> 00:05:03.180 So that's one way that the enemy prevails. 00:05:03.180 --> 00:05:09.120 The other way is corrosion, where it's eating away, nibbling away at the root and the fruit 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:11.840 where nothing is ever whole. 00:05:11.840 --> 00:05:16.240 There's always a pain here or a pain there or something breaking down here and something 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:17.240 breaking down there. 00:05:17.240 --> 00:05:23.120 It's nothing big but a group of little things happening. 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:29.360 And that's from Song of Songs 2.15 where it says that little foxes are gnawing away at 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:38.460 your vineyard where Satan has his ability to send little things that keep eating away 00:05:38.660 --> 00:05:40.260 the root of your vineyard. 00:05:40.260 --> 00:05:45.300 And so it doesn't matter that you have a really good vineyard, that you're nurturing it well, 00:05:45.300 --> 00:05:50.100 that you're watering it well, that the climate is good, that everything you're doing is good. 00:05:50.100 --> 00:05:51.540 The stock is good. 00:05:51.540 --> 00:05:56.220 But you still can't see the kind of fruit you want to see because there are these little 00:05:56.220 --> 00:05:59.540 foxes that keep coming and eating away. 00:05:59.540 --> 00:06:04.080 Our lives fall into one of these two categories when it comes to the enemy attack. 00:06:04.080 --> 00:06:10.600 And Satan is really someone who does this for a living because it says in Ephesians 00:06:10.600 --> 00:06:18.160 chapter 6 that Satan comes with fiery arrows that are continuously being shot, that he 00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:20.040 comes to steal, kill and destroy. 00:06:20.040 --> 00:06:21.520 This is an active, active enemy. 00:06:21.520 --> 00:06:29.160 It is scary that the church is losing sight of its enemy, the devil, that we attribute 00:06:29.160 --> 00:06:34.840 things to psychosomatic conditions and rarely attribute anything to the devil. 00:06:34.840 --> 00:06:38.200 But he's a really active enemy. 00:06:38.200 --> 00:06:42.680 If there was no devil, there would be no need of a savior because it was someone who took 00:06:42.680 --> 00:06:48.040 us captive that Jesus needed to come and free us from, which is why it says in 1st John 00:06:48.040 --> 00:06:53.280 4 that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came down to the earth in flesh to destroy the 00:06:53.280 --> 00:06:55.360 works of the devil. 00:06:55.360 --> 00:06:57.760 It is one of the reasons he came down to the earth. 00:06:57.880 --> 00:06:59.960 It's one of the reasons he hung on a cross. 00:06:59.960 --> 00:07:07.800 Colossians 2 says that he made a public spectacle of the devil and caused him to dismount from 00:07:07.800 --> 00:07:13.200 where he sat and is now paraded as a prisoner in Christ's triumphant procession, meaning 00:07:13.200 --> 00:07:18.800 when a returning army general used to come into a city after victory, behind him would 00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:20.960 be slaves in tow. 00:07:20.960 --> 00:07:26.240 They would be paraded as part of his victorious procession. 00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:29.360 That is the true condition of the devil, but more and more churches are becoming unaware 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:32.720 of it and may you never come to that place where you're not aware of the fact that you 00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:38.080 have an active, alive enemy who's more powerful than you, were it not for Christ. 00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:48.320 So these are the two methods he uses to ravage or to undo or to prevail over us and one of 00:07:48.320 --> 00:07:50.560 the ways we prevail over him is through prayer. 00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:54.000 Here's the strange thing. 00:07:54.000 --> 00:08:02.000 The devil does not know how to stop, handle, negate prayer. 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:04.720 He does not know what to do with it. 00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:10.320 Right from when this guy called Seth, who was one of Adam's son in Genesis 5, right 00:08:10.320 --> 00:08:15.840 from when Seth was born, man has been seeking God and the devil does not know how to stop 00:08:15.840 --> 00:08:18.480 it. 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:20.960 Through guilt, he tries to make man hide. 00:08:20.960 --> 00:08:28.160 He was able to cause Adam and Eve to hide. 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:31.040 It's one of the ways the enemy removes prayer. 00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:36.840 He causes enough guilt, enough shame, enough hopelessness to force you to hide. 00:08:36.840 --> 00:08:42.400 As long as you're not hiding, he cannot stop prayer. 00:08:42.400 --> 00:08:44.400 Yeah. 00:08:44.400 --> 00:08:46.400 Any questions? 00:08:46.400 --> 00:08:48.400 Any questions? 00:08:48.400 --> 00:08:50.400 Okay. 00:08:50.400 --> 00:08:56.400 So here are some ways that we can begin to get to know the devil. 00:08:56.400 --> 00:08:58.400 So here's the first one. 00:08:58.400 --> 00:09:00.400 The second one. 00:09:00.400 --> 00:09:02.400 The third one. 00:09:02.400 --> 00:09:04.400 The fourth one. 00:09:04.400 --> 00:09:06.400 The fifth one. 00:09:06.400 --> 00:09:08.400 The sixth one. 00:09:08.400 --> 00:09:10.400 The seventh one. 00:09:10.400 --> 00:09:12.400 The seventh one. 00:09:12.400 --> 00:09:19.760 So here's the way that we can begin this whole idea of prevailing prayer. 00:09:19.760 --> 00:09:25.440 When things begin to overwhelm you, here are some conditions for prevailing prayer. 00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:27.440 This is not the content of prevailing prayer. 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:30.080 We'll talk about the content of prevailing prayer later. 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:32.080 But these are the conditions for prevailing prayer. 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:37.760 As in, if you begin to think like this, prevailing prayer becomes easier when situations get 00:09:37.760 --> 00:09:38.800 overwhelming. 00:09:38.800 --> 00:09:40.480 I'm not just talking about your life. 00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:46.420 that you are praying for, lives that you are praying for. How do we contend? How do 00:09:46.420 --> 00:09:49.840 we prevail? How do we engage in battle? Because this is the kind of church that 00:09:49.840 --> 00:09:53.100 God is looking for and a prevailing church must be a church that engages in 00:09:53.100 --> 00:09:59.680 prevailing prayer. So the first thing is guys, if you want to be someone, either 00:09:59.680 --> 00:10:04.120 an individual or if you want to be a church that knows how to contend, engage, 00:10:04.120 --> 00:10:09.040 overcome, battle and win in prayer, the first thing you need to do is rebuke 00:10:09.040 --> 00:10:20.480 untruth, rebuke untruth. Titus 1.13, rebuke untruth, rebuke untruth. Titus 1.13, 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:23.920 let me read it and then I'll explain it. 00:10:29.640 --> 00:10:38.520 Titus 1 verse 13, it says that this testimony is true, therefore rebuke them 00:10:38.520 --> 00:10:43.080 sharply so that they will be sound in the faith and if you read the previous 00:10:43.080 --> 00:10:49.160 verses it tells you how there was a need to refute those that do not speak the 00:10:49.160 --> 00:10:52.720 truth. I'm taking the verse out of context but the first thing you need to 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:57.160 know if you want to be a person who knows how to prevail in prayer is that 00:10:57.160 --> 00:11:00.680 you've got to rebuke untruth. You've got to rebuke untruth in your mind, you've got 00:11:00.680 --> 00:11:05.920 to rebuke untruth in circumstances. What do I mean by that? So let's assume you 00:11:05.920 --> 00:11:10.560 are going through a situation and the lie that has been spoken to you is that 00:11:10.560 --> 00:11:13.900 you will not recover, that God is not interested, that he's going to bring you 00:11:13.900 --> 00:11:16.840 through, he's not going to bring you through this, that there is a reason he's 00:11:16.840 --> 00:11:20.720 doing this, that God is trying to teach you a lesson by breaking your leg, that 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:25.280 the doctors prognosis will be right, that your circumstances will not change, that 00:11:25.280 --> 00:11:30.320 God has meant for you to suffer. When you hear these untruths it's not enough to 00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:34.320 say no no no not really not really no no no you got to rebuke it. To rebuke it is 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:38.080 to come against. Jesus rebuked the wind and the wave. You know what happens when 00:11:38.080 --> 00:11:44.960 you rebuke? You put a new value on that which was wrong. To rebuke is to say 00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:50.720 this cannot be, this is not the truth, stop. That's the idea of rebuke. There has 00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:57.120 to be an active rebuking of that which is a lie. So even amongst us when I hear 00:11:57.120 --> 00:12:01.200 stuff that you are saying that is not true I'll gently say something that's 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:05.200 contradictory to what you're saying because I don't want to hurt you but if 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:11.120 I had a chance and you were not the type that hurts I'd say it really bluntly as 00:12:11.120 --> 00:12:14.560 some do to me. 00:12:15.800 --> 00:12:23.200 Got to rebuke deception and untruth. You can't let it take hold of a church take 00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:28.480 hold of a person because once once a person has untruth established in their 00:12:28.960 --> 00:12:32.640 heart or their head there is no question of anything being built on that 00:12:32.640 --> 00:12:41.880 foundation guys. How can you build God who is the truth he said I am the way 00:12:41.880 --> 00:12:46.480 the truth and the life. How can you build God's principles who said he is the 00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:50.640 truth how can you build it on a foundation that you strongly believe but 00:12:50.640 --> 00:12:53.680 is false. You can't 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:58.080 rebuke untruth. 00:12:59.280 --> 00:13:05.280 Any questions on that before we go on? 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:12.000 Doesn't matter who is bringing it to you. 00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:20.360 What if it is not received if it's not received then you just have to go back 00:13:20.360 --> 00:13:25.880 and after after a while and try again. You just have to keep going back and 00:13:25.880 --> 00:13:30.520 trying again. That's how God does with us right. He tells us something we don't 00:13:30.520 --> 00:13:34.400 listen he comes back again and says it again. That's the only thing he won't 00:13:34.400 --> 00:13:38.120 take away your free will there's nothing God will do with your will he won't take 00:13:38.120 --> 00:13:44.160 it away so you have the choice but man untruth needs to be rebuked gently 00:13:44.160 --> 00:13:49.280 gently because it says in the first Timothy that if you speak and correct 00:13:49.280 --> 00:13:54.040 someone gently it might so be that they will escape the snares of the devil and 00:13:54.200 --> 00:13:58.840 will come to their senses but it very clearly says do not be quarrelsome but 00:13:58.840 --> 00:14:04.440 be gentle therefore truth can rebuke can be gentle man. Rebuke doesn't have to be 00:14:04.440 --> 00:14:07.640 at the top of your voice. 00:14:09.840 --> 00:14:18.680 So rebuke untruth second one. Overcome veeriness overcome veeriness because when 00:14:18.680 --> 00:14:22.880 things begin to happen where you're getting slammed again and again 00:14:22.880 --> 00:14:31.840 overcome veeriness how surprisingly through revelation and we'll explain 00:14:31.840 --> 00:14:37.040 that overcome veeriness through revelation. What do we mean by that go to 00:14:37.040 --> 00:14:44.520 John chapter 4 John chapter 4 verse 6 John chapter 4 guys we so mollycoddle 00:14:44.520 --> 00:14:50.720 those that speak things that you know are false but we just sympathize and it 00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:56.080 just helps them dig a deeper hole because we give them a extra spade to 00:14:56.080 --> 00:15:02.680 dig that hole if you have nothing truthful to say just don't say it but do 00:15:02.680 --> 00:15:09.760 not sympathize because it gives the person a spade to dig a deeper grave. 00:15:09.760 --> 00:15:28.240 John chapter 4 verse 6 00:15:30.120 --> 00:15:37.800 Jacob's well was there and Jesus tired as he was from the journey sat down by 00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:42.640 the well it was about the sixth hour so here Jesus is walked like crazy done a 00:15:42.640 --> 00:15:47.280 lot he's tired and he sees Jacob's well there and he comes and sits down because 00:15:47.280 --> 00:15:52.200 he's tired he's weary and he would think that now that he's sat down he's weary 00:15:52.200 --> 00:15:56.800 he should be left alone but then go to verse 31 you know the story but let's go 00:15:56.800 --> 00:16:01.800 to verse 31 and then he starts saying meanwhile his disciples urged him rabbi 00:16:01.800 --> 00:16:06.440 eat something but he said to them I have food to eat that you know nothing about 00:16:06.440 --> 00:16:11.000 then his disciples said to each other could someone have brought him food then 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:15.400 in verse 34 he says my food said Jesus is to do the will of him who sent me and 00:16:15.400 --> 00:16:19.200 to finish his work do you not say four months more and then he goes on to talk 00:16:19.200 --> 00:16:21.880 about the harvest but here's the point I want to make from those scriptures 00:16:21.880 --> 00:16:28.240 whenever you get weary while it's a good idea when you're weary to rest one of 00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:33.280 the things that takes weariness away is to dive back into finding out father I 00:16:33.480 --> 00:16:38.320 am so tired by this onslaught after onslaught after onslaught could you 00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:43.760 reveal to me truths out of your word that will build me up right now because 00:16:43.760 --> 00:16:48.880 it is always a revelation of the truth that takes away weariness there that 00:16:48.880 --> 00:16:54.200 weighed upon the Lord for water she will renew their strength how is there how 00:16:54.200 --> 00:16:58.000 what are you waiting on the Lord for more oxygen there's plenty of it around 00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:02.600 more food that ain't gonna come from heaven the days of man are over so what 00:17:02.600 --> 00:17:06.440 are you waiting on him for what is the idea of waiting there the idea of 00:17:06.440 --> 00:17:10.880 waiting is to crane your neck forward waiting in anticipation oh God I will 00:17:10.880 --> 00:17:16.360 wait on you even though others say that God is does not care even though I'm 00:17:16.360 --> 00:17:21.200 overwhelmed I wait on you and as I wait on who you are and what you will show me 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:25.360 with regard to the situation after situation I'm going through I will renew 00:17:25.360 --> 00:17:30.040 my strength and I will rise up like what like the eagle I will mount with wings 00:17:30.080 --> 00:17:41.720 of an eagle this is such a cool answer to weariness but Jesus is sitting there 00:17:41.720 --> 00:17:46.240 this woman from the village comes and she pours him water and he begins to 00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:51.800 speak he says you have no idea of the water you that I can give and then he 00:17:51.800 --> 00:17:55.360 begins to tell her that the father is looking for worshipers what is he doing 00:17:55.360 --> 00:18:00.080 with a woman who has that five husbands who's an adulteress who has a bad 00:18:00.080 --> 00:18:03.440 reputation who's coming in the middle of the afternoon to draw water because she 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:06.920 doesn't even want to associate with other women who come to draw water what's 00:18:06.920 --> 00:18:11.480 he doing with her explaining worship theology out of him is pouring 00:18:11.480 --> 00:18:15.480 revelation after revelation that the father is looking for worshipers who 00:18:15.480 --> 00:18:18.960 will worship him in spirit and truth that I am he that you should be looking 00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:23.840 for she begins to engage him and she says but the Jews worship there and we 00:18:23.840 --> 00:18:27.920 Samaritans worship here and then he talks about other things and as he does 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:32.800 she gets full man and he says I've got food and drink that you don't even know 00:18:32.800 --> 00:18:40.040 of in situations as you begin to wait on God and waiting is not some kind of 00:18:40.040 --> 00:18:44.760 that's not waiting that's resigned acceptance of your condition with God 00:18:44.760 --> 00:18:50.240 thrown in waiting is this father this is my situation I've taken blow after blow 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:54.200 after blow after blow if I can catch a glimpse of what you want to show of the 00:18:54.200 --> 00:18:57.840 truth of who you are something will happen inside of God and my 00:18:57.840 --> 00:19:06.840 veeringness will begin to disappear this is what happened to Hagar she's she's 00:19:06.840 --> 00:19:10.560 lying by the side of the road she wants to stay at a distance from Ishmael 00:19:10.560 --> 00:19:16.160 because Ishmael is dying and then she has just one revelation that I am the 00:19:16.160 --> 00:19:22.080 God be the lie Rohan be Lara Hoi something where he I am the God who sees 00:19:22.080 --> 00:19:29.040 and she sees that and God turns up gives water to him Ishmael and restores her 00:19:29.040 --> 00:19:34.400 back and says go back to your mistress Sarah and I will take care of this boy 00:19:34.400 --> 00:19:37.960 and I will make him a nation 00:19:47.160 --> 00:19:54.240 I think vision is the medium revelation is the object is the subject yeah 00:19:54.240 --> 00:19:59.400 revelation is a subject as in God revealing a truth and it when when God 00:19:59.400 --> 00:20:03.040 says I want to reveal a truth what he usually means is I want to reveal to you 00:20:03.040 --> 00:20:09.560 something about myself that's what he means because everything consists in God 00:20:09.560 --> 00:20:14.320 all truths are consistent consistent God is gravity real well God discovered it 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:18.080 is laughter real God discovered it is peace real you can't touch it but God 00:20:18.080 --> 00:20:27.360 discovered it is creation real God discovered it is love real God is the 00:20:27.360 --> 00:20:35.480 creation happen through words yes so all truths are basically God saying let me 00:20:35.480 --> 00:20:38.600 show you something about myself or let me show you something I have done in the 00:20:38.600 --> 00:20:43.640 past and I will do again let me show you how I will do it for you and it takes 00:20:43.640 --> 00:20:48.600 away veeriness it takes away veeriness whether you're a mom who has a little 00:20:48.600 --> 00:20:53.800 baby or you're a mom who has four kids and a dog or you're a single person who 00:20:53.800 --> 00:20:57.240 doesn't know what to do with time or you're a person with disease and 00:20:57.240 --> 00:21:03.000 sickness or you're a person who has financial situations or a family that is 00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:07.560 broken it does not matter revelation has a way you will look in the Bible and you 00:21:07.560 --> 00:21:11.360 will find time and time and time and time again what did David do when he was 00:21:11.360 --> 00:21:15.640 very tired running like a refugee he would go and sit start singing to God he 00:21:15.640 --> 00:21:19.960 would see something about God halfway through the psalm the psalm would change 00:21:19.960 --> 00:21:24.800 you'll see the first ten verses of the psalm lamenting his condition saying oh 00:21:24.800 --> 00:21:29.280 woe is me could you pour some hot oil on the guy who destroyed me and then pour 00:21:29.280 --> 00:21:35.000 some on his children too and that'll be the first few verses and by the next few 00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:40.680 verses it'll be oh forgive oh God show your mercy just as you've shown me 00:21:40.680 --> 00:21:47.800 mercy and the whole thing changes what was causing that change a sudden mood 00:21:47.800 --> 00:22:02.600 swing no got sight of something third overcome diversion when we are under 00:22:02.600 --> 00:22:08.160 onslaught purpose goes out of the window a overcome diversion from purpose 00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:22.320 overcome diversion from purpose through resolve and persistence resolve and 00:22:22.320 --> 00:22:33.320 persistence one of the things that happens when the onslaughts from the 00:22:33.320 --> 00:22:37.040 enemy regardless of whether he uses people or does it directly or 00:22:37.120 --> 00:22:43.040 circumstances when it gets overwhelming as you lose you're diverted from your 00:22:43.040 --> 00:22:49.440 purpose and yet one of the ways that you overcome diversion from purpose is to 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:55.560 resolve and persistence and you see this in Nehemiah and I'm Nehemiah chapter 6 00:22:55.560 --> 00:23:01.400 verse 1 to 4 you'll see just turn to Nehemiah 6 1 to 4 Nehemiah 6 1 to 4 00:23:01.400 --> 00:23:07.560 Nehemiah 6 00:23:16.040 --> 00:23:17.600 where is Nehemiah 00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:30.160 yeah if if I can be distracted from my purpose if I can be diverted from my 00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:36.680 purpose because of different things are happening in my life then a man who 00:23:36.680 --> 00:23:46.600 loses or a woman who loses a reason for life is just like a person who never 00:23:46.600 --> 00:23:56.560 met Christ Christ brings to you a reason for life and when that is taken away 00:23:56.600 --> 00:24:06.200 what do you have man what did Jesus say what did God say in Hosea 4 verse 6 a 00:24:06.200 --> 00:24:17.080 people without vision perish take away purpose and the decline that begins and 00:24:17.080 --> 00:24:20.680 I'm not talking about purpose as in goals and targets and I want to be this 00:24:20.680 --> 00:24:25.920 and I want to be that but something inside you that begins to bring hope 00:24:25.960 --> 00:24:29.760 every day that you wake up thinking today is the day when I will know a 00:24:29.760 --> 00:24:37.560 little more I'll add a little more to what I know let this be your condition 00:24:37.560 --> 00:24:43.480 that regardless of who's died last night or who will die today or what may 00:24:43.480 --> 00:24:48.080 collapse last night or what may collapse today every morning you get up with this 00:24:48.080 --> 00:24:54.160 understanding that today is a new day his mercies as in his compassion filled 00:24:54.480 --> 00:25:00.200 attitude towards you is new that today there is reason to wake up with 00:25:00.200 --> 00:25:03.200 tremendous hope 00:25:09.800 --> 00:25:16.080 Nehemiah chapter 6 verses 1 to 4 says there when the word came to son 00:25:16.080 --> 00:25:21.040 Bala Tobiah Geshim the Arab and the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the 00:25:21.040 --> 00:25:26.520 wall and not a gap was left in it though up to that time I had not set the doors 00:25:26.520 --> 00:25:31.000 in the gates son ballot and Gasham sent me this message come let us meet 00:25:31.000 --> 00:25:35.760 together in one of the villages on the plane of Ono but they were steaming to 00:25:35.760 --> 00:25:39.640 harm me so I sent messengers to them with this reply I'm carrying on a great 00:25:39.640 --> 00:25:44.560 project and cannot go down why should the world stop while I leave it and go 00:25:44.560 --> 00:25:49.240 down to you four times they sent me the same message and each time I gave them 00:25:49.240 --> 00:25:53.680 the same answer then the fifth time son ballot sent his aid to me with the same 00:25:53.680 --> 00:25:57.560 message and in his hand was an unsealed letter and it goes on the point being 00:25:57.560 --> 00:26:03.880 this guys decide the things that you are non-negotiable in your life decide that 00:26:03.880 --> 00:26:09.240 which is non-negotiable and do not move away from them you know for the last 00:26:09.240 --> 00:26:13.880 twenty seven or twenty eight years and I've been doing what I do on Sundays 00:26:13.880 --> 00:26:17.120 for the last twenty seven or twenty eight years it does not matter who dies 00:26:17.120 --> 00:26:22.320 even when it was my dad does not matter what happens there are certain things in 00:26:22.320 --> 00:26:27.560 my life that are non-negotiable and nothing stops for it is that cruel no 00:26:27.560 --> 00:26:32.360 it's not cruel it's just this is how it's going to be these are non-negotiables 00:26:32.360 --> 00:26:38.800 and for each one it may differ but do not be diverted from your purpose 00:26:38.800 --> 00:26:55.720 for me if I can walk and someone doesn't have to carry me then meeting together as 00:26:55.720 --> 00:27:01.600 a body assembling of the Saints is non-negotiable all my life for me 00:27:01.600 --> 00:27:09.160 standing up here and giving every ounce of everything I have during worship is 00:27:09.160 --> 00:27:15.960 non-negotiable God has never gotten a bad deal from me during worship and since 00:27:15.960 --> 00:27:20.760 the day I was born again there has not been a single worship session in all the 00:27:20.760 --> 00:27:26.200 28 years that I've been a believer that he has received anything less than the 00:27:26.200 --> 00:27:30.360 best I can give during worship it is non-negotiable he deserves nothing less 00:27:30.360 --> 00:27:34.360 I have given nothing less and it is by the grace of God yes but there is a 00:27:34.360 --> 00:27:40.600 resolve inside it's non-negotiable just giving you two examples 00:27:48.280 --> 00:27:54.800 since acts 20 has begun I would rather mess up change what I'm doing look a 00:27:54.800 --> 00:27:59.400 little foolish and uneducated and ignorant than follow what I have 00:27:59.400 --> 00:28:06.480 prepared if I know that this is God then it is non-negotiable it will happen it 00:28:06.480 --> 00:28:11.240 cannot be anything else even if it costs 00:28:15.120 --> 00:28:22.680 there should be a ferocity with non-negotiables ferocity 00:28:30.200 --> 00:28:34.920 when you're growing up they call it stubbornness when you grow up a little 00:28:34.920 --> 00:28:46.280 more it's resilience by the time you're my age it is non-negotiable yes it is 00:28:46.280 --> 00:28:51.160 impossible to maintain non-negotiables if you aren't in love with somebody and 00:28:51.160 --> 00:28:55.020 that is a reason why it's a non-negotiable because you don't have the 00:28:55.020 --> 00:28:58.640 willpower to do it you're doing it solely because there is someone who is 00:28:58.640 --> 00:29:03.120 far more important than you for whom you're doing it and it is not possible 00:29:03.120 --> 00:29:08.880 to break it if that isn't the motive then at some point you will be broken 00:29:08.880 --> 00:29:15.520 has to be for someone else that you love more than yourself 00:29:20.840 --> 00:29:28.360 so decide that through resolve and persistence you will overcome diversion 00:29:28.360 --> 00:29:34.000 from purpose fourth one overcome discouragement and fear overcome 00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:46.960 discouragement and fear overcome discouragement and fear through overcome 00:29:46.960 --> 00:29:52.840 discouragement and fear through remembering truth two ways one 00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:59.000 remembering what he has done remembering what he has done 00:30:01.800 --> 00:30:08.920 remembering what he has done and two depending on errands and hers depending 00:30:08.920 --> 00:30:13.160 on Aaron and Rene sorry Aaron and hers 00:30:13.160 --> 00:30:18.360 so discouragement and fear is so regularly used by the devil so regularly 00:30:18.360 --> 00:30:22.280 used by the devil the number of people in this church who go to discouragement 00:30:22.280 --> 00:30:28.680 and fear is the same as the number of people in any other church because this 00:30:28.680 --> 00:30:35.680 is the common common weapon used by the devil to break us discourage 00:30:35.680 --> 00:30:41.680 discourage discourage nothing that is not the reason why we are so used by 00:30:41.680 --> 00:30:45.680 discourage discourage nothing's working out it's been a while bleak bleak bleak 00:30:45.680 --> 00:30:48.360 fear 00:31:03.840 --> 00:31:08.680 it's fascinating how someone who can be really strong in the Lord is still 00:31:08.680 --> 00:31:14.440 afraid of doctors it can easily happen I know people are really strong in the 00:31:14.440 --> 00:31:18.360 Lord who when they go to doctors start feeling afraid it's not because they 00:31:18.360 --> 00:31:27.680 have less word in them it's just because anyone with a white coat yeah it kind of 00:31:27.680 --> 00:31:33.280 frightens you so the point is it's not that we don't know scripture but the 00:31:33.280 --> 00:31:40.240 devil has used discouragement and fear to bring us to a place where we get 00:31:40.240 --> 00:31:47.320 scared and so there's two ways we overcome it one through remembering what 00:31:47.320 --> 00:31:53.920 God has done in the past why that because the Bible talks about it David 00:31:53.920 --> 00:31:59.520 would make statements like this these things I remember as I pour out my soul 00:31:59.520 --> 00:32:04.400 so even as he's crying and pouring out his soul he's thinking of all the good 00:32:04.400 --> 00:32:12.600 things God has done in Psalm 42 verse 4 he does that in Psalm 53 he says I put 00:32:12.600 --> 00:32:19.620 my trust in God whose word I trust I put my trust in God whose word I trust I put 00:32:19.620 --> 00:32:23.520 my trust that's what he says in Psalm 56 verse 3 where he begins to remember 00:32:23.520 --> 00:32:27.040 what God has done in the past and it doesn't mean that God will do it the 00:32:27.040 --> 00:32:30.240 same way this time but he knows God did it before and the last situation was 00:32:30.240 --> 00:32:36.040 really bad and he delivered me we don't recount what God has done one of the 00:32:36.040 --> 00:32:41.360 ways you recount what God has done is by speaking it so the less you speak about 00:32:41.360 --> 00:32:48.720 it the more it becomes a memory and becomes a hazy memory speak often of it 00:32:48.720 --> 00:32:52.920 in Malachi it says that there was a book that God opened and you know what the 00:32:52.920 --> 00:32:57.080 name of the book was it was called the book of remembrance and what would he 00:32:57.080 --> 00:33:00.680 write down in it he would write down the names of people who were talking about 00:33:00.680 --> 00:33:03.840 him and the things he had done 00:33:06.680 --> 00:33:10.920 and then the other way is to be dependent on errands and herds and what 00:33:10.920 --> 00:33:16.320 does that mean Moses at one point had to lift up his hands and hold them up for a 00:33:16.320 --> 00:33:21.000 while when a battle was going on and his arms became tired it says so in Exodus 00:33:21.000 --> 00:33:26.040 17 and so Aaron this guy called Aaron and this guy called her poor guy what a 00:33:26.040 --> 00:33:29.640 name to live with her and so Aaron and her came and stood on both sides and 00:33:29.640 --> 00:33:35.120 held up his arms and so sometimes when I'm discouraged and I'm afraid I need 00:33:35.120 --> 00:33:42.920 people to come and say hey Jacob let me buy your burger that that only fills 00:33:42.920 --> 00:33:49.560 your stomach but and that's comfort food but especially a baconator but fear 00:33:50.520 --> 00:33:54.560 and discouragement need people to come alongside and say things that will build 00:33:54.560 --> 00:33:59.000 you up not not give you platitudes like oh don't worry God will come through 00:33:59.000 --> 00:34:04.640 really tell me something new give me something a little more solid than God 00:34:04.640 --> 00:34:09.360 is still in control because that I could get out of a Hallmark card give me 00:34:09.360 --> 00:34:18.200 something solid and that's when errands and herds come into play next one 00:34:18.600 --> 00:34:22.800 I love this one this is so simple that it bothers me that we don't think like 00:34:22.800 --> 00:34:39.800 this know that you have a good father who won't give you a serpent when you 00:34:39.800 --> 00:34:42.280 ask for fish 00:34:42.280 --> 00:34:45.280 Luke 11 11 00:34:49.280 --> 00:34:54.280 hey when you go pray why is it that you think that he is going to give you a 00:34:54.280 --> 00:34:58.680 serpent a good father will not give you a serpent it says will a good father 00:34:58.680 --> 00:35:02.280 when you go and ask him for fish give you a serpent will he give you a 00:35:02.280 --> 00:35:06.280 scorpion when you ask for egg will you give you stone when you ask for bread 00:35:06.280 --> 00:35:10.280 well you have a good good father so Jacob when you pray 00:35:10.280 --> 00:35:14.280 even when it's taking long to happen know without a shadow of a doubt that 00:35:14.280 --> 00:35:23.280 your good father will not give you a serpent when you are asking for fish if 00:35:23.280 --> 00:35:28.280 it's taking a little longer maybe it's a fish that's bigger than you ask for but 00:35:28.280 --> 00:35:35.280 it ain't going to be a serpent it's going to come the simple assurance that 00:35:36.280 --> 00:35:40.280 the simple assurance that children know 00:35:43.280 --> 00:35:47.080 I didn't know you're not supposed to disappoint a kid when you tell a kid 00:35:47.080 --> 00:35:52.480 something you better deliver yeah or else they have these memories that 00:35:52.480 --> 00:35:57.280 transform them into elephants but I didn't know this so I promised a kid the 00:35:57.280 --> 00:36:02.880 moon and then then deliver and Eric called me and said hey Jacob if you tell 00:36:02.880 --> 00:36:06.480 a kid something because he's got four of them he had four of them then now he's 00:36:06.480 --> 00:36:11.480 got five so he said you got to deliver and this kid was waiting man this kid 00:36:11.480 --> 00:36:20.480 was waiting and so what I've decided is not to make any promises to kids because 00:36:20.480 --> 00:36:29.280 the thing is with kids you but Lorian at least with kids when you make you tell 00:36:29.280 --> 00:36:31.480 them you'll play a game with them and you play it once they want to play it 00:36:31.480 --> 00:36:39.480 14 times man with grown-ups you only need to play it once pardon 00:36:42.280 --> 00:36:51.480 moving on yeah why did I open this 00:37:01.480 --> 00:37:04.480 yeah 00:37:07.480 --> 00:37:10.080 yeah I thought you were going to take a shot at me but I'm glad that you quoted 00:37:10.080 --> 00:37:22.480 a verse instead so you're on my so the next one this is a stay within the hedge 00:37:22.480 --> 00:37:35.080 stay within the hedge within which God wants to bless within which God wants 00:37:35.080 --> 00:37:44.280 to bless it's in Job one was ten ish I think here's the thing guys God loves 00:37:44.280 --> 00:37:49.280 putting a hedge around you a head is like a protective fence around you stay 00:37:49.280 --> 00:37:56.480 within it stay within it God puts a hedge around you stay within it it's 00:37:56.480 --> 00:38:00.580 strange thing is it's not with job that he started it he did it in the 00:38:00.580 --> 00:38:04.980 beginning of creation where he took Adam and Eve put them in a garden and said 00:38:04.980 --> 00:38:11.280 within these confines of Eden stay everything within this area is yours the 00:38:11.280 --> 00:38:15.880 serpent was on the outside he wasn't on the inside and God loves putting a hedge 00:38:16.080 --> 00:38:20.680 around you he did that for job so much so that the devil had to come and say if 00:38:20.680 --> 00:38:26.280 it were not for this hedge that you put around him and that won't be taken away 00:38:26.280 --> 00:38:31.880 in our case because Jesus Christ has already defeated the devil job won't be 00:38:31.880 --> 00:38:35.280 repeated in your case where God does not take away your protective covering 00:38:35.280 --> 00:38:41.080 your is possession you the apple of his eye your he loves putting a hedge around 00:38:41.080 --> 00:38:44.880 you and once he puts a hedge around you likes blessing you within that boundary 00:38:44.880 --> 00:38:50.480 but you and I have the ability to step out of the edge through habits through 00:38:50.480 --> 00:38:58.080 bondages through sin through broken relationships stay within the hedge 00:38:58.080 --> 00:39:02.880 that God loves blessing you with him he's been doing it since Eden and if you 00:39:02.880 --> 00:39:08.280 step out repent and return on the freshly slain blood pathway that Jesus 00:39:08.480 --> 00:39:16.880 created fresh freshly slain blood pathway Jesus's blood isn't dried old 00:39:16.880 --> 00:39:22.380 blood it it is freshly slain thousands and thousands come to the Lord every 00:39:22.380 --> 00:39:29.180 day because his blood is alive and calls out for mercy so anytime I break the 00:39:29.180 --> 00:39:36.180 head and I'm out of it repent and come back don't stay out I used to do this 00:39:36.180 --> 00:39:41.380 ages ago when I first started preaching that it's never that God removes his 00:39:41.380 --> 00:39:49.980 hand it is always that I can step from under his covering it's never that God 00:39:49.980 --> 00:39:55.880 says okay I'm gonna let you go I'm gonna abandon you that does not happen this is 00:39:55.880 --> 00:40:00.880 another truth here's the untrue the untrue this oh God has abandoned me not 00:40:00.880 --> 00:40:05.380 true oh God has taken this my protection away not true oh God has let go of my 00:40:05.380 --> 00:40:10.480 hand not true these are the untruths we need to rebuke God does not take away 00:40:10.480 --> 00:40:16.680 his hand you and I can step out of it and if we step out of it there's an easy 00:40:16.680 --> 00:40:23.480 way of turning to him and coming back to any questions on that before we go on to 00:40:23.480 --> 00:40:31.880 the content of prayer any questions anything you want to add 00:40:32.380 --> 00:40:34.880 yep 00:40:37.880 --> 00:40:45.060 partly because someone sent it to me on whatsapp from Australia but no there's 00:40:45.060 --> 00:40:54.780 no reason for the order yeah yep yep 00:40:54.780 --> 00:40:57.780 yeah 00:41:00.280 --> 00:41:09.680 reach out reach out ask ask someone you think you can depend on ask someone you 00:41:09.680 --> 00:41:14.080 trust or ask someone you don't know if you can depend on and don't know well 00:41:14.080 --> 00:41:21.120 but you trust has the ability to help go and ask yeah and let's assume this body 00:41:21.220 --> 00:41:26.620 was really messed up and broken and not nice you can still go and ask we do that 00:41:26.620 --> 00:41:35.660 in the world we take on doctors who we don't know ask our problem with asking 00:41:35.660 --> 00:41:42.720 is sometimes that we are all peers so it's difficult otherwise I think you 00:41:42.720 --> 00:41:49.540 should just ask and never start a conversation with I think you may be 00:41:49.640 --> 00:41:54.720 busy but just forget that just ask 00:42:00.040 --> 00:42:05.720 any other questions okay 00:42:08.280 --> 00:42:14.520 we won't probably finish the content of prayers and what does prevailing prayer 00:42:14.520 --> 00:42:21.340 look like we'll just start one or two and then stop and continue another time 00:42:21.340 --> 00:42:26.280 if someone can remind me when I'm back that hey you didn't finish it since no 00:42:26.280 --> 00:42:30.620 one wants to remind me I guess I'll go right through it for the next one hour 00:42:30.620 --> 00:42:41.340 could someone remind me oh my lord there are volunteers okay the content what does 00:42:41.340 --> 00:42:46.560 prevailing prayer look like one it's a kind of prayer that guys this is not the 00:42:46.560 --> 00:42:50.480 way we pray it is not the way we as a church pray it's not the way that we as 00:42:50.480 --> 00:43:04.680 individuals pray so the first one is we inflict loss inflict loss upon Satan we 00:43:04.680 --> 00:43:16.860 inflict loss upon Satan we provoke hostilities we provoke hostilities we 00:43:16.860 --> 00:43:29.220 smite the lion and the bear that's from first Samuel 15 or 17 this is this is 00:43:29.220 --> 00:43:33.460 part of what prevailing prayer looks like where you inflict loss upon the 00:43:33.460 --> 00:43:38.600 enemy when was the last time you inflicted loss upon the devil where the 00:43:38.600 --> 00:43:44.400 devil touched you and you came back in prayer in such a strong way that in 00:43:44.400 --> 00:43:50.200 inflicted loss upon the enemy and you saw it you saw damage done to the 00:43:50.200 --> 00:43:58.400 satanic kingdom you saw it this was common practice in the Old Testament and 00:43:58.520 --> 00:44:07.300 surprisingly in the New Testament too yet it is such an alien concept to us we 00:44:07.300 --> 00:44:10.540 presume that things are happening but there's no evidence to show that loss 00:44:10.540 --> 00:44:14.600 has been inflicted in the Bible there was always evidence that showed that my 00:44:14.600 --> 00:44:21.180 god this prayer inflicted loss upon the enemy that when was the last time you 00:44:21.180 --> 00:44:26.760 provoked hostilities where we as a church provoked hostilities saying alrighty you 00:44:26.760 --> 00:44:30.940 want to fight Gisela you want to fight come when was the last time we did that 00:44:30.940 --> 00:44:38.220 don't do it to Gisela but take on Kamal 00:44:39.380 --> 00:44:47.460 drive his car over you yeah no so provoking hostilities and then the third 00:44:47.460 --> 00:44:50.660 one was smiting the lion and the bear so let's look at those three then maybe 00:44:50.660 --> 00:44:58.080 we'll take one more and stop you so if you go to first Exodus 79 Exodus 79 00:44:58.080 --> 00:45:01.640 depending I mean there's one version which actually uses the word provoke 00:45:01.640 --> 00:45:17.800 hostilities hostilities Exodus 79 Exodus 79 it says that starting at verse 8 the 00:45:17.800 --> 00:45:22.920 Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites and Dreyfidim Moses said to 00:45:22.920 --> 00:45:31.960 Joshua choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites and another 00:45:31.960 --> 00:45:36.280 version it says choose some men and go provoke a fight with the Amalekites 00:45:36.280 --> 00:45:40.440 tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand and 00:45:40.440 --> 00:45:46.080 then the victory is won so there is this idea where God sometimes would say to if 00:45:46.080 --> 00:45:51.480 he in the book of Acts in Acts 18 and 19 particularly and in other places that 00:45:51.480 --> 00:45:56.320 listen I want you to engage a fight I want you to start a fight because I want 00:45:56.320 --> 00:46:01.380 to do some damage but he can't say to us because to begin with we don't like 00:46:01.380 --> 00:46:08.320 fighting forget provoking a fight I'm done with fighting with invisible beings 00:46:08.320 --> 00:46:14.000 I mean if you are not someone who knows the Bible even me talking like this will 00:46:14.000 --> 00:46:16.600 freak you out 00:46:21.440 --> 00:46:27.640 and then the first one is inflict loss upon Satan where there is damage and 00:46:27.640 --> 00:46:33.920 loss done to the devil I mean there's a pastor down in California and he writes 00:46:33.920 --> 00:46:37.800 about the story where he went up to his church one day and brought all the 00:46:37.800 --> 00:46:42.000 newspapers with him from the day before and he started reading our news article 00:46:42.000 --> 00:46:47.640 after news article and it was depressing the news of all the things that were 00:46:47.640 --> 00:46:52.480 happening in their town and people started like good Christians saying end 00:46:52.480 --> 00:46:56.040 of the world the world is going to the dogs and all this is the devil and oh 00:46:56.040 --> 00:47:01.360 God come quickly oh let's get raptured and all the stuff so they're lamenting 00:47:01.360 --> 00:47:05.520 the condition of their town at one point he asked us he said you know the reason 00:47:05.520 --> 00:47:10.360 this is happening is because we as a people as a people of God do nothing 00:47:10.360 --> 00:47:17.920 about it and so starting that night they would gather in a barn on the far 00:47:17.920 --> 00:47:23.080 end of the city and they began to pray every night a few people would just 00:47:23.080 --> 00:47:28.200 gather in that barn open field and then then there's this wilderness at the edge 00:47:28.200 --> 00:47:33.600 edge of the city and they would gather one day went by 365 days went by one and 00:47:33.600 --> 00:47:38.240 a half years went by and they would not let up man and then one night about a 00:47:38.240 --> 00:47:44.160 year and a half later while they're praying there is this loud blood curdling 00:47:44.160 --> 00:47:50.240 shriek at the end of where the woods are and there's nobody there but they can 00:47:50.240 --> 00:47:58.160 hear this blood curdling shriek and something fleeing and that day the town 00:47:58.160 --> 00:48:03.400 began to change and today if you go through that town which was like a 00:48:03.400 --> 00:48:11.400 place that people would not even buy land it's a land that is doing well older 00:48:11.400 --> 00:48:16.600 couples go there to retire because it's that peaceful 00:48:20.160 --> 00:48:24.920 inflict loss there was a situation at acts 29 which some of you may remember 00:48:24.920 --> 00:48:29.800 where someone in this church brought us a prayer request on a Sunday morning 00:48:29.800 --> 00:48:38.840 and said that a friend of his had gone and eaten from a temple in India and it 00:48:38.840 --> 00:48:45.760 eaten from a temple in India and now he was a he was he was a Christian eaten 00:48:45.760 --> 00:48:51.480 from a temple in India and because of some demonic possession literally 00:48:51.480 --> 00:48:55.000 started writing around like a snake trying to climb up the wall like a snake 00:48:55.000 --> 00:49:01.920 and that morning this man gets a call from the boy's mother saying can you 00:49:01.920 --> 00:49:08.280 please pray and as we began to pray that morning this boy began to get set free 00:49:08.280 --> 00:49:20.520 12,000 kilometers away inflict loss inflict loss where where things I mean 00:49:20.520 --> 00:49:24.980 the story that I just told you is not so much as a loss as a deliverance I'm 00:49:24.980 --> 00:49:33.500 talking about pay the devil paying a price for doing harm I remember Graham 00:49:33.500 --> 00:49:41.460 cook going up to the City Council that was denying him an application to set up 00:49:41.460 --> 00:49:46.580 place that would help the poor and the downcast and he kept going back with the 00:49:46.580 --> 00:49:50.220 application saying I'd like to do it right here is everything you need and 00:49:50.220 --> 00:49:53.540 they kept rejecting it kept rejecting and then he goes in one day to the City 00:49:53.540 --> 00:49:57.180 Council somewhere in the UK and he says to them I have brought you everything 00:49:57.180 --> 00:50:01.300 you need and I've brought the documents I've done everything you've asked me to 00:50:01.300 --> 00:50:05.140 I've done it three four five times and now I want you to know that you have no 00:50:05.140 --> 00:50:10.300 reason to deny me permission and I want you to know this if this is denied every 00:50:10.300 --> 00:50:17.740 embezzlement in this room every adulterous relationship every form of 00:50:17.740 --> 00:50:21.420 corruption practiced by anyone in this room will be exposed over the next week 00:50:21.420 --> 00:50:27.300 by my God so either go ahead and grant this document and release it to me or 00:50:27.300 --> 00:50:35.620 know what's gonna happen he got permission within minutes but how do you 00:50:35.620 --> 00:50:41.980 get to a point where you are so sure of praying like this you see how poor we 00:50:42.980 --> 00:50:52.340 are in that how poor we are in that we don't know how to some of the things 00:50:52.340 --> 00:50:55.500 that are happening in India based on the letter that was read and some of the 00:50:55.500 --> 00:50:59.500 other things are happening are causing actual loss and damage I remember 00:50:59.500 --> 00:51:09.860 showing you bullets being fired at this guy who runs this conference some of 00:51:09.900 --> 00:51:15.140 the stories are untellable guys because it it'll it is it is on one hand scary 00:51:15.140 --> 00:51:19.380 on the other hand will freak you out 00:51:24.060 --> 00:51:28.300 God wants to make us a church like this might the lion and the bear is another 00:51:28.300 --> 00:51:32.380 thing that David would practice David said in first Samuel 17 that listen 00:51:32.380 --> 00:51:36.340 Saul Saul is trying to put his armor on David and David says now Saul I don't 00:51:36.340 --> 00:51:41.740 want your armor why David because I've learned how to use just stick and stone 00:51:41.740 --> 00:51:46.580 because when I would be in the field and there would be a lion or a bear that 00:51:46.580 --> 00:51:51.660 would come towards me and try to take one of the sheep I would smite it and if 00:51:51.660 --> 00:51:56.500 it didn't release the sheep I would go grab its jaws pull it open pull out the 00:51:56.500 --> 00:52:02.180 sheep and smite it so hard that it would learn a lesson when was the last time 00:52:02.180 --> 00:52:05.780 you prayed and if you pray this make sure that you don't pray it out of 00:52:05.780 --> 00:52:09.980 presumption but prayed out of absolute faith that Satan if you do this again I 00:52:09.980 --> 00:52:15.420 will cause the smiting of God to fall upon you but the thing is you've got to 00:52:15.420 --> 00:52:19.140 make sure that you can follow through and you know how to follow through I 00:52:19.140 --> 00:52:26.140 remember once a guy in front of me who was driving slow and I honked and he 00:52:26.140 --> 00:52:29.440 gave me the finger and I started following him thinking he was a small 00:52:29.440 --> 00:52:34.900 guy and then he stopped and he got out of the car and I rolled up my windows 00:52:35.820 --> 00:52:39.740 because I thought to myself oops this is not one of the this is not a fight I 00:52:39.740 --> 00:52:43.620 want to go through I rolled up the window and I said it's okay it's okay and 00:52:43.620 --> 00:52:47.820 I went off on the side if we begin to take this on you got to know that you 00:52:47.820 --> 00:52:55.020 can see through otherwise out of the car will come a guy who's twice your size 00:52:55.940 --> 00:53:01.380 so I'm not saying let's go and do this I'm saying look at what awaits us and 00:53:01.420 --> 00:53:07.140 look at where we are I was thinking of all the stories I could tell of these 00:53:07.140 --> 00:53:12.180 three and one day I will I just wanted to write it down accurately and then 00:53:12.180 --> 00:53:15.180 read it out so that it's not piecemeal because I don't want to exaggerate one 00:53:15.180 --> 00:53:19.060 of the things that you've got to be careful of whenever you talk about any 00:53:19.060 --> 00:53:23.980 victory over the devil is that you do not exaggerate because he's a liar a 00:53:23.980 --> 00:53:29.900 thief and a murderer and so when you tell stories of what God has done and 00:53:29.900 --> 00:53:33.780 when you tell stories of how the devil was defeated it is very easy to add a 00:53:33.780 --> 00:53:38.060 little here and there and that's exactly what he's looking for because if in your 00:53:38.060 --> 00:53:42.700 testimony of what you have done you can add lies then it plays straight into the 00:53:42.700 --> 00:53:47.300 hand of the one you're trying to defeat this is why when I was driving I was 00:53:47.300 --> 00:53:50.460 thinking of different stories and thought father I've got to make sure every one of 00:53:50.460 --> 00:53:56.940 them is exactly what I saw and not presumption that this could have 00:53:56.940 --> 00:54:03.300 happened or this may have happened no we don't realize sometimes that when we 00:54:03.300 --> 00:54:07.100 tell a story the moment you add exaggeration to it it thrills the crowd 00:54:07.100 --> 00:54:12.180 but it impoverishes the work of the spirit in the crowd 00:54:14.260 --> 00:54:18.020 there can be no presumption in your stories and then I believe God did this 00:54:18.020 --> 00:54:21.060 no if you didn't see it then you can only say I'm praying that God would have 00:54:21.060 --> 00:54:24.500 done that I don't know for sure 00:54:27.460 --> 00:54:32.540 so we look at this and then let's touch on one and then stop let me see which one 00:54:32.540 --> 00:54:34.980 we should take 00:54:38.020 --> 00:54:45.740 look at this scriptury and then we'll stop with that Isaiah 62 Isaiah 62 00:54:45.740 --> 00:54:49.340 Isaiah 62 00:54:57.820 --> 00:55:04.620 guys I don't know you probably heard of this word push prayers right you've 00:55:04.620 --> 00:55:19.860 heard of it push is basically prevail until something happens basically the 00:55:19.860 --> 00:55:23.660 idea that hey there are times when prevailing prayer is a kind of prayer 00:55:23.700 --> 00:55:30.340 where you keep pushing you keep pushing you give God no rest you give God no 00:55:30.340 --> 00:55:37.300 rest but what do you mean give God no rest if you read Isaiah 62 was six 00:55:37.300 --> 00:55:46.180 onwards Isaiah 62 verse 6 what it says there and we stop at this I've got six 00:55:46.180 --> 00:55:57.420 others yes six of us Isaiah 62 verse 6 to 8 5 others I have posted watchmen on 00:55:57.420 --> 00:56:03.300 your walls or Jerusalem they will never be silent day or night you who call on 00:56:03.300 --> 00:56:08.340 the Lord give yourselves no rest and give him no rest till he establishes 00:56:08.340 --> 00:56:15.340 Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth imagine what God is saying God 00:56:15.380 --> 00:56:21.540 is saying listen I have decreed some things you know what I want to do but 00:56:21.540 --> 00:56:27.980 now I want you to get up and stand like watchmen on the wall and do not give me 00:56:27.980 --> 00:56:32.500 rest not do you take a rest till this comes through he's literally saying 00:56:32.500 --> 00:56:39.420 come and press into me and press into what I've already decreed he's not 00:56:39.420 --> 00:56:45.540 because it's not like God what are we asking what is God asking us to do God 00:56:45.540 --> 00:56:51.380 is saying hey don't give me any rest I said something now wait till I do it but 00:56:51.380 --> 00:56:55.380 don't you back off you keep persisting after me saying you said so you said so 00:56:55.380 --> 00:57:00.920 you said so you said so don't let go of me I'm inviting you to do that when he 00:57:00.920 --> 00:57:04.220 invites you to do that it's perfectly okay to do that when he does not invite 00:57:04.220 --> 00:57:10.580 you to do that it is harassment it is lack of faith it is being a child that 00:57:10.580 --> 00:57:14.300 is not convinced of the father's goodness it's tugging at the father's 00:57:14.300 --> 00:57:19.820 shirt till it's out of his belt loop but when he invites you to do that then my 00:57:19.820 --> 00:57:29.620 god don't let go yes Diana you'll have to hear the invitation here he 00:57:29.620 --> 00:57:38.060 specifically says I have set watchmen on your walls do not give me rest just 00:57:38.060 --> 00:57:43.820 persist because I have decreed it that Jerusalem shall be a city on its own so 00:57:43.820 --> 00:57:50.940 keep pushing keep persisting keep persisting do not let off in the process 00:57:50.940 --> 00:57:56.140 what God wants to do is not get all stirred up to do anything no in the 00:57:56.140 --> 00:58:02.220 process he wants you to be stirred up and you to build the kind of muscle that 00:58:02.220 --> 00:58:09.660 will allow you to take what he wants you to take that's the difference guys and 00:58:09.660 --> 00:58:13.380 when he invites you to do that my god don't back off don't be like that woman 00:58:13.380 --> 00:58:18.580 in the song of songs who heard a knock on her door and she's lying in a bed and 00:58:18.580 --> 00:58:23.620 she says but I'm in my nice comfy warm socks and my PJs are on I can hear you 00:58:23.620 --> 00:58:28.900 knock but I don't feel like getting up and then her lover leaves and now she 00:58:28.900 --> 00:58:32.260 goes to open the door and she can't find him and so she goes running through the 00:58:32.260 --> 00:58:36.340 city looking for him gets beaten up by a few people my god you could have done 00:58:36.340 --> 00:58:39.380 it without getting beaten up 00:58:39.380 --> 00:58:54.900 prevail through prayer that gives God no rest because you know he has decreed it 00:58:54.900 --> 00:59:00.340 he has decreed it it has to happen guys there are times when I know I mean you 00:59:00.340 --> 00:59:04.460 can ask my mom this because she sees it most of these prevailing these kind of 00:59:04.460 --> 00:59:08.660 prayers no one else will see this is the kind of prayer that Jesus engaged in in 00:59:08.740 --> 00:59:13.660 in in Mark and Luke when he had to go up on a mountain and pray through the night 00:59:13.660 --> 00:59:19.900 to find 12 he knew that the gospel would spread through the earth he knew 00:59:19.900 --> 00:59:23.580 that he had his father's ear he knew that his father was delighted in him and 00:59:23.580 --> 00:59:28.060 yet he spends an entire night praying because he knows that on this choice 00:59:28.060 --> 00:59:34.540 will depend so much and he also knew that one of them would betray him and he 00:59:34.540 --> 00:59:40.820 also knew that all ten would flee and one would remain nobody sees this kind 00:59:40.820 --> 00:59:45.540 of prayer where you will pace up and down through the night no one knows 00:59:45.540 --> 00:59:50.180 about it and you know the outcome but you know that my god I can get this done 00:59:50.180 --> 00:59:54.500 because God has said it will happen it must happen so stay up and stay through 00:59:54.500 --> 00:59:58.900 half an hour one hour prayer that you can never imagine praying for one hour 00:59:58.900 --> 01:00:03.500 you keep going at it in tongues in English with understanding without 01:00:03.500 --> 01:00:06.940 understanding you keep at it because you know God has decreed it so I will 01:00:06.940 --> 01:00:11.580 give you no rest I will call on you I will not harass you but I will say that 01:00:11.580 --> 01:00:15.900 there is no other name that is above your name that you are high and lifted 01:00:15.900 --> 01:00:20.820 up that this thing shall come to pass that you are the undefeated one and you 01:00:20.820 --> 01:00:25.020 keep at it you begin to tell yourself you tell the enemy you tell the world 01:00:25.020 --> 01:00:30.020 and you tell God God this is who you are this is what you said this is what will 01:00:30.020 --> 01:00:38.060 happen and I am not leaving it's called persistent prayer I remember teaching 01:00:38.060 --> 01:00:41.980 this in the course of faith and whenever I talk about faith stories I talk about 01:00:41.980 --> 01:00:49.860 Kony the circle drawer this this Hebrew boy who once decided that he will not 01:00:49.860 --> 01:00:54.540 move till the rains come because it's been years it's been a drought and he 01:00:54.540 --> 01:00:58.780 wants a rain so he steps out into the middle of the village square draws a 01:00:58.900 --> 01:01:04.460 circle around himself and he says oh God I am not leaving the circle till the 01:01:04.460 --> 01:01:11.380 rains come and there were many good Christians in that village and they 01:01:11.380 --> 01:01:16.740 said presumptuous little fella he thinks he can draw a circle and make God do 01:01:16.740 --> 01:01:21.100 things for him but Kony knew something that God is the sender of rain that God 01:01:21.100 --> 01:01:25.660 is not the sender of drought that God likes blessing his people and so he 01:01:25.660 --> 01:01:29.860 decides he's not moving and the older people and the pastors begin to say 01:01:29.860 --> 01:01:34.980 fellows twisting God's arm all the usual stuff we say when we don't have the 01:01:34.980 --> 01:01:43.500 courage to trust him he stood there guess what happened after a while drops 01:01:43.500 --> 01:01:49.060 of rain and everybody started shouting saying Kony Kony come in come in the 01:01:49.060 --> 01:01:52.900 showers have started and Kony said this ain't enough we've had one and a half 01:01:52.940 --> 01:01:57.700 years of drought these are small mercy showers this is not what I asked for 01:01:57.700 --> 01:02:04.580 this will not help the ground get moist again I'm not leaving till the rains 01:02:04.580 --> 01:02:10.660 really come down and so he stays in that circle few minutes later it starts 01:02:10.660 --> 01:02:16.380 pouring torrents that rip up the earth and they say Kony Kony come in because 01:02:16.380 --> 01:02:20.340 look at how profuse the rain is and he says no this kind of rain ain't God 01:02:20.500 --> 01:02:24.180 because God's rain ain't violent this is tearing up the ground this won't be 01:02:24.180 --> 01:02:32.980 good for the crops then a few minutes later it begins to rain like good rain 01:02:32.980 --> 01:02:38.100 that doesn't tear up the ground but wets the soil and now Kony they say Kony 01:02:38.100 --> 01:02:41.700 Kony come in he says no I'm beginning to enjoy this rain let me stand here a 01:02:41.700 --> 01:02:46.340 little while more and I'll come in once I'm wet and now he begins to enjoy what 01:02:46.340 --> 01:02:54.100 has happened this kind of prayer is prevailing prayer that has the ability 01:02:54.100 --> 01:03:00.420 to give God no rest it takes a certain substance inside us to be able to stand 01:03:00.420 --> 01:03:07.340 like this without coming up with foolish excuses eh he is sovereign but my God he 01:03:07.340 --> 01:03:11.980 is a sovereign God who is not nebulous he says when was the last time I spoke to 01:03:12.180 --> 01:03:17.620 in riddles Isaiah don't I say things plainly when have I been hazy and 01:03:17.620 --> 01:03:23.260 nebulous whenever I have to say some things I say to you is plain so why 01:03:23.260 --> 01:03:30.300 don't you begin to stand up and give me no rest there are four or five other 01:03:30.300 --> 01:03:35.020 categories so we'll talk about them later yeah be encouraged church we're 01:03:35.020 --> 01:03:38.700 going somewhere with this if you heard me during the time of worship I said 01:03:38.700 --> 01:03:43.700 there's a thin filament that separates us from breaking into the next kairos 01:03:43.700 --> 01:03:49.580 of this church as in the next fluid time frame that God has constructed for us 01:03:49.580 --> 01:03:53.900 and it's coming they've been talking about building the church now we're 01:03:53.900 --> 01:03:58.620 talking about prevailing church how to prevail how to become a strong strong 01:03:58.620 --> 01:04:03.900 people who God can use both as a gateway and as gatekeepers we talked about this 01:04:04.100 --> 01:04:08.780 two three weeks ago so let's just rise and sing these two songs and then we'll 01:04:08.780 --> 01:04:12.980 go home why sing it now because I don't know this song has something that will 01:04:12.980 --> 01:04:16.900 perhaps drive the message home think about this go home listen to it 01:04:16.900 --> 01:04:21.300 understand where we are heading if you are