Amen. Amen. Amen.
Hey, well, grab your seat this morning. Give someone a high five on your way down. Tell them, "I'm glad to be sitting next to you." And if you're not glad, don't say it.
Hey, it's so good to be with you this morning. I'm so expectant for what the Lord wants to speak into all of our hearts today. But before I get into the Word, I just want to say a hello from Boyd. He is actually over in Perth right now. He's probably fast asleep still at the moment. But this morning in Perth, they are launching the very first Elam Church in Australia. How good is that? Australia needs Jesus, I'll tell you what. And so Boyd's over there doing that today, but he wanted me to say a big hi from him. He misses you. He's thinking of us. And we just pray that that goes well in Jesus' name.
Hey, we are in the middle of an amazing series, The Parables of Jesus. Have you guys been enjoying it? Yeah, I've been loving it. The way the Word has been opened up to us. Because the thing about parables is that there's layers in a parable. They're not just a story. There's a story on the surface. But as you dig deeper, more and more truth is uncovered. And I know for myself this week, the parable that the Lord led me to, I just found things that I'd never seen before as I researched it, as I dug into it. Man, it has changed me. It has stirred me up. And I am a different person. I am a different person. I am a different person. I am a different person. I am a Christian as a result of this parable.
And my prayer today is that you would be the same because this parable has the potential to transform our lives. And I'm not just saying that lightly. It really does. If we would catch what Jesus is saying here, our whole world would look different. And so I just pray over that this morning that that would take place. But let's get into it. Let's get into it.
Luke 18, 1 to 8. This is the parable of the persistent widow. It says,
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said,
In a certain town, there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, "Grant me justice against my adversary." For some time he refused. But finally, he said to himself, "Even though I don't fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps on bothering me, I will see that she gets justice so that she won't eventually come and attack me."
And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"
And I love the amplified version of the scripture because it really goes into greater detail in the Greek. What he was actually saying here, he says, "When the Son of Man comes, will he find this kind of persistent faith on the earth? Will he find this kind of persistent faith on the earth?"
Let's pray together.
Father, we thank you for your word this morning. God, we thank you that your word is living and active, that it is sharper than a double-edged sword. And God, we pray that your word would touch our hearts this morning. God, let it cut through this morning. Lord, I pray that we would leave different as a result of your word. God, I pray that our hearts would be open, that it would fall on good soil. May it change us, we pray in Jesus' name. And everyone said, Amen.
You know, often in the parables that Jesus tells, the meaning is hidden. And he kind of tells this parable, and often it's sort of like a vague story where he pulls natural principles to explain heavenly realities, kingdom realities that hadn't yet come. And so people often are left a little bit confused after his parables, even the disciples. And so often we'll find the disciples, they'll come to Jesus afterwards and be like, "Hey Jesus, what did you mean when you said that?" Because they don't want to admit it in front of the crowd that they don't really know what he was talking about there. And Jesus will explain.
And we have the privilege of hindsight when we read the word; we get to understand what Jesus is wanting to say. But there are a few parables where Jesus makes it clear up front. This is one of them. So this isn't a vague parable. In fact, Jesus is like, "I need you to get this." And so right from the offset, he tells us the moral of the story. He gives us the punchline before he tells the joke. He gives us the moral of the story before he tells the story. He wants us to catch this. And then he finishes the parable again by hammering home his point. This is an important message that he is desperate for his people to catch.
And what is the key from the parable that we just read? It's right there in verse one. It says, "Always pray and never give up. Always pray and never give up." Tell your neighbor, "Always pray." Tell your other neighbor, "Never give up."
This whole parable is about persistent faith. Why does Jesus have to be so clear about this? For two reasons. Number one, because it's a major key. It's a major key, persistent faith. And number two, because it's a real issue.
See, we need a persistent faith, a faith that doesn't quit, that doesn't give up. Because your persistence in prayer is likely the weapon that Satan fears the most. Your persistence in prayer is likely the weapon that Satan fears the most. Persistence is key.
And yet, let's be honest, how often have you given up on praying for something simply because the answer was slow in coming? If you don't get the breakthrough quickly, how long is it before you give up, before you quit praying for it? Is it a week, a month, a year, two years? How much pressure, how much discouragement, how much disappointment does it take for you to quit praying for something and give up your persistence in prayer?
Do you know how much it takes for you? Because the devil does. He knows. He knows how much disappointment it'll take for you to quit praying for something and give up that prayer down. He knows how much pressure he needs to apply to you for you to quit and give up. He knows how much discouragement it will take for you. The devil knows and he's persistent.
The truth is we are in a spiritual battle and persistence is not only God's weapon of choice, it's also Satan's weapon of choice and he's good at it. You know, Ephesians 6 verse 12 tells us this, "For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world and against evil spirits in the heavenly places."
The Lord is reminding us in the scripture, don't think about what you can see. The battle that you can see, that's not the real battle. There's a whole other battle that you can't see. You aren't fighting against something in the natural. You're fighting against spiritual powers and forces of the unseen realm. Don't focus on the natural. There's a whole other war going on. We're fighting a spiritual battle.
And I love in the book of Daniel chapter 10, it's like the curtains are pulled back and we get this glimpse inside the reality of the spiritual battle that is taking place every day of our lives. And in this moment in time, Daniel chapter 10, you can read about it later, but we find Daniel and he is mourning and he is fasting and he is praying and praying and praying. He's being persistent in prayer, just like this widow is.
And all of a sudden an angel shows up and it's a pretty magnificent picture. It's a pretty magnificent experience. And Daniel is freaked out and he falls to his face and the angel begins to speak to him and he says to him, "Daniel, I came in answer to your prayer, in answer to your persistent prayer. I came, I was sent on day one, but it took me 21 days to come because of the spiritual battle that was taking place. And the angel Michael had to come and help me, but I've come in answer here to your prayer."
We get this glimpse into the spiritual warfare that is taking place. What would have happened if Daniel had not been in the spiritual battle that was taking place? What if Daniel had given up praying on day six? What if he gave up on day 12? What if he gave up on day 20? But he didn't. He was persistent in prayer and the angel was able to come.
We are in a battle. In Luke chapter 22, verse 31 and 32, we get another glimpse this time from Jesus, where he says to Peter, "Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith won't fail."
I've prayed for you, Peter. We get this glimpse into the spiritual battle, but what does that word sift mean? What did Satan ask to do to Peter? Well, the word sift means to separate, to break into pieces, to shatter, to discourage, to try and push one's faith to breaking point, to overflow. And that is what Satan asked to do to Peter, to push him to the point of breaking. But Jesus said, "I pray that your faith won't fail."
Ephesians 6, verse 10 tells us to stand firm against all the strategies of the devil. Are you aware that the enemy has strategy over your life? He's not just fluking it. He has strategy for you. He has a clear agenda to steal, kill, and destroy you and all that God has intended for you.
And what is his strategy? Two things: to pull you away from a relationship with Jesus Christ. That's his first strategy, to pull you away from a relationship with Jesus Christ. His second strategy is to pull you away from the power of the word of God, to get you distracted, to get you discouraged, to pull you away from the power of the word so that you are unable to access all that the word of God has for you.
And how does he do it? Persistence. He keeps the pressure on. He uses what we call the pile-up technique. Have you ever felt like your whole world is falling apart? Like it's like one thing after another, one thing after another? That's an enemy's strategy called the pile-up technique, to push you to breaking point.
See, he is persistent in lying. He's persistent in bringing fear. He's persistent in doubt, persistent in intimidation, persistent in distraction, because he knows, here's the key, persistence will wear down resistance. Persistence wears down resistance.
And that's our first key this morning. If you're taking notes, I encourage you to write that down. Persistence wears down resistance. See, it's how Goliath held the Israelites in such fear. See, for 40 days, Goliath came and taunted the Israelite army. Morning and night, it said that he came and taunted them. He intimidated them. This is a picture of what Satan does to the Lord's people. Morning and night, intimidation, intimidation, intimidation, until the Israelites became frozen in fear and unable to move.
Persistence, persistence, wearing down their resistance. We only have to be persistent. We only have to be persistent. We only have to be persistent. We only have to look at Samson and Delilah to watch this play out, right? Samson's been told that he must never cut his hair. It wasn't about the hair, but it was the obedience, what God was requiring of him. He must never cut his hair.
And every day, Delilah comes, "Tell me the secret of your strength. Tell me the secret of your strength." She was persistent day after day. "Tell me the secret until eventually Samson caves in and he tells her." Persistence wears down resistance. And that was it. And he lost everything.
See, like the widow, and like Daniel, God wants us to persist in prayer because we've got to fight back the same way. The enemy will be persistent with you, but you need to be persistent right back. And that's why Jesus tells us the story of this widow who was so persistent. And he says, "Won't the Lord not be slow in bringing justice for his people who cry out to him day and night, day and night, day and night?"
There's something in your persistence. We've got to fight back the same way with a faith that won't quit, that won't back down. Ephesians 6, 18 says this, "Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere." We need persistent faith.
See, the word faith is actually an active word. It's an aggressive word. And the Greek meaning is to seize with a grip that cannot be shaken. To seize with a grip that cannot be shaken. Hebrews 10, 23 says,
You know, I love the way Pastor George Pearson, he actually paints this picture of faith for us. He says, "Your faith needs to be like a bulldog. You need bulldog faith." I don't know if you've ever tried to wrestle something out of the mouth of a bulldog. See, the thing about bulldogs is they have a jaw that extends and a nose that is indented, which allows them to grip onto something, to lock onto something, but be able to continue breathing. So it can hang on indefinitely. It has no need to let go and it won't.
A bulldog will lock on. It will bite down. It will lock on and refuse to let go. You aren't winning a war, a tug of war against a bulldog. This is exactly how the force of faith works. See, faith needs to lock in. Faith needs to bite down. It bites down on the Word of God. It bites down on the will of God, which is the will of God, Word of God. It bites down on what is in our covenant and what the Lord has acquired for us on the cross.
Faith bites down. It locks in and it refuses to let go. It's aggressive and tenacious like a bulldog. It won't give up. It won't throw in the towel. It knows what it's entitled to and it is persistent.
Faith must be persistent because our persistence in faith is designed to wear down the enemy's resistance until we get the desired result. Our persistence in faith is designed to wear down the enemy's resistance until we get the desired result.
So you look at Jesus. He was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days. 40 days the enemy came tempting, testing him. See, only three testings are recorded in Scripture, but the enemy was there for the whole 40 days. He was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days. He was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days. Persistent, persistent, persistent, persistent. That is his strategy. It's persistent.
But how did Jesus respond? He was persistent, persistent, persistent. What did he say back? "It is written. It is written. It is written. It is written." And he kept saying it back. He was persistent right back until the enemy left him. It says, until another opportune time. It is written. He bit down on the Word of God and continually declared what the Word of God had to say.
Out persisted Satan with the Word. And eventually he left. James 4, 7 says this, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you." Persistence wears down resistance. We need bulldog faith.
And that's exactly what this woman in the parable has. She was a bulldog. You don't mess with a widow. See, this judge, this judge, he did not know what he was up against. He is used to getting his own way. He's high up. He's high up in the command. He can make rulings and decisions that affect people's lives and they just have to live with it. But he had never met a woman like this widow. He had never, never met a bulldog like this widow who was unwilling to take no for an answer.
So he said no to her. He denied her request. She said, "Give me justice." He says no. So she leaves. And then she comes back, knocks on the door. "Give me justice against my adversary." No, shuts the door. Next day, here she is again. "Give me justice against my adversary." Maybe she came back that afternoon. Who knows? "Is that lady here again?" Yeah, she's here again. "Give me justice against my adversary." No, back again. "Give me justice." Day and night, this woman comes back and back and back until eventually he's had enough.
And one of the versions said, "Give her what she wants before she drives me crazy." This judge is over it. And eventually her persistence wears down his resistance and he gives her the justice that she is seeking after.
What was her strategy? She would not take no for an answer. You know, in just Luke chapter 11 and Luke chapter 18, Jesus gives four examples of this, four different stories, four different teachings to try and show us how important it is that we are persistent in our ask, persistent in our faith.
I love how Jesus does this. You can watch it happening in scripture. He sets scenes and I've talked about this before. He'll drop a scene, he'll drop a teaching and then he'll back it up with a parable and then he'll back it up with a miracle that literally illustrates the parable that he just said. And we see this happening in Luke 11 and Luke 18.
And I just love, just a few verses after he tells us the story of the persistent widow, we find ourselves in the middle of a miracle of a persistent blind man. And let's have a look at that together this morning. Luke 18 verse 35 to 43. It says,
Now pause for a moment. See, this man was physically blind, but he had spiritual sight. So you can see that in the way he calls out, "Jesus, Son of David." The people around him only saw Jesus who was from Nazareth down the road. This man, he couldn't see in the natural, but he knew, "Oh, no, no, no, that's not just Jesus of Nazareth. That is the Messiah. That is Jesus, Son of David in the kingly line of David."
And so he yells all the more, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me." He knew who was walking by and what he had access to and nothing was going to stop him.
Verse 39, those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more. He shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me."
Jesus stopped. His persistence stopped him. Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?"
"Lord, I want to see," he replied.
Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight. Your faith has healed you."
Immediately, he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.
Once again, we have a bulldog. We have an audacious, tenacious man that is locked on to what he wants, locked on to who was walking by and he was getting his miracle no matter what. Like the widow in the parable, he was not taking no for an answer. Her request was denied by the judge. He was told to be quiet, but she just kept coming back and he just shouted all the more. Both persisted and as a result, both received their desired outcome.
What do we learn? When it comes to the Word of God, and the will of God, and the promises of God, and the things that belong to us in Christ, we need to persist in prayer and not take no as an answer. Don't take no from the devil because it's not a no from the Lord just because you haven't received it yet. If it's in His Word, if it's in your covenant, if it's in His promises, then it is His will for you. So don't take no. Don't let the enemy stop what God has coming for you. Be persistent about what rightfully belongs to you.
You have to know what you are entitled to. And I love, last year I shared a story about an incredible family in our church whose son had been given a terrible diagnosis. And the diagnosis was so bad, they were unwilling to accept it. They said that this boy, he would never function normally. He would never have a normal life. He would never be able to speak. He wouldn't be able to go to school. And their parents felt the Lord just say, "No, that's not what I have for your son."
And so they put their foot down. They were bulldogs. They were tenacious. They were tenacious in their faith. But I love her response initially. The mom, she said that as soon as she got the news, she went straight to the Word of God. And she said, "Okay, what am I entitled to as a child of God? What are my rights as a child of God?"
And she read that Word cover to cover until she found everything that she was entitled to by the blood of Jesus. And then she began to stand on that Word and declare that Word again and again and again. And her son was miraculously healed. Praise God.
You don't take no for an answer. You say, "I don't receive that because my Word of God says that by His stripes, I am healed. According to my covenant, according to the will of God, I am healed. So devil, you are wrong."
When the enemy says you're not going to make it, you say, "No, this will turn around because my God will supply all of my needs in Christ Jesus. This is the will of God. This is the promise of God."
See, persistent faith keeps on declaring, and this is key, it keeps on declaring what it believes. Persistent faith will keep declaring the end result. It will stand on the Word of God, the promises of God, and declare what is in your covenant. It's persistent.
And there's a breakthrough in the spirit realm that takes place when this kind of persistent faith is declared. See, made in the image of God, our words have creative power and authority. We say what we believe. That is the spirit of faith. And your words of faith are like a magnet that draw things to you out of the spirit realm into the natural realm. It's in the Word of God. Your words contain such great power.
That's why Jesus wants you to cry out day and night. Speak it out. Persistent faith gets stubborn about it. No matter how long it takes, again and again and again, it keeps declaring the Word of God and the end result. Like the persistent widow became obnoxious to the judge, let us become obnoxious to the enemy. And our persistence eventually wears down resistance.
I've done this in my own life. When I felt I was under heavy attack, it was the pile-up technique. It was thing after thing after thing. And I knew the agenda of the enemy for me was to get me to pull back, to sit down, to give up. So I actually said out loud, I said, "Devil, you can keep piling it on, but this is only going to make me get closer to Jesus. So I'm like, I'm getting up even earlier to pray and read the Bible. This is going to have the opposite effect to what you want. So bring it on."
And literally, literally he backed off. That was the end of that pile-up technique. Sometimes you've got to, he can't read your thoughts. So I like to just tell him sometimes what I think about him. He can back off.
Our second key this morning is the battle is won in prayer before it is won out there. The battle is won in prayer before it is won out there. You know, verse four of our parable says, "For a time he refused," the judge, "for a time he refused," despite her legitimate request, despite her tenacity to keep coming back, "for a time he refused."
Have you ever set your faith on something and it took time? We all have, right? What do you do between the amen of your prayer and the there it is? What do you do between the amen of your prayer and the there it is? See, there's time in there and that time is so crucial. It is so crucial to the fulfillment of what it is that we are believing for.
You have to make up your mind. For how long this takes, I will stand and declare. We see that play out with Daniel. There was time in between the amen of his prayer and the there it is. And what did he do with that time in between? He fasted, he prayed, he mourned, he humbled himself before the Lord and he was persistent.
What would have happened if he hadn't have used that time like that? We don't know, but there's an importance in persistence. The battle is won in prayer before it is won out there. The battle is won spiritually before it is won physically.
And in Exodus 17 verses 8 to 13, we see this play out. We see an incredible practical example of this spiritual principle. And the context of the story is that the Amalekites have come and they are starting to attack Israel. And so Moses says to Joshua, "Joshua, go choose some guys and you go fight on the field. I'm going to head up the mountain and I'm going to fight in the spiritual."
And so let's jump into the story together. It says,
So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning. But whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up, one on one side, one on the other, so that his hands remained steady until sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.
So here is Moses on the top of the hill in spiritual warfare. And here is Joshua down in the battlefield in physical warfare. But we see the decisive battle was fought in spiritual warfare. When Moses prevailed spiritually, then Joshua prevailed physically. But when Moses was not winning the battle spiritually, then Joshua was not winning the battle physically.
Here's the lesson. Your decisive victory will be won on your knees. Your decisive victory will be won on your knees. You may have a lot of battlegrounds in your life, but if you win the battle every day in the spiritual, then you can head out onto the field and expect a victory in the natural.
People so often only try to fight in the physical. But if Joshua had only gone out physically, Israel would have lost the war and been destroyed. But instead of resorting to the field battle only, Moses went up the mountain to pray. And prayer prevailed, and the battle was won. Because the battle is won in prayer before it's won out there.
You know, there's an incredible pastor by the name of Dr. Yonghee Cho. Has anyone ever heard of him? He's a South Korean pastor, and his church was the largest church in the world, about 800,000 people in his church. He ran a prayer ministry. He ran a prayer ministry. He ran a prayer ministry. He ran a prayer meeting, and he had a million people at his prayer meeting. This guy is incredible.
But when he started out, he tells an incredible story about when he pioneered his church for the first time. And he says he went to this remote village, and he set up a little tent on the hill, and he started church. And he only had five people in his church at that time. And in this village, this heathen shaman was like the leader. And they came, his followers came to Pastor Yonghee Cho and said, "You need to get off the hill, take your tent, take your church, and leave because this territory belongs to us, and you're not welcome here."
To which Yonghee Cho replied, "I know my constitutional right. You can't kick me off this hill." And so they came back day after day and said, "Hey, if you don't leave, then we will kill you." And Yonghee Cho said, "Well, you're not going to be able to kill me easily because of the God that I serve. You're going to have a bit of a battle."
So Yonghee Cho said that they were intimidating each other day after day like this until eventually the leader of the shaman people came to him himself and said to him, "Okay, I have a contest for you. If you win the contest, then we'll leave. I'll take all my followers. We'll get out. You can have the land. But if we win the contest, then you must go and never come back. Take your tent, take your church. See you later."
And so Pastor Yonghee Cho said, "Okay, I agree to this contest." And then the leader said to him, "Okay, this is the rules. There is a woman down in the village who is completely paralyzed." And Dr. Yonghee Cho said, "Okay, I agree to this contest." And then the leader said to him, "Nothing they can do for her. There's no hope for her medically. And she actually gave birth to a child in this condition. And the baby is also paralyzed."
And he said to Yonghee Cho, "If you can heal this woman within 30 days, then I'll get off the mountain. But if you can't, then you've got to leave. And you keep preaching about a God that does miracles. So prove it. Heal this lady. You have 30 days."
And so Pastor Yonghee Cho is like, "Okay." He agrees to the terms of this contest. And the guy leaves. And so as you can see, he's like, "Okay, I'm going to leave." And he's like, he gets on his knees and he begins to pray.
And he was just starting out in his ministry. This is his first church. He's already got five people. And he said that he went on his knees and he would pray for five hours a day. And he was like, now he can pray easily five hours a day. But back then he was like, "It was hard. I didn't even know what to say." And he's just praying, praying, praying on his knees before the Lord. "Oh God, this is my church. Like if you don't heal this lady, there's nothing we can do."
And he's praying. He'd pray in the day. And then he'd go visit the woman at her home. And he'd go to the church. And he'd go to the church. And he'd go to the church. And he'd go to the church. And the lady didn't want a bar of him. He would try and preach Jesus, preach the gospel. She would shut him up, "Get out of here. I don't want to hear it." The Shaman people had already told her, "Don't listen to him." So she was like, "I am not listening."
And so he came back day after day. And he would try teaching her about Jesus. She didn't want to hear it. He'd go back home on his knees, praying five hours a day, come back out, try again. Nothing would happen. Five days went by. 10 days went by. Nothing happening. 15 days go by. Nothing happening. 20 days go by. Nothing happening. 29 days go by.
And the Shaman people are already celebrating. They're like, "See you later. You'll be out of here tomorrow morning." And this day, he says he just fasted and prayed on his face all day. And late that night, he's in prayer when all of a sudden, he says he kind of like fell into a trance. He fell into a vision. And then all of a sudden, a snake came to him.
And the snake comes to like bite his neck, he says. And he was so terrified in this vision that he's seeing. He was so terrified that he couldn't even call out the name of Jesus. He was paralyzed in fear. And all he could do was say it in his heart. So he said in his heart, he said, "Jesus, Son of God, help me. Jesus, Son of God, help me."
And he's just saying it in his heart. And he sees immediately fear begin to enter the eyes of the snake. And so it builds his faith. This is a true story. It builds his faith. This is in his vision. Builds his faith. And so he begins to declare, "Jesus, Son of God, help me. Jesus, Son of God, help me."
And as he speaks the name of Jesus, the snake becomes less and less powerful until eventually Yonghee Cho is able to grab it by the neck and he throws it on the ground and crushes its head. And then he opens the door. This is in his vision. He opens the door and he sees the whole village coming before him.
And he holds up the snake and he says, "This is the God that you worship. It is nothing before my God." And he crushes it. And then he wakes up. It's now 6 a.m. in the morning. He wakes up, day 30. And he opens the door and he says, "This crowd of people coming towards his door," like he had seen in the vision.
And at the front of this crowd of people, he sees this very frail looking skinny woman holding a baby. And as she comes closer and closer, he thinks, "Oh, that must be the twin sister of the lady that I've been praying for every day that she would be healed because she looks so much like her."
So as she comes close, true story, he says to her, "Are you the twin sister of the lady that I've been praying for?" And she goes, "No." She was like, "Pastor, it's me. I'm the one. I'm the one you've been praying for." And she's here. She is walking, holding this baby.
And she says to him, "Don't you remember you came to me in the middle of the night and told me, 'Rise up and walk?'" And Yonghee Cho said, "I never came to you in the middle of the night. Like I was back here praying and fasting and on my knees. I never came to your house in the middle of the night."
And she was like, "No, you did. It was you. You came to me in the middle of the night and said, 'Rise up and walk.' And I did." And she said, "Immediately, as she stood up and walked, her baby was healed. She was filled in the Holy Spirit and started speaking in tongues."
And she's like, "Don't you remember?" And then the Holy Spirit says to Yonghee Cho, "An angel of the Lord went in your place. As you were fighting the devil in this vision, the angel of the Lord went and told this lady to rise up and walk." And she was healed.
At this point, the whole village is with her because they can't believe the miracle. They all fall on their knees. True story. Fall on their knees in repentance and give their heart to the Lord. And Yonghee Cho said, "My church went from five people to 300 people in an instant."
And the Shaman people, the leader left and gave the land to him and his church. And so the church is still there to this day. Isn't that incredible? The power of prayer, because the battle is won in prayer before it's won out there.
It's a spiritual battle we're fighting. So it needs spiritual weapons. You know, 2 Corinthians 10, 4 verse 5 says, "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have the divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. And we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
Could I have the band come and join me, please?
Our final key this morning is that we need to lean into faith. Tell somebody, "Lean into faith." In Matthew 14, verse 28 to 31, we have an incredible story. And it's one that you will know well, probably. It's about Peter and he's walking on the water. Do you remember the story?
And so the disciples have gone out on the boat and then Jesus comes late that night walking on the water. The disciples freak out. They think that he's a ghost. And he tells them, "No, no, no, it's me. It's Jesus." And Peter says, "Hey, if it's really you, Jesus, tell me to walk on the water."
And so Jesus says, "It's really me. Come on out." And so Peter jumps on the water and he begins to walk on the water. And then it says that he looks around and he sees the wind. And fear strikes his heart and he begins to sink.
And Jesus reaches out and saves him. And he says to him, "Peter, why did you doubt? Peter, why did you have little faith?" And you know, it struck me as I read the story, I saw something that I'd never seen before.
See, Peter, Peter is in the middle of the miracle. He's doing it. He's literally walking on water. And we know, I mean, Pastor Beulah, she talked about it a few weeks ago, about if you only have faith as small as a seed, you can do the miraculous. You can say to this mountain, "Be moved from here to here," and it will obey you. We know that there is power in our faith.
But did you realize there is power in your doubt? Because as soon as Peter started focusing on the wind and Jesus said, "Why did you doubt?" Peter begins to sink. So he's walking on the water. He's walking in faith. He's in the middle of a miracle. But when doubt comes, it causes him to sink.
There's power in your faith, but there's power in your doubt. Jesus said, "Why did you have little faith? Why did you doubt?" See, the truth is you've got to choose what you're going to lean into. You've got to choose what you're going to give power to. Will you give power to doubt or will you give power to faith? Power to doubt, power to faith, both have power and an authority to move on our behalf.
This is why Jesus says in verse eight of that parable, "But when the Son of Man comes, will He find persistent faith on the earth?" His instruction is clear. Always pray and never give up. Lean into faith. Be persistent because persistence wears out resistance.
And remember the battle is won in prayer before it's won out there. Amen. Amen. Amen.
I pray that that has stirred your heart to be persistent in faith. Because I think as believers so often we can rely on the sovereignty of God and God is sovereign. And we say, "Well, whatever God wants to do, we're going to do it." And we're, "That's what will happen anyway."
But we can use that to take the teeth out of prayer. We can use that as an excuse to stop digging in in prayer. But the reality is when the disciples were casting out demons, they were casting them out left, right, and center. But there was one in particular that they couldn't get out. And when they asked Jesus, "Why couldn't we cast out that demon?" Jesus said, "Some kinds can only come out with prayer and fasting."
There's a persistence in prayer and fasting that was required for that demon to be able to come out. The truth is there are some breakthroughs in your life that will only come out with persistent prayer.
I wonder how many breakthroughs, how much is stored in the treasuries of heaven that is yet to be released because the people won't pray. Because the people won't press in and be persistent in prayer.
See, Jesus is so clear in this parable. We must be persistent in prayer. Cry out day and night. Lock on. Hold on. Be like a bulldog and don't let go until you see the truth.
See the thing come to pass. Do you see the victory that the Lord has promised in His Word? Would you stand to your feet this morning, church? Because before we go, I'd love to take a moment just to pray over us as a church family.
And I don't know about you, but this stirred me up to pray. Oh, it stirred me up to pray. It stirred me up to pray for everything because the battle is won in prayer before it's won out there. If you're like me and you want a bulldog faith, would you just lift your hands? I'm just going to pray for us.
Thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your Word. Not one word is an accident. We thank You, God, for this parable. We thank You for the way that You have shown us how imperative it is that we have a faith that is persistent, a faith that will not back down in the face of the enemy, a faith that will not back down in the face of disappointment or discouragement or a breakthrough that seems slow in coming.
God, right now, I pray that You would release a bulldog faith into our hearts in this place. God, that we would look on to what You have for us, that we would bite down on the Word of God and refuse to let go.
Lord, I pray that You would change us from the inside out, that You would change the way we think, that You would change the way we pray. I pray for a new audaciousness and tenacity to come out of us as we pray. I pray, Holy Spirit, that as we pray, we will be filled with fresh oil from heaven.
God, that our prayers would be led by heaven. Holy Spirit, would You rise up in every heart? Would You put a new fire in every belly? Would You burn within us, mighty God, that we would see everything shift in our nation, that we would see what You have called us to come to pass.
Have Your way in us, we pray in Jesus' name, in Jesus' name, in Jesus' name.
Before we close, I just want to take a moment while every head is bowed and every eye is closed, just to give an opportunity to anyone here today that doesn't know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, that hasn't made the commitment to live their life for Jesus.
And if you're here today and you know that's me, He's not my Lord and Saviour. He's not in control of my life. I don't know if I'm going to heaven one day. I want to give you an opportunity to make that decision because eternity matters most. There is nothing that matters more than your eternity.
The Bible actually says, "What good is it if a man gains the whole world but loses his soul?" Your soul matters most. Eternity matters most. And so, if you would like to make that decision today to give your heart to Jesus, oh, it's the best decision of your life. Would you just slip your hand up really quickly, and I'm just going to pray for you.
If that's you, I'm just looking from the left to the right. Just raise your hand if that's you today. I see that hand. Is there anyone else? Thank you, Jesus.
Why don't we all pray this prayer together?
"Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for me. I confess I'm a sinner in need of a Saviour. Thank you for taking my place. I believe in Jesus. I give my life to you today. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. Amen."
Would you put your hands together for everyone that made that decision?
Hey, in a moment, Pastor Mitch is going to come and she's going to lead you in your next step. But just as a church family, before we go, our time is up. But before we go, would you just take a moment in worship to examine your heart and allow the Holy Spirit to show you where you may have laid down prayers. Where you may have quit praying for something that He actually has for you.
And just take a moment to ask Him, "Lord, search my heart. God, what have I laid down that you are asking me to pick back up?"
on Aug 06, 2024
