Powerful Prayers: Praying the Scriptures & Delighting in God's Presence

"James Duncan, preaching with great unction and power, was asked what was the secret of such powerful preaching. "The secret," he said, was "thirteen hours of consecutive prayer."
When asked the secret of his spiritual power, Charles Spurgeon said: "Knee work! Knee work!"

Charles Finney, after spending a day in the woods in prayer and fasting, preached that night in a phenomenally irreligious congregation. The sermon was accompanied by such divine power that the whole congregation, except one man, fell
prostrate upon the floor, and voiced their agony under conviction of sin, in such loud outcries that the preacher was forced to stop." -Christ Life Newsletter.

Imagine if every person in the world prayed an hour a day! The entire world would change. Imagine if every person in this city prayed a half hour a day. The crime would drop to 0. Imagine if every person in the world knew God’s love. The whole world would be filled with peace.

But fear not my friends, it may seem overwhelming, to pray for an hour or a half hour. You can pray for a few minutes, and start there. Because God is near. And he hears our prayers. He answers in mighty ways too.

God is here right now. He is among us. And he is working. The kingdom of God is here.

"Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.” -Luke 17:20-21

Understand that God lives within you. We know that for certain. We know Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit to live within us. That’s not a theory. It’s a fact. It’s a present reality for every Christian.

So when you look for God’s presence recognize yes God is all around you, but he is also within you.

When we pray we should pray like Jesus did, looking toward heaven, but we can also know God is around us, and within us.

God is not far off. He is here. He is with us.

Today we’re going to consider two types of prayer that Jeanne Guyon discusses in the first three chapters of her book “Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ.”

The first is the practice of praying the scriptures. The second is the prayer of silence.

"Speak to Him then, for He hears,
And spirit with spirit can meet;
Closer is He than breathing,
And nearer than hands or feet."
-Alfred Lord Tennyson.

One way we speak to God is through praying His word. How powerful don’t you think? To quote God’s own words back to Him?

God’s words are written in gold, they are written across the universe itself, they are not of human origin, they are divine. So when we speak them, we are speaking a grand mystery beyond our understanding. Praying those timeless words, has great effect.

One of the most common scriptures to pray is Psalm 23. I encourage you to keep Psalm 23 in your back pocket as a prayer to God…

Try it like this…

Lord, you are my shepherd, I have everything I need.
You make me rest in green pastures,
You lead me, beside quiet waters,
You refresh my soul
You guide me along the right paths, for your name’s sake
Even though I walk through the darkest valley I will fear no evil
For you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever. Amen (Psalm 23)

Sometimes it’s just praying a proverb, Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” And we pray, Lord I trust you with all my heart, I don’t lean on what I know, I submit to you in all my ways, and you make my path straight, in Jesus name, amen.”

Sometimes it’s praying a promise of God, John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

The prayer then is, “Lord you gave me your peace, so I receive your peace, I am not troubled, and I am not afraid, in Jesus name, amen.”

Do you see how powerful praying the scriptures can be? Quoting God’s word back to Him is an effective prayer that can change the world in moments.

Second, we consider the prayer of silence. Here we find some specific biblical instructions from Madam Guyon. She says…

“As you come, come with a deep sense of love; come to Him very gently; come to Him with a deep sense of worship. As you come to Him, humbly acknowledge that He is everything. Confess to Him that you are nothing.” -p.16

A lot of what we do in prayer is simply engaging with God our Father in our emotions. And that’s OK. We want to love God and be loved by God, that happens in the heart.

Our hearts will overflow more and more with God’s love as we train ourselves to come to Him in prayer humbly.

Next Guyon says… “You need only believe that God dwells in you. This belief, and this belief alone, will bring you into His holy presence. Do not allow your mind to wander about but hold it in submission as much as possible. 

Once you are in the Lord's presence, be still and quiet before Him. And now, there in His presence, simply begin to repeat the Lord's Prayer. Begin with the word, "Father." As you do, let the full meaning of that word deeply touch your heart. Believe that the God who lives inside you is indeed so willing to be your Father. Pour out your heart to Him as a little child pours out his heart to his father. Never doubt your Lord's deep love for you. Never doubt His desire to hear you. Call on His name and remain before Him silently for a little while. Remain there, waiting to have His heart made known to you.” -p.17

Pour out your heart to God. Tell him about your day. Tell him what is frustrating you. Tell him why you are upset. Tell him why you are happy. Talk to him as your trusted Father who loves you. Really believe God does actually love you.

Pause after a little while, after pouring it all out, just wait, and pause, and be silent in God’s presence. This may seem awkward at first. Just embrace it. Allow it to be.

As Madam Guyon says begin praying the Lord’s prayer, but pray it very slowly. Think about the words you’re saying very closely.

When you say, “Father” to God think about it for a moment, wow, God is my father. “Who is In heaven” that’s where God dwells. “Holy is your name.” God is perfect. "Your Kingdom come, your will be done." And long in your heart that God’s kingdom would fully come in this city. See how you slowly reflect on the words and they go from mere words, to your heart cry to God. And now it’s a prayer of power. Because it’s coming from the heart. That doesn’t happen naturally, we have to train ourselves to let it go from mind to heart.

Madam Guyon next says, “ At some point in this encounter with your Lord, you will feel deep within your spirit that it is time to simply remain silent before Him. When you have such a sense, do not move on to the next word—not as long as this sense continues with you. You see, it is the Lord Himself who is holding you to silence. When that sense of waiting before Him has passed, go on again to the next words of the Lord's Prayer.” -p.17

Simply allow, at different moments in your prayer time, for God to command you to be silent. Then you be silent before Him.

But I’ve also found that at the end of my prayer time, when I’ve spoken everything I wanted to speak to God, God will inspire me to be silent. And in that silence I begin to simply enjoy God’s presence around me.

Some Christians call this practice enjoying God. Others call it the discipline of silence. Others call it God’s presence. Pentecostals call it “soaking.” But for me I simply think of it as “delighting in God’s presence.”

As it says in Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

At some point in this time of prayer, worship, and eventual silence, God’s presence moves in, and we delight in Him. You can tell when this happens in prayer. Because at the beginning of the prayer time it may feel like a chore, but by the end, you find you don’t want to leave, because God is there.

So in conclusion, remember these two styles of prayer, and you can very easily combine them as well. In the early time of your prayer, pray the scriptures, the slowly move toward silence, and then delighting in God’s presence.

In Review, remember the five basic concepts we talked about…

1. Praying the Scriptures as Requests – asking for something through God’s word

2. Praying the Scriptures as Promises – prayer as reciting faithful statements of what God has promised

3. Praying the Lord’s Prayer (slowly) – praying this prayer to go from mind to heart in prayer

4. Prayer of Silence (listening) – being silent before God, listening to what he is saying, waiting on God in prayer time

5. Prayer of Delighting God (enjoying) – as God’s presence takes over, delight and enjoy God’s presence

How to Live by the Spirit's Leading: The Spirit vs. the Flesh in Galatians 5-6

I recall an episode of Star Trek Voyager that always hit me very hard. It was called Timeless. The Voyager was a spaceship that had ended up far, far from home, and it was slowly making it’s way back through unknown territory.

It reminds me of us, as Christians, lost in the wilds of this fallen Earth, but also now on a journey, through dangerous territory, back home to God.

Voyager travels through many difficulties and dark places, and enemies, but, they are always kept safe. They make wise choices. They avoid dangerous areas. They refuel and resupply from time to time.

But in the episode Timeless, we see a worst case scenario, in which Voyager was destroyed, and plunged into an icy grave, because of some bad choices that were made.

In any case throughout the episode, two of the crew find a way to change history, so that they can change the bad decision they made.

One of the crew named Harry, actually sacrifices his life, to correct the mistake, and make things ok again.

We as Christians also face decisions that can either keep us on the right path, or begin to lead us astray.

The Bible talks about our faith journey as like we’re sailing on a ship. And yet Paul also writes of those who have “Shipwrecked faith” because they got off course.

I’ve seen decisions in front of me as a Christian, a temptation, an old friend who wants to hang out, a drink or drug in front of me, and I can see where it leads, an icy grave.

But I’ve avoided those pathways, and followed the paths of life. We too must learn to follow the pathway of life. The great thing is, God helps us every step of the way. He protect us. And guides us. And he helps us to make the right choices, to steer our ship toward heaven.

But I want you to remember this as well: Even if you tumble off the path and into the clutches of sin and death, God has provided pathways even in those dark places to change history, like history was changed in our example today.

Galatians 5:13-25 "You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other."

You have been called to freedom, is one of the key teachings that Paul lays out to the Galatian church. Certain people in this church were saying that they needed to go back to the Old Testament law in order to follow God rightly.

Instead Paul gives them different instructions, he says, actually you’re free in Christ. You don’t need to follow the old testament law. But do consider yourself obligated to love your neighbor as yourself.

So we see our structure begins to be built. Two towers, one is the Spirit and one is the flesh. The Spirit’s leading in your life is marked by freedom, a call to humble service, and a general command to love your neighbor.

However, in the flesh, there is slavery to sin, not freedom. That slavery leads to indulgence of evil desires, and that leads to conflict among believers.

Next in verses 16-18, “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

All this leads us to the key command for our scripture today: Walk by the Spirit. Or be led by the Holy Spirit.

If you do allow the Holy Spirit to lead your life, then you naturally won’t want to gratify the desires of the flesh.

But, if you allow the flesh to lead your life, then you will naturally begin to gratify the desires of the flesh.

Next we get a list of fifteen ways in which believers can end up walking by the flesh.

In verses 19-21, “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Gratifying the desires of the flesh, lead to the acts of the flesh, which are listed by Paul here. You can see how a lot of these acts of the flesh are connected, one leads to the next, sexuality immorality leads to impurity, hatred leads to discord, jealousy leads to fits of rage, selfish ambition leads to factions and envy, sexual immorality leads to drunkenness leads to orgies and the like.

Sins of the flesh build and begin to gain steam as a snow ball rolling down a hill. But, one can always stop the process, by seeking God’s help, praying, asking forgiveness, and turning from the sins of the flesh toward the Spirit’s leading once again.

The sins of the flesh are the fruit of the indulgence of the flesh. Our choices bear fruit in one direction or the other.

Next Paul lists off different fruits, fruits of being led by the Spirit.

Paul writes, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (22-24).

If we consistently allow ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit, we will begin to grow fruit in our lives that expresses itself as love. That love leads to joy. Kindness leads to gentleness. Forbearance leads to faithfulness, which leads to self control. All these characteristics of the Spirit that God produces in us are connected. They build on each other.

Paul adds, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.” -Gal 5:25-26

There’s a sense given of keeping in step with the Spirit. Listening for the Spirit’s leading. Following the promptings of the Holy Spirit within. It’s an art form of sorts. We learn to listen to God’s leading. And we stay in step with the Spirit.

We also guard against conceitedness, that’s pride, ego. As we grow in the Spirit and produce the fruit of the Spirit, we may be tempted to become prideful and think wow look at how good I’m doing. But guard against pride, stay humble, and don’t envy each other.

Paul continues, in Galatians 6:1-6, “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load. Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.”

There is a lot here, but I want to focus on one key here, If someone is caught in a sin, help restore that person gently.

Many Christians from time to time can slip into the wrong category here, into the flesh and begin to be deceived and caught in the cycle of sin. But a believer can help restore that person. And bring them back into alignment with the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Calling out their sin gently, encouraging them to repent, praying with them, and bringing to church, or bible study, can all be helpful steps in that process.

Pretty soon that person that was lost in the cesspool of sin finds themselves in the Spirit once again, and back in freedom.

But we also get a warning, be cautious because you can tempted by the sin they are active in.

So conversely, someone walking in the Spirit, if they go into a situation where there is a lot of tempting sin going on around them, can be tempted back over into the sins of the flesh. And they end up back in the flesh and caught up in slavery again.

There have been times that I was attempting to help someone escape sin, to break free from lust, or drinking, or hatred, but I began to sense myself feeling the temptation toward what they were doing. And I had to keep my guard up, and leave that situation before the temptation grew too strong. Again, don’t become prideful. Don’t assume that you could never fall to a sin. Temptation still has an effect on us. Don’t be brash, leave the situation before you’re overly tempted! That’s wisdom.

Think of it like that classic board game shoots and ladders. Following the Holy Spirit is like slowly climbing the ladder, one foot in front of the other, led by the Spirit we take our journey up in the goodness of Christ.

The shoots are quick, we feel tempted, allow a sin in our lives, and quickly that sin begins to take over and we slide down very quickly, like down a shoot, and out into the bottom. But we can always ask God’s forgiveness and come to the ladder once again. The stairway to heaven is transposed with the backslider slipping back down into the pit of sin.

Next it says, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” (7-8)

Paul gives this stark reminder, a man will reap what he sows.

So all this has to do with sowing. What is sowing? Sowing is planting seeds. If we are sowing toward the Spirit, planting seeds with actions and words in the Spirit, we will be reaping eternal life.

If we are consistently sowing to the flesh, we will in the end reap destruction.

The fruits of the Spirit well up like a building fountain, bubbling up to eternal life.

The fruits of the flesh they well up like a bubbling fountain of filth, bubbling up to judgment and destruction.

But understand, if someone is sowing to the flesh, they can always repent, ask God’s forgiveness and they will be completely forgiven, and none of those sins will be counted against them.

But also understand, if someone is sowing to the Spirit, but they fall back into sin, and those sins continue to build and build, and they refuse to listen to the Spirit calling them toward repentance, they can, at the end of their lives, having stubbornly refused the Spirit’s calling to repentance, reap eternal destruction.

Here’s an interesting question, what if I’m doing both? I’m sowing to the Spirit and I’m sowing to the fleshly sins. In that case, I have to believe that one will crowd the other out. You’ll begin to be in conflict within yourself. The Spirit will be saying to you, clear out those sins. The flesh will be saying, stop listening to the Spirit. And you’ll begin to obey one of those voices, either you’ll begin to put the fleshly sins to death, or you’ll begin to ignore the voice of the Spirit. It will pull in one direction or the other.

Does this mean we’re adding works to our salvation? Not at all. We are saved because of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. Our only part is to live in response to that by putting to death the flesh and living by the Spirit. It’s simply showing the genuineness of our faith in Christ, or it’s showing we don’t really have a faith in Christ, or our faith in Christ has been shipwrecked due to unbelief/willful sin.

We’re not adding anything to our salvation. We already wear the robe of righteousness. We’re simply doing two things, living out the lifestyle of those who wear the robe of righteousness, which is loving our neighbor. And we’re keeping our garment clean and tidy, unstained by the muck of the sins of the world. We’ve added no new garment to the robe, indeed we cannot. Christ is all. His righteousness is enough for perfect purity.

If a police officer wears a police uniform he does things that police officers do in a police uniform. An officer in uniform not doing police things would not be right. He would eventually have it taken away because he was not using it correctly. Similarly he’s expected to keep the uniform clean and to wear it with honor. If he does not, again, he may lose it. He cannot make his own uniform, that would not be an authentic uniform. Similarly, we wear what we’re given, and we steward the robe of righteousness of Christ, by living out the actions assigned to us in it, and by not allowing ourselves to be stained or dirtied by the wickedness of the world.

Lastly Paul tells us this in 9-10, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” -Galatians 6:9-10

God knows that we will at times start to feel weary in doing good. We keep living clean, living holy lives, resisting the flesh, doing good deeds in the name of Jesus, but it can be tiring, and we see people living in sin and we start to think, well I want to indulge too.

God reminds us, don’t become weary in doing good, because this consistent cycle you’re living in, of doing good, living in Christ, following the leading of the Spirit means that you’re en route, on a journey, to reap a harvest of eternal life.

If, it says, if we don’t give up.

Notice also in the flesh column, there is a cycle there as well, a cycle of harvest, practicing fleshly indulgence leads to a different kind of harvest, a harvest of destruction.

You know in that episode of Star Trek Voyager Harry Kim was tempted because he wanted to find a faster way home. He became prideful in his own abilities, thinking he could do the impossible. And that led to destruction for the spaceship. The ship was blown off course and crash landed on an ice planet.

Certain choices we make are routine. Certain choices we make are minor. Certain choices we make are big. They have the capacity to either lead us much closer to God or way off course.

The Holy Spirit will help you to recognize those key moments and to choose life. But guard against pride. Pride says I can do it my own way. Pride says I don’t need to listen to the Spirit, I know better. Guard against pride. Stay humble in this process of sowing to the Spirit. And stay patient. Keep sowing. Don’t give up. And you’ll reap a harvest if you don’t quit. And all that is sealed off in loving our neighbor, so much of this played out by thinking of others before ourselves.

The flesh is selfishness incarnate. The Spirit is thinking of others before ourselves. That’s not natural for us. But the Spirit helps us in our weakness. And we’re able to do good to all and especially to believers.


To Review:

1. God gives freedom to humbly love & serve our neighbors

2. Be led by the Spirit, not the fleshly desires

3. Indulgence in the flesh lead to the acts of the flesh

4. Walking in the Spirit leads to the fruits of the Spirit

5. One caught in the flesh can be restored to the Spirit

6. One in the Spirit can be tempted into the flesh

7. Our Actions repeatedly sow either to flesh or Spirit

8. The process of sowing to the flesh leads to destruction

9. The process of sowing to the Spirit leads to eternal life

10. If you become weary in doing good, remind yourself of the glorious harvest of eternal life

Every single person born is born into the flesh. They seemed destined for destruction. It almost seems inevitable. But God changes history time and again. He changed my story. I was meant for destruction I could taste it. I was locked into that pathway. But I cried out to Jesus Christ, and suddenly time, space, reality, everything changed in a moment, I went from filthy rags, to purest garments. All it takes is calling out Jesus Christ. Even if we’ve fallen from grace, we can come again to Him, and find repentance and renewed purity. It’s a history changing miracle. It changes our future forever.

How to Walk in the Presence of God: The Heart Prayer of Simplicity

"God our Father has made all things depend on faith so that whoever has faith will have everything, and whoever does not have faith will have nothing." -Martin Luther.

There is a key that’s very important in this journey, it’s the key of believing something is true.

This concept has been used incorrectly in the past to justify all sorts of silly things. “If you just believe hard enough for a sports car, it will appear in your drive way. If you just believe hard enough that you can fly, you’ll jump off the ground and start flying." We know those things aren't true.

But, let’s take a more concrete example. I recall when I first came up to the idea of learning how to read, I was quite nervous. I thought this is just beyond me, there’s no way I can figure this out. I was sitting there in first grade thinking to myself, I don’t believe I can do this. But, slowly but surely as the teacher taught and retaught the concepts, I began to learn. And I began to believe that I could learn to read. Then I did learn to read.

If you don’t believe you can find a good job, what happens? You don’t find a good job. But if you really believe you can find a good job, you have something, a faith, that propels you forward, and you search and you apply, and you keep believing that you’ll find a decent job. And sure enough, one day you do. You have a faith and confidence that is operative there.

It’s something we know is true in our society: You can find a job. Or you can learn to read. We’d be foolish if we thought it wasn’t possible.

It’s the same with God’s kingdom, there are things that we need to believe, in order to access kingdom systems. It’s not our belief that makes them appear. No. It’s the fact that God has set it up. It’s there. And we can access it by faith.

There is one key fact I want you to begin to believe as we go through this topic.

It’s this: I can walk in the presence of God.

Some of you believe that, some of you don’t. Some of you don’t believe that and don’t care to have that. Others here do believe that, but haven’t experienced it yet. And some here do believe that and currently experience it.

Is that concept biblical that we can walk in the presence of God? In fact it is, it’s mentioned many times throughout the Bible, but the most famous is probably Genesis 5:24, “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.”

That’s our goal as well. That we would walk with God in our lives, and then one day, God will take us home.

It’s also said of Noah, that he walked with God. From Genesis 6:9, “Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.” NIV renders it "faithfully walked" other translations simply say "walked with God." 

Noah walked with God. Enoch walked with God. Indeed many of the greats have walked with God. But just as many average everyday believers have found this blessed life of walking in the presence of God. You don’t have to be a legend of the Bible to walk in God’s presence.

Madam Guyon states in her book, I know that most Christians don’t feel that they of all people have “been called to a deep inward relationship to their Lord” (p.1). She continues, “But we have all been called to the depths of Christ just as surely as we have been called to salvation.”

What is salvation? It’s being reconciled to God. Our sins are forgiven. We become born again. We enter into the total approval and peace of God. We are brought back into contact with the God who made the human race. But that isn't the end of it!

The moment we receive the new birth is not the end of the journey, it’s the beginning. The rest of our days we spend learning what it means to “walk in the presence of God.”

I know in many circles there is a very transactional way of viewing salvation, Christ died for our sins, we received forgiveness by His blood, we were born again, and we received the Holy Spirit within. That's great stuff, don't get me wrong, all 100% true! But all of that is the process by which we’re brought into right communion with God. It's the starting point, not the end in itself!

Now that we have the prize of communion with God we should run with it, and grow in it, for all the many years ahead of us. As the scriptures say, come into maturity, find a stability in our walks with God, where we go deeper, and we really learn to go to the depths of Jesus Christ.

So we’ve launched out on our adventure. Our spaceship cuts through the atmosphere and we burst forth into space.

But as we head out into deep space, the depths of God that is, we have to understand some terms. We’ve got to learn the controls of the space ship. We’ve go to learn the rules of space travel. We’ve got to know the ins and outs and hows and whys of this adventure.

So let’s dive into what this all really means. What does Madam Guyon mean when she writes to us about a “deep, inward relationship to Jesus Christ?” She gives us this definition, she says, “Actually it is very simple. It is only the turning and yielding of your heart to the Lord. It is the expression of love within your heart for Him” (p.1).

Let’s define some terms. What does the Bible mean when it talks about our heart?

When the Bible talks about our heart, it isn’t referring to the muscle in our chests that is pumping blood throughout our body. It’s talking about really our entire soul, our being. The heart is where we make our decisions from. It’s where we feel our emotions. It’s where we believe in God. It’s where we think as well. The heart is really a combination of our mind, our will, and our emotions.

So to embrace God, as we’re told, we must repent away from our past attitudes and ideas. We’ve got to let go of how we used to think, how we used to feel, and how we used to choose, and let the Bible begin to change those things.

We can’t do that ourselves. I can’t force my heart to change toward God. Instead we’re told to give our heart to God. We put it in His hands. We ask God in prayer to change our hearts. And then our heart indeed does change.

We begin to think differently. We begin to act differently. We study the Bible and begin to live by what the Bible says. We feel differently than we used to. We have different hungers and desires than we used to. It’s amazing what God does in our hearts when we put them in His hands.

1. First step, turn your heart away from evil things.
2. Second step, yield, surrender your heart to God.
3. Thirdly, watch a miracle happen: Your heart will begin to express love for God. And you’ll receive the love God has for you.

That is how salvation happens. We repent of our sins in our hearts. We receive Christ as savior, by giving our hearts to God, and then God changes our hearts, from stone to soft flesh, and we find healing and union with God.

But this is also how we go deeper in our relationship with God. Continuously in our lives, as we face different situations, different problems, we turn our hearts toward God in the situation, we yield to God in the situation, our heart to Him, and God helps us to love Him and receive His love freely. Then we find victory through the difficulties of life.  

It’s an ongoing process of surrendering things over to God, by surrendering our hearts over to God again and again.

All of this is done in prayer, and reading the Bible. As you do those two things over and over you come to know the Lord in a deeper and deeper way. Now understand, God doesn’t love you because you’re seeking Him. He already loves you because you received Jesus Christ as savior. He doesn’t necessarily love you more because you’re seeking Him, but I’m sure he loves that you’re doing so. None of this is to earn God’s love. You already have God’s love in Christ. This is all to go deeper, and on into maturity in Christ.

Madam Guyon indicates, “How then will you come to the Lord to know Him in such a deep way? Prayer is the key. But I have in mind a certain kind of prayer. It is a kind of prayer that is very simple and yet holds the key to perfection and goodness- things found only in God Himself. The type of prayer that I have in mind will deliver you from enslavement to every sin. It is a prayer that will release you every Godly virtue. You see the only way to be perfect is to walk in the presence of God” (p. 3).

She goes on to say that this type of prayer “…leads you into the presence of God and keeps you there at all times; a prayer that can be experienced under any conditions, any place, and any time.” (p.3).

She refers to this type of prayer as “the prayer of simplicity.” I think she’s speaking of something similar to what Brother Lawrence taught about his famous book “The Practice of the Presence of God.”

I’m going to call it “the heart prayer” because it’s a prayer that flows right from the seat of your very being. It’s not something that happens in the mind alone. The mind can’t pray this type of prayer correctly. It’s something that happens in the heart, in the seat of our emotions.

When we pray with our mouths, with our minds, often the prayers come out kind of blandly. But I think it’s when we combine those prayers of the mouth with the yearning of the heart, and faith in God, it becomes very powerful.

I’ll give you an example. You pray for your sister (or other family member) to find salvation in Christ. In your mind you say the words, you speak them out of your mouth, but in your heart two things happen…

One, you long in your emotions for your sister to know Christ. You long for her to be transformed. You long, you almost weep within, cry out within for a change that will change her life drastically. You feel it.

Two, you believe that God is there, God is really listening to the prayer, and huge, you really believe that God is going to change her life. You have that powerful faith in your heart that God is already rising up and changing her story.

It begins in the mouth and the mind, but it grows into the longings of the emotions, but then the miracle comes when in faith, we believe God can and will and is indeed already answering.

I think that’s the key to the prayer of simplicity. We believe God is here in our heart. We toss aside doubts. We just believe that it’s true. A simple, child-like faith that God is here. And as we cultivate that attitude of heart, we throughout the day, are now walking in the presence of God.

The process is simple... a practice of the prayer of simplicity: 

1. You long in your emotions to experience God

2. You believe in your heart that God is really here and listening and wants you to experience His presence

3. We wait on God in faith, then God responds, His presence moves in and we delight in Him

In other words... 

We believe God is with us. Over time that turns into... 

We know God is with us. 

In time we learn to focus our attention on Him...

Then, we focus our hearts on God’s presence.

That happens in spirts, but over time we learn to keep it nearly constant, then, always...

And as a result, we find one day, on the journey we can say...

"I walk in the presence of God."

It becomes our new reality. It becomes a state of mind, a state of heart that we constantly walk in.

Do you believe that this is possible? That you could really walk in the presence of God? Then you’re already on your way.

Winning your Spiritual Battles: The Armor of God as a Guide

"John Paton was a missionary in the New Hebrides Islands. One night hostile natives surrounded the mission station, intent on burning out the Patons and killing them. Paton and his wife prayed during that terror-filled night that God would deliver them. When daylight came they were amazed to see their attackers leave. A year later, the chief of the tribe was converted to Christ. Remembering what had happened, Paton asked the chief what had kept him from burning down the house and killing them. The chief replied in surprise, "Who were all those men with you there?" Paton knew no men were present--but the chief said he was afraid to attack because he had seen hundreds of big men in shining garments with drawn swords circling the mission station."
-Today in the Word, MBI, October, 1991, p. 18.

John Paton’s wife knew that the real struggle was spiritual, not physical. So she got to work praying and praying that fateful night. God answered those prayers, and he sent his angels to protect them.

We too must remember that our struggle is not physical, but spiritual. We must fight our battle in the spiritual realm, which is just as real as the physical world.

To that end we’re going to be delving into a scripture today that will give us specific instructions for how to fight and win our spiritual battles.

Spiritual warfare is something we Christians understand to be events in our lives that are sent from Satan and his demons to try to disrupt our lives, harm us, confuse us, discourage us, or lead us off course in our walk with Christ.

God allows these attacks for the purpose of testing and refining our faith. Satan and his demons can’t do anything without God’s permission. God gives permission, in certain circumstances, and at certain times, to test our faith.

Many things in life are not spiritual warfare. They are just simple life problems. Your car breaks down, life problem. You get into a fight with your spouse, life problem. You forget to pay a bill, life problem.

But there are also events that are more than that. They are spiritual in nature. We will usually be able to sense that this is an attack from the enemy. I have a discernment, where I can tell that it’s from the enemy. You will probably be able to tell pretty quickly as well, this was from the enemy.

But I don’t want you to be afraid. Because God has given you everything you need to win the spiritual battles you face.

And we find that formula in the classic structure of the armor of God. Let’s delve into that structure now.

It says in verse 10, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.”

Verse 10 is the end goal, this is where we will arrive. If we obey all the instructions in verses 11-20, we will have the solution, which his to "be strong in the Lord."

A big part of that solution is going to be verse 11, which says, “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”

What’s the purpose of the armor? To stand against the devil’s attacks. The enemy is trying from time to time, to get me to want to quit the ministry. He wants you to leave the church. He’ll sometimes use an incident to try to make you mad so you want to quit. He will try to cause drama in your friendships. He’ll try to hurt you financially. In all this, we want to put on the armor of God and stand.

It continues, (verse 12) “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

And again in verse 13, “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”

Four key commands here: 

1. Be Strong! 

2. Understand our struggle is spiritual
3. Put on God’s Armor 

4. Stand your ground (continuously)

If we understand that our struggle is spiritual, against Satan and the demons, we will want to put on the armor of God daily. If we don’t, and we’re too focused on the physical world, we will end up not even bothering with it. That’s why it’s so important we understand the spiritual world is real.

My biggest worry is that we’ll all see this and think "hey that’s cool" and never actually use this formula. This is real stuff. We need to fear God and obey it completely, or we will lose our spiritual battles, and end up on the run in life, naked and fleeing for our lives. The devil isn’t playing around. He wants to drive you out of the church, get you away from the word, isolate you, and destroy you with addictions and sins. That’s his goal. But if we put on this armor, we can stand against the enemy’s schemes.

Here's how it’s put together. First, “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist” –Ephesians 6:14a

The first thing we want to do, is to know God’s word very well. Then we’ll be armed with truth. But it’s more than that. We want a gift of God known as discernment. Discernment is being able to look at things in the world and know what’s really going on there.

It’s hearing a pastor preach and saying, something is off with that message. It’s hearing another pastor preach and saying, this is a spirit-filled message. It’s listening to a song and knowing, this song has demonic influence in it. It’s listening to another song and saying, this song is of God. We see different things, in entertainment, in academia, in politics, in history, in the church, and we’re able to, with God’s help, discern the truth about it.

Pray for discernment. We all need it!

Prayer: God, we put on the belt of truth, in Jesus name, amen.

Next, still verse 14, “with the breastplate of righteousness in place…”

The breastplate of righteousness is two things, first it’s wearing the righteousness of Jesus Christ, second, it’s mimicking that righteousness in our own actions. One is justification, the other is sanctification. You are holy in Christ (justification), therefore be holy for He is holy (sanctification) (1st Peter 1:15-16).

If you want to stand against the enemy’s schemes, believe Jesus is your righteousness, and then live that out in your own actions.

Prayer: Lord, we put on the breastplate of righteousness. Amen.

Verse 15 says, “...and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”

I remember in playing basketball for many years, I attended camps and classes, and they’d always teach us that our footwork was very important, on defense and offense.

Spiritually, we want to understand that at all times we want to be ready, ready to spread the gospel of peace. God gives us peace, and that peace helps us to be ready.

It’s just always having a mindset that this could be a moment where I get to minister to someone. Are you watchful like that? Are you looking for opportunities? Or are you so focused on yourself that you don’t share the gospel? That’s the challenge friends, be about your Father’s business, not just your own.

Prayer: Lord we put on the shoes of the readiness of the gospel of peace.

Next in verse 16, “In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”

Stay in a position of faith in your life. We will feel tempted from time to time to complain, doubt God, and begin to despair or give up. Stay in faith. Keep that shield of faith raised up.

Choose faith. I know it’s hard sometimes. But keep trusting God. As those arrows fly in, keep that shield up, and faith in God will extinguish the darts of the enemy.

It’s a choice in the end. You can always respond to any problem or situation in two ways, doubt or faith.

Right now we’re trying to hire a new caseworker at The Salvation Army. My mind battles, how should I respond? Doubt says, great timing this is a mess we won’t find the right one, how could God let this happen, blah blah blah. Faith says, God is going to provide the right person at the right time. This is building our faith. Everything will be ok. Stand firm.

Choose faith. It’s the better way to respond.

There’s an amazing film that delves into this topic of how to respond. It’s called “Greater” the true story of Brandon Burlsworth. And it catalogues the wrestling of his brother, after Brandon died at a young age. Would he choose resentment and anger at God for letting it happen? Or would he choose faith and trust, that God was still good, and Brandon was home in paradise?

The struggle is played out with Brandon's brother sitting on a bench by the football stadium. An old man represents Satan and comes and sits next to him, and tempts him to despair and become bitter. The old man carves a wooden figurine of him, looking angry and bitter. But Brandon's brother resists the enemy, rejects his lies, and comes to see a wider angle on the problem of pain and suffering. 

Choose faith today. Lift up that shield. Don’t let the enemy’s lies lead you to be angry at God.

Prayer: Lord, we put on the shield of faith. In Jesus name, amen!

Verse 17 says, “Take the helmet of salvation...”

We have a great hope, it’s called the hope of salvation. One day, God willing, we will pass into the next life, and receive our full inheritance, our salvation in the new Jerusalem. I look forward to that day.

Keep your salvation in sight. Look upward to your eternal future in heaven. Think about heaven. Read books about heaven. Learn about the New Jerusalem. Consider all the wonderful joys the next life has waiting for you. Keep your mind focused on salvation, the glorious future you have this hope of. Hope does not put us to shame. “hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us.” – Romans 5.

Prayer: Lord, we put on the helmet of salvation, in Jesus name, amen.

Next, still in verse 17, “...and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

Your greatest weapon is to speak the word of God. Speak life. Speak truth. Speak the scriptures. The voice is powerful. To speak is powerful. Remember God spoke, and he said, let there be light, and there was light. Now, we are not gods. But, when we speak, it’s powerful too, because we’re made in God’s image.

When Jesus returns he will destroy the beast “with the sword that comes out of His mouth” Revelation 19:15.

A sword comes out of your mouth as well, it’s the word of God, spoken in the Spirit. When we speak the word, we should speak it in the Spirit. Spiritless word isn’t near as powerful as words spoken by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We must be led by God for that to happen. And he will guide the words we speak.

Prayer: Lord, we put on the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, in Jesus name, amen.

Lord, help us to speak the word from the Spirit, help us to learn that and walk in step with the Spirit in that, in Jesus name, amen.

But we aren’t done yet, next it says, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” (v. 18).

Pray for God’s people, with all sorts of different requests. We do that in life group, we do that in recovery group, we do that at the women’s group, we do that at dinner church, we pray all sorts of different requests and prayers, you should do the same on your own time, write down some prayers, and pray them at night before you go to bed, or in the morning before you start the day.

Paul continues in verses 19-20 and says, “Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”

Secondly, we want to constantly be praying for God’s people, praying for his apostles, his pastors, his teachers, his prophets, and his evangelists. Please pray for me. Pray for other pastors and missionaries and leaders everywhere. Pray specifically that we would have the right words to speak, that we would be fearless! That we would be ambassadors for Christ. And again, to not be cowardly, but bold and fearless. Leaders need that.

Many pastors and Christian leaders feel very pressured to not offend anyone. They feel pressured and stressed to go along with the culture. They don't want to make waves. They don't want to end up constant controversies. They stay quiet when they should speak. I get it, it's tough! Pray for Christian leaders to speak the truth boldly and fearlessly.

Now, if we do these things, if we discern truth, we if live righteously, if we have peaceful readiness, if we choose faith, focus on the hope of salvation, and speak the word in Spirit, and we pray for God’s people and God’s leaders, then, we will as a natural consequence have, “In His Mighty Power” from God, we will in fact be “Strong in the Lord.” Strong in ourselves? No, Strong in the Lord, in the Lord’s Mighty Power. We will be shielded in God’s strong, and the enemy’s schemes will be a failure. We will overcome and gain the victory over the ancient serpent, and be immovable, standing our ground, in the evil day.

The evil day will come from time to time for all of us. But if we put on the armor, and pray, we’ll be strong in the Lord, and all will be well. God bless you today.

Review:

1. Understand our Struggle is Spiritual in nature

2. Belt of Truth – Discern Truth

3. Breastplate of Righteousness – live righteously

4. Shoes of the Readiness – peaceful readiness

5. Shield of Faith – choose faith

6. Helmet of Salvation – hope of salvation

7. Sword of the Spirit – Speak the word in Spirit

8. Pray for God’s people - make all kinds of requests

9. Pray for God’s leaders - pray for boldness for leaders

10. Then, we will be Strong in the Lord – able to stand firm