Powerful and Effective Prayer!

to make you know wounded there is a bomb here they are to hear the singer sing solo sometimes I fear discs and my works in vain but no holy spear [Music] remise my soul [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Cinci please plate Jamarcus in hymn number 258 when we all get to heaven how y'all feeling this morning everyone's looking good and all this pink waivers are out here and these hats and smiling faces smiling faces oh there you are him 2:58 sing the wondrous love of jesus sing mercy man will be singing Shaka victory while we walk the pilgrim pathway cause will over spread the sky but when traveling days are over [Music] the same thing that will be singing shout shout the victory now let us then be true and faithful trusting serving the saying - hey day see Jesus we will sing and shot the victim I keep falling in love with him over and over and over over again I keep falling in love with him over and over and over again he gets sweeter and sweeter as the days go by oh what a look between my hand keep falling in love with him over and over and over over hug and I he keeps blessing me over and over don't man over and over over again he keeps for lesson me over and over and over and over Oh hug and I II guess so eater and sweeter as the days go by between my woe I keep falling in love with him over and OH Oh over again he keeps cleansing me over and over and over and over over again he keeps telling me over and over again ah he gets sweeter and sweeter as the days go by oh look between my woe I keep falling in love with him over and over and over over again I keep falling in love with him over oh man over and over over again I keep falling in love with him my over and over over again I get some wieder sweeter as the days go by whoa look between my man I keep falling in love with him over and over and over and over colder [Music] this morning scripture will be taken from James chapter 5 first versus 17 in 18 Elias was a man subject to to like passions as we are and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain and it not rain on the earth by the space of three years and six months and he prayed again and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit shall we stand for prayer let us go to our Father our Father the Great God of heaven our Father thank you for being our Father thank you for loving us until we can somehow learn to love ourselves thank you Father for forgiving us in Jesus name of our shortcomings we just thank you father we thank you for this day you've given us like so many others we thank you Father for the bounty of your love then we see for mourning tonight all around us things that you provide for us that we couldn't provide for ourselves you've given us children father that are healthy you've given us parents who are healthy and were wise enough to raise us to be decent people and to love you father even before we knew who you were father you're just so wonderful to us so we don't have anything to ask for there is nothing that we need you've given us salvation and there's nothing that can surpass that father you left us your word you so that we'd have a life so that we could walk through this world that we found ourselves you're given us families father in which we have found love long before we entered into the world to face the difficulties that are associated with walking in the world father we thank you for your gospel in your son Jesus Christ who who extended his hand he said look at me this is how God looks so we look on him and we see you Father but he did more than that father he came downhill on this ground and he touched this ground and he walked with us and he got dirt on his feet but father he even washed our feet one day we two will bow to him we will bow to him because he is the champion of our being the delight of our hearts and the hope of our future father we enter into a worship service today father to offer praises to your name and father we trust that this worship service will be given are offered in a manner such that it will be acceptable but more than that father may each of us who have come today realized and appreciated and hopefully they will understand that we will be all will all be better to have for having come today to listen to your preached word and to better understand your will for us in our lives we thank you father for blessing us with our ministerial staff brother Hawkins and brother Holmes bless their families filed in a special way but father more than that we thank you for your holy spirit who walk with us daily and guides us and protects us from the evil one and let us not forget for one moment that the evil one abounds and that father we should not confuse ourselves because we look at our leadership in our cities in our States in our nation and we look at them as not being very nice people but father they too are your people and we ask a special blessing on them this day bless them in a way that father that that will maybe we will learn something from this experience that we will learn what it means to be your children and father when we go away from this room this this place today let us let us each of us be able to save it thank you for allowing us to have come and that we will we can walk away and we can live another day and give thanks to you again we just want to thank you Father we just want to thank you and we just want to thank you all praise is to be all praises be to You Father our God in Jesus name Amen oh I'm won't to see him and look upon its face don't you wanna go there's a saving grace bees honey down beyond the streets and Laurel just let me lift up my voice for all of marketer to rejoice well and as our journey through this land and sea tonight as I go you know important souls to Calgary to the crimson haybailer mean he's my soul from wind I hope but my lord I must mean you're not touchable to see Jesus whoa Jesus and look upon his face don't you wanna go there to sing for this saving grace of his saving grace on the street streets alone let me lift a marble to hold my kids up [Music] [Applause] to rejoice now win before me billows rise from the my d-day in my Lord directs my bark he does say flick he will land he leaves me a little home to this world below well cuz he's a real friend to me [Applause] to see him yeah look upon his face we're there to sing forever Oh hissy angry the pseudo streets over let me lift up my voice all of my kids to reach oh come on getting on your feet before the minister gets up 672 our God he is alive do you all believe that all right now there is be amnesia blue Oh God concealed from human side a heated disguise with heavenly hill and frame the world with his great MA there is a God is a God he is alive hey Hannah we survived from the stock Oh God [Applause] radar there was a long long time Aloha God who was the professor here and he is from Nevada we should know who speaks from his head swaggered where well there is a God he is Allah in him we live and we survive from the story and me [Applause] ha ha whoo Sun up bonus free yeah he Brunson might send men free and evermore with him curly man there is a God he is a lot in him we live and we survive whoa from dust [Applause] [Music] Oh God [Applause] there is a God [Applause] we live we we survive we serve from dust [Applause] [Music] heeey [Applause] [Applause] ah [Music] [Applause] let the truth see man we ought to say praise the Lord somebody oughta said thank you Jesus our God is a lie amen living amen he's the Living God and we are glad that he is alive and that he's living in us amen if God is alive then we ought to be alive save man somebody yeah yeah you can't have a Living God in a dead church they don't they don't work out real good yeah it's just good to be in the house of the Lord a man it's good to be on the heaven in preparation for the other side heaven is on the other side and one day we're going to get there but God is showing up a good garden a me a good guy back home well if he's a good god help me say God is a good god and that will never change Oh Lord and that's why praise His name I sing it over say God yeah God O Lord and that will never change Oh God my god is a good god O Lord and that's why I praise His name hey I said if you got a problem well you get on your knees and pray you just take it - but he'll do its part to wipe your tears away my God my God is a good God O Lord and that's why I praise His name a one more time saying God yeah I was a good god O Lord and I will is a good god and that's why I praise His name amen sometimes you just need to praise God and sing all day amen amen amen well if you have your Bibles let's go to the Word of God this morning do want to reflect on David's statement earlier about the tragedy in Pittsburgh our hearts are saddened any time any group of people is afflicted by hate attack because of their religious perspective their sexual orientation their race their socioeconomic status it is a shame and we are gonna have to do better as a people and as a nation and we are held accountable to the God of heaven for how we present ourselves and so our hearts go out and I appreciate David having they were withal to reflect on that as a body of Christ we were never a lien ate ourselves from humanity Peter teaches us in 1st Peter 2:17 to respect all persons to love the Brotherhood to fear God and to honor the king so we respect humanity we respect people and what a tragedy that could happen to us and so we're going to have to be vigilant even more so now than we have ever had in the past these type of things have been happening for some times but they are at a heightened level and of course the responsibility behind such activities are part of the community itself that is you know we are watch what we say in how we say what we say to people sometimes inflammatory rhetoric can create ideas and thoughts and people's mind we're just gonna have to do better amen and I think it's a part of our responsibility as a as a body of believers to be a voice for the downtrodden but the discouraged and those who are discontent it's a lot of mental illness out in our world a lot of abuses of all types and we've got to be on the frontline and be proactive a man so let's not sit back and come to our nice facilities and believing that we are isolated from those types of activities or the thinking behind them and that's why I'm so glad we have the Word of God but it's not enough to have the word if we're not gonna walk by the words and to apply the word so we're gonna have to be courageous believers in the face of demonic activity and I'm just gonna call it what it is it's demonic activity Satan is busy but we have a god that's bigger than Satan and I want to reassure all of us that good will overcome evil I know it appears sometimes that evil is winning but that's what Satan wants and so we're gonna ask you to be a good person amen just be good we're gonna do today we're just gonna be good what about tomorrow be good today work on today learn to smile learn to love learn to help and be of encouragement all right feel like singing some oh but you look like you're ready to go so James chapter 5 sometimes you just need to sing and praise your way through some stuff you know I'm a different kind of preacher you know listen I you know I followed the Jesus script Jesus was walking around doing ministry and a funeral procession crossed his path you know what my lawyer did they interrupted the funeral procession and when it raised the day now I call that ministry in the moment meeting people where they are with what they need and sometimes we just need to be encouraged through song and praise and pry we did that last Sunday night and it was dynamic you know where we can kind of come out of our religious ritual and be real and I'm I want to believe that the somberness I'm I'm experiencing from you is because you're feeling the pain in this nation as supposed of the loss of the Dodgers last night please tell me it's the former one please tell me the former one that you're paying for Humanity is much greater than you your feelings for the Dodgers right now I thought I'd slide it in respectfully and responsibly and if by chance you're suffering from Dodger itis we will provide therapy for you but we're here we're here for bigger and greater cause they man James chapter five James chapter five and I appreciate so much the reading of the text by brother Wayne has great courage he's going through the loss of his dad I understand that and it takes courage to continue to go forward and so Wayne you are not alone you only ever have to be ashamed real men cry real men who are in touch with reality cry real men hurt real men have pain and real men will show enough pray amen amen we are real dudes amen amen we put on we put on this air of strength but listen the challenges of life hit us equally and that's what I like about our texts because God's gonna remind us in just a few minutes that Elijah and I like to text the Bible says was a man just like us we'd be there in a minute but how did we how did we get to James five and I've been kind of toying with that because it appears that maybe James five it doesn't quite fit because it redirects the believers faith in a in a in a way that that's almost out of gnorm is it relates to what he said earlier about the relationship between faith and works but I maintain that it's a part of it and I have a tendency to want to dissect and separate sometimes you know God doesn't need me to help him understand what he's saying to me he just needs me to listen and so when I opened up the book of James you know this epistle literally is written in the context of crisis the church is experiencing persecution remember that he writes to the Saints in the Diaspora those who have been scattered abroad and that scattering is a result of their faith in Jesus Christ they're being persecuted they're being hounded and they need a word they need what some call a Rhema word a word in time and a word in the moment you ever need a word like that I don't need a yesterday word I don't need a tomorrow word I'm going through some stuff I did some right now in the moment word and so that that that word in the moment is designed to meet you where you are that's why preaching is such an amazing thing that we do because I don't know what you need but God knows and he uses the man of God and he can use the woman of God to bring you a word in the moment that's why sometimes preaching may not hit everybody but it's gonna hit somebody say man and so this morning I want to hang out with this business of of prayer again because we had a season of Prayer the month of October November and December we're fasting and praying and I'm serious not and I know you are because what lies ahead of us is bigger than us but it's not bigger than the God we serve and after we get through with all of our reason and rationale and all of our ability to to draw on the resources that we have we still need help after I get through doing what I do I need help after I set out and strategize and and and and and configure and organize and administrate I come up short because there are some things I cannot see and some things that I cannot do but I'm so glad I got a God who can see what I can't see and do what I can't do and we'll do it right on time because he's a hard time God the book of James I think is an on-time epistle because James writes it in the mode these Christians need to hear in the moment you see this epistle reminds us literally to exercise faith in the midst of our trials it's one thing to to read chapter 1 and verse 2 and and and Flowery walk away and Counting it all joy and misunderstanding that the joy is rooted in your faith and sometimes sometimes it may not be a joyful moment but you got to find joy in it and how do you do that it's through your faith and so James helps us to understand that even in the midst of our trials even in the midst of temptation and even in the midst of difficulty we're gonna have to exercise our faith it's that faith that helps us to find joy in the moment James 1 in verse 2 my friends be glad even if you have a lot of trouble this is from the contemporary English version you know that you learn to endure by having your faith tested but you must learn to endure everything so that you will be completely mature and lacking nothing I've been reading that for years it's a flower with text we love to quote it but then I stopped it and I thought about it how do you find joy in pain how do you how do you how do you find joy in trials where's the joy in misery mayham madness and it appears to be a contradiction but then it dawned on me it is only through one's relationship with the Lord that you can understand the purpose of trials and tribulations they are there to a large degree by divine design to tumour to us and to perfect us I was talking to a colleague the other day he called me out of nowhere and I guess he needed to hear me I needed to hear him so we preached about I would have all the way home and we were shouting and saying and glory hallelujah and then I told him about what was happening he has a way of working with me so he can get something out of me it's a it's a form of third because I'm not going to tell you much anything because I know I got to listen to your thing but he had time for my thing and David he told me son what you're going through is a storm of perfection a storm of perfection that's what he told me he says you're going through a storm of perfection God God and God wants you to stay in it so he can perfect you I said to myself I might even figure that I you know and the perfection there is not moral perfection its maturity in the midst of a trial because you've been trusting God and so stay in there I didn't want to hit it but I heard it no one wants to stay in a trial especially if it's painful but God causes us to stay in whatever we in so he can work his work and I knew that David but I hadn't quite wrapped my mind around it and then I read this passage again from the message and this is what it says consider it a shield gift friends when tests and challenges come at you from all sides anybody got stuff coming from all different directions and it's almost like a I call it a tsunami it just literally overwhelms you you get through with one thing and I'm gonna tell you this past week I got a call after we took my mother-in-law Scylla to the hospital I got a call at 12:01 in the morning a good friend of ours died up in up in Seattle the husband wants me to come to do the funeral no sooner that I get up on Monday I get another call from Texas my sister-in-law his own hospitals in the matter of facts he passed and then it's just just a tsunami and then with the challenge now of the things that are before us it causes you to be still and asks what's going on and watch how Satan works with us on this he wants you to believe that this is happening to you because of your disposition in life if you're not careful you'll buy into that but then James reminds us that this stuff is a test have you ever taken a test say man every minute aren't you glad that they end you ever had a test and you was taking it and you didn't wasn't gonna do well so you just checked off the black and sometimes sometimes stuff will come you just want to check off the boxes test our reality trials are real and we don't know how they're gonna come we don't know when they're gonna come and we don't know how long they're gonna stick around but we have a God that tells us that in the midst of those trials be grateful count it all joy and then notice the rest of this passage you know that under pressure your faith life is forced into the open and shows its true colors in other words challenges and trials and tribulations will help you get a good look at who you are and who you are not then it says in verse 4 and I move forward so don't try to get out of anything prematurely but if I you know sometimes God to give you remember I was just telling you about a Rhema word sometimes got to give you what you need exactly when you need it and I need it that could do I'd be looking to get out and not only one looking to get out I'm who wakes up and says oh we're we're going into a star but we just gonna stay there and smile I mean that's not that's not normal human behavior usually when we get the report that bad weather is coming we want to hunker down in F you back home in Texas when you get that tornado alert you want to hear it for the seller it meant this business of writing it out you know the older you get you don't want to write anything out you oughta get out and sometimes trials and tribulations or like that but the message says stay in there and then I'm gonna close with this part I like this part let it do its work and then I thought about David David Holmes because had he been reading this passage he would have interpreted as in the words of Ray Charles it's gonna do what is it gonna do and sometimes you got to let the storm do what its gonna do say van so let it let it let it do let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed and and not deficient in any way I don't know about you I'd like to learn my lessons in Bible class as opposed to in in real life but lessons are not learned in Bible class they learned in the midst of the challenge and so James understands that so he starts out by saying listen I know you've been scattered but counting our joy and then he makes sense of it and then when you read this verse and you walk away and you said you know I don't really get it then he says okay I got another verse for you if you lack wisdom if you don't understand what you're going through talk to your father and then then it begins to make sense now the bridge from chapter 1 over to chapter 5 because the bridge is the bridge of faith through prayer the trust that God is able to bring you through what you're going through the rationale behind this directive by James is to produce patience and this word here literally is interpreted as hopeful endurance and if comprehending this is of rain freeze and you ever went across certain things God says or certain instructions by the Holy Spirit it's a brain freeze you know what a brain freeze is we have had a cold drink you have a suck down a Slurpee because it was hot and you were thirsty and yeah you know what I'm talking about it all of a sudden you get this you know just it hurts yeah you freeze them what's left of your sinews in your breath it's called a brain freeze I don't know if you've ever had one spiritually but they are a lot on the Word of God there are some things that I don't quite understand what God is saying for instance Galatians 2:20 has always poured it in my heart Paul says I've been crucified with Christ nevertheless not i but Christ he lives in me I mean that's and then there's another one in Galatians 5 where the Bible says for those who have been crucified with Christ you have put to death the passions and the desires of your flesh I haven't done all of that brain freeze so God what are you what are you saying what are you warning me to do and I think this passage is a brain freeze if so James give us us another directive notice in verse 5 he says if you lack wisdom it appears not to be consistent with the rest of the chapter or what has been saved but if you have any sense so now verse 1 and 2 James is saying about verse 2 if you're having a problem struggling with that check with the father and notice what God to do God will give you understanding he'll give you knowledge and he'll give you insight into what you are going through so that you can accept it somebody ought to help somebody right there Amen do you really like tacking I know you don't because you got a pocket full of I mean you got a pocket full of pills there's a bunch of pills and you got liniment stuff everywhere say man you know I'm 61 now I look at my medicine Conn I'm going my goodness this is like a convalescent hospital up in here save me I'm a mother I hadn't been she just got there so I know that's Kathleen stuff we got big serve a parole baby I got stuff for both of my nostrils I got appeal for this an appeal for that I got a herb over here and they're up over there here hit the error of every herb in the Don them then I got knee braces off it's going me but that's life and you have to adjust how do you adjust to getting older how do you just adjust being here James says faith exercise faith but understand that faith is there to get you through and so he gives us verse 5 that is insight and understanding about what you're going through anybody going through something not quite sure where you are the the the scales are off balance the other been off balance just live long enough and get up real quick say save me save me listen there was a time when I didn't have to even look at her step I can just walk confidently now every step I take well I'm smiling and laughing at you but I'm watching my step say it may because it's an embarrassing thing to come down them stairs with all this good-looking stuff I got all their missile step so I'm going down I'm grabbing you don't know I'm planning on hey man how you doing everything's fine yeah life's tough and you're gonna need help outside of yourself to bring you through right now understand what James is trying to do can't help people through without giving them an understanding of what they're going through and so while going through our trials and our tribulations or whatever it is we're going through we must remain faithful and express faith principles by treating people right that's Chapter two and then managing our mouths and covering ourselves by divine wisdom and not demonic wisdom that's Chapter three and then I think with such directives that shape our worldview through the lenses of our faith we have a deadline or should I say a better perspective on life did you hear what I just said I said when you exercise your faith even in the midst of your worldview you walk away with a better perspective about life and about what's going on and about life's issues and you learn to number your days because they are uncertain that's chapter 4 and chapter 5 so I get it and then we come to chapter 5 and you think it's over and if that's if that is not enough James gives us one final directive to help us get through our trials and that's found in chapter 5 13 through 18 and we dealt with verses 13 through really about verse 17 last time y'all remember it to some degree one final director chapter 5 verse 13 James says just pray it's just listen to that what will we just pray have you ever and be honest have you ever got tired of hearing let's pray about it let's just pray let me tell you why because we view prayer as an appendix to our faith in other words it's the necessary evil okay kind of reminds me of a story I heard this is not true but a story that there was a business meeting once and all the brothers were around the table and and this was an open meeting and that were men and women there and both the brothers got they got they got they got heated over an issue that was very important to them and that can happen and they were going at it and and one and one little later in the back she raised her hand and she says well well well why don't we just pray and the brother looked at each other and said has it come to that when I heard that story it wrong it rung a bell because it appears that that checking in with God is a necessary evil prayer oughta be the priority of the believers life because this when we talk to God and exercise our faith we activate his power and his presence and purpose in our lives in such a way that it allows us to move around confidently without questioning God and sometimes believers do that and so I just want to hang out with a couple of verses and this little homily is is yours I put this sermon together with with you in mind but I needed it more than you if you're going to get through what you're going through you're going to have to be praying people you got to pray pray earnestly pray continually pray consistently why because powerful prayer these were the ideas two weeks ago is a matter of faith it's simply a matter of faith it's a means of fellowship and I suggested it's a moment in futility which means even after you pray you and I are still inadequate to bring about our own request and maybe maybe that's why we're not praying anymore is because we have become convinced or duped by the evil one that we are sufficient enough to accomplish our objectives or to the Church of correct not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves our sufficiency comes from God what does it mean that means Vincent doesn't matter how well you think you are standing you're still insufficient you are not adequate enough to have all the answers I don't have all the answers but I know who does now this brings us to James chapter 5 I know it took a little while to get there hope it made sense James 5 verse 16 James says the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails month hopefully last week a few weeks ago we helped you to understand that he's not talking about self-righteousness here he's not talking about moral perfection he's not talking about your not being goody two-shoes although I think you ought to be a goody two-shoe I think you ought to be good I think you ought to act good talk good smell good look good save man and just be good if we can walk around with the mantra God is good all the time and all the time then we ought to be good all the time because I got a good gut is that all right make sense but but we love religious children's we love cliches but very rarely do we stop and think that those cliches speak to our own reality about who we are to be and this idea of effective fervent prayer has nothing to do so much with intensity of how long you pray and the words that you use they really speak to the heart's desire to want to hang out and talk with God I mean serious conversations there's no those I get I've done my language my conversation with God has just changed it has always been reverential but now it's real say amen amen it's so real and intimate that I love God in and I want God to see and sense what my heart is you know where I got that from I got it from day if anybody laid his heart out before god it was david if you read Psalm some of the Psalms Psalms 51 verse one lord have mercy on me I have sinned and against you only have I sinned and have done what is wrong cleanse me with his sock they made you have to look at the find out what he say cleanse me wiped me clean created me a clean heart what man what man opens up to another man about his heart but if you're in a relationship with God you will and you know why because he already knows who is on your heart and that's why he's waiting to hear from you tell him about your struggles tell him about your ambiguities your uncertainties tell them tell him about your doubts and your fears God is open to them and he can handle it you got questions God is not afraid of questions say man I'm just afraid to ask him a lot of questions because I've been hanging out in the book of Job and joke did that joke one of the business meeting with Jehovah and God detained he detained the meeting he just detained it you know kind of like a parent you know with a child you know the child wants to see you and you brush them off and you brush them off and you keep brushing them off but after a while you get fed up with the child God got fed up with you called him into Council and asked him several questions and they had nothing to do with his trial when you look at job 38 and following God never asked him how is the wife I know you guys lost ten children I can only imagine how that feels and then after that all the donkeys and the camels and the goats and the sheep are all gone you know and I would have said oh by the way I gave you the hose God never does that yeah tell jokes stand up on your feet like a man you see what faith does sometimes the best approach to you and your trial is to check who you really are get on your feet like a man questions for you interesting response of course I wouldn't recommend that in a therapy session but I've seen it before in Jesus the man by the Pool of Bethesda had been lame some 38 years been coming to the place of healing but he wasn't getting healed I don't have time I said he had been coming to the house of healing but it wasn't getting healed and somehow another I guess Jesus since that so he asked him one question do you want to get well he didn't say well how long you've been sick and what's the problem and the man went through his spiel and after watching this as I tell you what on your feet get on your feet take up your bed and walk sometimes where we need a good dose of is some faith walk Vincent exercise your faith I think about another case when when when the Israel that came to the Red Sea I remember they had a pillar of cloud in the front and one in the back fine in daylight and then his Pharaoh's army and Israel run Somozas there in the story in book of Exodus they're scared and says the enemy is coming and then when they run the Moses Moses runs to God and I hear God saying what do you want hey let me cannot kalokhe realize it you know why are you in my office again then I just did not I just did we did we was just in Egypt did you see what I did get that rod you threw down that was my rod I turned it into a snake you didn't do that I called the frogs I'm the guy who created the fleas and I caused them are you getting the picture I'm the one that delivered you what are you doing in my office again notice what God does he bypasses what you're going through and it taps into what you have already stand there with that stick in your hand until the Israelites is a standstill watch this net and behold the salvation of the Lord sometimes our gods need is one believing person who's willing to stand up in the midst of their trials and exercise faith that's what I got from that text and my time's up that really wasn't my sermon but I just thought I'd share that so let me tell you what I was going to say out of that came this the prayer of a righteous man according to one version says it is powerful and effective but when I looked up the words powerful and effective those two words had more to do with the heartfelt relationship as opposed to the content of the prayer the power of effective prayer is not in the structure of the prayer it's not in the wording of the prayer it's in the faith of the pray to to the God of heaven who hears prayers in other words the three things I need to highlight because I didn't see it at first because when you get to verse 17 he moves away from what the righteous man can accomplish through prayer and it gives us an example and that in catching the first because I always viewed Elijah as a great prophet and he was was he not a great prophet but not only was he a great prophet he was a real dude he was a man and so the Bible says Elijah was a man with a nature like ours interesting look Greek word day it means to have similar effects the Greek word there homo homo pate this simply means to feel the same way or to share a lightness and then it dawned on me he he was a great prophet and I know he was a man how did you know a woman chased him somehow to get to somebody how to get a little live he was and what thought you guys asleep you woke up I kept this I should do more of that huh he was real quiet but he was chased by by a woman same here and her name was young her name now a great a great profit standing on Mount Carmel standing in defense of truth fighting the false prophets of our only to have Jezebel to tell him I'm gonna do the same to you when I see and and but the text says he keeps he tucked his cloak in which me he had to roll it up and he had it from from some not at Mount Carmel all the way down to the Sinai Peninsula and I knew there he's human he's human and then when he gets there this is Elijah he's he's he's he's depleted you remember on the way he got thirsty and they got hungry and guess what God did God sent some birds Ravens to feed him they bought him bread and they brought him food when he needed but but that was God's doing and then when it gets down there he's so he's so broken now that he he cries out to God and claims and I'm the only one ain't nobody left with me you ever felt like that you ever felt like nobody's going through anything like you're going through you ever felt alone you ever have read scripture walked away and still felt the same way that can happen but I've dropped by to tell you that there is power in prayer and that the effectual prayer of a righteous man does avail much but we have to pray we have to pray prideful effective prayers and not the result of the person praying them they are means to the process it is God who answers those prayers and I extracted three things from Elijah that hope that helps us I know they've been a blessing to me and the first one is this type of prayer that God recommends to James in James chapter 5 as he relates to Elijah number one is determined by devotion I don't want you to see this notice at verse 17 a man like Elijah Elijah a man like us the Bible says he did what he prayed how did he pray hip notice net he prayed earnestly some version says he prayed powerfully that where it simply means he prayed with sincerity he prayed not with great force because the ability to accomplish things is not in him but it's in the God he's praying to he prayed with such sincerity that he believed that God could and that God would but the point is he prayed he prayed out of his devotion to God which speaks to us in our devotion you ever wonder if God's listening there is nothing he cannot hear he doesn't have to hear but he does I read somewhere that the eyes of the Lord over the righteous and notice now and his ears are attentive to their cries God waits to hear from his children Wilford use the word habla this morning in his prayer Aramaic word for daddy it's a word of endearment and you know how that looks I don't know about you I had one only had one girl I was blessed only have one girl prayed the Lord did one girl I thought it was twenty girls but it was just one girl one girl and then a guy came along and took away from me further broke my heart but that's a part of the trials and you learned to pray kids would teach you how to pray like you've never prayed before they stay married long enough you you find some devotional time to trust me I mean I've gotten closer to God I've gotten more close to God than I have to Kathleen over the years and it makes sense because I can't get close to her if I'm not close to him but I'm not close I don't know how I got off on this but when I'm not close to him then I'm gonna move away from her you see and sometimes those Quagmire's in life are there to help us get close but I was talking about about my daughter when she wanted something even in trials even in testing this is true the boys but more so with my daughter she had a certain kind of cry you know you know when the little girl wants something it's not daddy it's nothing that that's not that's not to call it's it's daddy can I get a witness but when you when you get a daddy everything she's ever done the pain that I've been feeling Sam head they wanted to to strangle I mean the one if the warning to grab her and pray with her changes why because when she says daddy guess what she pulls on she pulls on my heart and I just believe that he lived his devotional life take me to it to such a way that he prayed earnestly to the point that he got God's attention how do you know the Bible says when he prayed earnestly God heard any time God would stop it from raining for three and a half years you're in a relationship with God say man are you understanding that and I'm saying that his devotional his devotional life with the father created an environment where God would give him attention and so he was he was if you don't mind I've been to say that he was devoted to his devotional life and that devotional life determined God's response and it makes sense God can't hang out with you and neither is he obligated to answer any one of our prayers and I maintain he's not answering prayer because you're in the church he answers our prayers because we're in the right with the right relationship with his son and if it were not for his sign you wouldn't hear from heaven because he gives his ear to his son that's why Jesus will say whatever you asked in my I'll do it for you why because you're my disciples you are determined in your devotion but not only was he determined in his devotion the second thing I saw he was dependent on the line he was dependent upon the divine notice the Bible says and he prayed and when he prayed what happened Kevin what in heaven do heaven opened up isn't that interesting I said heaven I would have simply wrote and started raining but he didn't start with it started raining he said heaven in other words whatever whatever Elijah needed because of his devotion to God was available so instead of just giving him rain he opened up I got miss don't miss that he opened up heaven I find the same principle in Malachi when Malachi raises the issue about you been robbing me and God says will try me try me and see wanna do what open up open up what the windows of heaven in and so when the heavens open what did Elijah want rain and guess what happened and guess who did that God and don't miss this now because the next part of that verse says notice now the third idea is not only not only do you pray out of your devotion and not only do you pray because of your discipline relationship with God you pray expecting deliverance how do you know the Bible says and the heavens opened and the rain came and Weiss's I missed this and the rain did what put the tax a it's on the screen in it I can't hear you it did what why do you think that's there well you know the Holy Spirit didn't have anything else to say so I think it he he would put some crops in there no that's there for you to analogous to understand that when we are determined in our in our in our devotion and when we are dependent upon the divine there would be destiny that will involve deliverance God answers those prayers and you got to believe that that's why he says he lies it is just like this it's just like a regular fella and he prayed he prayed out of the depths of his heart and heaven the heavens were opened and then the Bible says and he prayed again earnestly and notice again God responds and as a result of the prayers rain stops rain starts and the results are there is productivity push the point what you're going through let's pray about but where's your heart first of all you see because God's not obligated to hear us especially if our hearts are distant from him that was his argument in Matthew 18:15 eighteen fifty I'm sorry Matthew 15 eight and nine he says these people do what they draw not to me with what with their mouths and they honor me with their what and don't we do that we're good with that praise the Lord God is good god is a good god in here but what about doing the week where is your praise on the morrow morning when nobody's around where are your hallelujah where is your holy look on the morrow morning so God is looking at that and you know you know you know how we are with with with each other I'm not gonna give you nothing if you haven't been what give me anything if we believe in what they call quid pro quo I scratch your back you scratch mine but scratch mine a little longer because I'm special God doesn't operate like that he could but he does it he wants to know where your heart is and then it makes sense to me why why give a kid a monetary gift when that child disrespects you not nothing Texas now we function to look different than you California few people in California a highly educated very very sophisticated and you just think on another level but they don't do that downside say man they make you don't get you don't get five dollars if you've been mannish save say man you you don't get nothing if you've been womanish if you walking around smelling yourself you may listen you may get your prey you may get your plate broke what do you mean well I'm from Texas back home when when they in before name when they dropped a plate in the house that means that you will be eating nano ball and you just wants to get your little bag and your sack and hit the dunk oh she won't be staying there no more you know but but but what if you've been doing your chores and what have you been respecting Mama and Daddy you know and what if you Ben Ben Ben Ben Ben halfway responsible you think your father or your mother's going to you know not answer your request of course not because the very hearts of parents are open to helping got to help you this morning but he needs you to come close maybe when you come closer don't bring your arrogance with you because he sees it you see he could have let Jonah out the first night he got in it fish you gotta let him out the second night but Jonah wasn't ready and sometimes God has to incarcerate some of us some of us need to be arrested by divine design and it hole in there until like Nebuchadnezzar you recognize that ain't no god but one God and once your hearts change you'll meet you where you are powerful effective prayer is determined not behind many Bible classes you attend how many doors you're not going how many baptisms you got it's determined by your devotional relationship with God because what he sees is your heart and it sees your head but not only is it determined by your devotion it's dependent upon the divine you know even after you pray God can still say no just ask Jesus three times he prayed Father take this cup away it was the cup of suffering and then so he got it he got answer but it wasn't the one he wanted but one thing I admire about Jesus if we got to learn this lesson once God says no Lana but what is really is and Jesus came to the conclusion that evidently what you got for me to do ain't about me it's about you that's why he was able to say not my will but your will nothing notice that your will be done and what you don't know that will involves you and me and sometimes when you and I are walking outside of the will of God we disrupt the flow of blessings that are waiting for us why because he has a he has a test you and so he'll test you amen and he'll keep you in that test until you recognize what he is doing and I appreciate that I call that divided and discipline and then the third thing you ought to understand about this prayer business powerful effective prayer it's not only dependent upon God its destined to deliver whatever the outcome of that prayer is that's God's will for you and sometimes we have to accept his nose has God ever told you no he's told me no a whole lot of times and now I look back I thank you thank you thank you I'd be willing to shout thank you it's kind of like when you were growing up and mom and I'm told you know it don't go down there don't go to that party if anybody can I get a witness it and then come to find out you you wonder one of your buddies got stabbed that's the party so eat at the parties I went to you either got stabbed or shot or both but for your nice people your invitation was revoked the banquet was canceled and something happened sometimes God providentially says no for your good and sometimes it says not not now wait a while that's why James says it requires faith faith has to be exercised even in prayer I've gotten to the point guard even if you don't bless me with anything else from this day forward you've done enough so I'll thank you for what you've already done and I'll give you praise and if you bless me again I'll say thank you because I know it don't desert on your feet this morning our time is up I shared my little sermon with you because God gave me that to help his preacher sometimes you know God helps this preach it I'm so glad he does you know your preacher need help yes sir you didn't know David that boy need all the help in the world yes I was talking about me I'm fine but David we need help we're in the people business do you know about people just look in the mirror and know move around cause I know there's a bunch of y'all showing up in the mirror just stand still and try to identify with just one person in there but God hears us and he's here he's here to help you now something you're going through some challenges then everybody's going through something but God specifically can help you but you got to come clean with amen just open up your heart and say lord I need you I know I know I know I'll put on this show that I'm on top of the world I got my all my business stuff lined out yeah but what you don't know is you don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow but God knows you can be on top of the world today and tomorrow the world would be on top of you you can be standing today and tomorrow nothing to get up again but we got a guy that meets us today if you open your heart you'll come doesn't matter how young you are how old you are a man doesn't matter young folk you need Jesus o folk you show nothing either because the older we get we start depending on stuff amen retirement all the stuff well you know truth be told that stuff may not be there in the morning and considering the climate weird I I'm gonna get close to jeho say save me cuz if they run out of wine my God is able to bring some a rock can your God do that a man a man a man did he's powerful so we gotta trust him trust him and started walking in there if you hear this morning you're struggling with your faith uncertain about tomorrow need help don't be afraid to come and ask for it will you come if you're not a child of God God's waiting on you you can still come this whole faith thing in James you come come by faith come by believing that Jesus died and was buried in three days later a guide about the grave that's good news just call the gospel come believing come repenting come confessing and we're baptized if you want to be saved the beautiful thing about being baptized is that you get a good relationship with the Lord all your sins are washed away and then you can you receive the gift of the Holy Spirit okay add you to the body of Christ and you can begin the process of living for him say man hey man y'all all right look samba that dodged that thing really got to your left poor poor people now I am not letting a Dodger or a Laker or any team get in front of my praise and my worship to [Applause] myself okay was crying on the TV and but you guys you gotta check yourself you know we we can set up idols we start worshipping them and you may deny that don't bother me well why do you why you why you got a blind you gotta say it like that cuz it's bothering you but to whom have you yield yourself till you become a servant oh you better put it up in perspective which ought to be about you CSIS he's the real winner say man you need prayer come join us right now suite together safe careless so why will you leave the invitation to meet our God can solve is so he the warning he there another ho hanka will soon be God will soon be gone and mojave face the judge judge may face the judgment prepare to meet I

Channel: Figueroa Church of Christ

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Length: 79min 39sec (4779 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 28 2018