"3 Enemies - 3 Victories" - Pastor Raymond Woodward

[Music] thank you Jesus amen just take your Bible and let's turn to the book of Matthew very familiar passage of Scripture longest sermon Jesus every priest is called the Sermon on the Mount by us because it was preached on a mountain and it begins in Matthew chapter five runs five six and seven of Matthew we're gonna snag one verse in Chapter five and then immediately go to chapter six and seeing the multitudes he went up into a mountain and when he was set his disciples came to him now that first verse of chapter five it sets the stage for everything that's to follow one of the newer translation says this in a way that I really like it says that when Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds the multitudes he climbed a hill some and that this is the way the message paraphrase puts that next part when he was said his disciples he disciples are not just casual followers or fans of Jesus they really give him their lives and so the message says those who were apprenticed to him the committed climbed with him arriving at a quiet place he sat down and he taught and I like this he taught his climbing companions so Jesus has taken his disciples away from the multitudes and he's teaching them in a private setting and tonight we're in a little bit of a private setting because Wednesday night is when those of us that love the Word of God we gather to study the Bible and so tonight I'm praying that that same kind of spirit just in habits what we do here tonight would you pray with me just for a second be seated I'm watching the time you'll be fine a pastor's not gonna be long tonight but I do have something to say or Jesus thank you God for faithful Saints and a wonderful church family thank you God for those that are here and we turn our attention once more to those that cannot be here I think of brother and sister our boat tonight they're sick tonight and I pray for those precious elders that you be with them and everybody else is not here or God would you minister to them tonight would you minister and Jesus would you anoint us here in this room and let us learn for your word in Jesus name everybody said amen and you can be seated now spiritual disciplines are very very important we are called disciples and the root of disciple is the same as the root of discipline and so being a disciple means that you have spiritual disciplines and in the Sermon on the Mount in chapter 6 Jesus identifies three spiritual disciplines that he expects his disciples he doesn't expect the world to do this the world doesn't pay attention to what he wants but those of us that are committed to him he expects us to do these three things and there are three things that have an impact upon our flesh you know from Scripture those of you that read and love the Bible you know that we have three enemies the world and the flesh and somebody say it the devil the world the flesh and the devil now the Bible also tells us that in our flesh we have a threefold enemy right here in your flesh you don't have to go looking for trouble you meet it in the mirror every morning when you get up you don't have to go looking for a fight you got a fight on your hands every morning when you get up because your flesh has three built-in enemies if you go to first John chapter 2 and verse 16 you'll see those three enemies they're all through the Word of God you'll see those three enemies that the Bible says we have for all that is in the world the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life it's not of the Father but solve the world so what's worldly in you that you have to watch out for three things these are three built-in enemies and they're in you by default you have them from your crib and maybe before absolutely absolutely before you're born with them the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life they are three enemies and so in Matthew six in his longest sermon Jesus identifies three spiritual disciplines that conquer those three enemies that are built right in your flesh and here's what he does is it's really amazing and we're not gonna spend a long time on any one of them but I want to give you this because we're in a special time in fact we're right in the middle of our 21 day Daniel facet thank you to everybody that's participating in any way in in our time of fasting that's that's so very important to us if you look at chapter 6 if you got your Bible just glance at it verse 2 says when you doest thine arms so everybody say when not if when when you give everybody say give one of the spiritual disciplines Jesus identifies here is that his disciples will give a disciple of Jesus Christ is a giver and that means in every way possible giving of our time giving of our talent giving of our treasure that that's very important why is giving so important why does the Bible talk more about giving than it does about heaven or hell why do over half the parables Jesus told have to do with the subject of money and why are there more promises in the Bible related to your giving than any other subject it's because giving breaks something in you it wins the fight and it defeats one of those enemies in you and and and giving defeats what we call the lust of the eyes because the lust of the eyes has one song and it's song is two words I want I want I want I want I want and that's the lust of the eyes I want that bigger I want that newer I want that better I want more I want more I want more and so the lust of the eyes is always looking around and wanting something that we don't have and the message and the theme song of the lust of the eyes is I want and so God says Jesus tells his disciples not if you give because that's not an option for a real child of God when you give here's the way you need to do it and he talks about some some really neat stuff in this chapter he uses a Greek word Theo my which is where we get our English word theater and he said when you do your almsgiving don't be a hypocrite don't be a play actor don't pretend to give but not really give don't pretend to give more than you're really giving don't don't want the image without actually having the substance because that that doesn't do anything and he talks about in verse 2 the the hypocrites the Pharisees and the Sadducees he said when they give they trumpet it it's like celebrity giving you know they want everybody to notice they trumpet it in the streets and the synagogues why so that they can have credit or glory from men and Jesus said I say unto you they have their reward they already have a receipt for that they've taken all the value out of it but when you do your arms' verse 3 when you give everybody say when you give don't let your left hand know what your right hand do with that your arms you're giving maybe in secret and your father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly now please let me clarify something that's extremely important to all three areas in this chapter when Jesus talks about don't let your right hand know what your left hands do when your left hand know what your right hands doing when he talks about let your giving your arms be in secret that your father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly he is not talking about becoming a double agent a secret agent a secret follower of Jesus and nobody knows that you give in fact it's very healthy for people to know that you give Jesus is talking here about motives in giving not that anybody might see you given so you know when the golfing plate comes by you get down under the Pew and you slip your tithe an envelope in and then you bring it back up that would be more obvious right and and and some you know sometimes we get some weird interpretations of that Jesus is talking about your motive if you've got a motive to be noticed in public you've already got your reward if you got a motive to be noticed for what you give or how much you give you already got your your reward so so he's using a an image here he said so so don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing now that's kind of odd if you're trying to make this literal never mind but you know what I mean it's an image he's using he's speaking he's not speaking literally here and when he talks about secret we've made such a big deal out of that that sometimes we interpret that in weird extreme ways let me tell you something when this church lifts its hand to give we bless missionaries all over the world I talked for about a half hour today from a pastor in Japan who's been blessed by the the ministry of this church he's not even in one of our missionaries but he's a pastor there in Japan and he's been blessed by our church and he called today to thank this church for blessing the work in Japan and in particular blessing his church and his ministry and I'm really grateful for that now we couldn't do any of that if we were all secret agents we give collectively we give together sometimes we pass out envelopes and we make pledges and and your church knows what we can do because of what you pledged in a faith promise so Jesus isn't talking about that that just helps us to go forward in in many places in the Bible in the New Testament and the old they bring and offering publicly in fact in one place in the New Testament they go around to the different churches asking for an offering so they all knew what they gave because they take it and they assemble it and they take it back to the church in Jerusalem so everybody understand the whole secrecy thing it's it's Jesus speaking about your motive not literally about your action so that's giving everybody say when you give giving conquers the lust of the eyes because the lust of the eyes is always saying I want I want I want I want and we need help to break that and the lust of the eyes is only broken by you giving away stuff that you have because then you break this I want mentality and then Jesus talks about prayer and we're in the middle of 21 days of a Daniel fast and praying and he says in verse 7 when you pray verse 6 for 7 verse 5 every verse says when thou prayest when thou prays when he pray so when Jesus says that he doesn't say if you pray he says when you pray it's a discipline that disciples need to have in their life not if you give but when you give not if you pray but when you pray and and prayer is a very very important discipline because prayer helps us conquer something else prayer helps us conquer what the Bible calls the pride of life and the pride of life it has a theme song the pride of life is an enemy in your flesh you face it every day and the pride of life it has a theme song that says I'm in charge I'm in charge this is my life this is my business this is my little world and I'm gonna do whatever I want I'm in charge and so Jesus says my disciples need to pray because you know what prayer saying I'm not in charge I need help from somebody bigger than me to get through this life if I'm gonna live for God in victory if I'm gonna live the commandments of the Word of God I've already tried to live the commandments of God and I keep messing up so god I just want to come to you today when I pray and I'm gonna say God I need your help I'm not in charge of my own life in fact I give charge of my life to you that's prayer everybody say when you pray so so it's a discipline that we need to pay very close attention to as the people of God because prayer is not a ritual it's not like a two-minute mumble in the morning prayer is something that we do that talks to God and and you can talk to God in a number of ways you can talk to God out loud if you have trouble falling asleep when you pray number one get more rest number two try praying out loud that might keep you awake try walk-in when you pray if you fall asleep on your knees stand up if you fall asleep standing up walk if you fall asleep driving for heaven's sake tell us and we'll take your license but you can pray anywhere you can pray in a variety of things because prayer is not a ritual prayers talking to God but Jesus said although you can do it in a number of ways there's no special posture that's more spiritual you're not more spiritual when you kneel or when you stand there's nothing like that because prayer is talking to God and that's what the Pharisees did they had all kinds of performances when they prayed and Jesus said don't do that and he said don't do what the Pharisees do they they use vain repetition now vain repetition there's a little misunderstanding they're vain repetition isn't repeating the same words over and over again now I don't think you should pray for an hour and say Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus if you're really praying and that's really powerful to you go ahead but probably about the fifteenth time he said okay I got that let's move on probably so so but I don't think that's what Jesus is talking about when he says vain repetition because there are some times when we're praying and you know this we call the name of Jesus and we might do it 15 times until something breaks so that's not what he's talking about vain repetition is when you just go through a form that you're not even thinking of it's a form again see this isn't about what people see when he says you know he's using an image he's not using a literal statement you know go into your closet and pray well number one they didn't have closets like you have closets and and so when he says that your father which seeth in secret he's talking about the motives of your heart and we have to be very careful Pentecostals do we only pray fervently when we come to the house of God because your father sees in secret if if you're praying and when you're praying and how you're praying when you're not here so we have to be very careful that we're not just coming to church and we become like all the other denominations that we originally came from because there's a lot of people for whom prayer and some of you came from their prayers just a ritual you go through a little format and you're not thinking of it you could be thinking about your meatloaf recipe while you're repeating words in a church service and that's what Jesus was talking about don't use vain repetition when you pray you need to really be sincere don't be a theater performer don't be a hypocrite an actor with a mask on don't do that but when you pray you need to pray from the heart and if your father sees in secret that you're really doing this he'll reward you openly the open part comes later but your motives very very very important here you don't parade prayer prayers something now by the same token the Bible commands us to pray together to pray corporately to pray without ceasing so it obviously doesn't mean that you go hide from everybody when you pray it's good to pray privately but it's also good to pray corporately there are dozens of commands in the Word of God for God's people to pray corporately so again Jesus isn't talking about becoming a secret prayer agent he's talking about your motive when you pray so help me here everybody say when you give giving conquers the lust of the eyes because the lust of the eyes always say I want and the lust of the eyes is always telling us you want something more you want something else you want something different you want something newer and so Jesus said you got to break that in your life that's a built-in enemy in your flesh so to break the lust of the flesh that that that's always crying out I want I want I want you need to give because when you give you say look at this flesh I'm giving that away and your flesh goes now but you broke something you broke the power of the lust of the flesh or the lust of the eye sorry over you you look your eyes are always looking at something else that you want or need to make you fulfilled and happy so the lust of the eyes says I want and we conquer that by giving or is it giving everybody said when you give y'all still here you all weak from fasting everybody say the lust of the eyes the lust of the eye says I want everything I want I want to stop repeating this past arraignment well too bad they say the lust of the eyes I want and Jesus said to combat that when you give okay and then we come to this second one that we're talking about everybody say the pride of life the pride of life says I'm in charge everybody say I'm in charge now you've said that to your kids and you can keep saying it to your kids but don't say it to anybody else and don't believe it for a minute even with your kids the pride of life says I'm in charge and so jesus said the only way you're gonna break that little spirit in you that wants to control everything is you got to take it daily to Jesus in prayer and you've got to pray so when you pray that's gonna conquer that I'm in charge pride of life business and Jesus didn't leave us guessing there are some wonderful things some of you that are online and you watched church services that's that's wonderful a couple of Sundays ago brother Ken Gurley our district superintendent in South Texas he did something and and originally this was Bishop GA manga from Alexandria Louisiana that taught a whole move really to pray through the tabernacle plan and some of you have heard about that you're not real familiar with it but it takes the pattern of the Old Testament Tabernacle and two Sundays ago brother Ken Gurley literally they set up a big kind of life-size Tabernacle furniture on their stage and he prayed through the tabernacle did a tremendous job their church website is first church.com and if you just go back in their video archives a couple of weeks I think it would still be there I watched it after it was live so it was there and I think it would still be their first church calm please don't do that on your phone right now but you can do it later first search calm and and that will show you how to pray through the tabernacle plan another way to pray there's several patterns for prayer in the Word of God another way to pray is put on the whole armor of God you know the helmet of salvation there's meaning in that and you can find all kinds of information about that sometimes it helps you just to vary the pattern by which you're praying and then the granddaddy of all the prayer patterns is right here in Matthew 6 Jesus said in verse 9 after this manner when you're gonna pray why are we praying we're praying because we've got a conquer the pride of life it's an enemy built right in to our flesh and it's always saying I'm in charge I'm gonna call the shots today so every day when we pray we concur and we shatter the control of the pride of life over us which is always saying I'm in charge and so Jesus says in first night after this manner in this pattern therefore pray now Jesus is not giving us something to repeat here because the rabbi's of his day always taught like this they taught in categories Jesus is giving us some categories that every day you need to marinate these you need to bathe these you need to cover these in prayer several different categories let me go through them quickly how many would help pastor for the next five minutes would you help me please I have to thank you three four do I see another hand okay good thank you I need your help I need your your I need you for a couple of minutes here jesus said when you pray it's after this kind of manner it's in this kind of pattern I want you to cover these topics when you pray so this is a great way to pray it's not the only way to pray Jesus didn't always say these things in this order when he prayed we can read what the the theologians call his high priestly prayer in the Gospel of John the night he was betrayed and he didn't pray exactly like this so you can use different ways to pray but this is the granddaddy of all the prayer patterns in the Word of God so here we go after this manner therefore pray ye our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name hallowed means set apart hallowed means to be put up above anything else to be exalted above other things hallowed be thy name so Jesus is saying that when we begin our prayer we need to enter into his presence with praise and worship and in particular and this is beautiful for us who realize the power of Jesus name we need to set the name of God apart as we enter his presence that's why we do this a lot in church it enters us into his presence your pastor isn't wasting time filling time or trying to figure out what to do next and a service when he says let's lift up our hands and let's praise the name of the Lord what we're doing is we're doing what Jesus taught us to do we're setting apart his name we're worshiping his name we're calling his name holy and blessed and and an excellent and every adjective that's positive that you can think of you just keep throwing it at the name of the Lord because you're setting his name apart why because the name of the Lord is a strong tower and the righteous can run into it and be saved so when you lift up his name you're invoking your calling on the power of his name so here's where I need you would you help me right now let's just do that little piece of that prayer would you lift up your voice for a minute and your hands and would you just praise the name of the Lord our Father we're glad we have a relationship with you you are in heaven you're you're greater than everything here and we bless your name we set your name apart we hallo your name Lord Jesus we adore your name there's a name that's above every other name there's a name that's so precious to us and it's your name Jesus so we worship your name and we hallow your name and we call your name holy we call your name holy we call your name holy Jesus we bless you tonight you see what happens when you do that the presence of the Lord rushes to where you are so that's why Jesus said when you pray start it this way when you pray do it this way when you pray after this manner pray and you're not gonna feel the emotion of everybody else around you when you're praying alone we all know that you're not gonna have the band and the choir and the singers and you're not gonna have all that when you pray alone but it's still the same pattern you still enter into his presence by exalting and hollowing his name Jesus taught us to do that and so when when we do that what we're doing is we're we're following that particular pattern it's an entryway into prayer and as you can see it's just powerful now now here's what I would suggest to you when you're praying alone two things with this emotion thing because we are we're addicted to emotion so so so here's what you do you pray whether you feel anything or not do not judge your prayer time by your feelings or you'll never pray so so so don't put yourself down because you're you're you know you're all worried I'm not feeling what I felt on Sunday of course you're not feeling what you felt on Sunday brother Phillips was in front of you when you were praying on Sunday of course you're not feeling what you felt on Sunday but but here's the thing when you do feel something in prayer this is common sense but common sense is not common okay when you do feel something in prayer stop and feel it out stop and follow that because that may be the Lord leading you to slow down and pray about this for a little bit so you don't govern your prayer time by your feelings but you allow your prayer time to be led by your feelings if God touches your emotions and you begin to weep or you begin to feel his anointing when you pray then then slow down stay there for a minute there's no rush this isn't like a race this is a pattern and so if you get stuck there for ten minutes that's great just keep worshiping the name of the Lord so jesus said our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name here's the next thing to pray about verse verse 10 thy kingdom come remember what prayer conquers it conquers the pride of everybody say it pride of life and the pride of life always saying I'm in charge and so jesus said this is your next thing to pray about your next topic thy kingdom come Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven so let's straighten this out right now Jesus not my way today but your way not my will today but your will not my kingdom being built here today but your kingdom so we pray over all of that next and and literally we ask for God's kingdom to be revealed and to come in our lives for God's will to be done in our lives and those of you that studies scripture those words are in an imperative form if you were to literally translate them into modern English it would say come kingdom of God be done will of God it's like a command and so that's what we pray over ourselves next would you lift your hands one more time and would you pray that with Pastor let's pray that the kingdom of God comes in our church in our city and our homes our families our lives let's pray that his will is done in our lives let's pray that his will is done in our homes let's pray that his will is done in our church God we've set aside these three weeks we've set aside this time so we could ask you your will be done in our church Jesus we're not trying to build a little kingdom for ourselves a little reputation for ourselves but thy kingdom come Thy will be done and break that habit that send me Jesus too want to be in charge and to want to call the shots I submit to your will today your will be done in my life your kingdom come in my life I don't want my will I want your will I don't want my kingdom I want your kingdom I don't want my priorities I want your priorities so today I pray that over me and Lord God this week I pray that over me let me do something today that impacts your kingdom let me say something today that expresses your will Lord God let me be led in my prayer time to pray your will in existence to pray your kingdom here on this earth I bind the enemy and I loose your spirit thy kingdom come and I will be done in Jesus name and when you're praying privately you need to get specific there you need to name names don't be polite in prayer when you're praying privately I know there's this little decorum when we're praying together and by the way that's why we pray out loud because if we're all praying out loud nobody's gonna be listening to what you're praying and that's why we're always saying let's worship out loud let's pray out loud because we don't want three people praying out loud and 70 gossips listening to them thank you so that's why we pray out loud when we're together because we're trying to recreate the corporate prayers of the Bible where they all prayed together and they all prayed out louder you know sometimes when the Bible says the place shook yeah it's the Spirit of God but it's the Spirit of God responding to the vocal outcry of the people of God the shaking the place - and we want to recreate that but when you're praying privately you can get messy with God you can pray all kinds of stuff and you can name names and situations and God need to knock them down do your will in their life and bla bla bla you can pray that way however you want to pray the next thing Jesus said to pray about is in verse 11 give us this day our daily bread and a pastor Jack preached a message a few months ago about bread and how it was the staple of life in ancient times it was everything that was necessary to sustain life and that's exactly what Jesus is talking about he's saying now that and watch this because remember what prayer conquers prayer conquers the pride of life it conquers that feeling of I in charge so watch the order here jesus said you worship me our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name then you pray that my priorities are done thy kingdom come thy will be done in now you asked for your needs give us this day our daily bread you don't ask for your needs before you ask for my will because that's how we get messed up some of us have convinced ourselves that something we want is really a need and that it's actually the will of God and God's up and heaven go and no it's not and we keep praying and praying and praying over and over again and the reason is we haven't put his kingdom and his priority and his will first and then you start praying over your needs but it's not wrong to pray over your needs it's not selfish to pray over your needs God told us to come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain help in the time of need so he expects you to pray over your needs is there anybody in this room that you or somebody in your family needs something would you lift up your hands a pastor unless just bring it to the Lord one more time you may have already prayed about it a couple of times today but he doesn't get weary with you coming to him he doesn't get weary with you praying over your kids he doesn't get weary with you praying over your health situation he doesn't get weary with you praying over that need in your family he doesn't so let's take it right now Lord Jesus we bring you today we bring you our needs and we ask on would you give us what we need in these situations god we can't heal ourselves but you're the healer so we pray God would you provide what we need today Lord Jesus in our families we need wisdom and we need guidance God would you provide what we need today in our families and in our homes and in our marriages Jesus some folks in here they have financial needs that are very critical Lord God would you provide that need they've prayed they've made your kingdom first they've asked for your will first so now we bring you a literal need and God we don't have any way of meeting that need but Jesus would you look down upon your people and would you extend your hand and would you meet the need in Jesus name we pray it we call your name over it we call your name over it in Jesus name and of course you can get very specific when you're praying alone and you're praying about that the very next thing Jesus says is in verse 12 and I like the way this is broken up because most of the prayer you can go verse by verse the next one is in verse 12 forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors now now this is praying for God to forgive us how many know you need God's forgiveness but you can't get God's forgiveness unless you forgive others so watch this verse 12 that's what he says and we're gonna skip ahead I want to go down to verse 14 and 15 because the prayer ends in verse 13 but verse 14 and 15 pastors said this before it's very important that's a postscript it's a PS on the Lord's Prayer verse 14 and 15 Jesus doesn't repeat anything else after he teaches us the pattern except this watch for if you forgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you but if you forgive not men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses so let's go back up to verse 12 in the prayer and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors these two things are tied together we're gonna pray for God to forgive us and in fact if you don't you're kind of dumb because you're not perfect and we all need God's forgiveness and so every day whether you can remember it or not you need to bring your life to God and say God if I commit it if you know of a sin you committed then confess it and ask God to forgive you of that sin and-and-and-and and let me just say this repentance is not penance penance is a man-made doctrine repentance is a Bible doctrine here's the difference penances you confess your sins and you're given an assignment of righteous acts to to pay for or atone for your sin that's penance you confess then you do something to kind of cross out what you did bad that's not Bible that's man-made penance repentance is Bible here's what repentance is repentance is you ask for forgiveness and you turn away from your sin and you walk the other way that's repentance totally different you don't have to do anything necessarily to cross it out because here's the truth you couldn't cross it out it was a sin against God and you can't do now I did bad for Monday Tuesday Wednesday but God watch me Thursday Friday Saturday it's gonna cancel all that out that's not how it works you've got to have a clean vessel a clean channel for God to touch and move on and live in and so repentance is where you messed up and you bring it to God and and the old hymn writer had it right nothing in my hand I bring simply to thy cross I cling he had it right and so we bring our sin to God but here's the important part don't you bring your sin to God and say God forgive me of what I did if you're hanging on to something somebody did to you and you won't let it go because Jesus said I didn't say it Jesus said it you can read it right there in black and white in verse 14 and 15 if you're not willing to let everybody else loose I can't let you loose because you're harboring unforgiveness in your heart so forgiveness is all clogged up in your life forgiveness isn't like a list forgiveness is a flow-through of the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all sin so you can't get forgiveness for you if you won't give forgiveness to anybody else so when you pray this part of the prayer you need to bring to God everything you've done and ask him for forgiveness here's the great thing about Jesus when you ask he'll forgive but how about you and how about me when somebody asks do we forgive see you gotta let them go the way you expect God to let you go so would you do that right now and I know this is a sensitive part of the prayer but let's be bold enough not to be secret agents here because that's not what Jesus is talking he said when you pray here's the way you need to pray you need to literally lift up a prayer that says God forgive me and Jesus with your power and grace I'm gonna forgive others there's somebody in this room I know there's got to be several people in this room with an attendance just this size that you need to let something go that somebody did to you this week so let's ask God to let us go from the penalty of what we've done wrong but would you clear your heart would you examine your motives right now and would you let anybody go that's hurt you anybody go that's offended you would you forgive anybody that's done anything to you it feels so good to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus and it feels so good to extend that forgiveness to others are you ready let's lift up our hands and let's pray together Jesus Lord God I know I need your forgiveness I know Jesus that my heart and my motives and my words and my attitudes are not always pleasing to you I know God that my actions are not always in line with what your word says so god I ask that you would cleanse me with the precious blood of Calvary I asked Jesus that your precious blood would flow over me and wash me whiter than snow I asked that your blood that has such power would forgive me of all my sin and god I turn and I extend my attention at my hand toward others and God anyone that's offended me I let it go right now I release it right now I drop it right now I don't want to be poisoned by bitterness I don't want to be poisoned by offense so god I drop it I let it go and I ask you to give me the strength to be mature enough to get over it god I don't want to have anything in my heart between me and someone else because that becomes something between me and you so God would you forgive me as I forgive others would you forgive me my wrongs as I forgive others their wrongs and I do that specifically today Jesus in your name in your name that's when the elders taught us something that's so powerful plead the blood that means you're asking God to use the power that's in his blood to cover you like a shield to cover you like a blanket to cover you like a river that flows and washes away all sin so would you lift up your hands one more time this is a real good time in the prayer to plead the blood Lord God I plead your blood over me I plead your blood over my family I plead your blood over my friendships and my relationships God don't let stuff get in there that that pollutes them and that hurts them and that harms them God forgive me as I forgive others let your precious blood flow tonight in my life [Music] stay right there in that attitude of prayer because the next part of the prayer says and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil and this is where you go to war in your prayer Lord Jesus I want to be very careful today as I walk so God would you guide my steps would you order my steps Lord in your word don't lead me anywhere near temptation don't lead me anywhere where I could fall Jesus make me aware protect my mind protect my eyes protect my heart Lord God protect my family lead us not into temptation and God I'm so tired of the devil trampling all over me Lord God deliver us from the evil one deliver us from all his tactics deliver us from every temptation deliver us from every attack of the enemy God I'm tired of the enemy attacking our families and our marriages and our children and our church heart pod deliver us from evil I plead your blood this is a great time in that prayer to reach up and plead the blood of Jesus Christ his blood still flows his blood still works his blood still has power yes yes yes yes I saw somebody that I've also saw the UH God guide my steps today let me walk circumspectly carefully let me walk out of danger and not in the danger god protect my motives and protect my eyes and protect my mind today Lord Jesus deliver me from the evil one deliver me from every tactic of the devil the gates of Hell cannot prevail against the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ of God I push him back I plead your blood in Jesus name in Jesus name Jesus didn't give us this to repeat it as a poem Jesus didn't give us this to repeat it as some kind of liturgy Jesus gave us this pattern of Prayer so we'd realize what we need to pray about you don't have to pray in these specific words you pray about these specific topics and then he said here's how you end your prayer isn't this neat jesus said when you and your prayer come full circle don't leave my presence casually quickly don't leave my presence abruptly but as you end your prayer do it this way for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen he said I want you to leave prayer the same way you entered prayer by giving praise and honor and glory and adoration to me so are you ready let's just close this little part of the Bible study by lifting up your hands and your attention in your heart and your voice and one more time give praise to God Jesus it is your kingdom this isn't my kingdom my whole life is yours everything I have is yours you gave it to me god I thank you for it and I lift up your name your name is glorified now your name is glorified forever so thine is the kingdom and 9 is the power all glory belongs to you Jesus I worship You God I thank you for the privilege of Prayer I thank you for the privilege of talking to the Almighty I thank you for that Jesus I worship you Jesus I worship you Jesus dead ahead of belavezh Saba now we're people that are filled with the Holy Ghost so any moment in your prayer if you feel that gift of the Spirit that other tongues coming up in you then for heaven's sake stop for a minute and pray in tongues you're interceding through the spirit that's always an order at any moment you feel your emotions kick in you want to just stop and cry and praise them then for heaven's sake do that because that's God leading you in prayer this isn't a ritual this isn't a repetition this isn't a recitation this is a pattern of Prayer these are topics that we need to pray about every day when we're praying and so we always in the same way we got here Lord God we started by saying our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name so we're going to end the same way thine is the kingdom vine is the power 9 is the glory forever thank you Jesus thank you Jesus now remember when you pray personally you're not always gonna feel that not always gonna feel exactly like that but don't let your emotions stop you from praying personally don't let your emotions stop you from praying privately you're not always gonna feel that but here's the key with emotions when you feel your emotions kick in because we're emotional creatures stop up that's God touching your emotions your heart to let you know I want you to spend a little time with me right here you remember sister Mickey Meagan the video on Wednesday spend a little time God said I miss my time with you so when your emotions kick in have the sense to stop up and just just enjoy the presence of God don't get in a rush to leave his presence everybody said when you pray prayer conquers the pride of life because the pride of life is always saying I'm in charge now in Matthew 6 Jesus gives his disciples three disciplines that will conquer the three enemies that are in your flesh the Bible said in first John your enemies are the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life so the lust of the eyes which says I want I want I want that's conquered by giving when you give so Jesus didn't say if he said when you give you break the power of the lust of the eyes that's already in you you don't have to work it up it's already there believe me it's always wanting something you don't have and so the lust of the eyes is broken by giving when you give and then he said when you pray he said didn't say if you pray God's people will pray when you pray you're breaking the pride of life which says I'm in charge of my life and in prayer what prayer does it says God no I'm not in charge Jesus you're in charge your will be done your kingdom come here's my day here's what I need here's what I'm struggling with God so so here's who I need to forgive God I need your help I'm not in charge I need you to be in charge and then finally Jesus says verse 16 moreover when you fast they say fasting oh boy don't we love that one when you fast um Jesus didn't say if you fast he said when you fast now it's important to realize that these disciplines all have different timetables and they all have different ways of fulfilling themselves we don't always pray in exactly the same words we don't always give in exactly the same way and we don't always fast in exactly the same way think with me think with me prayer is a daily discipline because we're told elsewhere in the Word of God pray without ceasing we're not told give without ceasing because we can't we don't be broke and we're not told to fast without ceasing because we'd all be dead okay so so they're all on different timetables and we fulfill them in different ways now now fasting literally is is an appetite denying discipline and you know there there's people that debate this and whatever my fast is better than your fast and whatever that's that's fine whatever go ahead knock yourself up but but here's the thing fasting is a denial of the flesh because your third enemy the lust of the eyes says I want the pride of life says I'm in charge and the lust of the flesh says I meet I need and right now if you're on the Daniel Fast every time you drive by Tim Hortons you're saying I need musicians come no no no that's the lust of the flesh the lust of flesh always says I need it and Jesus said the only way you're gonna break this flesh this is I want what I want when I want it I need what I need when I need it the only way you're gonna break that is by fasting remember Jesus said this this kind cometh not out but by prayer and fasting why because there's some times the devil has pushed in and he's encroached and he's just sitting there gloating and and so we need to push back and so that's when we combine these powerful twins prayer and fasting and and fasting is very negative for the flesh but it's very positive for the spirit I was in a a week of prayer and fasting last week in Florida with with brother Mark had a boss Church and a little girl there he pointed her out in the congregation because she said to her mummy a week of prayer makes the devil week that's exactly right and and that's why we do fasting we are denying the flesh because you got three enemies built in you the lust of the eyes is always casting around for something else that it wants and so Jesus said you know how you break that always wanting more thing you give something away you give your time you give your talent to the kingdom of God you give you treasure you tithe you give that's how you break that and then he said you've got the pride of life in you and it's always saying I'm in charge and so every day you need to break this bridle I think you need to you need to get in your prayer closet you need to get on your knees you get need to get in church you need to do do something somewhere and and what you need to do is say God I'm not in charge you're in charge and you'll break the pride of life but the way that you break the lust of the flesh which is like the core of your being it's always saying aye have you ever heard this I have needs don't we all I have needs as if nobody else in the world ever had needs well you and your needs could take you right out of heaven because not all your needs see an out of control need becomes a lust an out of control need becomes a lust which becomes a sin an out of control need becomes a loss which becomes a sin and sin when it's conceived it brings forth death and so you have got to get control over your flesh which has all these needs and the way you do that every once in a while you drag the flesh to a time of fasting now fasting can be the the traditional definition the Jews fasted in different ways right now we're doing the Daniel fast but but fasting to be the traditional definition of not eating anything Jesus did that kind of fast or it can be giving up some things and that's kind of what we talk about when we do the Daniel fast we pattern it after the way Daniel fasted in the Book of Daniel and and either one is fine obviously the Daniel fast you can go a little longer than a total fast because we're not interested in preaching to a bunch of skeletons so so you know you can go a little longer but but listen to me when our young people fast those people sometimes they get up they don't even think about breakfast they're out of the house and whatever I'd way rather our young people be doing a media fast than a food fast now some of us we need a food fast for a number of reasons of which I will not say well but a food fast is not gonna kill some of you facts some of you got Reaser you got some reserves you could go you could go for weeks on the Daniel faster wouldn't do a blessed thing that would hurt you you know some of us we could do the Daniel Fast for a year you know it wouldn't kill us but but here's the thing those kids I'd rather than be doing a media that's why because fasting has given up something they think they need I can't live without they got to be on it every five minutes and when they give it up and they spend that time with God that's a fast fasting is an appetite denying discipline why because discipline and disciple are the same root word so Jesus expects us to give and to pray and to fast because we have three enemies in our flesh one more time the lust of the eyes says I want and so the reason the the the way we conquer that is by giving because giving says God I might want it but you're gonna get it and then the pride of life says I'm in I'm in charge and so we conquered the pride of life by everyday going to God in prayer and saying thy kingdom come thy will be done oh well know your will I'm not in charge you're in charge and we conquer them and then fasting Jesus just the same way he said not if you give he said when you give not if you pray but when you pray he said when you fast not if when you fast so so you know some people they hit us hard as Apostolic because they don't like it that we're really kind of literal about obeying the commandments of Scripture and that includes our lifestyle and they say you people are in bondage and you you do all these things you know I don't think that applies anymore and we say if it's in the Word of God particularly if it's said in the New Testament the Old Testament sometimes there are some things that Jesus himself said you know there were things that were fulfilled and the apostles talked about things that were fulfilled and so we use wisdom and that's why we have pastors and teachers and preachers and and so we use wisdom but my goodness there's so many commands that are just right out there that people don't keep anymore and the Bible tells us to do it and the reason we do that is because that's another way of fasting really isn't it it's another way of denying the flesh and saying I don't care what my flesh thinks it needs I'm gonna do what God's Word says but we're in a focused time of fasting which is literal and we're doing it like the Prophet in the Book of Daniel and that was all explained a little handout you received but but here's the thing if you're not doing it as unto the Lord you're a hypocrite you know everybody can use a cleanse purge a diet or whatever but that's not what this is about this is about denying the flesh something it would very much like to have and giving focus and attention and time to God that's the fast that changes everything I'm going to close music come back I don't think we're gonna sing but play something for me would you it'll make it feel faster or something Isaiah chapter 58 this is God's kind of fasting Isaiah 58 verse 1 cry aloud spare not lift up thy voice like a trumpet and show my people their transgression in the house of Jacob their sin watch this yet they seek me daily they keep coming to the tabernacle they seek me every day and they delight to know my ways they're like they're as a nation that did righteousness and as a nation that forsook not the ordinance of God they asked of me the ordinance of Justice they take delight in approaching to God so so it looks on the surface like everything Israel's doing is okay you know we're coming to church and and there as a nation that did righteousness in there as a nation that didn't forsake the ordinances of God but then Israel has a question wherefore have we fasted say they and God you didn't see it wherefore have we afflicted our soul and you didn't take any knowledge and God answers them he says this behold in the day of your fast you find pleasure and you exact all your neighbor Labor's he said you're only fasting just as kind of a ritual you're not spending any extra time focusing on me you're not giving me any extra attention you're just kind of going through the motions that's exactly what Jesus was talking about in Matthew chapter 6 he said do all the work you were gonna do anyway you do all the pleasure you were gonna do anyway you're not really giving up anything you've just changed your diet verse 4 it gets even worse behold you fast for strife and debate and to smite with the fist of wickedness you shall not fast as you do this day to make your voice to be heard on I God said sometimes you guys fast you get so religious you get in a big fight about it the fast fight God says he's God's just so blunt verse 5 is that the fast I've chosen a day for a man to afflict his soul is it to bow down the head as a bull Russian just spread sackcloth and ashes under it are you supposed to go around saying I'm fasting he said what you call that a fast will you call that an acceptable day unto the Lord and then verse 6 oh my goodness powerful is not this the fast I've chosen this is what I want I want you to fast and deny your flesh so it will loose the bands of wickedness so it will undo the heavy burdens so it will let the oppressed go free so that it will break every yoke is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry and that thou bring the poor that are cast up to thy house when you fast you're gonna get focused on God you're gonna do good things for other people when you see the naked you'll cover him anew hide not thyself from thine own flesh and Jesus said the same thing essentially in in Matthew he said when you fast it's not about you get an attention it's about you do something doing something that pleases God and here's the result of a biblical fast here's the result of doing it God's way here's the result of getting your motives pure when Jesus said that do it in secret that your father would see youth in secret he's really talking about the secret place he's not talking about that you can't let anybody else know he you have to let somebody else know if you're in the same family they're gonna say like excuse me you're not eating so he's not talking about that he's not talking about becoming a freak he's not talking about becoming somebody that gets everybody's attention cuz I'm fasting and y'all need he's talking about your motives what's your motive when you fast and if you have the right motive verse 8 then shall thy light break forth as the morning and thine health shall spring forth speedily and I righteousness shall go before thee and the glory of the Lord shall be thy rear guard then shalt thou call and the Lord shall answer thou shalt cry and he'll say Here I am if you take away from the midst of thee the yoke the putting forth of the finger that's accusation and speaking vanity and if you draw out thy soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul then shall thy light spring forth as the morning rise in obscurity in thy darkness shall be as the noonday and the Lord will guide thee continually and satisfy thy soul in the drought and they fat thy bones and thou shalt be like a watered garden like a spring of water whose waters fail and they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations and thou shalt be called the repairer of the breach the restorer of paths to dwell in basically if you fast properly if you fast with the right motive if you give it to God Jesus said and in the Old Testament the voice of Jehovah spoke through the prophet Isaiah and said this that if you'll do it right there's incredible blessing there's great power there's incredible anointing and you watch the bands of the enemy and the yokes of the enemy and the tactics of the enemy fall and shatter because you're fasting in the right way it's for him done for you so I'm glad we're on a Daniel fast how about you [Music] amen you're not that weak how many you're glad we set aside some time to focus on God at the beginning of the year you know why we did it not because we had some great plan but because it tells us in the Word of God when you give when you pray and when you fast so we're just being biblical would you stand with me I want to pray with you before we go [Music] would you lift your hands one more time in the presence of God and it's not too late if you haven't been able to join us yet to join us on this Daniel fast or do some kind of a fast give up something for God so that you can focus on you that's a--that's a legitimate biblical fast would you just give God praise and thanks one more time for the privilege of being his people so that it's yourself that son god I thank you for your word I thank you for how clear and how plain and how direct and how definite it is and I pray that something that's been taught tonight would be a strength to these precious people in their giving in their prayer life and in this time of fasting I pray that there be great direction and great blessing that would attach itself to them and that you strengthen and help your people and now God we end this service the same way you told us to end our prayer time thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever God we lift up your name we're so glad we're your people and the Sheep of your pasture we're so glad you we're your family we're so glad we get to be in the army of the Lord we're so grateful that you are victorious and your name is I and your blood is powerful and your word is sure and your spirit is beautiful Lord God we're so grateful for everything you are and everything you've done for us and God we just give some of it back to you in praise and adoration and that's why we give and that's why we pray and that's why we fast because it's not our kingdom it's yours and it's not our priorities it's yours that it's not our will it's yours and that's why we give it back to you we give it back to you one final time let the lifting of my hands be like an evening sacrifice to the Lord inaudible Salmonella esto koyama Libeccio Saba and retina Bassam stammer rodella best sama I worship you god I worship you Jesus I worship you Jesus three very important things real quick as you leave it number one pastor has to go tomorrow to Wisconsin for a midwinter camp meeting gonna be preaching there twice on Friday I would appreciate your prayers pastors preached twice on Friday in the morning in the evening in Wisconsin be back Saturday looking forward to a great weekend on Saturday ever see Saturday Saturdays what was gonna happen last week you remember so this Saturday everybody's welcome everybody say everybody everybody's welcome five o'clock downstairs in the lower auditorium we're going to be breaking it down very practically and if you enjoyed or benefited from tonight you'll you'll triply enjoy Saturday five to seven gonna be teaching how to teach children how to pray you think well I don't have kids or my kids don't come here or my kids are grown but the way we teach children to pray is really teaching children with a short attention span how to focus on prayer topics it's very similar to what we did tonight with the Lord's Prayer and so we're gonna be teaching parents little things to show their children how to pray and to keep their attention you know how it is when we have a kids evangelist and you all love it because you pay attention to the sermon because it's so zany well you may find the very same thing Saturday 5:00 to 7:00 and then at 7:00 we're coming back into the sanctuary and two things are happening we're gonna finish with focus prayer it's gonna be so powerful Saturday you can't miss it we're gonna be breaking up different topics of Prayer we're gonna be at stations around the sanctuary we're gonna be praying with our kids and with our families together and we're gonna pray through all kinds of stuff I'm gonna pray for our families we're gonna pray for our schools and we're gonna do it's gonna be powerful and then at the end we have brother sister Patrick groves who are with us and they're gonna take ten minutes at the end as we focus on missionaries and missions and you know how powerful that gets when we pray over them so they're gonna wind up prayer meeting and so it will still be an hour from 7:00 to 8:00 but we're gonna do a lot in that one hour so all three hours 5:00 to 8:00 are open to everybody but especially let's make sure we're here for that regular 7:00 to 8:00 slot of prayer time on Saturday finally number three everybody say Tuesday Tuesday through the day pastor jack is going to be teaching at Tok 21 that because of the times and he's teaching a general session for all the ministers that attend there's 2800 ministers that attend that conference and so he's gonna be teaching in the daytime he's teaching on so you're not the senior pastor and boy he's lived that for twenty years what a great associate pastor we have we're so grateful for him so how many you're gonna help me thank you for that that's perfectly appropriate how many are you gonna pray for pastor Jack that a powerful anointing comes on him what he says next Tuesday literally will impact 2800 ministers many of them assistant pastors in fact why don't we take just 60 seconds I'll let you go but let's pray for pastor Jack right now we'll do this again on Sunday but let's pray for him right now Lord Jesus I thank you God for this faithful man that serves this church so loyally and so great I pray Jesus that your anointing would rest upon him I pray God that even right now and through the next few days you give him great clarity of thought and great anointing Jesus I pray that you give them a word for those ministers I pray especially you'd give them a word for those younger ministers that will be in that conference and they're they're so hungry for a word from you and some of them are in struggles in their ministry and they need a word from the Lord and I pray you don't know our pastor and you you touch him God and yet anoint him and give him very clear direction a very clear thought it got great anointing to speak at that meeting and we'll pray that in Jesus name we pray that in Jesus name how many gonna help me pray over that request for the next few days thank you for that god bless you we love you the next meeting here is Saturday 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. family prayer training day is gonna be one of the most awesome things we do this year god bless you in Jesus name [Music]

Channel: Capital Community Church

Views: 11,447

Rating: 4.8823528 out of 5

Keywords: raymond, woodward, pastor, midweek, bible, study, ccc, capital, community, church, three, enemies, victories, pentecostal, apostolic, upc, upci, fredericton, nb, new, brunswick

Id: 32CbP5tCsdE

Length: 68min 31sec (4111 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 16 2014