A COMEBACK PRAYER

A COMEBACK PRAYER

Judges 16:25–30 NKJV

25 So it happened, when their hearts were merry, that they said, “Call for Samson, that he may perform for us.” So they called for Samson from the prison, and he performed for them. And they stationed him between the pillars. 26 Then Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars which support the temple, so that I can lean on them.” 27 Now the temple was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there—about three thousand men and women on the roof watching while Samson performed. 28 Then Samson called to the Lord, saying, “O Lord God, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!” 29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple, and he braced himself against them, one on his right and the other on his left. 30 Then Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life.

1. INTRODUCTION -- THE WORLD'S GREATEST COMEBACKS

-There is something about people, maybe just Americans who like comebacks.

We like to hear of men who were once down and outers make it big.

We like to hear of men who become destitute financially and then strike it rich.

Why is that???

Because we like the underdog. The man who is not supposed to win and does it anyway.

2. THE LIFE OF SAMSON

A. His Birth

If there was something promising about the life of Samson it would have to be the company that he came from.

He came from a group of men who angels came and announced their births.

Isaac's birth was preceded by an angelic messenger.

John the Baptist's birth was preceded by a visit from Gabriel.

Gabriel visited Mary before the birth of Jesus.

Manoah was visited by an angel before the birth of Samson.

It was clear from the outset that this small baby named Samson was going to have a profound impact on the lives of Israel.

B. Samson's Victories

Samson became a Nazarite. By the vows of the Nazarite,

the razor was to never touch his hair.

He was never to have any strong drink to inebriate his mind.

It was to be a life of commitment.

Because he was set aside for God, God endowed him with a great strength.

The Prayer At the Pillar -- Judges 16:25-30

Barnabas Notes -- Philip Harrelson

2

-The accomplishments in the life of Samson are many:

He had the ability to slay lions with his bare hands.

He then took honey from the beast.

He caught three hundred foxes and attached firebrands to them so that the Philistines fields and vineyards were consumed by the flames.

Another time he "smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter" at Etam.

At Lehi, he took the jawbone of a donkey and slew one thousand men with the instrument. He found a refreshing drink of water in the same weapon at a future point.

He carried off the gates of the city of Gaza.

C. Samson's Failures

But even with all of the great victories associated with life of Samson, he had a deficiency in his character.

Men have deficiencies in their lives and if the Spirit of God is not in control there will be that failure every single time.

No man can afford to drift from the doctrine once delivered to the saints.

Samson found a pretty young Philistine that took his breath away.

His time and energies were consumed by the passion of Delilah.

He found himself being wooed into a web of trickery and deceit when Delilah started questioning him about the source of his great strength.

When the devil begins to question you about your own strength, you better forget about it being your strength.

It is the power of God that has the ability to keep us aligned in the proper relationship with God.

1. The Source of Satan’s Power

-When we begin to investigate biblically from where the devil gains his power, it leads to an interesting conclusion.

From Isaiah 14, when the devil asserted the five “I wills”, he was cast from heaven. So before creation ever began he had been thrown from heaven and God had effectively destroyed his power in heaven.

In Genesis 3, after the fall of man, one finds that the power of the devil has been removed and he is forced again to understand his submission to God.

In Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John after the event at Calvary, one finds again that the devil has his power removed from him, for he no longer controls death, hell, or the grave.

So the question now arises, “Where does the devil get his power from?”

The devil can only control those whom allow him to. A Spirit-filled man has power over the devil and his imps.

So to those who believe that the devil can give them power, they are fooling themselves. The devil cannot bring power to any man’s life.

The paradox is that the man gives the devil the power to destroy everything active, positive, and alive in his life.

2. The Strength of the Spirit

The key to successful Christian living is found in the letter to the Colossians.

Colossians 3:2–4 NKJV

2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

Your life is hid with Christ in God. This strength is not some obligation to morals, it is not strict discipline that keeps one from sin, it is not my righteousness. It is the power of God that keeps me from the life of sin.

Samson kept putting his head in the lap of the world.

He kept getting closer and closer to the failure.

He started talking about being bound with seven green vines.

Then he progressed to being bound with new ropes.

Then he progressed to the weaving of his locks of hair.

Finally, there was nothing left to withhold from Delilah. "My great strength lies in my hair. If it is cut then I will be as weak as any other man."

-When Delilah had his head shaved, she awoke him with the silky voice, "Samson, the Philistines be upon thee."

He arose to shake himself as he had done in times past and found that his strength had deserted him.

He fell like the timber under the woodman's axe when the Philistines jumped him.

Judges 16:20 KJV . . . And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.

Samson soon found himself at the grindstone.

His eyes had been burned out with hot irons.

• He was bound in chains of brass.

• His head was shaved.

• His strength was gone.

Here the great judge of Israel was grinding corn for the Philistines in the prison house.

It is full of irony how that the devil will reduce your life to nothing.

He will allow all of the spiritual victories that you can handle but then in the end he wants you to be a failure.

For quite some time, it looked as if Samson would just rot in some Philistine prison.

But God still has the power in reserve for those who are willing to be a comeback.

3. THE PRAYER AT THE PILLAR

A day came to the kingdom of Philistia for a grand party. It was a wild, drunken affair where everything wicked was embraced.

After a while, one of the Philistine governors, perhaps decides that it is time to bring out the great Israelite champion, Samson.

The Bible very clearly distinguishes the setting for us.

Judges 16:23–25 NKJV

23 Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice. And they said: “Our god has delivered into our hands Samson our enemy!” 24 When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said: “Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy, The destroyer of our land, And the one who multiplied our dead.” 25 So it happened, when their hearts were merry, that they said, “Call for Samson, that he may perform for us.” So they called for Samson from the prison, and he performed for them. And they stationed him between the pillars.

A. The Sport Made of Samson

The Philistines began to laugh and chant at the champion.

The Bible says that they made sport of him.

They laughed at him with derision and disgust.

They hurled their sarcasm at him.

They insulted him.

They laughed him to scorn.

B. The Sport Made of the Church

There are some who may feel that the Church has lost some of her former glory.

I am not here to argue that because due to the timing of my birth I am confined to this generation.

Satan has stood long enough and made sport of the Church long enough.

We have lived beyond our Jimmy Swaggarts and Jim Bakkers.

We have progressed beyond the mad howlings of a proposed dying Oral Roberts.

We have watched in horror at the numerous priests in the Catholic church in the pedophilia cases.

-The areas of the sport that Satan uses:

He has said that there is such a thing as safe immorality and some have fallen for it.

He has given us the concept that abortion is a political and social issue and not a moral issue.

He has given us the concept that homosexuality is a political and social issue and not a moral issue.

• Since 1963 violent crime has increased over 500%.

• Since 1963 illegitimate births have increased over 400%.

• Since 1963 divorces have increased over 400%.

• Since 1963 children living in single-parent homes have increased 300%.

• Since 1963 teenage suicide has increased 200%.

• Since 1963 SAT scores have dropped almost 80 points, despite huge increases

in support for education.

• Since 1976, child abuse has increased 340%.

• There are 58% of America’s children who do not live with a father in the

home.

• The radical views of MTV is opening the way for everything abnormal to be accepted as normal.

Some might say that this is too political. This is more than political, this is spiritual warfare that everybody seemed to be concerned about a few years ago.

-But there are even more specifics to this sport that the devil has with the Church.

1. Fear

Gideon is a classic study of fear. God called him to do a job but he was too scared of the Midianites.

There is enough power that God can give us that will push us beyond our fears.

I'm scared that I cannot witness.

I am afraid of what people might think.

I am afraid of what people might say.

I am not living for people, I am living for God.

-So the meanwhile, here we stand in the midst of a hell-bound world. The devil is using our fear to make sport of us.

All it might take is one prayer meeting.

One last and final commitment to push you beyond your limit.

In fact it could be in this service right now, that you make a conscious choice to begin to change into the image that God desires for you to be.

God took Gideon and a straggly band of three-hundred men and went and created a nightmare in the camp of the enemy.

I am talking about asking somebody to lead you to the pillar.

In the middle of the howling sarcasm of the spirit world, I am still praying for a revival to sweep America.

2. Rejection

The devil often uses rejection to make sport of us.

A classic study of rejection would

be the life of Jeremiah.

He was a man called to preach and Israel never heard a word or heeded to a word that he said.

They totally rejected him.

-He still preached.

They still laughed.

He still wept.

They still ignored him.

But inside of him, God had started a bonfire. It was such a fire that Jeremiah said, it's like a fire shut up in my bones.

Regardless if I am rejected by my countrymen, by my city, by my church, I have a fire that is shut up in my bones.

It does not matter that you have been rejected in the past, the present, or certainly in the future, God still has a plan for your life.

-I am convinced that even though the devil used rejection to attempt to stymie the ministry of Jeremiah, Jeremiah still saw some things.

His revelation was not like that of John in the last book but God still honored him enough to let him see over into the other side.

3. Inadequacies

-Moses was the man who said that he could not do it. Let my people go, it sounds great but I can't talk.

So Moses kicked in with his excuses.

God said enough of the excuses.

Throw your rod down, it turned into a snake.

Pick it up, it become a rod again.

Hold your hand out, it was leperous.

Put it under your coat, it became clean.

-On a side-note, one will notice that God promised Moses to send along his brother, Aaron, as his mouth piece.

However, when you look at all the dialogue with the Pharoah you will never find Aaron addressing the Pharoah, it is always Moses.

I believe that much of the excuses that I use with God has more to do with “creature” comfort than with a real deficit in the spiritual realm.

I have got to get with the program.

There are a thousand talents hidden in my life if I would just let God get in the mode with me.

You don’t have to engineer it yourself, let God take care of the difficulties.

4. Doubt

-The devil takes his doubt and sits it right on our shoulder.

You will never do anything for God.

The devil chats up to us during times of weariness, distress, and discouragement.

The party swells around us. The talk of the devil inflames us and deteriorates our faith.

But there were two men who did not see them as giants. Joshua and Caleb were convinced that God could bring them to the Promised Land.

Caleb's greatest desire was to get a mountain. He got it too!!! Doubt has got to go.

Our efforts toward PRAYER is not just a program.

Our fasting is not just to lose weight.

It is the sound of the abundance of rain.

There is a trembling in the mulberry bushes.

C. The Prayer At The Pillar

-Samson shimmies up to the pillars. Not just any pillar but the pillars "whereupon the house standeth." Here is the champion of Israel, blind, chained, and being made fun of.

He does not stand a chance.

There is but a sprinkling of the hair that once was his glory.

Some of you sit here tonight in the same shape.

You have been blinded by your past mistakes.

Your hair is gone from the commitment that you lost.

You are being scorned by the devil and by the world.

The only thing that you have left is like Samson, a prayer at the pillar.

A maybe.

Judges 16:28 NKJV

28 Then Samson called to the Lord, saying, “O Lord God, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!”

-It just may be the day that I am avenged of my eyes.

1 Samuel 14:6 NKJV

6 Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will work for us. For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few.”

Jonathon and his armor bearer were facing the odds of being defeated and all they had was a maybe.

But God saw them through.

Matthew 20:30–34 NKJV

30 And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!” 31 Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!” 32 So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” 33 They said to Him, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.” 34 So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.

-The two blind men just had a maybe. Maybe this is the day that Jesus will heal us.

Mark 5:22–23 NKJV

22 And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet 23 and begged Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live.”

-All that Jairus had was a maybe that the Lord would heal his daughter.

-Samson and his prayer at the pillar was enough for God to move things out of his way.

More died in that single day than any that Samson had every accomplished.

You say, "Yeah but he died in the rubble."

In Acts great recognition is given to those men who have hazarded their lives for the cause of the Gospel.

This is our day. The day that the Church is going to flex her muscles.

The devil has made sport of the Church and of you for long enough.

4. CONCLUSION

Genesis 49:19 NKJV

19 “Gad, a troop shall tramp upon him, But he shall triumph at last.

-A troop may have overcome you, but you shall overcome at the last.

Get a hold of the pillar and begin to pray.

The fears that have defeated you in the past is about to be a past chapter in your life.

Micah 7:8 NKJV

8 Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; When I fall, I will arise; When I sit in darkness, The Lord will be a light to me.

Psalm 37:17 NKJV

17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, But the Lord upholds the righteous.

Psalm 34:17–20 NKJV

17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit. 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all. 20 He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken.

Psalm 41:11–12 NKJV

11 By this I know that You are well pleased with me, Because my enemy does not triumph over me. 12 As for me, You uphold me in my integrity, And set me before Your face forever.

Isaiah 41:9–10 NKJV

9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its farthest regions, And said to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away: 10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

Psalm 37:25–29 NKJV

25 I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread. 26 He is ever merciful, and lends; And his descendants are blessed. 27 Depart from evil, and do good; And dwell forevermore. 28 For the Lord loves justice, And does not forsake His saints; They are preserved forever, But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off. 29 The righteous shall inherit the land, And dwell in it forever.