Wednesday Night Prayer 05/05/2021

Overcoming Temptation

I want to thank you for joining us tonight.

Tonight I want to do something a little different as we move into our time together.

I know on Sunday I said we were going to talk about how to avoid temptation. But to be honest, the more I prayed about it, the more I felt like that was for another time, and so if you came to learn how to avoid temptation, I apologize and I promise you we will come back to that later on.

Tonight however, I felt like what we needed to focus on was encouragement.

How many here tonight would say you need some encouragement?

And so before we get to some prayer focus, I want to spend a few minutes setting up our prayer time by going to 1 Chronicles 12 where the writer gives us some specific details concerning a time in David’s life when he needed encouragement.

And the reason he needed encouragement is because he was a wanted man as King Saul was frantically trying to find David in order to kill him.

In fact, David was in such great danger that he had to leave the land of Israel and find shelter among the Philistines, the enemies of Israel, in a city called Ziklag.

Think about that for a second. At this point David is safer with his enemies than his own people.

And so you can imagine how discouraging that must have been for David, to be not only forced out of his home, his city, but out of his country, where he would live among his enemies for 16 months.

But the good news is, in the midst of his discouragement, God sent and surrounded David with men to encourage him. Men who would protect him. Men who would bring him help in his time of need. We read about these men in 1 Chronicles 12.

And so what I’d like to do is share with you who some of these men were, how they helped David, what the result was, and how this applies to us.

And then after that we’re going to have some focused time of prayer and worship.

That being said, let’s jump into 1 Chronicles 12 and find out who these men were. Beginning in verse 1 we read:

1 Chronicles 12:1 ESV

1 Now these are the men who came to David at Ziklag, while he could not move about freely because of Saul the son of Kish. And they were among the mighty men who helped him in war.

The writer begins by identifying who these men are, and what I want you to notice first is that they were mighty men who were sent to help David in war.

Which means, they were there to protect and help David fight his battles. And they were mighty. How mighty? Let’s find out, because the writer is going to identify them now in groups. Here’s the first group:

1 Chronicles 12:2 ESV

2 They were bowmen and could shoot arrows and sling stones with either the right or the left hand; they were Benjaminites, Saul’s kinsmen.

The writer says the first group consisted of bowmen who could shoot arrows and sling stones with either the right hand or left hand.

That’s pretty impressive right? Most of us in the room can’t even write our name with our less dominant hand, let alone shoot a bow or sling a stone with it. So, these are like ninja warriors. And guess what

So, if that’s all David had helping him, that’s pretty good. But there’s more. Because along with these men the writer says:

1 Chronicles 12:8 ESV

8 From the Gadites there went over to David at the stronghold in the wilderness mighty and experienced warriors, expert with shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions and who were swift as gazelles upon the mountains:

The writer says along with ninja bowmen, God brought David men who were experienced warriors who where experts with a shield and spear, had faces like lions, and could run like deer on the mountains.

Again, that’s pretty impressive. Because not only does David have ninja warriors, but he has men who when they look at you, they’re so fierce looking that you its as if a lion is staring you down. Men who you couldn’t outrun if you wanted too.

And they’re so fierce that the writer goes on to say:

1 Chronicles 12:14 ESV

14 These Gadites were officers of the army; the least was a match for a hundred men and the greatest for a thousand.

Did you catch that. The writer says they’re so fierce that the least of these warrior could take a hundred men out by himself and the greatest could handle a thousand.

But it didn’t stop there. Because God also sent David men from Manasseh, and of these men the writer says:

1 Chronicles 12:21 ESV

21 They helped David against the band of raiders, for they were all mighty men of valor and were commanders in the army.

The writer says the men from Manasseh were men of valor. The idea here is that they were men of honor. Men who could be trusted. Brave men who would give their life for David.

But it didn’t end there, because men like this just kept coming and coming. Because the writer says:

1 Chronicles 12:22 ESV

22 For from day to day men came to David to help him, until there was a great army, like an army of God.

The writer says the men kept coming until there was a great army, like an army of God.

Which means, in the presence of his enemies, in the midst of his loneliness, in the midst of his despair, God surrounded David with not just any army, but an army of God.

And what an encouragement that must have been for David, to look at and see an elite fighting force that had been sent for his protection and to help him fight his battles.

So, a great question would be, “How does this apply to us?”

Tonight, in this place it applies in exactly the same way.

Because unless I miss my guess, I’m going to say some of you came here tonight a little discouraged. Maybe little down.

Or maybe you came here tonight feeling alone or abandoned. Maybe you even feel like an outcast.

Or maybe you’ve come here tonight and you’re weary, you’re weary from the battle. The enemy has been coming at you. He’s had you on the run. It feels like he’s closing in. And so you came to Ziklag tonight. You came MCF.

Here’s the good news. Because you came to MCF tonight, Just like God brought mighty men to encourage, strengthen, and protect David at Ziklag, he’s done the same for you.

You might say, “Pastor, where are these ninja warriors? Where are these mighty warriors with lion faces. Where are the warriors where the least of them puts a 100 on the run and the greatest a thousand.

Believe it or not, they’re sitting on your right and your left. They’re sitting in front of you and behind you. Look around the room. They are the people God has brought here tonight. It’s the family of God. It’s your Brothers and sisters in Christ. Fellow believers each with their own set of gifts and strengths. Fellow believers who are willing to fight for you. Fellow believers who are here to hold your arms up. Here to breath words of encouragement into your life. Here to protect you and fight the battle with you.

So, here’s what I want to do:

Gather in groups, 3-6 people. Share needs. Encourage one another. Strengthen one another. Pray for one another.

At 7:45 we are going to gather back to worship.

Let’s break and pray