Faith is more than an idea.
SIX FUNDAMENTALS OF A DEEPER CHRISTIAN WALK • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 44:58
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Introduction
Today I want to discuss a topic you might be very familiar with. FAITH - Three Pillars to your faith. I am not talking about faith, hope and love. I want to talk about three elements of your faith that we need to continually work on and make room for. AMEN
Faith is a fundamental, without it your lost with it your not.
My Hope is that you will be ushered into a new confidence in God.
I believe myself to be a man of faith. It makes me nervous to say that because God has a way of testing what you think you have. AMEN
Hebrews says faith has substance. It is not wishful thinking. It is assurance in things hoped for. It comes by hearing the Word of God. Jesus is the Word, and we have the written Word and the Spirit who guides us in truth.
PRAYER THE BEGINNING OF YOUR FAITH.
It is a Pillar
This we break down into three pieces- ask, believe , receive. In all God's plans for human redemption, He proposes that men pray. The men are to pray in every place, in the church, in the closet(your private prayer place) , in the home, on sacred days and on secular days. It can be a long prayer, a prayer meeting, a short prayer or a written prayer. You can mumble your prayers all day long or set out a specific time during the day. It can be at night or in the middle of the day. It is a two way communication with God. Some might be great prayer warriors, some not so much.
All things and everything are dependent on the necessity of prayer.
Prayer is the genius and mainspring of life.
We pray as we live; we live as we pray.
In other words you live as you communicate with God
E. M. Bounds SAID - Life will never be finer than the quality of the closet. The mercury of life will rise only by the warmth of the closet. Persistent non-praying eventually will depress life below zero." --
Leonard Ravenhill who I had the privileged to hear, says that we “ are now super-modern but lack the supernatural
“Congregation Reflection”: How many of you have seen answers to prayer ?
What were they ?
Phillip Yancey says prayer is change ! Do we want change ?
Some of you think you have inadequate prayers; well check this out, those are the ones that God listens too. - there is a story in Luke 18:9-14
9 Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else:
10 “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector.
11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector!
12 I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’
14 I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Its that humble heart attitude, God is looking for. - AMEN
n this scripture, Public Prayer was at 9am and 3pm. The Pharisee stood at the front, in-front of everyone. The tax collector at the back. The Pharisee was is silent prayer telling God how thankful he was that he was not like the sinners of the world. It was all about him. It was a prayer absent of the power of God. The tax collector had repentance and Gods mercy as objects. You see humility toward God and compassion for neighbor are the essence of true piety.
POINT
1. Let your inadequacies become a strength.
Your inadequacies show you need God.
God is your help lets read Psalms 46:1
1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Humility is the disposition of valuing or assessing oneself appropriately; especially in light of one’s sinfulness or creatureliness
We are all inadequate - even Job when he wanted to have an audience with God to speak his case. He found out quickly how inadequate he was and without God he was nothing.
Your humility becomes a strength because you position yourself properly.
2. Let Your inadequacies become your confidences.
Scripture says in 1 John 5:14-15
14 And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him.
15 And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.
12 in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.
We now have access to one who lacks nothing and can do anything. We step into the throne room and speak to the king face to face
Turn with me to Mark 11:24
24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
I think the king James says, what so ever Things – what are things ?They are the whatso ever’s of God – they are not necessarily everything that comes to mind. They're born of God and the have the power to overcome and to victory says 1 Jn 5:4
HERE IS THE PART WE HAVE A HARD TIME FIGURING OUT
The scripture says in James 4:3
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. NKJV
Now lets look at another scripture and break it down a little
26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;
27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Three Parts to this scripture AND HERE IS WHERE FAITH TAKES ROOT AND GROWS
1. ASK
You don’t ask because you do not believe he will answer you
Ask for things
They are God given desires –
They are prayers with a purpose – To a God who listens
Remember when you pray you are having an audience with the King
If you were to meet with the King – he might ask you a question – like what do you want, or what is your petition”, what is your request. – Spurgeon
It should be like asking for a glass of water for one dying of thirst
2. Believe
Its faith - its assurance – being persuaded – have moral conviction –
You must own it – you have an excessive need for it to happen –
Your prayer will shake the gates of heaven for it.
It is not so much the thing we have faith in it is the giver. God Himself
***********A lack of faith isn’t in the gift it is in the gift giver !!!
The answer is in Christ, does he hear you or not?
Turn to Daniel 10:10-13
10 And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees.
11 And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling.
12 Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.
13 The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia,
What did Daniel do;
He set his heart to understand – According to this verse, the words of Daniel, i.e., his prayer from the first day of his seeking to understand the future, and of his self-mortification in sorrow and fasting (vv. 2, 3), was heard of God, and the angel was immediately sent forth by God to convey to him revelations. in consequence of the prayer, according to it.
He humbled himself and was heard the very first day
We have a spiritual battle going on, sometimes it takes time to see the answer, – Scripture says our battle is not against flesh and blood but what ? against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. NIV
POINT _ Your prayer has the ability to dispatch angels
Spurgeon says – “on the outside it sometimes looks like you have changed nothing but you must realize you have changed everything”
3. Receive
Get a hold of them, received them, have them Someone said
Great revivals happen in the hearts of a few good men and women where a burden is laid upon that no rest can expel
Here is a quote from Wesley
Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God,
and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen; such alone will shake the
gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on earth. God does nothing but in answer
to prayer. -- John Wesley
CONCLUSION
ASK- BELIEVE - RECEIVE
Lets
1. Get out of the way,
2. Get Gods Heart
3. Pray Gods prayers