Untitled Sermon (6)

THE POWER OF PRAYER-DEVELOPING PERSISTENCE..

Pray –

Flow in the gifts of the Spirit , 2 people.

Introduction.

Morning family, trust you are well.

Family God has called us to bring city transformation ,

God has called us to take the cites for Him.

God has called us to love and care for people and help them to know and follow  Jesus.

Help them to find freedom and discover purpose and make a difference with their God given gifts and abilities in community.

However for this to happen we need to learn to pray and develop a PERSITATE  anointed private and corporate prayer life.

When we stop praying it is a sign we losing faith,

and maybe

We have become discouraged with the promises,

Or the  purpose and ways of God on earth.

We need our daily lives interrupted  with new prayer habits for what God wants us to do

In and through us.

The city at its worst needs the church at its best.

When believers stop praying the enemy starts  advancing, when the believers unite AROUND  JESUS AND faith filled prayer the church starts to advance in the city and nations.

God has spoken a word into  my heart for us today  that He wants us to develop persistence in our prayer life.

Persistent is  not an exciting word, for some of us it is a word that requires focus and diligence in the face of challenges.

We need to develop persistence .

Persistent means continuing something in spite of all the challenges and difficulties.

Every thing in life that is great, AND well established, built up

Has in it

Persistence .

Now Jesus our king, our savior our Lord.

Calls us to a life of effectiveness and greatness however we need to develop anointind persistence  in our prayer life.

With this in mind developing persistence in our prayer life.

Pls turn with me to Luke 18

Luke 18:1–8 (NIV)

1Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

2He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought.

3And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

4“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think,

5yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’ ”

6And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says.

7And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?

8I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Some background context.

Jesus is teaching His disciples ,a profound lesson on prayer ..

He shares a truth then he gives them a profound parable to bring understanding to them .

There is a widow that persists and goes to an unjust judge daily to request justice . She eventually persists in her faith and the judge rules in her favor. Now the eastern setting in this context is quite interesting for it brings more critically to what JESUS WAS TALKING ABOUT.

The “courtroom” was not a fine building but a tent that was moved from place to place as the judge covered his circuit. The judge, not the law, set the agenda; and he sat regally in the tent, surrounded by his assistants. Anybody could watch the proceedings from the outside, but only those who were approved and accepted could have their cases tried. This usually meant bribing one of the assistants so that he would call the judge’s attention to the case.

The widow had three obstacles to overcome. First, being a woman she, therefore, had little standing before the law. In the Palestinian society of our Lord’s day, women did not go to court. Since she was a widow, she had no husband to stand with her in court. Finally, she was poor and could not pay a bribe even if she wanted to.

She has no family name any more.

She battling financial.

She was a woman being ignored.

1. NEVER GIVE UP PRAYING  THROUGH THE PROMISES OF GOD.

Luke 18:1–2 (NIV)

1Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

.

Jesus is talking into the disciples' hearts because he knows exactly what is going to happen. They are going to start praying and when they do not see an immediate result they going to get frustrated and give up.

He is telling them a truth in a parable to help lock it in their mind that when they feel like giving up on the promises of God that they should not , they should stick it out.

Because when we stop praying we start fainting..

Because around the corner the answer is there.

Have you ever had it that you gave up on something and as you reflect back you released you should have just pushed through just a little bit more.

Like study for a test.

Like running a race.

Faling asleep on something because you have given up.

Jesus is saying never give up until you get the desired result in prayer.

Mybe you set up a prayer meeting at work , and it starts and everything's start going well, the tendency then is to stop , because it is going well.

Or on the other side of the coin you start something and it is so difficult, why bother and we give up.

Jesus said do not give up.

Jesus is placing this truth on the inside his following a bit of grit, persianstat , stamina in there prayer life.

For what I want to do in and  through you you need persistence in your prayer life.

Mybe he is calling you

to persistent and pray for a addiction to be broken

a family member to be saved

a work client

a Christian friend

a gift to be develop

a business portfolio to pray over

a company to pray.

Sensitivity to the spirit.

Family member to be healed.

KINGDOM OF GOD to be advanced.

Whatever God calls you to do , we need to develop a persistence in our  prayer life over that area.

2.IT TAKES GREAT FAITH TO PERSISTENCE  IN PRAYER.

Luke 18:8 (NIV)

8I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

K4C -play area.

God speaks a word into our spirit, through a prophetic person, through a scripture through a small group leader.

Now once we have the word we need to apply persistence  and great faith into it.

Pray daily into that word, that you inherited the promise through persistence and faith.

Hebrews 10:35 (NIV)

35So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

Hebrews 10:38–39 (NIV)

38And, “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.”

39But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.

We need to develop perseverance,persistence and  consistency in our prayer life.

If something is not there, we need to work with God and bring it into existence.

God speak to us, then we are the faithful ones believe him and pray it into being.

Some people think you must go to a place to inherit the promises of God.

However we need to press on into God, and allow the promises of God to be pressed into our life.

Story of engineer.. Sowed seeds.

What we sow persiantley in faith we will reap the harvest if we do not give up.

Inherent truth, we need to seek the truth of God's words.

This takes great faith. My be we need to develop a

Develop a prayer life to see the Kingdom of God advance powerful in and through you .

Prayer life to learn to prophesy

Develop a prayer life to learn to evangelize

Develop a prayer life to learn to study on the gifts of the Spirit

Develop a prayer live to push in and persistent  on hearing God's voice.

Mybe develop a persistence in your prayer life that you pray and seek the Lord unto you develop a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit .

Develop a prayer life to cope When life is hard, prayer provides a way for you and God to face it together.

What truth  in God is He calling you to persinate  in your prayer life to inherit.

Some things take time..

Philippians 3:10–14 (NIV)

10I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

13Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,

14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

We need to press into the fullness of Christ.

In closing

Will you determine under God to seek him to help you develop a private and a corporate prayer life to pray through the promises of God.