REMOVING THE OBSTACLES Obstacles on the Freedom Trail 1. Unbelief We have got to have believing lives: literally choose to believe God. 2. Pride We don’t realize how proud we are until we begin to encounter God’s truth. 3. Idolatry We have a lot of idols in our lives that need to be moved to the side (cast down); so that we can go on the way to freedom. 4. Prayerlessness We have got to have real live prayer lives. 5. Legalism We have to let go of some legalistic views that are not even in Scripture. To know and believe God: 1. The study of God’s Word. 2. Real live praying lives. Matthew 21:12-13: Look and the words and know that Christ’s voice was loud. God made His house to be a house of prayer Isaiah 56:7-8: God wants to give us great joy in prayer. Isaiah is the book that addresses the problem of captivity, and our need for freedom. Right in the middle of it we find that God tells us, His house is to be a house of prayer. Before the Israelites were taken off into captivity, they let go of the temple as a place of prayer. There is a very big relationship between captivity and prayerlessness. Ephesians 6:10-18: In the full armor of God, Paul states – pray, pray, and pray some more. The Vulnerability of Prayerlessness 1. Prayerless lives are powerless lives. God wants us to feel totally connected with other Christian believers. Some of us lose connection with the power of prayer. We are plugged in, in the Spirit’s energy; but unless we are grounded in prayer, we are not being empowered. 2. Prayerless lives are unprotected lives. We are going to be Mighty Warriors when we learn to be Prayer Warriors! We need to move away from repetitive, vain prayers, and start praying the heart of God; get to know Him enough to know what His heart is. God’s most powerful prayer warriors were… 1. Those who had consistent communication with God on every level (Ephesians 1:15-23). Ephesians 6:18 – on all occasions. We do not want to get out of balance, and only pray warfare prayers. We need to have a prayer life that involves all sorts of prayers; that we bring everything in our lives to God. We can get to a place where our confidence in God begins to stabilize our lives. It comes from making prayer and God’s Word a daily part of our lives. It comes from constant dialogue with Him. Ephesians 1:15-23 – the Holy Spirit is the Holy Reminder. When we believe God, an incomparable power comes to you. God’s Word is personal to you; it is eternal. Pray through the reading of the Word, and learn how to pray the Word. Use Scripture as the means of making a request of God. He incorporates the love of Scripture into your prayer life. Our idle time is where we can get in big trouble. Deuteronomy 32:2-4 1 Corinthians 2:4-5 2. Those whose knowledge of the heart of God led their requests of the hand of God (Nehemiah 1:5). We need to get to know God for who He is before we start using Him for a handout. Our prayers become more powerful when we are better acquainted with: • His personality (Nehemiah 1:4-7). Getting to know the personality of God, and getting to know who He is. The roller-coaster of faith says “I base my belief in God on what He appears to be doing.” We are never going to figure that one out. When you get to know God based on who He is, and then you’ve got something that never changes. Nehemiah 1:5-7 – we immediately begin to tell God when we’re in a conflict what He needs to do about it. Nehemiah is counting on God’s faithfulness and promises. We have got to learn to seek God’s personality and His promises. • His promises (Nehemiah 1:8-9). We want to get to know God’s promises so we can recall it back to Him. See what the promises of God are; count on them, and tell God about them. • His practices. Get to know God. What are the kinds of things God does? Site to God a president in Scripture where He is doing something very similar in someone else’s life. God loves that, when you ask Him in humility. We can’t always know the mind of God, but we can always know the heart of God. We learn that through Scripture, and through praying Scripture. 3. Those who possessed a powerful blend of reverence and boldness (Nehemiah 1:10-11). Nehemiah knew his motive was pure (James 4:2-3) If you know your heart is pure in a matter, ask boldly. God has the freedom to say “no” and you will have known it was not His perfect will (Genesis 18). Habakkuk 3:2 – Houses of prayer are made of people of prayer. Not just prayer lives, but praying lives.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 16:40:49 +0000
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