Discipleship 201 Part 5
Notes
Transcript
Our foundation Scripture is Matthew 28:18-19
18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Last week we added two more pieces to our Discipleship series
5. Disciples have Hope and Freedom
How many of you believe these three things?
1. God Is Love
2. God is in Control
3. God has a Future for you ( He is not going to be moved off His throne)
Jeremiah 29:11 says, “ I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you plans to give you hope and a future.”
Our citizenship is in heaven
Our future is in heaven
What else do Disciples do?
6. Disciples Pray in Faith ( i will break this into three pieces)
When you pray you have to pray in the Spirit. ( in other words be directed by it) or else you might not receive an answer or blessing on it.
Many times prayers are unanswered because there is no substance or direction in them.
We have to have the Mind of Christ and the movement of the Holy Spirit AMEN
18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.
That word alert in the Greek means - to be zealous to watch over it. Like a watchman on the wall.
In other words pray with your eyes open
Just like Nehemiah did when he was rebuilding the wall ( Neh ch 4)
This is not only praying for wisdom and discernment but also for the brethren.
OK lets look at a few scriptures
Today I want to tie in Luke 11 , James 5 and 1 kings 18.
We are going to break these in three pieces
PERSISTENT PRAYER
5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves,
6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’;
7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’?
8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.
9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
Persistance is key - It is not taking NO for an answer
It is ongoing prayer.
Persistence is characterized by faithfulness.
Faithful people are persistent people
Prayer is communication with God- It is ongoing - it is not necessarily the repetition of the same prayer over and over again.
If you come from a Catholic background that might be very familiar to you.
Illustration - Praying for your children - I actually write them down in my prayer Diary - to me it is part of y persistence.
BOLD PRAYER
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.
14 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;
15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.
18 Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.
Bold prayer is with confidence that God is listening to you
It is prayer that gets you off the couch or out of your chair and moves you to a place where God can meet you.
Its calling that prayer chain and getting the word out.
PURPOSEFUL PRAYER
Elijah prayed that it would not rain. (He prayed with Purpose) His prayer lined up with what God wanted to do.
The context is in 1 kings 17-18. and Deut 28
Remember people like King Ahab and Jezebel - two very wicked people
Drought was because of wickedness, the people were serving Baal
Elijah showed everyone the power of the one true God. God loves to show you his power.
Check this out
1 kings 18:1
1 Now it happened after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the face of the earth.”
Now check out
41 Now Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of the roar of a heavy shower.”
There was no roar, there wasn’t even a rain drop yet. But he had the word of the Lord. With that word he had complete confidence and he probably made God chuckle at his line to AHAB
He prayed until he saw a cloud the size of a mans hand.
There will be times when you have to keep on asking.
Question
What happens if your not sure about your prayers, whether it is of God or not?
David took a chance.
13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.
14 Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.”
15 Then Nathan went to his house. And the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and he became sick.
16 David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.
17 And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them.
18 On the seventh day the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he did not listen to us. How then can we say to him the child is dead? He may do himself some harm.”
19 But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead. And David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “He is dead.”
20 Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate.
21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.”
22 He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’
What a powerful scripture. This child would have been the king but God picked Solomon to reign after David. Only God can make the choices he makes - we just don’t have enough information to understand.
6. Disciples are people of Praise
Praise has a lot of meanings- mainly homage, admiration, worship, reverence, thanksgiving and adoration. extending of the hands and glorify
4 So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.
It is where we get the word hallal, or Hallelujah
Praise is also a weapon against the enemy
Scripture says in KJV God inhabits the praises of his people.
3 Yet You are holy, O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel.
It literally means God lives in the praises of His people. He remains in the he dwells in them.
According to Isaiah 61 - Praise drives out heaviness. READ
As we said earlier there are a lot of meanings in the word praise
2 Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!
We praise him because he is good
When we praise God we are putting him in the place He belongs.Why do you think music is so powerful. It is more than just random tunes, that have no significance on your well being.
We cry out in praise - we give thanks in praise - Praise also means to bless
Praise His works.
Praise him in the church - when we come in and when we walk out
Praise him publically
Praise him personally
Davis said His praise is continually on his mouth.
We are to boast about our God
A DISCIPLES LANGUAGE IS PRAISE
Think about it. When you first gave your life to Jesus, he changed your language.
Conclusion
Prayer and Praise - two key elements to a Disciple.
What language are you speaking?
Are you praying and praising with your eyes open?
If Jesus prayed and looked up so can we - AMEN