Intro:
Luke 11:1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” (ESV)
Jesus was praying with His SG - they were moved to a place that they requested He teach them to pray
It is a significant thing when a believer desires to learn how to pray
Jesus should be THE MOST ESTEEMED TEACHER on PRAYER
Faith is an important element when we pray - Jesus also said these things:
Matt. 8:10 When Jesus heard this, he marvelled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.
Matt. 8:26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. (ESV)
Matt. 9:22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. ESV)
Matt. 9:29 Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” (ESV)
Matt. 14:31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (ESV)
Matt. 15:28 Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly. (ESV)
Matt. 16:8 But Jesus, aware of this, said, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?
Matt. 21:22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” (ESV)
Mark 4:40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”
Mark 5:34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” (ESV)
Mark 10:52 And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way. (ESV)
Luke 18:8…Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (ESV)
The Epistles say these things:
Heb. 4:2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. (NKJV)
James 4:2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. (ESV)
Faith around the world:
Words like: receiving, commanding, declaring, speaking to mountains, possessing promises
These are words that are used by people around the world who pray
Some say them because they believe and do them - others because they are the critiques of saying and praying them
STORY: Italy - Sicily -
I tell this - because some think that a man spread his view around the world - it was much bigger than one man or a few
QUOTE FRED PRICE: “Everything in the Kingdom of God is going to be activated and accessed by your faith”
QUOTE FRED PRICE: “Love is the motivator, but faith is the activator”
Things Jesus Could Have Said - But Didn’t:
Peter’s walking on water failure:
Matt. 14:31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (NLT)
NOTE: Jesus didn’t say: “it wasn’t my will for you to walk on the water”
“it was My will for a brief time, but I changed my mind”
“I know I told you to come, but I really didn’t mean that
“It’s prideful to think you can’t step out on what I say”
NOTE: Instead Jesus brought up “his” doubt - “his” lack of faith
NOTE: Jesus in this case didn’t say - you know there are different views on this Peter
The epileptic son
Matt. 17:16 And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.”
Matt. 17:17 And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I too bear with you? Bring him here to me.”
Matt. 17:20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” (ESV)
He could have told the boys father - it wasn’t my will - but He instead said if you can believe
He also could have told the disciple why it didn’t work - it was because it wasn’t my will - what makes you think I want to heal everyone?
What things do we use faith for?
Salvation
Everyday Living
Receiving promises
Serving the Lord
What does God give grace for?
Salvation
Everyday Living
Receiving promises
Serving the Lord
Here are 3 scriptures we will look into today:
Mark 11:23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. (ESV)
Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. (ESV)
Eph. 6:16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; (ESV)
Move It - Receive It - Prevent It
Those 3 scriptures are 3 main ways we can release faith when we pray:
I think we established how important faith is
NOTE: WE say to the mountain - We ask in prayer - We take up the shield of faith
We can release faith:
Sword - Move it - We get offensive - “it” needs moved - say to
Hand - Receive it - We get receptive - “we” need a promise - ask Him
Shield - Prevent it - We get defensive - to prevent something - take up
Shield
Eph. 6:16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; (ESV)
Break down:
When do we do it? - In all circumstances
What do we do? - Take up the shield of faith
What does it do? - Quenches flaming darts
2 Tim. 4:18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. (ESV)
2 Tim. 3:11 my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. (ESV)
NOTE: this is very different from accidents - tragedies - anything we are redeemed from - anything that Jesus died for - also the devil lying to us
Paul was persecuted for his Christianity - Jesus said that could happen
I like Paul’s outlook - His expectancy
He wasn’t stuck on his hardships - He talked with expectancy of God’s protection
No matter how bad things look - we can choose to talk with expectancy
Here is what I say about my 2 daughters - my 2 son-in-laws - my wife and myself
Weapon - (Is 54:17 - people could be conspiring-the devil
No evil - (Ps 91:10)
No deadly thing - (Mk 16:18)
Hand
Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. (ESV)
Matt. 21:22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” (ESV)
Break down:
Choose a promise from God’s Word
If there is a promise - we have been instructed by Jesus to ask in prayer
Our responsibility
Find the promise - Ask
Believe we receive it - faith - (if we are struggling to believe we receive it - we aren’t fully convinced - I go back and feed on the promise - because I know I need to be convinced of:
It’s promised to me
God wants to give it to me
And I receive it
His responsibility
He gave the promises
He hears us
He answers us - “it will be ours - We will receive”
Sword
Mark 11:23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. (ESV)
Matt. 17:20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” (ESV)
Matt. 21:21 And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. (ESV)
Luke 17:5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
Luke 17:6 And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
Break down:
A mountain is a problem - (get a promise for the problem)
Speak to the mountain
Don’t doubt in your heart
Believe what you say will come to pass
Stay Christ and Graced Focused
Instead of works focused
Here is what grace focused looks like:
Grace focused is when we focus on what God did in Christ - feeding on that opens our eyes, our understanding
Instead focusing on: how long am I praying - how long did I read my Bible - how often am I confessing God’s Word
Works focused is self-focused - not Christ or grace focused