by Pastor Meng Cham
Pleading
Encouraging
Moving people
From kingdom of darkness into kingdom of light
Big idea:
Jesus teaches prayer as kingdom warfare - Forming disciples to stand firm and align with God in spiritual battle
We could be using a wrong tool to serve God
Use prayer:
1. Communication
2. Communion
3. Consecration
Prayer is essential and foundational for advancing God's kingdom
# Pray because we need to
Luke 11:1-4
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:
“‘Father,[a]
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.[b]
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.[c]
And lead us not into temptation.
Disciple Making is spiritual warfare
A Prayer of alignment:
1. "Father"
Reminds us of whose we are
2. "Your kingdom come"
Keeps us in the right perspective
3. "Give us this day"
Frees us from daily anxiety and worry
4. "Forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone"
Focuses us on the main thing
5. "Leads us not into temptation"
Alerts us to the threats among us
Don't let people who are unpeaceable trip is or derail us. Just shake the dust off and stay align.
Prayer should be our first weapon, not last weapon
Prayer keeps us aligned to our assignment and faithful to the commission Jesus gave us
To foster a rhythm of prayer and alignment:
1. Shift our morning ritual
2. Reimagine our lunch break
3. Limit our screen time
Forgo your routine instinctively
# Pray because we have a good Father
Luke 11:5-7
Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’
Parable about friends
Luke 11:8
I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity[a] he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
Impudence in this sense is bold and persistence to the point of shamelessness
Shameful Vs shameless example
Our repeated prayers don't annoy God
Luke 11:9-10
“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Surrender and yield our prayers
1 John 5:14-15
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
If God doesn't answer is Only because He has something better in store for me
Luke 11:11-13
“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for[a] a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Holy Spirit is absolutely necessary for warfare
Methods will change but dependence in Holy Spirit will remain
The Holy Spirit is our greatest weapon in spiritual warfare
Disciple Making is impossible apart from Holy Spirit empowerment
It's just Too much resistance, rejection and too much ridicule
2 Corinthians 10:4
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
True Disciple Makers are Spirit dependent, not self reliant
We have a good, able and loving Father
Start partnering with the Holy Spirit:
1. Ask the lord for 1-2 persons
2. Seek His face for how and what to say and do
3. Identify and intercede against any foothold
4. Get others to pray together with you
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