Pastor G: I can just release the app and say Hey it is the great tool. But Unless we get hold of why this is so important? it's gonna be something we'll put on the side and use it occasionally.
When we get to eternity, When we stand before the throne, we will look back to our life with the one question that I think we will all ask is Why I didn't pray more?
P-riority R-elentless A-uthority Y-ou
1. P-riority
I think many of us struggle in prayer because it's not a priority, because we lost the value of it.
When it is a priority, you establish a priority out of value, it becomes a discipline, discipline becomes a rhythm.
2. R-elentless
The reason we don't pray as much because we tried it and we felt that it didn't work. But I'm here to say to you, it's time to pick it up again, be relentless.
Some of us come up to the locked door and we just sit and we tried the same old door too long and God's saying hey, may be there's another way of approaching.
God is asking us right now, do you have shameless audacity? Shameless audacity means to be bold, courageous, daring, fearless, wild and a daredevil.
You don't have because you don't ask. Father wants to give to you but you are not asking.
3. A-uthority
Many prayers are fueled by desperation rather than declaration.
If you are just believing for the impossible without really understanding how you pray, it can become frustrating.
We've got to understand is that when we call to pray, if we're coming and asking for these things, We should be commanding and demanding. This isn't being arrogant, God given you the right because of the cross, because of the tomb.
We walk around people who are suffering with prisons, suffering with things. When you intercede, you need to intercede with knowing your authority. If we don't know what is our authority, we're just wasting words.
4. Y-ou
It won't work out until you take ownership of it.
We as a church, we have used our experience to get our expectation. But now, we want to have an expectation that will determine our experience.
So guys, be encouraged, get excited, sign up and start using it.
PRAY
We had some incredible series in freedom church earlier. I mention these because you might wanna catch up these if you haven't.Battering Ram
In old days, castles where they have battering ram against the doors. Series was empowering our Church to say, Even if the doors stand shut there is something that God put in our hands is called Prayer.
Knock Knock:
There is so much on this series. Its all around persistence. Its all about we need to keep knocking on the door.
Pray First:
Its all about Pray should come first, often we complain, often we sort of we think we need to talk to lot of people and then suddenly we think, we need a pray.
It was praying first and we covered what intercession means? We talk about our spiritual heavenly languages speaking in tongues in prayer.
An app that we have that mobilizes the Church. I believe it's not just mobilize our Church but also going to mobilize other Churches around the globe because we have heart of pray. Don't we?
We actually wanna see the church come together and pray like never before.
It's time to pray. It's beautiful to thing to see when church Pray. It's a beautiful thing when the Church get mobilized to pray. Because for so long we've seen prayer as something that's like boring or does it even make a difference. And God is stirring his Church to pray.
I want to introduce a scripture now. It's not perhaps a piece of scripture you would relate to prayer. Because in our previous series we were talking about widow. She was knocking on the door until judge came. Then he gave what she wanted.
I want to something about no relation to prayer but I believe that God wants to speak to us through like a perfect way to say Church You've got to see this, You've got to see what this means.
Paralyzed men and their Four Friends:
There is a paralyzed men, he's got four friends and when they coming, when they arrived, there is no room left, they can't get in, Jesus is in the house.
Jesus is there, bringing the word and he's speaking. I think Jesus set it up. Why Jesus is inside house? because He knows what's going down.
He was in the house, may be some dust falling and then they were like some What's going on? and these Guys are digging their way through the roof with their friend.
They couldn't get in, they went up on the outside the roof, dug a hole, goes in and he walks out to the front door. This amazed everyone and they praised God, and said We have never seen anything like this.
Right now God wants to do something through prayer like we've never seen before. I want us to realise that, although this is not like reference to prayer, I want to really give refresh about prayer and why we are doing this app?
I can just release the app and say Hey it is the great tool. But Unless we get hold of why this is so important? it's gonna be something we'll put on the side and use it occasionally. So I am not going to go very deep on prayer but I want to just refresh something in you.
I love this story because it talks about something being shut up. The door was shut, there was no room, there was no capacity. I'm sure that for many of us this does resembles our prayer life. I'm sure that this talks about the things that we have prayed, and it's like the door was shut. There's no way here.
This is what happened, they turned up and say door is shut, there's no room in and there's people around the outside of the door. They couldn't even get through. Imagine with the stretcher, with everything they're carrying.
Because sometimes the burden that God has asked you to carry is something you've got to carry right through. Don't give up. Don't walk away. You're gonna need to carry it through.
P - Priority
Prayer is always being priority to God.
In-fact the way that we come and reconciled to God, the father through the Prayer. It's the very means that salvation comes to mankind. See it's got to be a priority.
God has always had a top priority that he wants to converse and fellowship with you. He loves it, He wants you to be involved with his plans upon the earth. not just I'm gonna do it, you've got nothing to do with it. No, He's saying come on, Let the Church of God, Let the people, Let the adopted children play a part, Let me know what you are praying for.
Because we've learned that even when we pray things shift, things changed. God is saying when my people humble themselves and pray then I will heal.
There's something going on that he expects the people of God have a priority of prayer.
If something is a priority, it's of a value. There are certain priorities in my life right now, I bear great value in that. and so because of it, it's a priority in my life.
And something isn't a priority when you don't have value with it.
I would say that for many of us, if prayer is just something we practice to do when we need it rather than something that we're proclaiming to see.
If we don't see as a priority, because it's not a value.
I think many of us struggle in prayer because it's not a priority, because we lost the value of it. God is refreshing us.
When we look at these 4 friends, there is something about them, they said that we need to get Jesus before today.
May be you are young parent and you don't have much time because kids are awake early, and maybe some of you work crazy hours, may be some of you busy with jobs. It's amazing how we just say I would like to pray more but it's just my life is so busy. But when it's a priority?????
Lets talk about social media because it is amazing how many times the every person tap into social media to see what's happening. You don't have to say that You just need to committed to this. No you're committed by yourself. Because somehow you got value from it. But this value is temporary, Prayer is eternal.
There's something about the prayer. God's saying will you prioritize Church?
When we get to eternity, When we stand before the throne, we will look back to our life with the one question, I think we will all ask Why I didn't pray more?
We'll see the prayers that we prayed that caused eternal consequence. When we see the times caght up in the temporary. We had the thought that May be I should have spend some time in prayer right now. But we replaced it by looking at social media or watching the current netflix.
It is amazing what contests for that relationships. Father wants his church to come after it.
Those guys had this is a priority.
When it is a priority, you establish a priority out of value, it becomes a discipline, discipline becomes a rhythm. You almost don't think about it because you've made a decision, when you get a rhythm in your life.
I believe that through this app, there's going to be a rhythm that God wants to create in our life.
I'm encouraging every one of you, wherever you're at, don't feel contempt, this app is designed to help you and facilitate you to create a rhythm. But it comes through value, It comes through the priority. That will take you right up-to the front door and the front door is waiting.
R-Relentless
One of the things I've learned about the prayer is you have to be relentless.
If you're gonna cray off because you're not getting the answers you have seen, turn upto the front door and you're there thinking that Well, I tried. That's what we do, we pray to God. Well, I did pray and in fact I've been praying about this for 6 months and I still see no answer, may be for healing, for a breakthrough, for the job, It's amazing how we will in a sort of time and do a little bit of deal with God and say Well I tried. It was like those guys coming for their miracle, coming into the source, they're coming into Jesus and turned up and say What we have to do? It's not our fault.
But there is something in their nature about being relentless that I absolutely love and scripture talks about it all the time. With the widow, this knocking, this constant, this relentless, knocking. I'm not going away till I get an answer. I'm not giving up. Because having this relentless spirit within you, what it does? is, it says OK, the there's no way, but there's more ways we can get into the Jesus through the door.
Some of us come up to the locked door and we just sit and we tried the same old door too long and he's saying hey, may be there's another way of approaching. What about climbing about higher level? What about going to a place where you can go deeper and further so that you can really reach who I am.
What are they doing is, coming into the core, into the heart of Jesus. I think Jesus was just up there and say come on guys, I am waiting for you. He knew they are coming and when he saw the dust, he should have big smile. Body on the stretcher coming through the roof, 4 faces of the friends and they are saying that We got you to Jesus, we crashed a party. We have invited you to the center.
May be there need to be something within us that doesn't apologize but comes boldly. It talks about coming boldly before God's throne.
What's the turning point? because of shameless audacity. My wife got this in heaps. Heather is an asker and because of it she sees result. I gotta say she sees great results than I do.
God is asking the Church right now do you have shameless audacity? Shameless audacity means to be bold, courageous, daring, fearless, wild and a daredevil.
Those of you willing to be daring with what you ask and believe for, it's like you cheeky monkey but it's the cheeky monkey that get prize.
We were challenged as a Church.
You don't have because you don't ask. Father wants to give to you but you are not asking.
It's about contenting, It's about being the people and say OK, this door is closed but another way in. This is a tactical assault. Do not give up.
God's Healing - Miracle:
Many years ago,When we're in Africa at a crusade in Zimbabwe, there is a call for people who needed healing. We saw many people come. I was bit cynical, I was like thinking I want to see someone healed. I want to see something changed.
I saw a young boy of probably about 10 years old, he was brought in handmade wheelbarrow by his father to the meeting we had. There are thousands of people there. His limbs were all withheld and all sort of bent and it was like he never walked before. We could see physically, this guy withered away, no muscles and nothing. I want to see God heal him.
I sort of followed where they are praying. I was watching from the distance and they did this real quick pray and the father looked bit disappointed and we wheeled him off.
Next day, who comes first to the next event? His father comes with his son. He's in front, praise for him. Nothing happened. I'm thinking God, think what this father shameless audacity that here's my son I am expecting miracle.
Third day, he turns up, he came up earlier and he was like I'm coming for my miracle. He comes up and then prayed for him and I remember this, suddenly his legs begin to straighten, his muscles begin to restored. He just walked home, he pushed the wheelbarrow home. That's what God can do.
That's what happened on the story. The guy came in lowered on a mat and he ended up going through the front door carrying what he was being carried on. That's what God does through prayer.
What you came to depend on is a thing you can carry on.
This's not just crazy story, this is about the church, the church being mobilized prayer. So we've got to be relentless in our prayer.
Too many of us got to like, hey this is the 10th time, the reason we don't pray as much because we tried it and we felt it didn't work. But I'm here to say to you, it's time to pick it up again, be relentless.
It's our job to pray, it's God's job to perform. That's the way it works. You're not performing, what you are doing is you are praying to your father. Praying to him. Something so powerful when we come to father.
A-Authority
Many of us don't pray because we haven't seen the results and we become unbelieving. So many people giving up praying and being daring, because if you're gonna live a life of a faith, you gonna need to take some dares and pray for some situations that everyone else says you stupid. You need to be audacity for what you asking. You need to believe for the impossible.
But sometimes, if you are just believing for the impossible without really understanding how you pray, it can become frustrating. So It's important that we are not just firing up prayers and we're praying in the wrong way.
Church we can pray the wrong way. We need to be informed about the way we pray. It's based upon his word. Jesus talks about it. He talks about the widow to understanding her rights. And the church we don't understand our rights well enough. We don't understand that when we pray, we pray from authority.
There are things that you can request through prayer, Lord give me a wisdom, I need more wisdom. It says ask for wisdom, Lord will you guide me as I take this step in my journey. You ask right, but there is so much more.
When Jesus was in earth and he walked around and he saw powerful things happen, he used the Greek word "Atheko". It means the legal right to demand and command.
So when he came and spoke to the leper, he didn't say that Lord will you heal the leper today. He's using this word. Jesus use this all the time. He uses this to calm the storm, he uses it to speak to the demon, he uses it to heal. He's not requesting. He steps into different line and saying I'm here to demand or command.
We've got to understand is that when we call to pray, if we're coming and asking for these things, We should be commanding and demanding. This isn't being arrogant, God given you the right because of the cross, because of the tomb.
Because we're ill-informed, what we are doing is? We are praying pointless prayers like Lord, will you bless me today. That's the wrong way to pray, because you are saying that you aren't blessed but you are blessed. You are blessing and in-fact you are blessing to the people around you. What we want to see is we're praying that we'll see the evidence of the blessing but we're asking God to bless us. He says I've blessed you, you've got the ability to live this life.
And then we pray, Lord Will you heal this person? We do it because we feel intimidated. But God saying that I gave you the authority, I gave you the power, you are authorized.
What we do is? We step up to the pray, lord will you heal? instead of commanding and demanding because of the cross, because of the Calvary healing is yours in Jesus.name.
You pray a whole different way and that's why people get up with praying and get bored of it, because we're praying almost at this passive understanding of why we're praying, not sure your will. He says Will you stand up, command and demand? that's what Jesus was doing. He didn't have any discussion with demon saying How do you feel today? May be coming out of that person.
We walk around people who are suffering with prisons, suffering with things. When you intercede, you need to intercede with knowing your authority. If we don't know what is our authority, we're just wasting words.
We have to stand better of using less words and using the words that count rather than feel like we prayed for hours but we haven't achieved much, because we've been just asking God stuff he's already done.
He did everything on the cross, he did through Jesus. That's why he said It is Finished.
It's not like God will you do this? would you stop enemy? He says stand up and know who you are and start praying in a way of fearless boldness because he gave his church the ability to do that.
Many prayers are fueled by desperation rather than declaration.
We're motivated when there is a need rather than a proclamation.
As a Church we step in to what we haven't got instead of trying to keep hold of what we have already got.
Why do we decide to invest? Why do we commit so much time? because we want to put a tool in the hands of people of the God that mobilizes us to pray.
Sometimes I forgot, sometimes I haven't got that rhythm that is going the way it should. When we download this app into our mobile, it comes into our life and it becomes part of our life and we make a priority and value.
We've been practicing this as Pastors for last couple of months and it has changed our prayer life. It's become a discipline and commitment that helps facilitates prayer in a powerful way.
Scripture says, when two or three gather together in my name, power of symphony, power of agreement. When you get agreement in unity, you get authority. Imagine when 2 or 3 goes to 200 to 300 in agreement, when they go to 2000 to 3000, when they go to 20000 to 30000. It's limitless.
Y-You
It won't work out until you take ownership of it.
This is about us being one church in many locations, that's why we've got the global, these are our global needs. Church rally together and pray. Because of that we are asking for prayer day.
You might have 5 minutes in morning, 20 minutes in lunch time. It doesn't matter how you doing but this is my prayer day. I believe rather than have a half hour, it's gonna increase. The ownership of it, remove the guilt thing of trying to remember a small slot and say this is my prayer day and that's where I'm going to focus. But good think is you just don't have to pray only on your prayer day.
You've personal application. You've got your local, things happening in your location. It allows us to create the rhythm.
But Guys, it really is what you will do with it, it's about your personal ownership. We need every one of you.
If you are a brand new christian, perhaps if you don't understand that much about prayer, What a way to start!! You are gonna get list, this is for you, your prayers matters.
May be you have been around for some years and you thought I don't pray for many years, this is a new tool to help you pray more effectively than ever before.
May be you have been given up prayer like you haven't seen the answers. So this is the time just like four friends, that guy got healed and a miracle happened because they decided to take the ownership. They decided to put everything down say we're going to carry you, we're going to take you.
There's a sick person, there is someone in need right now, there is a situation of need on that stretcher and it's whether you will pick up the corner of the stretcher today and that there's a load, there's a weight navigate the stairs. May be people around them say, get down from there, you shouldn't up there, you're disturbing Jesus. But I am looking for disturbers of Jesus.
I am looking for people that are gonna come and break away from tradition and get the heart for relentless prayer, to make it a priority, be praying in a new authority like never before, to expect.
We as a church, we have used our experience to get our expectation. But now, we want to have an expectation that will determine our experience.
Will you commit with us and say I'm gonna pray again. May be you stopped on 6 but goto 7. There's something about don't stop when you don't think anything. There is something about the lad in the wheelbarrow. Imagine if father gave up, I'm fed up with that church thing, I'm fed up with God. But instead he came and he was relentless with his faith.
So what will you do right now in engaging this app? I wanna ask you to signup today and take ownership of it.
The reason we've called it the global app because this is just the start of what we wanna do, there's more that will come, that we will add to it. So we didn't just want to called prayer app. This is a global app because there is a more we are gonna building into it.
So guys, be encouraged, get excited, sign up and start using it.
Make a priority, choose a day, get involved with the ownership of what God is doing because I believe that we are in amazing season.
Jesus even himself said things you see me do, you will do, but even greater things. Will you do?
God wants to use you that your prayer matters to him, to come and see the miraculous happen, to see things shift. Imagine mobilizing the church to pray more effectively ever before, unity and power that we do it as a symphony, one sound in unity, agreement in God that he is able to do all things to those who truly believe and that's what we are gonna do.
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