The key to victory is confident prayer
Notes
Transcript
Scripture reading: James 1:1-8
Hallelujah. We are here at dawn service through much effort and sacrifice. And I believe that God will draw near to us and hear our prayers this morning.
The scripture reading for this morning comes from James 1:2-8
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.
For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,
being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
The title for this morning’s message is “The key to victory is confident prayer.”
Today is the last day of our retreat. I wish our retreat could go on longer, but soon we need to return back to reality. Back to our work, our homes, and back to our trials. The life, the habits, the patterns we had before, they wait for us. The temptations and sins we used to wrestle with are waiting for us there.
But I pray that through the Word we have received, we will find new strength to overcome. Amen?
In this passage, the Word of God says in James 1:2 that when we meet trials of various kinds, we should count it not as sorrow, but as joy. All joy.
The word for trial is peirasmos, and describes any occasion where we are tempted to sin. When our character is put to the test.
But Bible tells us this morning that we can count it all joy. Why?
The word for joy is chara/χαρά, which is less like happiness and more like gladness. Gladness is happiness, but with a good reason. What’s the reason?
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
The reason is that we get to test our faith.
So God’s saying that trials are actually an opportunity for us to exercise our faith. And it produces endurance. Steadfastness. Fortitude.
Before the persecution, Daniel opened the window and prayed three times a day. After the persecution, he still prayed three times a day. That’s what it means to endure.
And it says we must use our faith in order for it to endure.
But the opposite is also true. If we don’t use our faith, it will expire.
Someone once received a pair of shoes as a gift. And because he considered the gift as so precious, he didn't wear them for a long time. But when he finally wore them one day, they broke.
The same is true with our faith. It’s use it or lose it.
So faith plus trials equals endurance. And faith plus endurance equals salvation.
We walked a path in order to get here for dawn service. The bible says that our trials are actually the pathway to heaven.
Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”
So that’s the theory. But we know it’s not easy to put it into practice.
That’s why God gave us the rest of the book of James.
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
Wisdom here means to see things the way God sees things. To know the heart of God.
So when we ask God for wisdom, we’re asking Him to inscribe His Word upon our hearts.
And how can we get wisdom? We need to ask and pray to God.
Honestly, I was wondering why do we keep announcing for the church retreat for so many months in a row. But now I can see that God has provided this church retreat in response to our prayers.
Are we wiser now than three days ago?
But then it says that we have to pray with confidence, without any doubt.
But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
And so it goes like this.
Faith minus confident prayer = defeat.
Faith plus confident prayer = victory, endurance, and joy.
So the key to victory is confident prayer. The key to joy is confident prayer.
We can think of it like this.
Trials are like a huge plate of chili crab. But only we have the tool to crack the shells. The tool is our faith. But it’s not enough just to have the tool. We have to use it. It’s not enough to have knowledge of God and God’s Word. We have to apply it through prayer. And we must pray firmly with confidence, without any doubt.
*clasp hands tightly*
When you crack the chill crab, you have to use a lot of force right? We must pray like that and overcome our trials by holding on tightly to God alone.
Where does the confidence come from? Is it confidence for no reason? We don’t teach a blind faith at Zion church. We get our confidence from studying the Bible and redemptive history. So our faith is based not on feelings, but fact.
Some people might ask us, “Why does your church do so many bible studies?” This is why. So that we will overcome the trials of this world through the Word of God and prayer. A prayer with doubt is weak and comes from the lack of studying the Word.
But I believe that the Word we’ve received during these past two days has given us more confidence in God. Amen? May we overcome all our trials, all our tests, and all our temptations, through confident prayer. And may we even count it all joy as we walk day by day on the path to heaven.
Let us now enter into a time of prayer.
First, let us pray that as we return to our respective homes, whatever trials and former darkness that are waiting for us, we will overcome by the Word of God and holding onto God in prayer.
Next, let us pray for a faith that endures until the last day. And let us also commit Zion church into the hands of the Lord, that we will be a church that endures until the end. That even on the last day when Christ returns, Zion Church will be standing strong, hypermeno, proclaiming the Word of God to the nations.
And finally, let us pray for our own personal prayer topics, and you may end with the Lord’s prayer on your own.
