Untitled Sermon (4)

THE POWER OF PRAYER- THIS KIND COMES OUT BY PRAYER AND FASTING.

Introduction

Some things will never change in and around our life if we do not  mix it with prayer and fasting.

Some things in the  church , small groups, family,work and city will never change until we fast and pray

Some people will never be set free until we commit to spend some time in prayer and fasting.

Prayer and fasting is probably one of the most powerful things a christian can do to help us hear his voice and help us see what is going on in the Spiritual realm for ourselves and people we minister to .

Some background context to this portion of scripture.

Add in Jesus fasted …. ..

Matthew 17:14–21 (NKJV)

14 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying,

15“Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.

16So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.”

17Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.”

1 8 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.

19Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”

20So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

21However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

1.PRAYER COUPLE WITH FASTING HELPS US SEE WHAT WE DEALING WITH.

Matthew 17:21 (NKJV)

21However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

Prayer and Fasting helps us deal with unbelief and helps us hear his voice of the Holy Spirit .

Illustration, i went snorkel diving at mauritius many years ago, and the water was knee deep at a certain area the instructor advise we going see fishes and cornel however we need to place the goggles on and snorkel, i listen to him however i had some doubt in me as grew up in CPT and we swam in the see many times and open up our eyes in salt water etc and we saw nothing.

However this instructor said to place the goggles on and follow him.

I did it , and to my amazement i sar cornel.

I saw fish.

I  saw things with my eyes that I could touch and grab.

The cornel and the fish were there,

However, I could not see it, i needed an instructor to help me with my unbelief and to guide me and to show me what was there already.

Now when we fast and pray the Holy Spirit shows us what is there already so that we can see what is going on in the Spiritual environment.

Which leads me to my next point:

What do we do when we see things in the Spiritual environment that are demonic AND  effecticing us or other people.

2. WE HAVE TO SPEAK A WORD TO IT AND COMMAND IT TO LEAVE.

Matthew 17:18 (NKJV)

18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.

Jesus also said the following in .

Luke 11:20 (NIV)

20But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

The disciples, which is a discipled learner follower of Jesus, had doubts in them and they did not know what they were dealing with.

THEIR EYES WERE BLIND FOLDED TO THE REALITY OF A  EVIL SPIRIT IN THIS CASE A DMEON INFLICTED HARM TO A BOY.

Imagine  this, If  we placeboxing gloves on, and we in a ring getting ready to fight, if  the boxer is blind folded , the boxer will never win no matter how good he is .

He needs to see where to send the blow.

The same as us we need the Holy Spirit to point his finger in order to drive out the specific demon.

The enemy satan does a couple of tricks with us.,

1 He blind fold us.

2 Get us to forget our authority. Who am I ?

Our LIFE TIME mandate WILL ALSO BE TO  to get people saved and make disciples and use the authority He has given us to advance His Kingdom.

Jesus gives all believers authority to rebuke the  specific demon coming against them  and command that one to leave in Jesus name.

Jesus sent the 12 disciples ahead of him to preach the kingdom , He gave them power and authority over all demons ( Luke 9:1).

Luke 9:1 (NKJV)

1Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.

After that seventy disciples had preached the kingdom of God in towns and villages they returned with joy saying Lord even the demons are subject to us in your name ( Luke 10:17).

And Jesus said I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy .

Luke 10:18–20 (NIV)

18He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

19I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.

20However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

So who are we ? We are children of God led by the Holy Spirit and have been given authority to drive out all demons with a specific word addressing a specific demon, and this gets activated by prayer and fasting….

When the Holy Spirit shows you something- you say in the name of Jesus leave.

Like .. you spirit of fear leave in Jesus name.

You spirit of anger leave in Jesus name.

You spirit of poverty , lust in Jesus name leave etc.

3 HOW TO DEVELOP A PRAYER FASTED LIFESTYLE.

Firstly God's design is for you to be fully committed and rooted in a family called the local church, in the local church is a supernatural covering and protection.

Now once we are rooted and connected in a family , we need to learn to do spiritual warfare on our shelves and on ministry to others.

A fasted lifestyle will make sure there are no impure or demonic spirits around you, and that you are living in a space of revival.

The safest christian are those burning with the fire of the Holy Spirit.

We want to live in a place like Jesus that we are full of and led by and empower of the Holy Spirit making sure we build our life on the word of God.

Aim at looking to fast once a week? 1,2 meals a day , seek the Lord in prayer .

Practical application .

Take our life writing it on a piece of paper.

Seek for the Gifts of the Spirit to operate in and through your live, especially ..

Discerning of Spirit, and a gift of faith to deal with this. ( 1 Cor 12:7)..

Place your name on it, family,children,church,small group, work , city

Family

Your selfs,gifting,word , people skills , any demonic influence .

Bible study, series we doing at church

Spouse, build goldy friends in the church.

Childrenlive in a revival space, and build godly friends with other christians.

Church

Leaders

Small group, leaders, members

Work

Leaders, team members, success of the business, that they get saved and become followers of Jesus.

Wisdom , guidance in the business.

Be the best they can possibly be.

God bless to break into the business.

City.

NLU to have impact and transformation in the city.

Crime to drop

Business to prosper.

Municiplition to offer excellent service.

Police to focus on there job.

Potholes, streets to be managed.

Gospel to spread in the city.

Build a prayer list structured

And have an organic prayer time.

Start by doing 1 meal a day even fasting and praying over  one meal will bring massive  transformation , in the long run,

The key is consistency., over 20, 30 years down the line……..

IN CLOSING

Will you determine under God to develop a fasted lifestyle in which you spend time praying and fasting as a way to draw closer to God for yourself and others and recover your God given authority.