Praying in Faith
Notes
Transcript
Everyone knows where the big apple is but does anyone know mineappoolis
Tried to come up with a carpentry joke that woodwork, I think I nailed it, but nobody saw it.
What is the biggest challenge you are facing. What do you believe God’s will is in that situation? THis morning the toughest chapter on prayer...
Jesus had just broken some politically correct rules and he is calling out the religious leaders and saying my house should be a temple of prayer...
15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant,
16 and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “ ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?”
It wasnt really a question… they knew he heard them… are you gonna wear that… they expected him to stop it… and Jesus just is like heck yeah I hear it, isnt it great, they get it… then he quotes psalm 8
17 And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.
18 In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry.
19 And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.
20 When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?”
21 And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.
22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
This passage is full of things we dont understand the same way they dude.... and you can hear this and wonder do you have fruit… but look at the disciples reaction...
The question I have is do you believe this actually happened… be honest… you may be a skeptic… you may have been born on the front row… but do you believe everything that he just said… this is supernatural.... do you believe he can do that… he can just utter a word and the laws of nature are overuled… do you believe he does it today?
The supernatural has no relevance on earth… we think it all happens after we die, we dont believe it is actually happening in our world today, but we hope that it is real… we see the things going on in this world that we dont’ like and we hope someone will step in and help and rescue us.... but what people don’t want is for Jesus to be God....
If Jesus is God, he demands priority in our lives… and thats the hard thing for people that are skeptical.... but if Jesus is God, whether you believe it or not… then one day we will stand before him and give account for what we have done in our lives… if we embrace that it changes everything… it changes the meaning of life… if we actually believe it changes everything… if you are skeptical and this is true it doesn’t really matter...
Lets re-read vs 21-22
21 And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.
22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
Do you believe that if you have faith, you will receive it if you have no doubt… again we are entering the realm of the supernatural… and he will suspend and overrule the laws of nature that we may not even understand. Do you think he will intersect our world and make it happen… most of us probably not… because we have tried it and it never worked...
No one has ever tossed a mountain into the sea… it was a figure of speech that they understood in their culture… Man they’re killing it… thats a figure of speech…
Toss a mountain is figurative for something that seemed impossible…
What Jesus is saying is really simple…
Whatever you ask in my name you will receive.... and it is conditional.... Word of Faith on one hand… Word of doubt on the otehr...
4 conditions
Promise is to christians.. he never made this promise to the crowd… it was just his followers that were with him
It is assumed we have dealt with the KNOWN sin in our lives… he didnt make this promise to the woman at the well… if we ask God for clarity and direction he is going to first point to the sin in your life becasue he wants you to take care of that so he can lead you better.
He makes the promise to his disciples.. not just the twelve but the people on mission.... a disciple is someone who has made the executive decision to lay down their own lives
THey werent perfect but they were on mission, they reogranized their lives around Jesus and his mission
Our entire life is supposed to be on mission and we should be praying about moving along on that mission.
Our lives have to be on mission… we dont want to be on mission, that cost is too great… we want to be on our own mission, but that is a boring Christian life… Jesus was preparing the disciples to take over .... and this is where it gets exciting… Our marriage… Yes… our kids… yes… our business… yes… if we are going to leverage it
Pray in faith and decimate our doubts.... let me share some of the lessons we have learned...
Faith is not wishful thinking… it is more solid… the opposite of fiath is not doubt, it is unbelief hope is not faith, hope is good, you are hoping for stuff, that is good., but faith is knowing what will happen that you can count on...
One way to develop your faith is to know what you actually believe.... Mark 9.... I do believe help my unbelief.... He was caught in doubt… he was caught in two opposing belief systems.... if you believe do not doubt… he is like one tossed by the sea… yhou are caught between two opposing belief systems.... sometimes we believe he can but dont believe he will.... faith is living your life like what you actually believe is true...
Plant the faith you do have… .if you ahve faith the grain of a mustard seed you can say to this mountaiion.... but what do you do with a seed… you dont call everyone around to look at it… you plant that thing.... Has he come through in a financial place.... you have faith that that fruit will come through… here is the place a lot of us are inconsistent...
Most of us believe that when we die Jesus will come and take our soul and transport it into paradise… and yet we have trouble believing that God will come through in our circumstances… but we believe that… you know whats crazy about them not believing the fig true.... they just saw some guys sight restored.... thats why its important
Write your prayers down… write down every answer.... that way you can see what he is doing....and it will build slowly your faith.... put some praise music on in the background… it will help build your faith.... pray strategically....
Every place the soul of our feet tread I will give you… whyd they have to fight eventhough it was promised… oit was a battle in the realm above us… God and his angels are fighting against those… and we are moving the courts of heaven against those… and isnt it crazy that Jesus prayed for hours…
Tony Evans Said everythign that happens in this world happens is caused by influenced by or affected by the heavenly batttles… and if you believe that you pray differently
Not a name it and claim it gospel, but a figure the will of God and move with it gospel
ANother way to increase the effectiveness of our prayers is to pray boldly…a lot of time we arent willing for the fight of what if he doesnt answer....
Even the dogs get the crumbs… I dont know the formula and are all my prayers answered the way I want… of course not… theere are things I have prayed in belief that didnt come true… it is always important to ask God in prayer what his will is for situations....