Prophetic Awareness

In 1 Samuel 3 we have the humorous but sad story regarding Samuel as he heard the voice of God. At that time there was sin and apostacy in the priesthood and God was not speaking. The verses state the sad reality that ‘the word of the Lord was rare and there were not many visions’. However, Samuel was a true worshipper and he heard God’s voice, but didn’t know that God could reveal Himself in that way so he keeps going to Eli and saying, ‘Here I am; you called me’ This happened three times before the light went on for Eli and he told Samuel to say, ‘Speak, for your servant is listening.” In Samuel God was ready to birth a new season of revelation and I believe He is doing it again.

Prophetic Ministry is Birthed Through Prayer

Prayer itself is an art which only the Holy Spirit can teach us. Pray for prayer. Pray until you can really pray!" (C.H.Spurgeon)

This week a group of us had the opportunity to hear the vision of the 24/7 Prayer ministry as Chris Jones shared about building communities of prayer, mission and justice. It was in our first 24/7 prayer room that God really impressed on me my mission to take the lead role here. Our last prayer room experience…a little rockier but once again God spoke and reaffirmed in me the desire to keep focused, keep pressing on. Extended times of prayer birth vision and mission and action!

Kelly Greene is serving in Boystown, Mexico a walled-in section of the city which has been set apart for prostitution and drug abuse for the past 150 years. She started by first prayer walking through the community for over a year and a half and then God started opening doors!!

24-7prayer.com: Mexico: God Lives Where the Girls Have No Name...

Prophetic Ministry is used to call people to repentance. 2 Samuel 7:12-16

There is something greater than hearing the voice of the Lord and that is obeying the voice of the Lord as Jesus makes readily clear in His prayer in John 17:6,7, ‘I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.”

There is something greater than the cost of discipleship and that is the cost of disobedience to the Lord. Disobedience is truly what is the most punishing in our lives. So, what is the payment? Frustration, a restless spirit, driven by lust for pleasure or power, emotional states of bitterness, resentment, guilt, nervous anxiety.

All this happens in varying degrees when we are unwilling to yield ourselves to His leadership in our lives

I remember one of our staff meetings where Mary shared on the need for repentance in our lives and likened it to cleaning floors in your home and how yes you can do a decent job standing up, but it isn’t until you get on your knees that you can really see the dirt. It is the same in our lives of prayer, it brings us back to our knees as in humility we see ourselves for who we really are and approach God for his cleansing.

Prophetic Ministry is used to affirm God’s Will in the lives of His Children

It can really benefit the listener in giving them the confirmation that they need to go forward or the fact that they are exactly where God has told them to be.

Prophetic Ministry is for all believers. 1 Corinthians 14:29-32

Prophecy in its most basic form is hearing what God is saying about someone and relaying it to them. Jesus said that His sheep would hear his voice. What we need to do is develop our sensitivity and understanding to what God is saying. Yes, we may make mistakes. The disciples made mistakes, but that doesn’t mean that we throw it all out. We need to realize just how powerful it can be when we share what God is impressing upon us to confirm it in the lives of others.

On a larger scale, it is what God calls me to do as I speak every week.

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 11If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 4:10-12

However we are all called to speak into each lives and when God gives you a word for someone you need to speak it into their lives. As you seek the Lord, He will lay people on your heart sometimes simply to pray but also to speak.

• revelation

The first part of a prophetic word is the information that we receive from God. It is revelation that God gives without any prior knowledge on our part. It is something that God gives and is not based on natural understanding. It can come in a dream, as a vision, as an impression. It basically asks, “What did you see, hear or receive?” It often comes as a result of prayer or through reading His Word.

He often will prompt the believer to passages of Scripture.

He will also use impressions as He did with the apostle Paul.

“Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives (Acts 27:10 KJV) The word perceive is a good choice here because it means ‘to know by feeling’.

• interpretation

The question that is basically asks is this: What is God saying? What does this mean? I want to make clear that the clear cut test is does it line up with Scripture. If it contradicts the Word of God, it is another voice that you are hearing.

• application

The third component is the understanding of how we implement what we have received. It is ultimately the responsibility of the person who has received the truth or revelation to then take action. The application is not the work of the one giving the message. It is to be left to the person who has received the message to determine what he or she should do as a result of the word spoken into their life.

Ultimately no one has more power than you to pray with the greatest authority into your own life.

A.B. Simpson wrote “The messenger is now his way to bring you your blessing, and the Holy Spirit awaits your act of trust, so He may whisper in your heart the echo of the answer from the throne of God, “He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. Revelation 21:6

Prophetic ministry uses our senses through the power of the Holy Spirit

John 14:12

It happens as we realize that we are ministering with borrowed power. The greater things are the things that we let God do through us and the multiplication of those events in transforming many lives.

We have

• spiritual eyes - When Elijah the prophet was translated to heaven, it was the sons of the prophets who recognized that the Spirit of the Lord now rested on Elisha in 2 Kings 2:15. Spiritual eyes gives us beautiful insights into His Word and often pictures for people.

spiritual hearing – Again as we listen, God will reveal struggles people are having and encouragements for them

• spiritual touch – Often God will not speak until we lay hands on the person that we are praying for and then He will teach you to pray.
  

The Takeaway

God stills speaks today and He longs to speak into your life and through you into the lives of others!

The only way that is going to happen is if you let Him get His fingerprints all over you. It is only going to happen if you let Him shape and mold you and change the way you look at other people. It only happens through faith and believing that God is speaking.

Intercessory Prayer

Intercessory prayer is so desperately needed in the church that we would pray with the kind of fervent heart that Paul expressed in his prayers for so many of the churches. For Paul there was no doubt that prayer was a real workout. It was an intense and passionate struggle that brought him to his knees whether it was for believers to experience the vast love of God, Holy Spirit enlightenment or enablement. At the end of Colossians 1 we see it is a good struggle to come to grips with the energy of God that overtakes you in prayer and moves you so deeply to cry out, to break you to tears especially for all those who do not know the glorious riches of the mystery of Christ

Epaphrus in Colossians 4:12.. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.

One of the greatest testaments to the power of intercession is seen in The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim and Moses tells Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.” So Joshua does what he asks and Aaron and Hur follow Moses to the top of the hill and as long Moses hands are raised high they were winning, but whenever they were lowered, the Amalekites started taking over. So as his hands undoubtedly get tired they place a stone under him and help up his arms…. And where are his arms held up to – It is to the throne of heaven!

A military strategy that leads them to a very unorthodox but God centered approach and they prevail all the while knowing that it is God who fights for them.

Do you know that God fights for you? Too many of us are walking around with our hands in our pockets drawing from our own resources and that get old real fast. If you keep your hands there, don’t be surprised if you get the feeling one day that the battle has shifted and you become pretty much powerless to stem it’s tide!

An intercessor has been given authority.

Colossians 1:13-16

Jesus has dealt with Satan’s authority. Colossians 1:13 should read that Christ has delivered us from the authority of darkness. It is significant that we realize that the enemy still has great power, but we have a greater authority in Christ. We don’t deal with him as a powerless entity as Dutch Sheets correctly identifies. We deal with him as a one who steals, a rebellious power and God has given us a greater authority over that. God can give you the authority over sickness and ultimately the death sentence over people.

We have the power to do what Christ commands

The root word of authority is author and in Jesus we have one who holds the keys to life and death! Jesus was the author of creation Colossians 1:16. He is in charge here! As you understand Christ’s authority and the fact that He has conferred this authority on you as his follower should give you incredible boldness and confidence in praying over the lives of others….walk in it, submit to it and move in it!

Matthew 28:16-20

We have been given His power to pray for the breaking down of strongholds, to discern how that takes place and often through repentance. We declare who is in charge here and we move in that anointing.

We are living with borrowed power…the power is from the risen Christ. John 14:12 He will perform His work though us.

The authority that the church has is found in using our spiritual keys opening and closing spiritual doors. We are Christ’s partners and we are the ones He is using to fulfill His plan, His purposes. It is a priestly activity we are called on to perform and often the Holy Spirit will prompt us to pray at times for people with great intensity.

An intercessor is a person of destiny

There is such powerful imagery given to us in Revelation 11:15-19. A true intercessor prays for God’s ultimate reign over people, over nations, over the world. There are no defeatist prayers in their vocabulary. We know who is the “Ultimate Restorationist” He will restore a perfect order. Every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Philippians 2:11

We walk with a victorious mindset.

An intercessor is called to rule in the supernatural.

Psalm 8:3-6

The word for rule in Psalm 8 is mashal meaning to govern. An intercessor is called to govern and order his personal world and engage fellow believers in the same pursuit through the power of the Holy Spirit….Romans 7 / Romans 8:1.

No one has more power than you to pray with the greatest authority into your own life.

How can we pray for the victory or release of another when we ourselves have not experienced victory in that area? The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:16

Romans 8:26,27 the Spirit intercedes for us.

Jim and Faith Chosa are ordinary Native American prayer leaders from Montana. He relates about the story in the spring of 2004 when the Dalai Lama travelled here to Toronto to release 722 occult Tibetan spirits into the Great Lakes. The Spirit of God rose up a great army of prayer warriors to prevent this from happening as a team from Sault Ste. Marie, Canada were equipped in spiritual warfare and prayed against this. They bound the demonic spirits and the result was imminent. The Dalai Lama said, “Toronto is a very hard place; I could not accomplish what I planned to do.”

An intercessor knows there is power in unity!

Matthew 18:18-20

The passage between heaven and earth is prayer. Jesus’ amazing statement is that the invisible things that take place in heaven will be reflected here in the heart of praying believers. God has granted us the power of binding and loosing. We have the power to bind every force of evil in our lives. We also have the power to loose the Spirit of God and His inexhaustible resources like a constant flowing river. We can pray for the same in the lives of others as well!

It happens all the time when through intercession God keeps planting the signs to turn around in the lives of those who drift into apathy or indifference. Attitudes change 180 degrees…WHY, because of prayer. We stand on the balancing point between the visible and invisible when we pray.

We are called to make the invisible Christ visible in the lives of others and it begins with prayer.

The other great insight here is the power of unity and when we agree about our passion and commitment in a given situation. This is the principle that guides all great prayer meetings whether there are two or more present.

One of the great prayer meetings in the Bible is the story surrounding Peter when he was in prison in Acts 12

The word to agree means ‘to sound together, to harmonize’ A musician knows that when two particular notes are struck together, they will harmonize. It is brought out as the right notes are played. God has already written the musical score and it remains our challenge to play according to what God has already composed. When we say AMEN… literally meaning let it be, we are saying, yes, we affirm this prayer, we are longing for this as well.

It is important for us to note that the most powerful expression of Christ is seen not in an individual Christian but only fully expressed whenever two or 100 or 1000 are gathered in His name. Don’t miss this. We can never know Him as well as when we know Him in relation to someone else.

Ephesians 3:18,19 - together with all the saints – there is strength in numbers and it is only though His presence that prayer has meaning and value.

An intercessor will be given revelation.

1 John 5:14,15

Revelation is when God lifts the veil created by sin from our hearts and allows us to receive insight and understanding directly from Him. Dutch Sheets

1 Chronicles 12:32 The Hebrew word here for understanding is more than just learned knowledge, it signifies a spiritually imparted knowledge. It is discernment and understanding beyond the natural abilities. It is prophetic in nature.

It is the same word used in:

1 Kings 3:9 when Solomon asked for the ability to discern

Daniel 1:17, 20 where Daniel was given understanding to interpret dreams and visions

And in Proverbs 3:5
God is not calling you to abandon wisdom and common sense. He is asking us not to rely on our own human discernment as to what to do.

The Takeaway

Allow the Holy Spirit to give you the confidence to take your hands out of your pockets and fight well in the Lord’ battles.

Take time to lay your hand on one other person and pray as God leads you.

Timothy, my son, here are my instructions for you, based on the prophetic words spoken about you earlier. May they help you fight well in the Lord’s battles.1 Timothy 1:18

For Discussion and Small Groups:

1. Have you experienced a time where God really impressed a person on you to pray for? Did you ever find out what was going on in their life at that time?

2. What story in the Bible is your greatest inspiration for prayer, Moses hands been raised up, the prayer meeting for Peter, the prayer meeting in the Upper Room leading up to Pentecost?

3. What part of intercession do you need to really take hold of: our authority, our destiny, our rule, our need for unity, listening for revelation…

4. Take time to listen and lay hands on each member of your group and pray for them.

The Art of Listening Prayer

Prayer is first and foremost about relating to God before it is requesting and petitioning of Him. You will never understand petitioning prayer until you understand relational prayer. When you hear God’s voice, you love your own voice less. I can’t tell you how many times I have wrestled through situations, decisions and then finally let God speak to me through a devotional, His Word, in the quietness and it stills my soul. It gives me incredible resolve and peace to follow through, to stick with it, to persevere!

The first thing in prayer is to get God. If you get Him, everything else follows. Allow God to get at you, to invade you, to take possession of you. He then pours His very prayers through you. E Stanley Jones

Listen to God’s voice as he speaks into the life of Job in Job 38 -42

We put God in second place every time we pray more for personal things than for the opportunity to bear fruit for Him. It is a hard question to ask… and as Larry Crabb writes in his book we do it when for example we pray harder for our marriage to feel better than we pray to more closely relate to God.

We need to focus on the provider more than His provisions.

Archbishop Trent said prayer is ‘not overcoming God’s reluctance, but laying hold of His highest willingness’

The acid test of you prayer experience is does it make a difference in your life. It is moving you more closely to those that are the hardest to love.

Remaining in Christ teaches me the value of what Christ does in me can never be accomplished by myself in getting adopted into the family of God. My radical helplessness really teaches me that the real significance comes through finding my satisfaction in Him and my need to get away with God!

What is the unsatisfied desire and consuming terror in your life? Is it that you don’t feel the depth of your value? Is it inadequacy? Reflect on it. What is going on inside of me? What am I feeling? What am I wishing would happen? What am I scared of is the real question that Larry Crabb addresses.

IS IT SILENCE? The LORD said to Job:

2 "Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
Let him who accuses God answer him!"

3 Then Job answered the LORD :

4 "I am unworthy—how can I reply to you?
I put my hand over my mouth.

5 I spoke once, but I have no answer—
twice, but I will say no more."

Job 40 The first thing we learn here is that God did not speak until Job finally became silent

God continues to speak into our lives but we often miss his still small voice because we let our lives become so complicated.

Ecclesiastes 7:29 (Good News Bible) God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.

We have so many competing affections that suck up our time and we're afraid of silence.

Avoiding the thought that my soul is empty by keeping busy is one of the oldest tricks in the book. One writer suggests that we fill our calendars because we want to. To come to the point where I’m left all by myself, no friend to visit, book to read, TV to watch, music to listen to, bringing me to the revelation of my basic human aloneness can be a scary thing. Keeping busy allows me to play the game that everything is fine. God doesn’t want my busyness – He wants me, but we miss the point and as a result, our lives are unbalanced, our priorities are forgotten and our hearts are not in tune.

Why is it so hard for us to listen, especially guys. I remember one of the first things on Jordan's report card was the word 'focus'. His kindergarten teacher would use that word to draw attention away from what the kids were doing and the training was amazing.

OPEN YOUR SPIRITUAL EYES Job 42:1-6

What is God trying to show you:

1. God’s plan always prevails – get on His track. v2

2. Don’t talk about what you don’t know. v3 It is not your job to figure everything out and the sooner you learn that the better off you will be.

3. He is in the business of revealing Himself. God revealing Himself to you is more precious, more important than even knowing the answer. To know God is a powerful, all consuming passion.

In Philippians 3:10, Paul's passionate pursuit was to know Jesus so deeply. "For my determined purpose is that I may know Christ- that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding (the wonders of His person) more strongly and more clearly. And that I may in that same way come to know the outflowing from His resurrection (the power it exerts over believers); and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed (in spirit into His likeness even) to His death. The Amplified Bible. If you are ready to go deeper, if you long for intimacy with our Lord Jesus, if you want to be more profoundly aware of His presence, as do I, then this message is for you!

O the bliss of the man who longs for total righteousness as a starving man longs for food, and as a man perishing of thirst longs for water. And then Jesus added, ‘For that man will truly be satisfied

Lets look at a man who was heartsick for God - Psalm 63 – He didn’t seek comfort, ease. As Charles Spurgeon wrote, ‘his soul, his very self, his deepest life, was insatiable for a sense of the divine presence…oh to have the most intense craving after our Savior!

4.Repent of whatever is getting in the way of hearing and seeing God! v6

HEARING HIS VOICE

Where does God meet me? Where do I hear Him? How does it happen?

IT DOESN'T HAPPEN RIGHT AWAY. Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem.

Richard Foster

There is a process to walk through that draws us in as Chuck Swindoll outlines so well...

SIMPLIFY

It begins by reordering our personal life. I can so easily be led astray!

We need to simplify our lives, ask Jesus to release the grip, deliver us from those things that will only suffocate us and to satisfy us with His unfailing love. If I don’t simplify my life, I will not be able to rest within, I will be unable to enter the deepest parts of my heart where God’s awesome messages are revealed.

Anyone can be led astray, we are not immune, but our response time can be shortened!

J. I. Packer – in moral and spiritual terms as it relates to sin, we are all sick and damaged, diseased and deformed, scarred and sore – and the only sin I have victory over is a forgiven one. The only power I have is remaining in Jesus…

BE STILL

I am talking silence – Let be and be still, and know-recognize and understand that I am God (Amplified)

Eugene Peterson states – Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything! Jacob wrestling God fights for us. Psalm 46:10

We have to banish our world. Silence, uninterrupted quiet moments whether it is a quiet morning walk -His creation can bring us so close… find your own special meeting place with God. Go where you won’t be distracted like my pastor friend Alex in Cuernavaca, Mexico. It was there while we were building the second floor of his house that he showed his plans for his bedroom complete with an ensuite...actually no... The room in the corner was a prayer room!

Jesus also knew when it was time to dismiss the crowd.

Noise and words and frenzied, hectic schedules dull our senses, closing our ears to His still small voice and making us numb to His touch. C Swindoll man, that is scary.

If prayer is a chore rather than a comforting relief, if you are spiritually insensitive, pray that God would incline your heart toward Him. If you don’t, you are just going through the motions. It is not about doing it right. I still practice listening to God even when I don't sense He is speaking to me. God doesn't always show up and give me passion and energy.

Silence works - it brings me to the place where I'm alone with Him, shut up to God

SOUL SURGERY

In the midst of the storms, it is Jesus who tells us 'to take courage' Matthew 14:27 He is with us, we do not have to fear.

There is a furnace of transformation for our souls where our faith is tried by fire, its not pleasant, but God is more interested in your character than your comfort.

KNOW THIS… the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 1 Peter 5:12

We need to get alone with God and let Him expose us for what we really are and give us His motives, His passion, His preeminance. If we don’t, we are just mouthing words, meaning nothing.

May not the inadequacy of much of our spiritual experience be traced back to our habit of skipping through the corridors of the Kingdom like children in the market place, chattering about everything, but pausing to learn the true value of nothing. A W Tozer

SURRENDER

Proverbs 3:5,6 - surrender your rights, your future, your will, your dreams, your finances, your leisure, your personal space, your attitude. God’s will is accomplished when I keep my hands out of it.

THE TAKEAWAY

WHY DO I WANT TO LISTEN? – because His presence is the only thing worth such a determined pursuit – it is the only thing that will satisfy my inner man!

It is there that I will weep with Jesus for those who are lost without a Heavenly Father

It is there that I will hear Him say come and find rest for your soul

It is there that I will feel His heartbeat to glorify God

It is there that I will touch Him and know He has made me whole

It is there that I will see Him intercede with all powerful intensity, not my will but thine be done

It is there that I will be delivered from selfish and wicked thoughts.

Let Him speak to your soul.

May the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 1 Peter 5:12.

The Prayer of Jesus

In the year 2000 a little book came out by Bruce Wilkinson called the Prayer of Jabez. It has been really popular with over 17 million in print based on 1 Chronicles 4:10. The promise is that readers who commit to offering the same prayer on a regular basis will find themselves extravagantly blessed by God, and agents of His miraculous power, in everyday life. Unfortunately the prayer has become something of a magical cant that people think that it all is going to fall into their lap when they keep repeating it. It reminds of the prayer of St. Jude that you often see advertised in the local prayer…just pray this prayer for 30 days…

In fairness to Bruce, I believe it was his heart’s desire that we are blessed to be a blessing. We are a conduit not a tank or well…

Jesus knew how much we liked the sound of our own voices and how easily we could get fixated on short cuts so by teaching the perfect prayer so he prefaced it with a clear directive. He did not want his prayer to be a formula to recite nor a short cut to getting things from God. He wanted it to teach prayer in all its fullness.

1. No yada, yada yada v7,8

If there is one thing that most people are good at, it’s talking. Most can go on for quite some time talking often about a lot of stuff but really nothing of real importance. Jesus knew that and He also knew that we like shortcuts. So with all that in mind, He wanted to make sure neither one of things would happen when He taught about prayer. He taught that words alone are not enough. He also warned about asking over and over for earthly things because “your Father knows what you need before you ask him” v8

It isn’t about how eloquent and how often you pray you prayers. We don’t have to make a lot of noise to get God’s attention. He knows the thoughts and intents of our hearts. He longs to connect with us and He wants it heartfelt and intent on really being in communion with Him.

If we are just mumbling memorized words or listing our laundry line of requests and think, great that’s done, than you’re done. He wants more of you, He wants to hear whatever you have to say. It is in this way that friendship grows. Prayer is meant to be a really great conversation!

2. God is your Papa – Daddy Father v9

Could there be a more gentle way to approach God? Jesus wanted to know that He is that close, He is that personal, He is that interested. I think we often overlook just how significant that is. Jesus could have opened with O thou eternal and infinite God of wonders, the great I AM, the mighty and glorious One among the heavenly hosts… But HE didn’t! For the disciples it was nothing short of shocking to address God in this way. The name of God was so sacred to the Jewish people that they were not permitted to even speak it out loud.

You may have heard the acronym for prayer as ACTS, but we are missing the most important aspect FAITH. It is the FACTS of prayer. It is in faith that we address God as our Father and realize we are His children.

Jesus then goes on to say “Our Father in heaven” to remind us that God is beyond all space and time. Words of faith build on our relationship with God and words of reverence to make us aware of our place in that relationship

If you like acronyms, here is one from Larry Crabb on PAPA

P present yourself to God without pretense

A attend to how you are thinking of God

P purge yourself of anything that is blocking your relationship with God

A approach God as the first thing in your life

Hallowed be your name.

To pray ‘hallowed be your name’ means first things first. It places the emphasis on God first. We begin prayer by not emphasizing the situation but the God in all situations. It is significant to take time to hallow His name and that our lives are committed to His amazing nature and holiness rather than being all about my needs.

It is our prayer that His name will be respected by those who proclaim it. We pray that His Word will be spoken with clarity and authority and everything else needs to fall in line with that. In a sense our hallowing of His name is that we might be a living song of praise to God in everything that we place our mind, heart and hands to.

It was Augustine who said of hallowing His Name that it is a prayer that His Name would be held holy by men.

It is a celebration of our right through Jesus to adore God’s Holy Name.

Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done!

Your kingdom come resonates with gold and glory. Imagine God’s kingdom reigning on earth, every moment filled with the joy of His unending Presence and perfection. Who wouldn’t want heaven on earth? Artists sing about it, but here’s a news flash. We did have it, although short-lived, it was here and sin plunged us into darkness.

Ever since we have been in the throes of a fight between two kingdoms as Ephesians 2 so accurately puts it.

Jesus said His kingdom is not of this world. John 18:36 and the shouts of Hosanna and Blessed be the King of Israel turned to Crucify Him and we have no king but Caesar (John 19:15)

Are we intent on seeing His kingdom come? Do we want more of heaven on earth, being part of bringing His presence to your world? It’s going to cost you!

It is a prayer request to let the kingdom of God invade our hearts and to bring Christ into every part of our lives. It is a prayer of allegiance and it is saying God, I am on your team, every part of me - I throw myself into it heart and soul

It calls us to love extravagantly, give generously with a heart completely filled with the joy of the Lord!

That is why ‘Your will be done’ so naturally follows in the prayer. He is calling the shots, He is setting the agenda. We submit ourselves to God’s will. It doesn’t always turn out the way that you like it and we can pray with confidence, “No matter what Lord I accept whatever you choose to send me” Its not as much about the destination as it is about the journey along the way.

On earth as it is in heaven...

Jesus lived it, He modeled it, He empowered us to live the same way as He expressed not my will but yours be done in the Garden of Gethsemane. I don’t know about you, but it is a lot easier for me to follow someone who is leading by example and Jesus did that for me. It is easier for me to get up in the morning, it is easier for me to dig in and go the distance when I set my sights on Him. I will give my all for Him, I will put everything into what I do. His life is all the motivation in the world to me.

Give Us Today Our Daily Bread

He could have modeled a prayer for wisdom, for courage, for strength, but NO, He goes back to the most basic need.

I remind you of a great quote from a well known preacher, Howard Hendricks…75% of spirituality is a good night’s rest.

Get back to basics in your prayer life. Bread is the very foundation of our life and in many parts of the world, people don’t know where their next crust of bread is coming from. He was teaching that God can provide the most basic necessities of life and preparing His disciples for a gift way beyond any price…look at Luke 11:11-13 The answer to our prayers is the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the ultimate “good gift” that God gives in response to our asking, seeking, and knocking. So, too, prayer is about our relationship with God. The more we grow in our relationship with God, the more we’ll want of God.God promises to give us more of the Holy Spirit--in and through all the circumstances of life--as the deepest answer to our prayers.

Ask, and the Holy Spirit will be given to you. Seek, and you will find the Holy Spirit with you. Knock, and the door of God’s kingdom will be opened to you. For how much more will our heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit, to those who ask?

One pastor and writer, Craig Barnes states “Sometimes life gets overwhelming, and we realize we could use a little help. So we pray for our health to get better, for our marriage to work out, for success in our work that has taken a turn for the worse. There is nothing wrong in praying for these things, but they are not what our salvation is about. Don’t expect Jesus to save us by teaching us to depend on the things we are afraid of losing! He loves us too much to let our health, marriage, or work become the savior of our lives. He will abandon every crusade that searches for salvation from anything or anyone other than God. So he delays, he watches as we race down dead-end streets, he lets our mission du jour crash and burn. To receive Jesus as Savior means recognizing him as our only help. Not our only help for getting what we want. But our only true help

We can absolutely trust God with every detail of our life.

Bread stands for everything necessary for our life. Notice Jesus didn’t say me or mine. He said us and our’s! He is telling us to look outside of ourselves and to see the needs of others. It is not enough to count our blessings…we must make our blessing COUNT! We need to throw ourselves into every part of it and give where God shows us – nothing more, nothing less.

Forgive us our debts

The first step on the road to forgiveness is taking an honest look at our faults, our sins and short comings. We need to see this very clearly and it is a very necessary element of prayer. God doesn’t need a list of our sins but we do in order that we seriously own up to what we have done.

In forgiving others we release them from the obligation they owe to us and really place them in much better hands, God’s hands. Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? Genesis 18:25

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one

Well why does God allow us to be tempted in the first place anyways? Its called free will and once again and it has been debated by philosophers and theologians for centuries! However, the Bible answer man, Hank Hanegraaff has a two word answer – free will.

God has given us the opportunity to choose and that is no better illustrated than in 1 Corinthians 10:13. He is always ready to give us strength to make the best choice and He provides us with the spiritual armor to face whatever comes our way. This is especially true as it relates to the devil’s onslaughts. When you battle him, you battle a fallen angel with all of his strength, intelligence and will. He once walked with God but his pride caused his fall. Never underestimate his power, ‘your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

However he is a lion on a leash. So, remember don’t overestimate either and remember that as you submit to God, resist the devil and stand up to his lies, he will flee. 1 Peter 5:8,9

The Takeaway

Keep repeating the Lord’s prayer enough so it becomes a living reality in your life.

It has been said we need to be reminded more than we need to be educated. My prayer is that as I have expanded on this prayer that it has become more precious, more empowering, more fulfilling in your life.


“Finish the sentence” for Discussion and Small Groups:

1. When ______________________ happened, I felt as if…
2. Me?! Have a part in bringing God’s kingdom to earth? Well that’s pretty…
3. It never occurred to me that Jesus expects me to…
4. Being ‘in debt’ means that I….
5. Temptation was tapping me on the shoulder when… next thing I knew, I…

The Power of Prayer

Prayer does not come naturally, it is hard work, it requires alertness of mind and readiness to the Spirit. Our natural tendency will always be to try to figure it out ourselves first. Often unsaid it goes like this, I will make this happen, but when it gets difficult and I can’t see my way through then I will call on God for help, rely on His Holy Spirit. However, we can no longer afford to operate in this default mode. We need the Lord to speak into our lives every step of the way. We cannot let the opposite grow true or we will simply die as a life giving place of real change in the economy of God!

The problem is that from day one we have learned the rules of self reliance…”If I don’t do it, it won’t get done….or if I don’t do it, it won’t get done right!” Prayer flies in the face of self sufficiency and it is alien to our proud nature

The absence of prayer lessens all the life forces of the soul, cripples faith, sets aside holy living, shuts out heaven. E. M. Bounds

At the same time prayer has to be a joy filled and guilt alleviating exercise. It is meant to bring the transcendent peace of God over all circumstances in our lives. Philippians 4:6,7

God wants us to know that He is enough, enough to handle whatever we are going through, even though you doubt it, He is enough!

Our heart reveals the awareness of prayer, our spiritual history is the best book on prayer. Our character is made by prayer and our lives are perfected through prayer. The disciples struggled a lot with the call to prayer in Jesus’ ministry. They couldn’t stay awake while He had his most intense struggle of prayer in Gethsemane. The richest of revelations are not made but revealed by God through prayer.

1 Corinthians 2:9-11

However, as it is written:
"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him"— 10but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

He who learns well the trade of praying masters the secret of the Christian art and becomes a skilled workman in God’s workshop. E. M. Bounds

God’s power flows through people who PRAY!!

It has been said that when we work, we work…I get that, but when we pray, God works. I’m tired of trying to make it happen. It is high time to get serious about the power of prayer! Some people say oh it is just coincidence when prayers are answered….but you have to admit it is pretty amazing how many coincidences happen when you begin to pray! Most people call it luck; God’s people call it divine providence.

Mark 4:35-41 may not strike you as a passage on prayer, but it is so rich in what it has been teaching me.

1. Leave The Crowd Behind

That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. v35,36

Jesus gives you permission to stop. I don’t know what you are doing right now that is so important. There was some great teaching taking place and Jesus was relating the kingdom of God to the parable of the sower, the lamp, the growing seed, the mustard seed. Finally Jesus says ‘time’s up’. There are more important things that keeping busy, more important things than more ministry, filling up your calendar with dates, checking your email etc…Can you get to the place in the day where you say enough…enough of doing stuff to feel like you have to accomplish one more thing. If you are an A type personality this will be difficult for you. It will be difficult to stop, to keep yourself from doing, but that is what God is asking from you.

If you are the type of person who just thrives in the crowd and you just can’t get enough of being with people, being where the action is. The message for you is the same…’Leave the crowd behind’. Stop trying to get all your worth and affirmation from all those around you. God is saying get alone with me.

2. Expect The Unexpected

A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. v37

As we pray we become more aware of the storms around us. God will prompt you to respond to the very real situations that people are facing all around you. The battle for the souls of men and women becomes more acute and we know that something has to be done.

All too often we go into prayer with little to no expectations and that has to stop. We need to see the invisible. A great example of this is the story in 2 Kings 6

"Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."

17 And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

We our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces in the heavenly realms….and pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

3. Pray Like You Mean IT!

The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” v38

It was a desperate request and from all appearances it felt like Jesus was not engaged in the situation. They also knew that at this point He was the only one who could do anything about it and why wasn’t He?

There are many things that we will never be able to reconcile in our hearts and minds about the ways of God. “His ways are higher and so our thoughts”. Sometimes we get a glimpse into His eternal purposes and then sometimes we are left guessing; however, thankfully this life is not the final chapter. He is in the business of reconciling all of creation to Himself.

As I have been reading through the book of Job and hopefully some of you are still with me on this 52 week journey and reading along in the Foundations journal that you were given…but as I read, I appreciate the honesty of his prayers. There is something that you need to realize sooner than later in your prayer life…get real with God!

Ephesians 6:18b-19 With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.

4. Submit Yourself To His Control

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid?

Do you still have no faith?” v39,40

The disciples really had no choice but to trust that Jesus would ‘show up!’ Their very lives depended on Jesus showing up. Some of us unfortunately wait till we get into the squall to call upon Him and He wants you to ultimately rest in Him at every point of your life.

Difficult circumstances perfect us as they did in this situation, but can we get to the place that our rest in Him can be so strong that even the craziest storms can’t unsettle us? I don’t know, but He knows.

He wants to show up in your life now, not tomorrow, not when the storm starts, He wants to be with you in the calm before the storm.

My prayer every week is that God will show up. It is my prayer that His presence would be so unmistakeable that you will know that you have met with the living God. That is why I’m here and I hope it is the same for you….If He doesn’t show up then we are just going through the motions.

5. See Him Act Firsthand and be AMAZED!

They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” v41

Praying makes the eternal more and more real. Jesus led the way through His prayer life and created a greater incentive to pray. The glory of His transfiguration was preceded by prayer. It is as we continue to pray that we will see lives transformed. It is in the same way that we all with unveiled faces continue to reflect the glory of God….it comes through prayer. It changed Moses appearance and it will change yours!! 2 Corinthians 3:17,18

It is such a powerful thing to put your finger on times in your life when you have known and seen God’s hand at work. He has changed your heart, He has changed your appetite for spiritual things. He has brought your friend or family member to the Lord. You asked for something very specific and real and He has answered. Why are we surprised then.

The Takeaway:

Prayer is as real and as powerful as we expect Him to be!

Questions For Discussion and Small Groups:

1. What difference does prayer make in your life?
2. How can prayer sometimes impose on our individuality?
3. How do you respond to this statement, “The most intimate communion with God only comes through prayer.”
4. What draws you into praying?
5. What causes you to resist praying?

Truth

It was Senator Anne Cools that spoke to our team in Ottawa and said the moment you question authority, the moment you challenge the status quo or separate yourself from the pack, a target is placed on your back! Just know that if what you stand for does not jive with the majority of opinion, you are seen as a threat. Thankfully there have been those who stepped up and the truth has been revealed. Take for example:

Aristotle who boldly proclaimed the truth that the earth was the center of the universe and this view was held from the mid 300s AD until 1530 AD. Bloodletting was considered a standard remedy for certain health conditions including fevers, inflammation and believe it or not, hemorrhaging. It did finally get nixed, but it held even as late as 1923 as being recommended by Sir William Osler. Then there is evolution which is taught as truth in schools. It is still a theory and many lies have been exposed here and continue to be exposed by Creation Research Institute - http://www.icr.org

Also, check out the movie - http://www.expelledthemovie.com/

“What is truth?” asked Pontius Pilate of Jesus in John 18:38 and maybe you are wondering too! There are so many ‘versions of the truth’ out there even among believers so how can we know for sure.

Well, we start by first asking what is the aim of truth and what is the end result of that search.

Psalm 86:11 Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your Truth.

Jesus Himself takes truth very seriously as He prayed, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” To sanctify means change and it is God’s transforming process in the life of every child of God. The words ‘in the truth’ is the fuel and power for change. This morning we are going to look at what it means to build our families on truth. In order for our families to walk in truth, it requires diligence, correction and relationship. Dial in and get focused as we get ready to go head first in to bootcamp for truth!

We have focused on a family that can pass the tests of life, we have talked about children who rise up and call their parents blessed. A lot of people spend time and energy in building families but if the foundation is wrong then it will only be a matter of time until a storm unravels everything you have your hard work into.

Matthew 7:24 refers to the story of a wise man who built his house on the rock in comparison to the foolish man who built on the sand. The word ‘rock’ here means ‘truth’. Jesus proclaims v25-27

There are two kinds of families…maybe it seems oversimplified but it is not. A family either builds on rock solid truth or you pick the option for sand – lies, neglect, apathy – they all fall in the category of sand. Now sand castles are pretty impressive and they can free up time for a lot of other pursuits that seem more personally gratifying. Building your family on the sand is fast and easy and looks good if we are going for appearances sake.

Unfortunately building your home on truth requires intentionality and focus. It often doesn’t come naturally…it takes spiritual inertia to overcome the human lethargy of the soul. It takes time to drill deep and build carefully. Quite honesty building your home on truth may seem not worth the effort…that is until the storm hits.

So this story in Matthew tells us of two families who built on very different foundations but encountered the very same experiences. You name the storms that hit a family…what are they?

• Tragic loss of a family member
• Sudden financial reversal
• Rebellion of a son or daughter

Don’t miss this….there are two very different outcomes. The house built on sand has a great fall and complete and total devastation. The house built on the rock stood strong.

I have heard about and witnessed the total collapse of family units in every church that I have been in. I have also watched families in all the same churches be dealt the most difficult hand and not only survive but thrive so what gives, what makes the difference? They both attended the same church, listened to the same message, brought their children to church faithfully…

Building Your Family on Truth requires:

1. Diligence

Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers.

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:14,15 NASB

Diligence is absolutely necessary to keep you focused. It is a driven determination to see this life, this home, this family all the way through.

· Avoid the foolish issues

Don’t wrangle about words –wrangle could easily be translated ‘a war of words’ This encompasses all the nonsense arguments that we have that really are unnecessary. This kind of quarreling usually comes with an edge of sarcasm and a tone that undervalues. Unfortunately it is many nonsensical issues that are tearing homes apart. The enemy likes to get our focus off the most important life changing conversations and get wrapped up in the trivial….Paul is saying that kind of convo is USELESS…get that .

We only get so many words in our families and the older are children get, the fewer our words become….It may sound like this, “Clean up your room,” “why haven’t you taken the garbage out?” “How many cookies have you had already?” “Get to bed already” We need to speak into their lives so much more? They need to have words that are going to have an impact. If we are too exhausting fighting the smaller issues, we are going to miss those big teachable moments.

If we keep up the nagging about all the unimportant stuff, it will lead to ruin especially with the absence of meaningful convos, it will be to their ruin and our's.

Swallow your pride and change now, tell your children, your wife…whoever and tell them you are sorry and admit that you have been pressing them about the insignificant stuff. It takes humility.

· Prioritize the word of Truth

A family that certainly does this is the Lazarski's and once again that was brought home by Jordan's video message to Luke and Rebekah at their wedding. It was chalk full of Scripture to challenge them!

To accurately handle the Word of Truth means to cut it straight. You say how do I cut it straight?

For example when you son or daughter wants to date a non- Christian, you take them to 2 Corinthians 6:14…take a stand.

When they want to go to a party where you know there will be alcohol present…

Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals."

⁾Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God I speak this to your shame 1 Corinthians 15:32-34

When they want to watch an inappropriate movie, take a stand, make the call, protect their thought life.

Philippians 4:8 Whatever is pure, whatever is lovely…dwell on these things.

You tell me, hey man, my marriage is not working out like I thought it would. I’m not sure I’m going to make it…now after I pray with you, I’m going to cut it straight…

Matthew 19:6 What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.

You tell me it has been a hard time of year, I don’t think I can give to the church, to the relief effort in Myanmar….

Matthew 6:33 Seek FIRST the kingdom of God

They don’t want to do homework

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10:31

They feel useless, they are being bullied.

this is what the LORD Almighty says: —for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye Zechariah 2:8

There are some families known on my street as ‘party central’ where the drinking goes into the wee hours of the morning…

People on my street know that my home is kid central… how about prayer central…

What is your home known for???

Building Your Family on Truth requires

2. Correction

the Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged,

with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, 2 Timothy 2:24,25 NASB

Know this right now that when you decide that your home will be built on the truth who ultimately is Jesus, you will encounter opposition.

There are different kinds of opposition

· Misunderstandings – You may be accused of being too harsh or going off the deep end with the whole Bible thing and your character may be attacked

· Tiredness – sometimes we can become so tired with children especially when they are younger and just ‘let things slide’ like reading with them, praying with them, correcting bad behaviour –do what is right and follow up. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to hear parents threaten to discipline their children and not follow through. Take for example this one...’we will never come back here again!' they say in a middle of a restaurant.... really?? You are never going to this fast food restaurant with them again… hallelujah...but seriously follow through and make the punishment fit the crime. When you say, 'Next time you do this, I will take that away – take it away then…be ready to correct and follow through on your discipline so make it make sense.

· Emotional distance – as they get older, this can rip you apart, but don’t back down, don’t compromise and draw the line…if they really love God, they will thank you someday.

When you give in and leak in compromise, it will soon become a flood. Stand your ground and stand together…back each other up as husband and wife.

Building Your Family on Truth requires

3. Relationship

You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them,

15and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;

so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

2Timothy 3:14-17

He doesn’t say knowing what you have learned…He states – knowing from whom you have learned them…

There it is. The foundation is secure because there is an example to follow. There is someone who just doesn’t breath hot air – they are actually living out what they are challenging you to go for as well.

The other thing to notice here is that he tells him, ‘you have learned these things from childhood.

2 Timothy 1:5 gives us a window into Timothy’s childhood. Timothy’s father was Greek and apparently did not worship the God of Israel. Acts 16:1,3 Tim had a faithful mother and grandmother, Lois, who poured into his life.

Your children will learn about God in Adventureland but it is not their job to teach the Word of God to your kids…It is ultimately the responsibility of the parents… Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Truth must be taught in the context of relationship. Look for the opportunities….

I had one of those teachable moments not too long ago as 'Too late to apologize’ came on the radio on the drive to school with my kids and had a great conversation about forgiveness.

We need to have a relationship with the author and designer of families.

John 5:39 It is not just about head knowledge of the Scriptures.

It all comes back to knowing Jesus because He is the way, the TRUTH, the life. John 14:6

He embodies truth, He is the one who reveals truth in His very words through His Holy Spirit.

You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." John 18:37

He came for the truth to be revealed about Himself, He is God Incarnate, the Son of God, the very one who lives in us and we in Him!

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32

His truth sets us free from the lies of the enemy who wants to keep you stuck, keep you listening to his lies, keep you in bondage to fear and sin.

So we come back to the passage that we began with.

The elder,
To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth - 2because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever:

3Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, will be with us in truth and love.

4It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us.

2 John 1-4

So, love the Truth, embrace the Truth and walk in the Truth. The Truth, Jesus is light, He is the one who through the Holy Spirit will enable us to keep walking in the truth, staying on course. Allow Him to keep speaking in to your life and breathe life into your family.

2Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. 3It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. 4I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

3 John

The Takeaway

A family that builds on the truth will prevail because its foundation rests secured.

Building Strong Families

1. Take time to not just pray with your kids but read a portion of God’s Word to them and read it with GUSTO!! Get into character.

2. Take advantage of family devotionals – a link is there off of our website. Commit some regular days during the week to sit down together and share after supper.

3. Choose some family values that you will post on your fridge together and springboard this exercise after a family meal as you find them in the Word of God.

4. Have a contest with them to learn the books of the Bible

5. Take time to memorize a verse together as a family for each week. Psalm 127 or Ephesians 6 are great places to begin.

If you are not the fondest of reading, you can now get audio versions of the Bible to listen to on your mp3 player

This blog's outline with thanks to James MacDonald http://www.walkintheword.com

Life

Psalm 139 For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.

WE can be certain that we have been given an incredible life and that life is in His Son Jesus Christ!

Nothing is certain but death and taxes. Benjamin Franklin penned those very words in 1789. My parents perspective was the same except they used to slip in, ‘Jack, if that is the worst thing that is going to happen to you, you are doing alright.’ They did a great job teaching me perspective goes a long way in assessing my life. They raised me with a foundation about things that I could have absolute assurance about from the love of God to the realization that my life is in His hands! This passage testifies to the truth that there are absolute certainties about life for those ‘born of God’. This chapter is all about building into the children of God the confidence that comes from knowing Jesus!

To a point, John affirms, ‘we know’ 39x in this letter and 8x in this final chapter. There is a lot to be said about a child who knows and believes it when it comes to being joyful in obedience, victorious in faith, assurance in belief, confidence in prayer and absolute in truth.

If we can raise our children with this capacity, they will be ‘tigers for the Lord’!

I can remember being interviewed for accreditation and as I laid out my beliefs, the ordaining council shared with me that it had been a long time since they had someone come through with such an affirmation and lack of doubt in regards to their beliefs. I do not tell that story to say, ‘hey, look at me’ but to say I had parents, brothers, mentors who took the time to instill it into my life. Our kids will not learn it by osmosis! We need spiritual coaches, mentors, trainers in the church for the life of the church!

Joyful In Obedience v1-3a

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome

The idea of being joyful in obedience may seem like an oxymoron to some. The first truth about life is found in learning obedience. The word ‘obey’ would seem like being in a controlled situation and frankly that may scare you, but with God, we will thrive when we are obedient to his commands.

What are his commands ultimately….to love the Lord your God and love to another….

Psalm 119:

I hold fast to your statutes, O LORD;
do not let me be put to shame.

32 I run in the path of your commands,
for you have set my heart free.

33 Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees;
then I will keep them to the end.

Running to me sounds like a lot of movement, a lot of freedom for expression. I think all to often we hear the word, ‘command’ or ‘be obedient’ and naturally our backs get up. Nobody likes to be told what to do, but when it is God doing the telling, the Scriptures testify, David testifies, Paul shares with confidence that when you are obedient, when you listen, when you follow through on God’s commands, it will give you life!!

What really is burdensome is the reality of life for those who do not obey his commands. It is then that life gets really hard to live.

The first step of obedience in Jesus’ life was to accept his mission and He ‘came by water’ in verse 6 referring to His baptism. When Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan River it was to signify the beginning of His public ministry.

Believer’s baptism is a step of obedience. It is all about control and some of you need to take that step. Some of you might be thinking but is it really necessary. Jesus thought so or he wouldn’t put it up right beside disciple making!

Obedience to God for you might be breaking a bad habit, having a neighbor over for a bbq, or stop working so much so that you can be there for your family

Obedience to God might be actually asking Him what He wants to do with your life! That might scare you, but it shouldn’t. It’s about opening up your life to possibilities and dreams you never imagined…Ephesians 3:20

I know someone who is ready to change the course of the direction of their life in the last month and the joy is unmistakeable.

It was while actually running this week that God spoke to me about returning the hearts of the children to the fathers and the fathers to the children. I literally go on the run with God and I know I have to be obedient to that voice in my life. I’m already wrestling about the implications of it, but also crazy excited about what that could give birth to!!

Victorious In Faith v4b,5

for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

I don’t know about you but I don’t like losing and the truth of the matter is that we are on the winning side

The spell has been broken with regards to the world. The fascination with what this world, everything apart from God, has lost its appeal. It just doesn’t have that gravitational pull in their life…they can throw the ads in the recycling bin because they really know that they are not missing out on the greatest deal of a lifetime!!

There are definitely times that we are overcome by grief and we read stories in the paper that can really crush you and perplex you…for Paul it was very real and very physical

8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

BUT the point is that we are not destroyed. Hope is not destroyed, faith is not lost. There is a very real sense for the believer that have learned to overcome, for someone whose faith has gone through the fire…

Assurance In Belief v6-13

13I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

We have already focused on Jesus coming by water, but He also came by blood which refers to His crucifixion, His death on the cross and the third testimony of Christ is the Holy Spirit of God.

Assurance of life giving belief rests in this:

• the testimony that Jesus is God’s Son in our hearts
• the testimony that in Jesus there is life and life eternal

testimony – truthfulness, sincerity, authenticity. It is a legal word that speaks to giving evidence and proof

don’t lose sight of the testimony of God in your heart….so that you may KNOW that you have eternal life!

Confidence In Prayer v14,15

14This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

Prayer is not a meaningless exercise. It carries incredible weight, it brings amazing clarity and reveals His will. Prayer brings resolution in our lives!

Absolute In Truth v16-21

16If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. 17All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.

Truth #1 Intercession changes people. The fact is that through prayer we can watch God change the course of direction of a person’s life.

OK, so what is the sin that leads to death?

Certainly in the OT there were many sins that were punishable by death in the Levitical Law. Leviticus 20 Some might even say the sin of apostacy is the sin that leads to death – a complete and total denial of faith. There are those who would say it is the unpardonable sin, the sin of blasphemy --- the Pharisees who attributed the works of God to Satan and they are all good answers.

BUT, here is the bigger question, how can you give life to someone who is already alive? A believer is alive, A believer has life! So, both people being referred to here are not Christians, but dead, dead in their sins as Ephesians 2 would describe them. The word brother here is being used in the nominal sense of a brother, in the broader word of a brother being a neighbor.

So, while a good Bible student may get hung up on this, that is really not the point here. The point that is so powerful is that we need to pray for our neighbors because the only sin that leads to death is the SIN OF UNBELIEF!

We need to pray that God will open their eyes to the light of the glorious gospel in all its fullness. We have been given such an amazing life and this is not by random choice and natural selection!

Truth # 2 I will feel differently about sin

18We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.

The reality of Christ’s presence in your life will not allow you to persist in deliberate sin.

Truth # 3 I am a child of God

As much as we affirm and hold on to the truth, it also means the opposite is true for all those who do not have Jesus…they are under the power, influence and control of the evil one.

19We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.

THE FINAL TRUTH or the TAKEAWAY is found in verse 20. It holds everything together

The Takeaway

20We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

We have an incredible LIFE in Jesus, God’s Son, a life like no other. Pray for understanding for others as you testify to what you KNOW!

21Dear children, keep yourselves from idols – Idols always steal time and your affection away from Christ….by the way, there is no life in an idol.

Questions For Discussion and Small Groups

1. What does eternal life mean to you?
2. Who are people in your life that you can pray for their understanding? Write their names down and keep them in your Bible or somewhere to remind you.
3. Testify! Have you ever put your testimony on paper and identified what God has done in your heart? Take time to write down something fresh that God is doing in you right now and share it with your family or small group.