Let Your Prayer Life Be Your Testimony

Introduction

When I first wrote this sermon Sarah and I were going through a hard season

Im going to be vunerable with you all today

Here is what I do:

Prayer App

Sister Run Over By A Bus

Debt

Car Payments

TV on the Blink

Rayleigh

When I last came to preach this sermon, we were going through all those things

Yet today the Sermon Im going to preach to you isnt the same sermon as before

Essentially this sermon is a testimony of my Prayer Life.

The reason being is because God has moved us, changed us and come through

Yet this is what I have learnt going through that season.

Faith

Mark 11:23

Mark 11:23–24 ESV

Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Rayleigh Church Future

CAP Helping people out of Debt

The Foodbank

Growing a big church because God will come through for people and he will help them one by one in their situations.

He cares about the small things

Luke 12:7 ESV

Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

God Cares about every small need of ours no matter how big or small.

This is why I know he will build a church in Rayleigh becuase we are giving him the oppurtunity to make people’s lives into testimonies.

So Jesus tells us to speak what we are beliving into life and God will come through.

When the earth was formed God spoke it into Being

In genesis 1 It says many times And God Said,

God Said Let there be light and there was light

God Said Let the water team with livng creatures and there was creatures

God Said let us make Mankind in our image

Therefore what Jesus is saying here in Mark is do as the Father does, speak life into your situations believe what you will say come to pass.

Believe and speak for the troubles in your life to go away

Believe and speak for Churches to grow

Believe and Speak for Debt to be gone

believe and speak for your Kids to do well at School

Believe and speak for that promotion at work

Believe and speak for your family to flourish.

Believing and Speaking requires great faith but when you believe and speak it in Faith it comes to pass.

Many non believers call it the universe. I love non believers I enjoy talking to them.

They have such great faith, they say things like, get a picture and focus on it and speak it then the universe will hear you and it will happen.

What great faith, if they only knew where the coming from was actually coming from they would be speaking bolder than what they are now.

Yet Christians we some how struggle with this, we know God is a provider we know Jesus rose from the dead we know that he tells us to ask the father about things that are troubling.

We know we have all this access to God and this stuff yet, we walk around going ohh wo is me, wo is my problems, my life is in ruins. Pastor will you please pray for me.

Yet we are meant to be going round saying no I do not believe this cancer is going to kill a member of my family

I do not believe that this is my lot.

I know a father in heaven that cares for all my needs and he tells me to believe and speak these things into being just like him

As sons and daughters of the most high God we are to be like the father in Heaven.

When you see a daughter or son of someones family acting up the first thing you say is like father like son, or isnt she just like her mother.

Then why are we not like this as Christians why are we not just like the father in heaven believing and speaking.

Prayer

Let me show you how to believe and Speak now

Be Specific in your prayer life

When you pray, pray with intention

Pray like your life depends on it

Be like the woman out of War Room

She writes everything shes believing for Down she then goes and prays for them she prays for it to be done.

If I was to go from Here to Birmingham with a quater of a tank of petrol would I get there?

Then why as Christians do we face life without Prayer?

Without a relationship with the Father without the help we need how can we get through our storms with only a qauter of a tank of prayer.

Jesus compares this to a Parrable in the bible he talks about having Oil in a lamp lets look at this.

Have enough Oil in your lamp

Matthew 25:1–3 ESV

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,

Dont be like the foolish Virgins in this parable have enough Oil in your lamp

Matthew

Matthew 25:3–4 ESV

For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.

Our Prayer life is like us topping up oil in a lamp

Have enough Oil in your lamp to see you through lifes troubles

Keep relationship with the Father so that he can show up in your life.

You see we sit in life and if things dont go our way we stop praying, we are waiting for a miracle but we let the oil in our lamps go down.

Then we ask others to pray for us and use up their oil.

Matthew 25:5–9 ESV

As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’

We ask others to pray for us to help us get through a storm but they are also going through their own storms.

They need oil as much as you need oil.

Then you go about your life looking for fixes and short term bandaids all the while not praying or seeking the father.

Matthew 25:10–13 ESV

And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

Then while your looking for your fixes your watching your friends or families life take off

You ask them what happened to you months ago you were like me down in the dumps now your life is going and moving you got that promotion in work or you had that money come through and im still sat here struggling

You see if you dont pray and keep relationship with the father you miss out on your testimony your breakthrough.

God will Love you still and help you but sometimes it requires waiting, praying and toping up of your oil in a storm for the anwser to come.

When Jesus comes back or when you go to heaven never have that moment of you could of achieved this with me.

When I walk through heavens gates and I will one day, in years to come. I want to hear well done good and faithful servant. I really hope I dont hear you could of done this or you missed out on that breakthrough.

If you keep your prayer life and your relationship going with the father you will have Testimony after testimony.

Your Prayer Life will become your lifes testimony.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

1 Thesslonians 5:11

Prayer / Oil

Testimony

This was my main prayer Card when I came to speak with you all last

This is what I was going through at the time.

God please help sarah and I out of Debt and pay off the credit card, please help sarah to have enough money with for her train fairs, please can we have enough money to buy a new TV, please can we have enough money to pay for the Car. Also I pray that Sarah has enough money to finish her course this year.

What did God do ohh he came through

We Bought a New TV

We Got out of Debt

Sarah got money given to her by various means to pay for her course and the train fair. She applied for some grants and got the money

I ended up having enough money to pay for our Car.

You see how God cares for the smallest of things, we serve a God who reigns who cares for every hair on our head.

Its not the universe or some cloud floating about in the wind or a tree or some feather prayer necklace or a good luck charm

Its God the Father the Jehovah Jirah the Emmanuel the Christ risen thats who it is that comes through for us time and time again.

This testimony now builds up my faith and when I hear someone come to me and says my friend has cancer I say im going to pray for her or him whats their name and it goes down in my phone and I pray most mornings for them.

I prayed for somones sister in our church to be healed from Cancer every day for three months and guess what She was healed from cancer.

Speak it and Believe it and then your prayer life becomes your testimony.

Be known like the woman in War Room that person whos crazy but prays for everything and everyone.

Let people say about you ohh there is Jason that crazy prayer guy, go see him and he will pray for you and you will be healed or your life turns around.

Then say to others when their prayer comes through you know you have the same access to the father as I do. You can pray and crazy stuff happens to you too.

Have enough Oil in you that you will go through battles like they are nothing.

Speaking things into being.

Here is what I am praying for right now:

For Rayleigh church to grow to 200 people by January 2020

For the foodbank to have such an impact that people start coming to christ

For a CAP debt centre to be birthed out of the Church

For our CAP courses to change peoples lives.

For Donation Boxes to be accepted by Businesses over Rayleigh

For our Church website to go to the top of the List on Google so we can be found easier.

For the Dance Studio people to come to Faith

For our Christmas meal to have a great impact on our community and the surrounding area.

For a new Chair at home

Those are my prayers right now and watch when God comes through on them all okay some may not happen when I want them to but that doesn’t effect my faith. I Just Increase the timeline.

In doing all this individually and together your Prayer Life Becomes Your Testimony, so then you can encourage others.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

1 Thessalonians 5

Website (Sunday Numbers) (Google)

Let your prayer life be your testimony.