Perseverance and Prayer

State:

If prayer or revival ( to be live again) are to happen, there will be two elements surely present

Why it is important to persevere

It is a chief way we resist the devil

The devil’s attacks on the Apostle Paul were relentless and withering.

Consider one of Paul’s references to it …

2 Corinthians 1:8–9 NIV

8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.

We often forget that we are called to spiritual warfare

And a chief strategy to win in spiritual warfare is perseverance!

Ephesians 6:13–14 (NLT)

13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.

There are a number of things we employ to help us stand, but in the end, it is the standing firm, the perseverance that wins the day!

E.g. Mom Loewen – mother-in-law

She would get sick every Saturday night, get very little sleep and then be too tired to get up for Operation Prayer on Sunday morning.

One Saturday evening she said to the devil: “Go ahead and make me sick if you like. But I am going to Operation Prayer in the morning anyways.” She attended the prayer meeting the next morning and was never sick on Saturday night again!

Satan constantly hopes that God’s people will give up –

that their circumstances, the tasks set before them, and the daily adversities of life will be too much for them to endure

Sometimes the only effective weapon, and often the last to be employed, is just saying, “I’ll die before I let this thing go!”

Or to use the words of Scripture …

Revelation 12:11 NIV

11 They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

State:

We are all martyrs in some way.

We are all being attacked in some way (not everything is spiritual though)

Mentally/spiritual

We can be held in bondage by our minds being controlled by lies

We are not forgiven

Our brokenness is beyond repair

This leads to despair which leads to giving up..suicidal thoughts

Where do these lies come from?

This is Jesus speaking to the spiritual leaders of the day

John 8:44 (NLT)

44 For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.

State: Part of persevering and resisting is fighting against the lies of the enemy

The devil wants to lie to you and kill you

I SPEAK FROM EXPERIENCE!

Thoughts of being: Judged, punished & abandoned

It is the weapon of endurance/resisting that finally convinces the devil that he has to give up

James 4:7 NIV

7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Ephesians 6:13 NLT

13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.

State: Paul gives us an “if” promise here........

Colossians 1:22–23 (NIV)

22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

State: Don’t think because you have doubts that it stops God’s love and protection

Paul said about his experience in Asia....

“we despaired of life itself”

To become distressed with extreme sorrow; bearing a burden too heavy (for a psychological) to bear

State:

This is the same sense used for the disciples when Jesus found them sleeping

2 Thessalonians 2:15 (NLT)

15 With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you both in person and by letter.

Too many Christians quit minutes before the victory

God has ensured the conquest of the powers of darkness.

Nevertheless, He has delegated responsibility to us

He has chosen us as co-workers in the establishment of His kingdom and the destruction of the kingdom of darkness

God is waiting for His people to rise up and take hold of the victory He purchased on the Cross

State: What does it mean to “rise up and take hold”

Daniel 10:10–11:4 (NLT)

10 Just then a hand touched me and lifted me, still trembling, to my hands and knees. 11 And the man said to me, “Daniel, you are very precious to God, so listen carefully to what I have to say to you. Stand up, for I have been sent to you.” When he said this to me, I stood up, still trembling. 12 Then he said, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. 13 But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia.

State: Daniel was praying for 21 days…The text tells us

New Living Translation Chapter 10

2 When this vision came to me, I, Daniel, had been in mourning for three whole weeks. 3 All that time I had eaten no rich food. No meat or wine crossed my lips, and I used no fragrant lotions until those three weeks had passed.

If we do not drive back the powers of darkness, they will not be driven back

If we do not reduce evil in the world, it will continue to grow.

Spiritual warfare is not a fragment of the Christian life – it is the whole of the Christian experience

To be a Christian is to be a spiritual warrior

Jesus in Gethsemane

Luke 22:40–43 NLT

40 There he told them, “Pray that you will not give in to temptation.” 41 He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” 43 Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him.