https://www.gotquestions.org/Gods-timing.html

The first thing we need to understand about God’s timing is that it is perfect, just as all of God’s ways are perfect (Psalm 18:30; Galatians 4:4). God’s timing is never early, and it’s never been late. In fact, from before our birth until the moment we take our last earthly breath, our sovereign God is accomplishing His divine purposes in our lifetimes. He is in complete control of everything and everyone from everlasting to everlasting. No event in history has put so much as a wrinkle in the timing of God’s eternal plan, which He designed before the foundation of the world.

Patience is a spiritual fruit (Galatians 5:22), and Scripture makes it clear that God is pleased with us when we display this virtue: “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him” (Psalm 37:7), for God is good to those who wait for Him (Lamentations 3:25). And our patience often reveals the degree of trust we have in God’s timing. We must remember that God operates according to His perfect and foreordained eternal schedule, not ours. We should take great comfort in knowing that, when we wait on the LORD, we receive divine energy and strength: “But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31). The psalmist reiterates: “Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!” (Psalm 27:14).

When we question God’s timing, it is often because we are looking for guidance or deliverance from a difficult situation. We can rest assured, however, that our heavenly Father knows exactly where we are in our lives at every moment. He either put us there or is allowing us to be there, all for His own perfect purpose. In fact, God often uses trials to strengthen our patience, allowing our Christian faith to mature and become complete (James 1:3-4). And we know that all things – including these difficult trials – work out for the good of those who love God (Romans 8:28). God does indeed hear the cries of His children and will answer those cries according to His perfect will and timing. “A righteous man may have many troubles; the LORD delivers him from them all” (Psalm 34:19). The plans God has for His children are good plans – to help us, not hurt us (Jeremiah 29:11).

What is God’s Grace?

https://www.christianity.com/wiki/god/what-is-gods-grace.html

We experience God’s grace because God is gracious. In Exodus 34:6, when God is showing himself to Moses, we read “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.” Gracious is used here as an adjective describing God. It is one of his attributes.

Gracious, the Hebrew word channun, in its verb form, means to be considerate, to show favor. That God is gracious would mean that he is favorably inclined toward us. That he wants to show favor to us. To do what is best for us.

God is gracious. Graciousness is not something that he puts on and takes off depending on the situation. He is always gracious. He does not decide to show us grace. Rather it is just who he is. Because he is gracious he demonstrates grace in everything he does.

Grace is the Hebrew word chanan or the Greek word charis, meaning “the state of kindness and favor toward someone, often with a focus on a benefit given to the object.” (Strong’s Greek 5485).

Grace is what God does because he is gracious. Every action of God toward us involves his grace. His creation, his providence, his conviction of the sinner, his gift of salvation, his equipping of the saints, and the future he has prepared for us. All of this is due to God’s grace.

It is impossible to discuss adequately God’s grace without also mentioning love and mercy. These three attributes are closely related. And it is common to see them used together.

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5).

Because of his love, God, who is rich in mercy, saved us by his grace. Where does love end and mercy start? Or mercy end and grace begin? I don’t believe you can really draw a line between them. They are not really three different attributes. All three are simply different ways that we as humans see God.

The Unfathomable Riches of Christ

https://bible.org/article/believer%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%E2%84%A2s-unfathomable-riches-christ

When anyone accepts Jesus Christ as their personal Savior they are instantaneously enriched with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Eph. 1:3) and declared to be complete in Christ (Col. 2:10). In fact, the Apostle Paul refers to these blessings as “the unfathomable riches of Christ” in Ephesians 3:8. “Unfathomable” is the Greek anexichniastos which means “past finding out, unsearchable, not to be tracked out.” The idea is that the believer’s blessings in Christ are “too deep to be measured.” Many of these blessings, however, are clearly defined for us in the Bible.

• In the eternal plan of God: Rom 8:29
• Reconciled: 2 Cor 5:18-19
• Redeemed: Col 1:14
• No condemnation: Rom 8:1
• Related to God through propitiation (the satisfaction of God’s holiness): Rom 3:24-26
• All sins removed by His efficacious blood: 1 Peter 2:24
• Vitally joined together in Christ for judgment of the old self “unto a new walk”: Rom 6:6
• Free from the law: Rom 7:4
• Children of GOd: 1 John 3:7
• Adopted (placed as adult sons): rom 8:15
• Acceptable to God by Jesus Christ: Rom 3:22
• Justified: Rom 5:1
• Forgiven all trespasses: Col 1:14
• Made near: Eph 2:13
• Delivered from the powers of darkness: Col 2:13-15
• Translated into the kingdom: Col 1:13
• A gift from God the Father to Christ: John 10.29
• Partakers of the holy and royal priesthood: 1 Pet 2:5
• Chosen generation, a holy nation, and a people of God’s own possession: 1 Pet 2:9
• Have access to God: Eph 2:18
• WIthin the “much more” care of God: Rom 5:9-10
• His inheritance: Eph 1:18
• Our inheritance: 1 Pet 1:4
• A heavenly association: Eph 2:6
• Heavenly citizens: Phil 3:20
• Of the family and household of God: Eph 2:19
• Light in the Lord: Eph 5:8
• Vitally united to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit: 1 Thess 1:1
• Blessed with the “first-fruits” and the “earnest” of the Holy Spirit: John 3:6
• Glorified: Rom 8:30
• Complete in Him: Col 2:10
• Possessing “every spiritual blessing”: Eph 1:3

The Sovereignty of God

https://www.thegospelcoalition.com/essay/the-sovereignty-of-god/

The sovereignty of God is the same as the lordship of God, for God is the sovereign over all of creation. The major components of God’s lordship are his control, authority, and covenantal presence.

The sovereignty of God is the fact that he is the Lord over creation; as sovereign, he exercises his rule. This rule is exercised through God’s authority as king, his control over all things, and his presence with his covenantal people and throughout his creation. The divine name, Yahweh, expresses this sovereign rule over against the claims of human kings, such as Pharaoh (Exod. 3:14). Because God is tri-personal, however, his sovereign control is not impersonal or mechanical, but is the loving and gracious oversight of the king of creation and redemption.

His control means that everything happens according to his plan and intention. Authority means that all his commands ought to be obeyed. Presence means that we encounter God’s control and authority in all our experience, so that we cannot escape from his justice or from his love. When theologians talk about “divine sovereignty,” they usually have the first of these in mind, his control. Indeed, the Bible teaches that God controls all things. He has an eternal plan for all of nature and history (Eph. 1:9–11).

So even though Scripture teaches that God controls everything, we should not think of his sovereignty as an impersonal, mechanical determinism. God’s sovereign lordship is deeply personal. As Lord, God not only controls everything (efficaciously, universally), but also utters commands, words of life, that graciously govern the ongoing life of his creatures. And as Lord he has made a sovereign commitment to be “with” those who are his. Indeed, God’s sovereignty is a broad concept, including all that God is and all that he does, even embracing his love.

The Power of Our Praise and Worship

https://www.biblewaymag.com/the-power-of-your-praise-and-worship

The word praise means “the offering of grateful homage in words or song, as an act of worship: a hymn of praise to God”

Worship on the other hand in the New Testament the Greek word most often translated “worship” (proskuneo) is “to fall down before” or “bow down before.” Worship is a state (an attitude) of spirit. The nature of Christian worship is from the inside out and has two equally important parts. We must worship “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24).

Worship is a deeper form of praise. Everyone can praise God, but not everyone can truly worship as when you worship every part of you is involve: your mind, body and spirit. You get personal with God as you come from the outer court to the holy of holies where you physically or spiritual prostrate before God

1. Worship pulls down the glory of God. When you worship God the Bible says he inhabits the praises of his people, or he sits enthroned on the praises of his people (Psalms 22:3). What this means is that when you starts to praise God he comes down in your midst and inhabits your praises.
2. Praise and worship breaks yokes and brings deliverance. One of the first thing the enemy does when we are facing difficulties are going through our trials is to play with your mind as our mind is where the battle is either won or lost. He will come and play with your mind, tell you that you’re worthless, you cannot accomplish this or that or he will come and remind you of what you are currently facing. He loves when you focus on your problems, what someone said or did to you and not upon God as that is when he can infiltrate your mind and put thoughts in it that will hold you captive. That is why the Bible says that the weapons God has given us or not of this world, they are not carnal, weak or powerless but they are powerful spiritual weapons given to us by God to “…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”– 2 Corinthians 10:5. What this is saying that when a thought comes we should not sit idle and sup every thought that comes into our mind but we should hold them captive to see if they are God or not. If they are not of God we should destroy them, not to mediate upon them not even for a second but destroy them. ‘No devil I will not accept this thought. I am the head and not the tail’.
3. We receive breakthrough by praising and worshiping God. One of the power or effect of our worship is that we can receive breakthroughs in our lives when we learn to worship and praise God despite what we may be facing. Sometimes the enemy will stand as a fortress before us stopping us from receiving breakthroughs in our finances, relationship, ministry, job and so forth. The enemy is not our friend and his job is to stop us from receiving what the Lord has for us, but God is raising up on army that will not accept defeat or let the enemy robs them of what is theirs but will worship him for their breakthrough.

We Can Live Victorious Lives

We do not have to live defeated, but we can live a victorious life. Praise and worship is one of the most powerful weapon God has given us against the enemy. When we worship God even demons tremble and yokes began to be broken.

That is why the Satan is afraid of a worshiper because he cannot sit on a worshiper very long as when a worshiper gets into the presence of God he have to take his leave. Worship is so powerful that it can bring healing to the physical body, mind and spirit. Sometimes there are yokes on you, things not happening in your life and you need a breakthrough, you are weak in the spirit or body, spirit of heaviness is upon you, depression holds you captive and so forth, you can be free from them by praising and worshiping God.

Chapter 30 – Questions

1. Pg 228: Share what dreams /desires that you have put in God’s hand and you are waiting on His timing.
2. Ephesians 5:20: “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
   • What are you thankful for?
   • Have you ever really meditated on this verse
   • Have you ever continually praised God all day long !!
3. Read the following verses , then discuss the blessings found in the verses.
   • Eph 1:3-14
   • Romans 5:1-11
   • Romans 6:1-23
   • Romans 8:1-31
4. Share thoughts on the sovereignty of God.
5. Share your experience / or thoughts on how worship is a spiritual battle.

https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/gospel-worship/excerpts/worship-we-get-joy-god-gets-praise

Therefore, joyful, heartfelt, hope-filled delight in the God of mercy is the essence of worship. Not the totality of worship, but it is the essence. That’s amazingly good news, that he would say the aim of the gospel is that the Gentiles would glorify God for his mercy (Romans 15:9). And I’ve unpacked “glorify” in terms of joy and hope and praise and song and exultation

And the reason that’s such amazing news is that we get the mercy, God gets the glory. We get the joy, God gets the praise. We get the hope, God gets the honor. Such a deal! This is the best of all possible worlds. That God would set up the universe in such a way that his praise and his glory and his honor would be a function of my joy and hope. Amazing.

So we are calling the nations to be glad! “Let the nations be glad” (Psalm 97:1)! And that’s not the opposite of “let the nations worship God.” That’s the essence of worshiping God, which is why the gospel is called gospel — euangelion [good news], not bad news.

https://asymphonyofpraise.com/blog/the-power-of-praise

Most would agree that He is what we love and value the most. So why is it so difficult for so many of us to praise Him? In Reflections on the Psalms, C. S. Lewis writs that praise is “inner health made audible”. Isn’t that beautiful?

Praise Gives Us Access to God

Psalm 100:4 says, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise”. This verse refers to Moses’ Tabernacle in the wilderness. The Tabernacle was divided into three parts. The Outer Court, The Inner Court, and The Holy of Holies where God dwelt.

There was only one gate – one entrance – into The Outer Court. If you wanted to approach God, you had to go through the gate, into the courtyard, and finally into The Holy of Holies. 

The gate you come through to approach God is thanksgiving and the court you enter is praise. Psalm 100:4 should be so much more meaningful in light of its historical context.

It pains me to see people skip the praise and worship portion of a service. Worse yet, I’ve led worship in conferences where the Pastor or visiting speaker would skip out on worship, and show up at the very end just in time to speak.

Praise and worship is not the opening act to the Pastor’s message! Praise softens the soil of your heart so the seeds of the message can be planted.

To have direct access to God, it is essential to come through praise.

Praise Changes You

Leading worship, I have seen a lot from the platform. I’ve seen the hardest of hearts melt. I’ve seen repentance. I’ve seen friendship restored and marriages heal. I’ve seen children coming back to their parents, and parents return to their children.

Praise can change you if you allow it to.

Praise changes relationships. It changes hearts. It changes mindsets. In praise, our focus shifts from us to the Lord. From problems to The Solution. From pain to promise. From hurt to hope.

Proverbs 27:21 says, “As the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so is a man to his praise.” Judson Cornwall says it this way in Let Us Praise. “So often, when we have heated our Spirits in worship . . . thoughts, desires, and attitudes rise to the surface.” 

As we are broken and heated in the presence of the Lord, those negative attitudes rise to the surface of our hearts. We are then able to bring them to Jesus to be forgiven and cleansed. 

In the fires of praise, God reaches out and melts down our jagged edges until we become smooth and pliable in His hands. Only then can we be molded into His image. We become so smooth and clear that when others look at us – when we look at ourselves, we see a mirror reflecting the image of Jesus. 

Praise is a Relationship, Not a Ritual

Psalm 81:10 says, “I am the Lord, YOUR God . . .”. Isn’t it wonderful to know that He is ours and we are His? Praise brings us into a closer relationship with Jesus.

I love Exodus 25:8. God tells Moses to build a sanctuary that “I may dwell among them”. He didn’t want a cathedral shining with jewels to show His awesomeness. He didn’t ask for massive monuments or statues made of gold. 

God asked for a simple tent. It wasn’t about the structure. It was about the relationship. He wanted a tabernacle just so He could be with us. That brings such tears to my eyes. The God of all of the earth could be anywhere, could have anything, could do anything, and yet He chooses to be with you, dear friend. 

I’ve been in the most beautifully structured churches. They are gorgeous to look at, but the Spirit of the Lord is no where to be found. I’ve sat in simple living rooms with a handful of saints, and the presence of God is so strong it is tangible. 

God doesn’t want anything to dwell in but us. He wants relationship with us. That relationship comes through praise.

The problem comes in when ritual takes the place of pure praise. A.W. Tozer said, “Worship is no longer worship when it reflects the culture around us more than the Christ within us.” In 1962, Tozer grieved, “It is scarcely possible in most places to get anyone to attend a meeting where the only attraction was God.”

He inhabits the praises of His people. (Psalm 22:3). He dwells in, lives in, and abides in our praise. My dear friends, He just wants a relationship with you.

Praise Defeats the Enemy

The first mention of praise in the Bible is at the birth of Jacob’s son, Judah, in Genesis 29:35. Judah means praise. No matter where you see the name Judah in the Bible, it always means praise. 

Revelation 5:5 tells us that our Lord Jesus, The Lion of the Tribe of Praise (Judah) has overcome! So many of us walk around in fear of the enemy. Whether it is “the devil” you fear, your own thoughts, or your next door neighbor, we often walk around fearing our enemy and what he/she could do to us. 

In 2 Chronicles 20:21, King Jehoshaphat “appointed singers unto the Lord, that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endures for ever.”  The choir and the orchestra went ahead of the warriors! It worked. The enemies were defeated and Judah never even had to take out their swords!

How many battles do we needlessly fight; drawing our swords of worry, our shields of fear, and our words of war? What would happen if we simply trusted that the Lion of the Tribe of Judah has already won the battle?

What would happen in our lives if we put away our warring words, and lifted our voices in praise?

Judson Cornwall said, “Saints who would learn to do battle for the Lord should first learn how to praise, for God sends praise as the shock troops to drive the enemy back before the rest of the army is allowed to join the battle.” (Let us Praise, pg. 44-45)

We could write a hundred more pages about the truths of the power of praise, but these four offer us a start into why praise should be a part of our everyday life. Praise gives us access to God. It changes us from the inside out causing us to be a reflection of our father. Praise is about relationship with our creator, and not just ritual. Praise defeats our enemies and brings us closer to God’s will for our lives.

What The Power of Praise Can Do

https://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/debbie-mcdaniel/what-the-power-of-praise-can-do.html

• Praise gets our focus off ourselves and back on God.
• Praise brings us to a place of humility
• Praise makes the enemy flee.
• Praise leaves no room for complaining and negativity
• Praise makes room for God’s blessings over our lives.
• Praise invites His presence.
• Our spirits are refreshed and renewed in His presence.
• It paves the way for God’s power to be displayed, miracles ​happen.

“When we lift our hands in praise and worship, we break spiritual jars of perfume over Jesus. The fragrance of our praise fills the whole earth and touches the heart of God.”
― Dennis Ignatius

Chapter 27 Questions

1. Pg 207: Thrasher shared a story about David Wilkerson and his encounter with a gang and his sudden burst of praise which made the gang to flee. Share a time when you experienced an outburst of praise! ( It doesn’t need to be as dramatic as Wilkerson’s! )
2. Share a favorite psalm of praise  ! Or….do you have a favorite praise song  ?
3. Pg 208-214: Discuss each “Worship “ section…
4. Pg 208: “as a person becomes or focuses on God’s glorious character, he is transformed into His image “
5. Pg 209: “ Worship delivers a person from the lie that there is someone or something other than God who is worthy of our ultimate trust, affection and adoration “
6. Pg 210: ” Worship gives purpose and meaning to relationships since the deepest fellowship with others is found in inviting them to worship the Lord with us “
7. Pg 210: ” It is logical that if we are occupied with the object of our faith in praise and worship, our faith will be strengthened “
8. Pg 210-211: God declares Himself to be enthroned upon the praise of His people  , ….Today He manifests Himself in His church “
9. Pg 212: ” In worship we can be drawn to God and see His eternal perspective “
10. Pg 213: ” The Lord alone is to be worshiped and served……for we will serve the one we worship. “
11. Pg 214: ” Use the  occasion to praise Jesus Christ every time I was discouraged ….Satan so hates the genuine praise of Christ that his fiery darts of discouragement are not effective against us when we respond in praise”.
12. Share any thoughts /insights from the book or the notes.

https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-20/commentary-on-matthew-1510-20-21-28-5

Jesus’ response to her second cry for help includes a reiteration of his mission to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He even likens her status as a Gentile to the status of the small, pet dogs who long to be fed from the table (Matt 15:26).

The woman, however, is not deterred. She claims a place in the household, but it is a not a position of privilege or even the position of an insider. She accepts the status of a family’s dog by claiming that even the dog enjoys crumbs from the table.

Her statement is striking. She places hope in what others have discarded. This Son of David has so much power that there is enough power for the house of Israel and more than enough left over for her. She is not trying to thwart his mission. She just wants a crumb, recognizing that even a crumb is powerful enough to defeat the demon that has possessed her daughter.

Jesus praises her faith. This woman seems to understand what the members of the household of Israel have yet to grasp .Jesus is not just hope for Israel, but hope for the world.

https://www.lifeway.com/en/articles/sermon-crumbs-for-dogs-matthew-15

In his commentary on this passage, Matthew Henry said, “She demonstrated spiritual quickness and sagacity” recognizing that which seems to be against us can be used for our benefit. Sagacity is one of those great descriptive words that we don’t use very often in our speech. It comes from the root word sage as in a wise sage or teacher. She sought Jesus- the one with the power and authority to meet her needs. All too often we turn to futile sources to meet our deepest needs. She continued her sagacious pursuit by calling Jesus the “Son of David,” which reveals knowledge of the promises concerning the Jewish messiah. Then, she referred to Jesus as Lord, acknowledging that He was worthy of praise. Don’t miss the lesson that she praised Jesus in the midst of her pain. The psalmist proclaimed that God is enthroned or inhabits the praises of His children.

A second characteristic that contributes to her deliverance is her humility. We should never confuse humility with weakness. This mother is a courageous warrior fighting for her child, but she humbly submits to the Lord of the universe. Pride would have been offended by the dog comment. Pride would have returned insult for insult, and pride would have gone away empty. The Bible says, “God rejects the proud, but He gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5).

A third and perhaps the main characteristic contributing to her blessing was tenacity. With the odds stacked against her, she pushes forward. When she got knocked down by circumstances and criticism, she got back up. When others told her to quit because she was wasting Jesus’ time, she continued to ask. Elijah prayed seven times before he saw the first small cloud. Jesus prayed the same prayer three times in the garden of Gethsemane, and this amazing woman asks three times for help. The primary purpose of this story is to inspire us not to give up just because the hill is difficult to climb. Keep asking. Keep seeking. Keep knocking.

Persevering in Prayer

https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-81-persevering-prayer-luke-181-8

Although even in this lifetime we may not understand the reasons why God delays to answer our cries of agony, we can know for certain that He never delays to answer because He does not care for us or because He is unable to do what we need. He is able to do far more than we can ask or even think, even if it seems impossible to us. Because He is omniscient, God knows even the needs that we do not bring to Him in prayer. Because He is omnipresent, He can deal with your needs in Flagstaff at the same moment that He is dealing with some needy saint in Bangladesh. Because He is omnipotent, He has plenty of power to go around. Meeting your need won’t drain His supply

God doesn’t usually explain in advance why He is delaying the answers to our requests. But we need to cling to the fact that His delays are always for our good, even if we don’t understand the reasons why.

But what does Jesus mean when He says that justice will come speedily? Here we are almost 2,000 years later, and Jesus has not returned to rescue His needy people. We all know stories of faithful saints who have prayed for something all their lives, but their prayers went unanswered. What does speedily mean?

We must understand it from God’s timetable, not ours. With the Lord, a thousand years are like a day or as a watch in the night (2 Pet. 3:8; Psa 90:4). He told Noah that there would be a flood, but 100 years went by without a drop of rain while Noah endured his mocking neighbors. He promised Abraham a son, but he watched Sarah go through menopause and 25 years elapsed before Isaac was born. He promised Joseph in his teenage years through his dreams that his father and brothers would bow down to him, but he spent his twenties in an Egyptian dungeon. He promised to deliver His people from bondage in Egypt, but 400 long years went by before He raised up Moses, and that only after Moses spent 40 years in the desert after his failure. He promised to send His Messiah, but His people had to wait 400 years after the last prophet before, in the fullness of time, God sent His Son (Gal. 4:4). Speedily by God’s calendar is not speedily by ours! One answer to the problem of delayed answers to our prayers is to get a proper view of God.

Sometimes He is waiting, like a patient farmer, until the fruits of godliness, faith, and humility in our hearts is ripe before He grants the answers (Andrew Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer [Spire Books], pp. 88-89). Jesus says that when He returns, He will be looking for faith on the earth, but the implication is that it will be a scarce commodity (the Greek expects a negative answer). While the world may scoff because God seemingly neglects His saints, surely we ought to cling to Him in faith!

Don’t Give Up

https://unlockingthebible.org/2020/10/dont-give-up-when-tired-of-battle/

How should you pray when you are worn out, discouraged, and weary of the battle? You could pray, “Lord, give me patience.” That would be good. But a better way to pray is to ask God to increase your love and to renew your confidence in his ultimate triumph.

You can pray about the surface issue, but you will pray better if your prayer touches the root of the problem. Underneath all your struggles with patience and perseverance, you will find a faith that is losing heart and a love that is growing cold.

Maybe you’ve been praying for an unbelieving loved one for years and nothing has happened. You’re getting discouraged. You can say to the Lord, “Help me to persevere in prayer.” But a better way to pray would be to ask God to increase your faith in His ability to change this person and to increase your love for this person with whom you are probably now feeling very impatient.

Maybe you are battling again with the same old sin. You are discouraged by your many failures, and you are tired of the battle. Ask the Lord to increase your faith in His power to overcome this evil in your life. Ask God to help you love Him more than you love the sin that besets you.

God is the One who makes faith and love grow, so ask Him to do it specifically in relation to your battle. God will use the hardest things in your life to make you like Christ.

Jesus endured what he suffered by exercising faith. “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he trusted himself to him who judges justly” (1 Pet. 2:23). That’s faith! Jesus was surrounded by darkness, but He put his faith in the ultimate triumph of God!

Jesus also endured through love. How could he stay on that cross? People were shouting for Him to come down. What made Him stay there? “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for His friends” (John 15:13).

Christ persevered through faith and He endured through love. When others see you enduring great trials because your faith is growing and your love is increasing, they will also see a reflection of Jesus Christ in you.

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/persevere-in-prayer

 Continue steadfastly in prayer. Please don’t give up the diligence that you showed during prayer week.  There is so much power to be had in persevering prayer. Don’t forget the “impudent friend” of Luke 11:8 and don’t forget the parable Jesus told to the effect that we “ought always to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1–8). Perseverance is the great test of genuineness in the Christian life. I praise God that some of you have persevered in prayer 60, 70, or 80 years! O, let us be a praying church, and let 1982 be saturated with prayers to the Lord of the harvest. Won’t it be great to say in the end, “I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7)?

 Be watchful in your prayers. This means, be alert! Be mentally awake! Paul probably learned this from the story of what happened in Gethsemane. Jesus asked the disciples to pray, but found them sleeping. So he said to Peter, “Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation” (Mark 14:37–38). We must be on the watch as we pray — on the watch against a wandering mind, against vain repetitions, against trite and meaningless expressions, against limited, selfish desires. And we should also watch for what is good. We should especially be alert to God’s guidance of our prayers in Scripture. It is God who works in us to will our prayers, but we always experience this divine enablement as our own resolve and decision.

 We are to be thankful in all our prayers. The stories I have heard of what God is doing in so many of your lives through renewed prayer are amazing. They have really stirred me up to press on in prayer with thanksgiving. Keep telling me and sharing with others these good things. God will make this a harvest year if we press on in prayer with the joy of thankfulness.

When Should We Stop Praying for Something?

https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/when-should-i-stop-praying-for-something

Isn’t it significant (I think it is) that in the Bible we have the statement “You do not have, because you do not ask” (James 4:2), but we don’t have the statement “You pray too much or too long”? We don’t have a statement that says, “You have things I did not want to give you because you kept on asking me when it was time to quit.” We don’t have anything like that.

In fact, all the emphasis in the New Testament is in the other direction. Keep on praying, don’t lose heart (Luke 18:1). Ask, seek, knock (Matthew 7:7). Wake up your friend at midnight if you must (Luke 11:5–13). Go back to the city judge until he gives you justice even though he just wants you off his back (Luke 18:1–8). I mean, those are amazing, horrible pictures of God. And the point is that he loves when we keep on coming and badgering him for something we want very badly according to his revealed will.

Chapter 26 Questions

1. Share a time when you persevered in prayer before it was answered. How did you encourage yourself to continue to pray ?
2. Read Matt 15:21-28. Discuss what this story showed about persevering in prayer.
3. Pages 197-199: “  Our sovereign God has purposed to sometimes require persevering prayer as the means to accomplish His will “. Discuss this statement and the five bullet points why God has chosen to work through persevering prayer .
4. Pages 200-201: Discuss the three truths of when we should persevere in prayer. What insights did you receive  ?
   • When you desire God more than you desire the answer to your prayers.
   • When you are standing on the Word of God
   • When you are willing to wait on God’s timing for the answer.

https://www.gotquestions.org/Philippians-4-6.html

What is the meaning of Philippians 4:6? “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God”

If discouragement over the problems addressed in the letter (or anything else) was robbing the Philippians of joy, then Paul gives the solution in Philippians 4:6. There is no need to fret and worry about the way things are. The solution is to give the problems over to the Only One who can actually do something about them. The Philippians are to pray in every situation, bringing their petitions (requests) to God and offering prayers of thanksgiving for what God has already done.

 When we have problems and worries, we often forget to pray about them. Then, when we do pray, we may think that the only help that God can give is to grant the request as we have presented it and change the situation. God may very well do that. He has the power to change any situation, but He will not be limited to that. God does not promise to change every situation to our liking. What He does promise to do is give us peace during any situation. In other words, God may or may not change the circumstance, but He will change our disposition toward it so that it does not cause us inner turmoil.

Practically speaking, Philippians 4:6 gives us a model for the kind of prayer we need to pray when we are anxious or worried. First, we reject worry: do not be anxious about anything. Then, we simply ask God for what we need: in every situation, by prayer and petition, present your requests to God. And we thank Him for all that He has already done: with thanksgiving. Finally, we rest, knowing that He loves us and will work things out for our good and His glory. God’s peace is then ours.

Living By Faith

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-pace-of-faith

When Paul says, “The life I live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me,” he means: “Moment by moment I feel confidence that the love which moved Jesus to the cross for me is also moving him now to work in my circumstances for my good.” That’s why Paul could say, “I have learned in whatever state I am to be content” (Philippians 4:11). He believed in the present power and goodness of God and so he was not in haste: no frenzy, no jitters.

Haste makes waste. Waste of peace. Waste of health. Waste of joy. The Lord is never in haste for he has all things under control. What a steady power should mark his people! We dishonor him by our fretful hurrying. The children of the king do not panic when they lose their keys.

Anxiety Can Be a Spiritual as well as a Mental Health Issue

https://www.christianity.com/wiki/christian-life/how-to-deal-with-anxiety-as-a-christian.html

Anxiety is not that simple because it often misunderstood to be simply that a person is stressing too much. There is a distinct difference between the sin of anxiety and the mental health disorder of anxiety that is characterized by physical changes in the brain. Anxiety is both a mental health issue and a spiritual issue. 

Billy Graham once said: “At its best, anxiety distracts us from our relationship with God and the truth that He is “Lord of heaven and earth” (Matthew 11:25). At its worst, anxiety is a crippling disease, taking over our minds and plunging our thoughts into darkness.”

The Bible goes on to tell us in the book in Philippians chapter 4, “but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

The first step to becoming free of anxiety is to give your life to Jesus Christ. Once you’ve taken this step, the next is to practice fixing your thoughts on Christ and his promises. (John 14:2-3). In the battlefield of our minds, we are to practice awareness of our thoughts and take them captive. 

Anxiety crops up when we least expect it. It happens when we’ve put too much on our plates. When we pile on the hustle, the busy, the doing, the too much, the too many yeses. Our body doesn’t know any other way but to say no. And our bodies shut down in ways we don’t expect. God didn’t design us to hustle 24-7. He designed us to Be Still and Know. To ‘Be still’ means to rest in God’s presence. This verse wasn’t written in the context of taking a spa day. It was written in the context of war. The meaning of the Psalm means to: stop, cease striving and stop fighting. It means to acknowledge who our God is and be in awe of him. Daily we should learn to be still before our Lord. It keeps the world from spinning off its axis within our minds. That means to become un-busy, to not hustle. We are to prioritize our time with Him and listen to what our bodies need. Rest, exercise, a good bedtime routine, getting eight hours of sleep, and consume healing foods. This is how we war against the battle of anxiety. 

How to Overcome Fear, Anxiety and Worry

https://billygraham.org/story/how-to-overcome-fear-anxiety-and-worry

Anxiety is the natural result when our hopes are centered in anything short of God and His will for us. —Billy Graham. When Billy Graham wrote those words in 1965, no one knew how true they would be 50 years later.

At its best, anxiety distracts us from our relationship with God and the truth that He is “Lord of heaven and earth” (Matthew 11:25). At its worst, anxiety is a crippling disease, taking over our minds and plunging our thoughts into darkness.

But God wants so much more for us than to walk through life full of fear, worry and anxiety.

“Do not be anxious about anything,” the Bible tells us in the book of Philippians, chapter 4, “but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Our instructions don’t stop there. The chapter goes on to tell believers exactly what we should focus on. And it’s not fear, terrorism, illness, death or evil.

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:8-9, ESV, emphasis added).

The first step to an anxiety-free mind is to give your life to Jesus Christ. Once you’ve taken that step, it’s important to fix your thoughts on Jesus and the promise that He is preparing a place for His followers in heaven (John 14:2-3).

Scriptures on Anxiety and Fear

https://billygraham.org/story/bible-verses-on-anxiety-fear/

1. Hebrews 13:6
2. Philippians 4:6-7
3. Psalm 34:4
4. Psalm 42:5
5. Matthew 6:34
6. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9
7. Psalm 23:1-6
8. 1 Peter 5:5-7
9. Revelation 21:4

https://bible.org/seriespage/29-how-overcome-worry-matthew-625-34

When believers live only for food, clothes, etc., they debase themselves to being like animals. Life becomes all about serving our physical body. Really that is what most advertising is about: “Eat this!” Wear this! Watch this!” It is all about making the body attractive, pleasant smelling, comfortable, and entertained. Christ later says the pagans worry about these things (v. 32). Their primary concerns are temporal matters—not eternal ones—and they live in a constant rat race to fulfill those desires. However, believers are citizens, not only of this earth, but of heaven. Therefore, we must be primarily concerned about the affairs of heaven, even as we abide on the earth. Christ emphasizes this in Matthew 6:33 when he says seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness.

Focus on the Eternal

To overcome worry, we must focus on eternal matters—like becoming holy, seeing others saved, growing, and building God’s kingdom. Col 3:1-4 says: “Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ (who is your life) appears, then you too will be revealed in glory with him.”

Often the way you conquer a passion is by focusing on a greater passion. To focus on earthly matters like riches and basic needs will always breed worry and anxiety. Focusing on eternal matters delivers us from those worries and brings God’s peace.

Worry does not benefit us physically, mentally, or spiritually. Proverbs says anxiety in the heart of a man brings depression (Prov 12:25). Typically, we start to worry about something, and it affects our entire mood (and often that of others). Next, we find ourselves down and discouraged. Worry also negatively affects us spiritually. In Matthew 13:22 (NIV), in the Parable of the Sowers, Christ describes the seed sown upon thorny ground as “the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.” When we are constantly worrying, it hinders our ability to receive God’s Word and apply it to our lives. No doubt, there are many in the church who listen to their favorite pastor’s podcasts every week, read all the new latest Christian books, and yet their labor profits them nothing. Worry stunts their spiritual growth.

Some have counted over 3,000 promises in Scripture, and Matthew 6:33 is one of the greatest. Christ promises the disciples that if they made God’s kingdom and his righteousness their chief priority, all their needs would be met. The word “pursue” is a present imperative meaning that this must be one’s unceasing quest, not an occasional endeavor.5 When God’s kingdom and righteousness are our priority, God meets our needs, which ultimately delivers us from fear and worry.

When we pursue God’s kingdom and his righteousness, God meets our needs, which implies the opposite of this promise is also true. When we don’t pursue his kingdom, but instead neglect God and enjoy the world and sin, we will often lack. As in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, God often allows his wayward children to go away from him, enjoy sin, and reap the consequences of it. He allows them to experience lack until they come to their senses and return home (Luke 15). 

If we pray in every situation, if we bring our petitions (requests) before God in every situation, and if we give thanks in every situation, God will give us his peace. Worry often overwhelms us because we are not people of prayer—people who constantly pray in every situation. We pray only when things are bad and not when they are good. Or we pray when things are good and get mad at God when they are bad. Or we don’t pray at all. This type of person will lack peace. Sometimes we lack peace because we fail to bring our petitions before the Lord. We don’t ask for peace; we don’t ask for reconciliation in a difficult relationship. In addition, we don’t give thanks in all things. Instead we complain, worry, and get angry. We can’t receive God’s promise of peace in those situations.

Chapter 25 Questions

1. Page 187: Describe what it looks like to “ live at God’s pace ? How do we achieve this ”pace“?
2. Page 188: Discuss the difference between godly concern and sinful anxiety ?
3. Discuss the Mathematical formulas:
   • Concern + unbelief = anxiety
   • Concern + faith = biblical virtue
4. Page 189-190: Discuss “the four reasons“ Thrasher discovered that God wanted him to experience His peace.  Share thoughts , experiences.
5. Page 191-193: Discuss insights/thoughts on Thrasher’s sections on how to experience God’s peace .
6. Share scripture  verses, modifications to your life to decrease anxiety, and  experiences in dealing with anxiety in your life.

https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-do-i-wait-for-god

So, the first thing that waiting on God means is this: before you make one peep of an effort to solve your own problem or hire a human agency, pray. Seek the counsel of God. What is his way to solve this problem and bring you out of trouble? It says in Psalm 106:13, “They soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel.”

The first act of waiting, therefore, is prayer — before we make one little move to solve our problem. And I know, if you’re like me, you’ve come through many efforts, and an hour into it you say, “I forgot to pray.” And we need to work to form the habit of stopping again and again and again. That’s what Paul means, I think, when he says, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Before you do anything, at every little occasion of your life — every interview, every encounter — whisper a prayer. “How would it go if I relied on you? What do you want me to do?” And then do what the Lord says.

We are like patients. Prayer is like getting on the phone and calling up your doctor and saying, “I’m in trouble; there’s this pain. What should I do about it?” Before you gulp down any medicine or start doing jumping jacks, call the doctor. God says to the people,

“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
     in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
But you were unwilling, and you said,
“No! We will flee upon horses”;
     therefore you shall flee away;
and, “We will ride upon swift steeds”;
     therefore your pursuers shall be swift.

Then Be Still and Rest

So, the second thing that waiting for the Lord means is this: after you’ve prayed to the doctor and he says, “Be still,” be still and rest.

But now here’s the essence. Now, get this carefully, because we’re so prone to think that waiting means stillness, but as soon as we start acting — preparing a sermon or a lesson, going to work, preparing a report, staying up late to work, work, work — we don’t have to wait anymore. That’s not the case because — and this changes all of life — there is a spirit of waiting in the midst of work. Proverbs 21:31 says this: The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord. It means that when the Lord says “Go,” he doesn’t stop waiting. He carries with him into battle a spirit of expectancy, a sense that “Yes, I will fight with all my might, but I must wait on the one in whose hands alone is the victory.” No matter how hard you work, there should be a spirit of waiting, a spirit of expectancy, a spirit that out of and through all this activity is going to come lightning from heaven to do supernatural work.

Even when we are watchmen doing our duty, we must be waiting for the Lord, for he alone brings safety. So, the third form of waiting is this: even when the Lord says “Act,” we act with a spirit of reliance on his work, and we wait for the Lord in a spirit of expectancy that even though our labor is vulnerable and paltry, the final result of all we do lies in the hands of the Lord. And on that we wait in all our work.

So, whether we lie still and sit, or whether we work, let us have this in common: that we wait for the Lord, that we have a spirit of expectancy that no matter how paltry our labors are, the final issue is in the hands of the Lord. And he loves to work for those who wait for him.

The Reason God Sometimes Delays His Answers

https://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/why-does-god-wait-to-answer-prayer/

Why would God wait to answer our prayers?  Wouldn’t we expect that since God is all-powerful that He would answer immediately?  What is the purpose for God’s delaying our prayer requests?

One reason that God may not answer our prayers or that He waits is that we are asking for the wrong thing.  We may be asking for something that is not in God’s will for our lives and we might be asking for selfish reasons.  James, the half-brother of Jesus wrote, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures”(James 4:3).

In the  Lord’s Prayer, we are to ask that His will be done on earth just as it is in heaven (Matt 6:10).   We know that God’s will for believers is to grow in grace and knowledge, so we can ask for spiritual understanding of His Word just before we read the Bible.  There is confidence in praying when we know His will for out lives as it says in I John 5:14-15, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.  And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”

When we pray, we may have serious doubts about God’s ability or willingness to answer our prayer.  James 12:6-7 indicates that if we pray in doubt, God will not honor our requests saying, “But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.”  God may be waiting for us to pray in real faith, in expectation of receiving an answer, or to see if we are serious enough to continue to pray for it.

God will not answer the prayer of a believer if they are in a state of perpetual, unrepentant sin (I Pet. 3:12). Psalm 66:18 is clear that “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.“ If we are obedient, He will hear our prayers (John 15:7) but if we are unforgiving, He will refuse our petitions before His altar (Matt. 18:35). 

God also expects us to wait patiently on His perfect timing (Psalm 66:18).  In Hebrews 10:36, “For you have need of patience, that, after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise.” The minor prophet, Habakkuk speaks for all of us when he grew impatient in waiting for God to answer his request in 1:2, “How long, LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen?” 

https://www.georgemuller.org/blog/god-often-delays-answering-prayer-by-charles-spurgeon

Our Father has reasons peculiar to himself for thus keeping us waiting. Sometimes it is to show his power and his sovereignty, that men may know that Jehovah has a right to give or to withhold. More frequently the delay is for our profit. Thou art perhaps kept waiting in order that thy desires may be more fervent. God knows that delay will quicken and increase desire, and that if he keeps thee waiting thou wilt see thy necessity more clearly, and wilt seek more earnestly; and that thou wilt prize the mercy all the more for its long tarrying. There may also be something wrong in thee which has need to be removed, before the joy of the Lord is given. Perhaps thy views of the Gospel plan are confused, or thou mayest be placing some little reliance on thyself, instead of trusting simply and entirely to the Lord Jesus. Or, God makes thee tarry awhile that he may the more fully display the riches of his grace to thee at last. Thy prayers are all filed in heaven, and if not immediately answered they are certainly not forgotten, but in a little while shall be fulfilled to thy delight and satisfaction. Let not despair make thee silent, but continue instant in earnest supplication.

What to Do While Waiting

https://unlockingthebible.org/2017/08/what-to-do-while-youre-waiting-on-god/

Ten things to do while waiting on God

• Believe that the God who saved you hears your cries (Micah 7:7).
• Watch with expectancy, but be prepared for unexpected answers (Psalm 5:3).
• Put your hope in his Word (Psalm 130:5-6).
• Trust in the Lord, not in your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6).
• Resist fretting, refrain from anger, be still, and choose patience (Psalm 37:7-8).
• Be strong and take courage (Psalm 27:13-14; 31:24).
• See it as an opportunity to experience God’s goodness (Psalm 27:13; Lamentations 3:25).
• Wait for God’s promise instead of going your own way (Acts 1:4)
• Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful with thanksgiving (Colossians 4:2)
• Remember the blessings yet to come (Isaiah 30:18)

Susannah Spurgeon, wife of Charles Spurgeon, counseled her own heart with these words: The Lord has strewn the pages of of God’s Word with promises of blessedness to those who wait for Him. And remember, His slightest Word stands fast and sure; it can never fail you. So, my soul, see that you have a promise underneath thee, for then your waiting will be resting and a firm foothold for your hope will give you confidence in Him who has said, ‘They shall not be ashamed that wait for Me.’”

Live for God’s Glory

https://gbfc.org/blog/2018/5/6/living-for-gods-glory

The concept is simple, really. We, as Christians, have been, the Bible tells us, bought with a price, and so we now belong to Him. Christ ransomed us, purchased us, made us His, and so we now, being His, are to live our lives for His glory. That is what each of these three verses speaks to.

In the first one, Ephesians 1:12, Paul spends several verses just talking about the gospel, the fact that Christ came, Christ saved us, God chose us, we are His, our sins are forgiven in Christ. He talks about the splendor, the mystery, the eternal, majestic gift of salvation, and then comes verse 12 which is kind of a purpose statement that tells us the result of these fantastic truths. What is the purpose, the reason for all that Christ has done for us? It is so that we might be “for the praise of His glory!”

The issue in 1 Cor 10:31 is to do all for the glory and honor of God. If you eat, do so for God’s glory, if you drink, do so for God’s glory, if you do anything else, do that too for God’s glory. This means do all things in obedience to Him, in a way that is loving and honoring toward Him. All things, everything for His glory.

One thing I really like about this passage is how it is all-inclusive. What I mean is that at the end Paul adds, “or whatever you do.” That includes everything we do. In everything we ought to think, how can I glorify God, how can I make Him known, how can I present Him with my speech and with my life? 

2 Cor 5:9 has context that is important for us to understand to get its full meaning. Paul is not talking about home in your house or on vacation away from your house. He is talking about home as alive in your current body and away being away from your current body, having left this life as we know it.

So Paul is saying whether you are dead, away from this body, or alive, in this body, either way we are to make it our aim to please Him. To please Him is to glorify Him. Our place, our mission, our aim is to be to do what is pleasing to God, to glorify God on this earth.

Chapters 23, 24 – Questions

1. Pg 174 ( Thrasher ) “ He loves us so much that He has not sentenced us to serve Him with an anxious heart and distracted mind. The Lord wants to train us to enjoy Him in all of our endeavors.“ Read and discuss Luke 10:38-42 and pages 173-175 in the book. Share good points, new insights of Thrasher’s interpretation.
2. Pg 178 -180  “ In prayer God is seeking to get us under His loving authority”…..discuss what it means to submit to God.  Read scripture and discuss what it means to” live for His glory “ ( see pages 182-183 )
   • Ephesians 1:12 – so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
   • 1 Corinthians 10:31 – So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
   • 2 Corinthians 5:9 – So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.
3. There are 5 purposes of God in prayer in Chapter 24. What area is most difficult to follow ?
4. Pg 177-178: Three stories of people praying to God, but their prayers were not answered the way they wanted, and the result for them was anguish, disappointment, cynical skepticism, and bitterness. What can you say to these people to help them better understand why their prayers were not answered.
5. Good verses on waiting….. ( just something extra !!!)
   • Isa 30:18
   • Psalm 130:5
   • Psalm 27:14
   • Isa 64:4
   • Psalm 40:1
   • Lam 3:25-26

https://www.cru.org/us/en/train-and-grow/spiritual-growth/fasting/prayer-and-fasting.html

God considers fasting important. The Bible contains 92 passages referring to it. Many of our heroes of the faith, including Moses, Elijah, Esther, Nehemiah, Daniel and Paul, fasted at crucial points in their journeys with God.

Fasting played an important role in the life and ministry of Jesus. After being anointed by the Holy Spirit, He was led into the wilderness to fast and pray for 40 days (Matthew 4:2). During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave specific instructions on how to fast (Matthew 6:16-18). Jesus knew the followers He addressed would fast.

Purpose of Fasting

But what is the purpose of fasting in the life of the believer today?

One reason we fast is to demonstrate humility before the Creator of the universe. God responds when we diligently and wholeheartedly seek Him (2 Chronicles 7:14).

A second reason we fast is to respond to God’s love toward us. It is as if we are saying to God, “Because You are righteous and holy, and loved me enough to send Jesus to die for my sins, I want to get to know You more intimately.” Jeremiah 29:13 says we will find God when we seek Him with all our hearts. So we may want to take extra time to seek and praise God by missing a meal or abstaining from food for a day or more.

Sometimes we fast to demonstrate our sincerity to God concerning something we truly desire. Ezra proclaimed a fast to ask God to protect His people as they journeyed to Jerusalem from exile. God responded by delivering them from their enemies and ambushes along the way (Ezra 8:21,31).

Seeking God’s direction is different from asking Him for something we desire. When the Israelites were in conflict with the tribe of Benjamin, they sought God’s will through fasting. The entire army fasted until evening, and they asked God, “Shall we go up again to fight against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites, or not?” (Judges 2028, New International Version).

An important benefit of fasting is that it promotes self-control through disciplining the body. When we say no to our natural appetite for food, we develop the will-power and discipline to say no to other fleshly desires (1 Corinthians 9:27).

Bright encouraged believers to fast, but he also warned of two common pitfalls:

1. We can become legalistic about fasting. It is essential to remember God loves us and is not displeased with us when we do not fast.
2. We can take pride in our fasting. To avoid this problem we focus on God’s character and all He has done for us.

https://www.christianity.com/wiki/prayer/why-is-prayer-important-for-fasting.html

Fasting is Biblical. Throughout the Old and New Testament eras and during the last 2,000 years, fasting has been a primary means of humbling ourselves before God. Fasting is a common practice that can be found in Scripture. It is voluntary and total abstinence of food for a specific amount of time or days, and its aim is to devote oneself through prayer and seeking God. Jesus’ fasting can be read in one major occasion in Matthew 4:1-11. The ancient practice of fasting is a natural way to express your faith with your whole being – body and spirit together – whenever you experience a sacred moment that compels you to respond. Your spirit’s hunger for God can find fulfillment when you fast with your body.

Both the Old and New Testaments feature multiple instances of believers practicing fasting and prayer together. Here are a handful of the examples I found:

• The Israelites fasted and lifted up prayers of praise and confession after sinning against God (Nehemiah 9).
• Esther fasts with Israel and prays for the strength to ask her husband to spare Israel from Haman’s plot of genocide (Esther 4:16).
• David mentions praying and fasting for his enemies (Psalm 35:12-14).
• Daniel fasts and prays to lament Israel’s disobedience while exiled in Babylon and asks God to have mercy on His chosen people (Daniel 9).
• The prophet Anna fasted and prayed regularly for Israel, then prophesied to Mary and Joseph about Jesus (Luke 2:36-38).
• Paul and Barnabas pray and fast to ask for guidance in appointing elders over the first-century church (Acts 14:23).

Prayer is great and fasting is fantastic, but the discipline of using them together can help us make life in a sinful world more bearable by connecting us to God and drawing on His power instead of our own.

From a purely practical standpoint, the combination of prayer and fasting can lead to staggering results. Let’s break down the examples given above to see how God worked through each of those instances:

• God welcomed Israel back into His arms (Nehemiah 9).
• King Xerxes not only spared Esther when he had every right to kill her for approaching the throne uninvited but also listened to her and helped her rescue Israel from Haman (Esther 4:16).
• David doesn’t materially gain from praying and fasting for his enemies — quite the opposite, actually — but he reveals to the world that he truly is a man after God’s own heart (Psalm 35:12-14).
• God hears Daniel’s pleas and sends an angel to prophesy to him (Daniel 9).
• Anna gets to meet her Savior in person (Luke 2:36-38).
• Paul and Barnabas found the men God wanted them to appoint as elders (Acts 14:23).

We should be praying and fasting whether or not we get the results we want; the hardships David faced in his life weren’t enough to stop him, so why are our hardships enough to stop us?

We Need the Right Attitude

The truth about prayer and fasting may make us want to practice these disciplines as often as we can without harming our bodies, but here’s the catch: They only work if you’re acting in service of God and not your ego or pride.

Jesus, Himself, speaks against those who pray and fast for selfish reasons in the Sermon on the Mount:

When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:5)

When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:16-18)

It’s great that you want to pray and fast, but before you do, ask God to check your motives. If you want to pray and fast to feel like a better Christian, stop right there and ask God to purify your intentions. But if you’re approaching these practices with love and respect for God, then you are free to approach the altar and do so.

How to Begin Fasting

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/fasting-for-beginners

Fasting is voluntarily going without food — or any other regularly enjoyed, good gift from God — for the sake of some spiritual purpose. It is markedly counter-cultural in our consumerist society.

We fast in this life because we believe in the life to come. We don’t have to get it all here and now, because we have a promise that we will have it all in the coming age. We fast from what we can see and taste, because we have tasted and seen the goodness of the invisible and infinite God — and are desperately hungry for more of him.

Fasting is for this world, for stretching our hearts to get fresh air beyond the pain and trouble around us. And it is for the battle against the sin and weakness inside us. We express our discontent with our sinful selves and our longing for more of Christ.

Fasting isn’t merely an act of self-deprivation, but a spiritual discipline for seeking more of God’s fullness. Which means we should have a plan for what positive pursuit to undertake in the time it normally takes to eat. We spend a good portion of our day with food in front of us. One significant part of fasting is the time it creates for prayer and meditation on God’s word or some act of love for others.

Fasting from food is not necessarily for everyone. Some health conditions keep even the most devout from the traditional course. However, fasting is not limited to abstaining from food. As Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “Fasting should really be made to include abstinence from anything which is legitimate in and of itself for the sake of some special spiritual purpose.”

If the better part of wisdom for you, in your health condition, is not to go without food, consider fasting from television, computer, social media, or some other regular enjoyment that would bend your heart toward greater enjoyment of Jesus

Christian fasting turns its attention to Jesus or some great cause of his in the world. Christian fasting seeks to take the pains of hunger and transpose them into the key of some eternal anthem, whether it’s fighting against some sin, or pleading for someone’s salvation, or for the cause of the unborn, or longing for a greater taste of Jesus.

https://www.faithgateway.com/why-should-i-fast-7-examples-fasting-bible/#.YHDYfuhKiUk

Reasons We Don’t Fast

Despite biblical examples throughout Scripture, many Christians are slow to fast. I believe there are three main factors that cause believers to be hesitant — fear, ignorance, or rebellion.

Fear. They’re afraid. Afraid of the unknown. Afraid of feeling hunger pangs. Afraid of starting and not finishing. Afraid of fasting alone. The Enemy has them convinced they could never do it. Instead of looking to the Lord’s strength for help, they become consumed with their own weaknesses and paralyzed by fear.

Ignorance. Many Christians simply have not been taught about the importance of seeking God in this way. Churches often do not encourage fasting, and in many cases never even mention it from the pulpit. For example, I grew up in a Bible-believing church, but I don’t recall hearing a message on fasting until I was an adult.

Rebellion. A large segment of the Christian population is aware of the benefits of fasting, yet they’re unwilling to do it. Their hearts are hardened when it comes to the idea of fasting. When God invites them to draw near, they dig their heels into the ground and refuse to obey.

Dr. Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, was a firm believer in the power of prayer and fasting. In his guide Why You Should Fast, he listed the following reasons for seeking God through self-denial.

• Fasting was an expected discipline in both the Old and New Testament eras.
• Fasting and prayer can restore the loss of the “first love” for your Lord and result in a more intimate relationship with Christ.
• Fasting is a biblical way to truly humble yourself in the sight of God.
• Fasting enables the Holy Spirit to reveal your true spiritual condition, resulting in brokenness, repentance, and a transformed life.
• Fasting will encourage the Holy Spirit to quicken the Word of God in your heart and His truth will become more meaningful to you.
• Fasting can transform your prayer life into a richer and more personal experience.
• Fasting can result in a dynamic personal revival in your own life and make you a channel of revival to others.

Many times we don’t fast because we’ve lost our spiritual appetite. John Piper says, “The absence of fasting is the measure of our contentment with the absence of Christ.” Piper adds, “If we don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because we have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because we have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Our soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great.”

It truly is the “path of pleasant pain,” as John Piper calls it. As you empty yourself physically and spiritually, you open the door for God to step in and do the miraculous. Your relationship with the Lord is taken to a whole new level. You also become more sensitive to the work of the Holy Spirit, which enables you to hear God’s voice more clearly.

Chapters 20, 21, 22 Questions

1. Pg 151 ( Thrasher )  “ Foster defines fasting as the “ voluntary denial of a normal function for an intense spiritual activity”…..and O. Hallesby says regarding fasting , “ to loosen to some degree the ties which bind us to the world or material surroundings as a whole in order that we may concentrate all our spiritual powers upon the unseen and eternal things “. If you have fasted , share your experiences…what type of fasting….how long …. How did this affect your prayers / the outcome ?
2. Pg 154: (Thrasher ) Fill in the blanks ! “ The                answer to the question of regular                     lies in the _________ __ _____  , which He is willing to ___________to each of His individual children. All fasting needs to be _________on the Lord, ________by Him , and ___________by Him .”
3. Share thoughts .  Have you ever been led to practice fasting by God ? Explain
4. Pg 163-164: Discuss this section on Spiritual Benefits of Fasting . Share thoughts/ insights .
5. Pg 167  ( Thrasher ) “ Lacking a God-focused purpose for fasting can be quite a self –centered experience . It should be done for the Lord ( Zech 7:5) and motivated by love for Him and others I  ( I Cor 13:1-3)  Discuss the four abuses of fasting that were discussed in Chap 22.( pages 165-166)
6. Share what you have learned / gained new insight into fasting from the 3 chapters and the notes.  Has this study on fasting encouraged you to implement fasting ? Have you asked the question   “Lord, how do you desire me to make use of this discipline in my life ?” ( pg 155 ).

https://www.christianity.com/bible/commentary.php?com=mhc&b=23&c=62

God’s professing people must be a praying people. He is not displeased with us for being earnest, as men commonly are; he bids us to cry after him, and give him no rest, Luke 11:5,6. It is a sign that God is coming to a people in mercy, when he pours out a spirit of prayer upon them. See how uncertain our creature-comforts are. See also God’s mercy in giving plenty, and peace to enjoy it. Let us delight in attending the courts of the Lord, that we may enjoy the consolations of his Spirit.

He Encourages Constant Communication With Him

http://www.spurgeongems.org/sermon/chs2189.pdf

What a blessed thing to be so familiar with God that you have His ear for your friends and neighbors! Plead with Him for the erring, the unbelieving, the profane. Never hold your peace towards God, for in this case speech is more than golden. By prayer you unlock the treasuries of heaven—keep the golden key in constant motion. Never cease to pray, since intercession is benediction. If the world be asleep, if the church be asleep, hold not your peace by night, and should the church become active and the world be a little awakened, redouble your prayer till the world is won. You spokesmen for God, and spokesmen to God, never hold your peace day or night.

Take no rest from prayer. Be always praying. If not always in the act of prayer, be always in the spirit of prayer. “Pray without ceasing.” Not only reason, but wrestle with God in prayer. Sometimes pray without words, and sometimes with them. Pray alone, and often pray with brethren. There is special prevalence in the prayer of two or three. “If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.”

Never rest from prayer because you are weary of it. Whenever prayer becomes distasteful, it should be a loud call to pray all the more. No man has such need to pray as the man who does not care to pray. When you can pray, and long to pray, why then you will pray, but when you cannot pray, and do not wish to pray, why then you must pray, or evil will come of it. He is on the brink of ruin who forgets the mercy seat. When the heart is apathetic towards prayer, the whole man is sickening for a grievous disease. How can we be weary of prayer? It is essential to life. When a man grows weary of breathing, surely he is near to dying, when a man grows weary of praying, surely we ought to pray anxiously for him, for he is in an evil case. Never rest from prayer because you have prayed enough. When has a man prayed enough? The greatest pleaders with God in prayer are the hungriest after more of it. The more a man gets from God, the more he desires from God. Those who have but little, ask but little, but to him that has shall be given, and he shall have abundance. Does anyone say, “I have long been prayerful and watchful, and I shall now take things more easily”?

He Initiates the Relationship

https://www.preaching.com/sermons/prayer-starts-with-god-isaiah-6524-1-john-512-15-romans-826-30/

And who starts the face-to-face conversation? The Lord! John makes that clear in John 4:19, “We love Him because He first loved us.” He is the prime mover in salvation, the gift of faith, and the initiation of prayer. In prayer, He makes known to us what is His will so that we can ask for what He longs to give. He calls us into His presence because He has the answer to our needs and questions. “If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”

Our assurance that He hears us is that He is the one who asked for the conversation. He would not call us to prayer and then refuse to listen or be inattentive to our prayer. That’s the confidence, boldness, we have: prayer is our response to His call. In the time of face-to-face communion He makes clear what it is that we are to ask for in the needs He has come to us to help us solve.

So when we do ask, it is with the confidence that we are asking for what He is prepared to release for us. “And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” We know before we ask, because the content of our asking has been guided by Him.

He Wants Us To Pray For What He Desires

https://www.cslewisinstitute.org/The_Priority_of_Prayer_FullArticle

Jesus teaches this very clearly in the Gospels. He tells us to pray, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10 KJV), and He bids us to “ask the Lord of the harvest … to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matt. 9:38).1 By this He means for us to understand and take seriously the fact that our prayer is a major factor in advancing God’s kingdom in this world. Jesus elsewhere encourages prayer in the strongest terms imaginable by saying, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matt. 7:7). “Have faith in God … whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:22, 24). “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” (Matt. 21:22). The clear implication of these and similar passages is that God commands us to pray and promises to answer in power when we do so.

Jesus demonstrated this in His own life and ministry. We are all familiar with how Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit, preached the gospel, fed the hungry, comforted the brokenhearted, healed the sick, cast out demons, gave sight to the blind, and raised the dead. But we sometimes overlook that these powerful deeds were the overflow of a life of prayer, lived in daily communion with God. The Gospels tell us that early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus would rise and spend time alone with God in prayer (Mark 1:35). And often, even in busy periods of ministry, He would withdraw to solitary places and pray (Luke 5:16). At times He even spent whole nights in prayer (Luke 6:12). By making prayer such a high priority, Jesus was able to maintain constant communion with His Father and draw upon God’s wisdom, guidance, and power to fulfill His mission (John 5:19–20).

https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-6-priority-prayer-1-timothy-21-8

As Paul begins to tell Timothy how to conduct oneself in the local church (3:15), he puts prayer as the first priority (1 Tim 2:1, “First of all”). But Paul is not just talking about the need for prayer in general. He is talking about the need for prayer as it relates to the salvation of the lost. He repeats some words and ideas in 1 Tim 2:1-8 that show what he is driving at: “all men” (1 Tim 2:1); “all” (1 Tim 2:2); “God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved” (1 Tim 2:3, 4); “mediator … between God and men” (1 Tim 2:5); “a ransom for all, the testimony” (1 Tim 2:6); “preacher and … teacher of the Gentiles” (1 Tim 2:7). Paul is talking about men—people—and not just about a certain few, but about all men. And he is talking about the Savior. His concern is that all would be saved. What he is telling us is that,

Prayer that all people may be reached with the gospel should pervade the life of the church.

We should have such a burden for those who are perishing without Christ that we’re driven to entreat God, who is the Savior, that all people might be reached with the good news that there is a Mediator who gave Himself as the ransom for their sins.

God’s Plan Involves All Kinds of Prayer for All Kinds of People

In verse 1 Paul uses four different words for prayer. The words are not altogether distinct in meaning, but there are nuances of difference that reveal different needs that require prayer:

“Entreaties” = prayer stemming from a sense of need. Sensing our lack and God’s sufficiency, our impotence and God’s omnipotence, should move us to pray.

“Prayers” = a general term for prayer to God. One commentator suggests that the word here refers to requests for needs that are always present, in contrast to specific and special needs (William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary [Baker], p. 92). This would include prayer for more wisdom, godliness, repentance, revival, etc.

“Petitions” = means to converse freely; it pictures someone who can go into the presence of the king and talk freely with him on your behalf. It is used of the intercessory work of the Holy Spirit and of Christ on our behalf (Rom. 8:27, 34; Heb. 7:25). It points to the fact that we can go freely before God at any time or in any place to talk with Him on behalf of others.

“Thanksgivings” = this points to the fact that we must express not only our petitions, but our gratitude to God for His gracious answers.

The point of all these words is that we have different needs at different times. But at all times we need God and, therefore, we need to pray.

https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-1-help-wanted-matthew-935-38

1. H. Spurgeon said that Matt. 9:38 weighed on his heart more than any other text in the Bible! He said that it haunted him perpetually (Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit[Pilgrim Publications], 19:466). So I pray that this simple message will haunt us:

We need to see as Jesus saw and feel as Jesus felt so that we will do as Jesus did.

Jesus saw lost people as distressed. The word means “troubled” or “vexed.” It points to the load of problems that people apart from Christ bear. Do you ever look carefully into people’s faces when you’re in public? If you do, you’ll see a lot of distressed, troubled people.

Jesus saw lost people as dispirited. The word means, “downcast” or “thrown down.” It points to the utterly helpless and forsaken condition of people who are lost in sin without the Savior. Philip Keller, in A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 [Zondervan], describes how sheep can get turned over on their backs and not be able to get up by themselves again. Such sheep are called “cast” or “cast down” sheep (p. 60). These sheep flail at the air with their legs, but they can’t get back on their feet without the aid of the shepherd. Left in this condition, helpless and vulnerable to their enemies, they will die after a few hours or days.

What a picture of sinners apart from the Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ! Outwardly, they may look calm and comfortable. They may be successful in worldly terms. But Jesus sees their hearts before God. They’re “legs up,” unable to extricate themselves from their sin. They are downcast or dispirited. They may look normal outwardly, but inwardly they are, as Paul describes them (Eph. 2:12), without “hope and without God in the world.”

Jesus saw lost people as sheep without a shepherd. The Jewish religious leaders should have been shepherding these people, pointing them to God. But instead they were self-righteous and self-seeking…

So to be like our Savior, we need to see as Jesus saw: the great need of lost people; the great harvest of lost people; and, the great need for more workers in the harvest of lost people.

Chapter 19 Questions

1. Pg 140: “ He even tells them to give Him no rest until He does what He has promised to do “ (see Isaiah 62:7). What in your prayer life have you not given any rest to God until He answers. Share examples.
2. What promises are you praying for today ? Look up these verses and share which one is on your heart.  Or share one of your own
   • Psa 9:10, Psa 32:8, Psa 33:4 , 37:4 , 119:105 , 119:90
   • Gen 28:15
   • Joshua 1:9
   • Prov 3:6,16:
   • 2 Chron 30:9
   • Isa 30:21 , Isa 41:3 , Isa 58 :11, Isa 54:10
   • John 10:3-4
   • Hebrews 10:23
   • 2 Thess 3:3
3. How can we ensure that we make prayer a priority in our lives ?  Discuss
4. Pg 142: ” The usual method of God accomplishing His work is to place a prayer burden on the disciples heart ?  (Thrasher). How can we become more sensitive to the needs of others?
5. Pg 145-146: Have you ever asked the Lord to teach you how to pray ? Share results, process.

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

When you pause to consider that God is infinitely strong and can do all that he pleases, and that he is infinitely righteous so that he only does what is right, and that he is infinitely good so that everything he does is perfectly good, and that he is infinitely wise so that he always knows perfectly what is right and good, and that he is infinitely loving so that in all his strength and righteousness and goodness and wisdom he raises the eternal joy of his loved ones as high as it can be raised — when you pause to consider this, then the lavish invitations of this God to ask him for good things, with the promise that he will give them, is unimaginably wonderful.

This means that one of the great short-term tragedies in the church is how little inclination we have to pray. The greatest invitation in the world is extended to us, and incomprehensibly we regularly turn away to other things. It’s as though God sent us an invitation to the greatest banquet that ever was and we sent word back, “I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it,” or, “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I must go to examine them,” or, “I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come” (Luke 14:18–20).

He Invites Us to Pray

Three times he invites us to pray — or, you could say, if you will hear it lovingly, three times he commands us to pray — to ask him for what we need. It’s the number of times that he invites us that gets our attention. Verses 7–8:

The repetition is meant to say, “I mean this.” I want you to do this. Ask your Father for what you need. Seek your Father for the help you need. Knock on the door of your Father’s house so he will open and give you what you need. Ask, seek, knock. I invite you three times because I really want you to enjoy your Father’s help.

Even better and more amazing than the three invitations are the seven promises. Verses 7–8: “Ask, and [1] it will be given to you; seek, and [2] you will find; knock, and [3] it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks [4] receives, and the one who seeks [5] finds, and to the one who knocks [6] it will be opened.” Then at the end of verse 11b (7): “How much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”

God Makes Himself Available at Different Levels

Jesus encourages us not only by the number of invitations and promises, but by the threefold variety of invitations. In other words, God stands ready to respond positively when you find him at different levels of accessibility.

Everyone Who Asks Receives

Jesus encourages us to pray by making it explicit that everyone who asks receives, not just some. Verse 8: “For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” When he adds the word everyone in verse 8, he wants to overcome our timidity and hesitancy that somehow it will work for others but not for us. Of course, he is talking about the children of God here, not all human beings. If we will not have Jesus as our Savior and God as our Father, then these promises don’t apply to us.

We Are Coming to Our Father

We have implied it, now let’s say it explicitly with its own force: when we come to God through Jesus, we are coming to our Father. Verse 11: “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” Father was not a throw away label for Jesus. It is one of the greatest of all truths. God is our Father. The implications is that he will never, never give us what is bad for us. Never. He is our Father.

Our Heavenly Father Is Better than Our Earthly Father

Then the Jesus encourages us to pray by showing us that our heavenly Father is better than our earthly father and will far more certainly give good things to us than they did. There is no evil in our heavenly Father like there is in our earthly father.

We Can Trust God’s Goodness Because He Has Already Made Us His Children

Here is another implicit encouragement to pray: God will give us good things as his children because he has already given us the gift to become his children.

This insight came from St. Augustine: “For what would he not now give to sons when they ask, when he has already granted this very thing, namely, that they might be sons?” We have already seen that being a son of God is a gift we receive when we come to Jesus (John 1:12). 

The Cross Is the Foundation of Prayer

Finally, implicit in these words is the cross of Christ as the foundation for all the answers to our prayer. The reason I say this is because he calls us evil and yet he says we are children of God. How can it be that evil people are adopted by an all holy God? How can we presume to be children, let alone ask and expect to receive, and seek and expect to find, and knock and expect to have the door opened?

Jesus gave the answer several times. In Matthew 20:28, he said, “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” He gave his life to ransom us from the wrath of God and put us in the position of children who only receive good things.

Take Jesus at His Word

But if we take Jesus at his word, oh how much blessing we forfeit because we do not ask and seek and knock — blessings for ourselves, our families, our church, our nation, our world.

https://www.parsonsporch.com/sermons/2017/9/6/the-sin-of-prayerlessness-1-samuel-1219-25

P.T. Forsythe once said, “The worst sin is prayerlessness.  Overt sin or crime or the glaring inconsistencies which often surprise us in Christian people are the affect of prayerlessness or its punishment.  We are left by God for lack of seeking Him.”

Samuel identified prayerlessness as sin!  It is sin because it is a violation of God’s command.  Jesus said: we “…ought always to pray and not lose heart.”  The word, “ought” implies moral obligation, a sacred duty.  It is then, a responsibility placed upon every Christian by the Lord himself.

Prayerlessness is sin because it denies pleasure to God.  The wise man of the Old Testament wrote:  “The prayer of the upright is His delight.” (Proverbs 15:8)  Imagine that!  God enjoys my praying!  Besides all the benefits I derive form praying, God also finds joy! There is another reason why prayerlessness is a sin:  it defeats the power of God.  Because he was a man of prayer, the Apostle Paul could write:  “I am ready for anything through Christ who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13)

https://www.harvestprayer.com/resources/personal-2/sin-of-prayerlessness/

Without a doubt we are commanded to pray. Jesus told His disciples to pray and not give up (Luke 18:1-8). Paul commanded us to “pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Peter wrote that we are to be self-controlled so that we can pray (1 Peter 4:7). James commanded us to pray for each other (James 5:16). If failing to do something we are commanded to do is sin, then prayerlessness is surely a major sin for believers.

There are some very specific ways to help us move away from this sin and into greater praying. Perhaps the most foundational issue here is that prayerlessness is a declaration that we do not need God. Ronnie Floyd, in his great book, How to Pray, said there are two critical statements about prayer that we must understand: “Prayer occurs when you depend on God” and “Prayerlessness occurs when you depend on yourself.”

Failing to pray is also an indicator of a lack of love for the Lord. Prayer, at its heart, is communicating with God. What does it say to Him when we fail to find time to talk with Him? Do we say by our lack of prayer that we are not at all interested in spending time with the Lord or hearing anything from Him? When we do not pray, we move away from any possibility of intimacy with Christ.

When prayerlessness is prevalent in our lives, we are also guilty of failure to love one another. There is scarcely any greater way to demonstrate love than to pray for someone. In godly intercession, we lift the needs of another to God and watch as He moves to meet needs and provide for the one we are praying for. Through prayer, bodies are healed, families are knit together, individuals are saved, and churches are revived. When we withhold prayer on behalf of others, we demonstrate hardened hearts and a failure to love them enough to bring their needs before a loving Father.

Two Reasons How God Gives His Best When We Pray

http://www.word-smith.info/textual/best

#1: God gives us his best when we pursue it actively (Matt 7:7-8)

• All we can do is establish the conditions under which it is natural for God to give us his best. Does one receive without asking; find without seeking; have a door opened without knocking? No! God blesses the pursuit (Heb. 11:6). Therefore, we conclude that God blesses our initiative and effort.

#2: God gives us his best because it is his nature to do so (Matt 7:9-11)

God has a beautiful plan for our lives. His willingness to give us his best is evident: “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32). He intends for us to ask, seek, and knock with the intent of discovering and submitting to his plan. Prayer is a powerful tool when it is leveraged against outcomes that are pleasing to God.

https://bible.org/seriespage/psalm-81-what-might-have-been

In Psalm 81, God laments over what might have been. As He ponders the history of Israel, His chosen people, God mourns over what He could have done for them and through them, if only they had obeyed Him. It’s an inscrutable mystery that while God is all-powerful and nothing can thwart His sovereign purpose, at the same time He limits His power and blessing to the obedience of His people. As we join the Lord in observing the wreckage of these wasted lives, the message to us is:

The way to avoid a wasted life is to walk in obedience to the Lord.

Chapter 18 Questions

1. Read Matt. 7:7-11. Discuss scripture , share insights from book and notes.
2. Pg 135: Discuss Luis Palau’s statement : “ I realized I’d always seen God as One whose expectations I could never meet rather than One who truly desired to bless me. I could think of many reasons why He should never bestow His gifts on me. However ,I began to see that I needed to simply humble myself before the Lord and receive from His kind hand the gracious gift that Christ has earned for me. “. How do you perceive God?
3. Pg 135-136: Read the five scriptures and discuss the 5 “True Prayer “ statements?
4. Pg 137: Read Psalm 81 : 12-16 and discuss.
5. As a group , share recent answers to prayer….how God has blessed you !! We are in the family of God and it is encouraging to hear other answers to prayer!

https://www.focusonthefamily.com/faith/prayer-has-its-reasons/

Prayer Gives us Power Over Evil

Can physical strength help us overcome obstacles and challenges in the spiritual realm? No, “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” (Ephesians 6:12). But in prayer even the physically weak can become strong in the spiritual realm. As such, we can call upon God to grant us power over evil.

• For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” -1 Timothy 4:8
• “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” – Matthew 26:41

Prayer Strengthens the Bonds Between Believers

Prayer not only strengthens our relationship with God, but when we pray with other believers, prayer also strengthens the bonds between fellow Christians.

Prayer Fulfills Emotional Needs

Do we need God through prayer? Yes! We were made to function best, emotionally, in a prayerful relationship with God. As C.S. Lewis put it, “God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other.” 

The Supreme Importance of Prayer

https://www.wordsoflife.co.uk/bible-studies/study-5-the-supreme-importance-of-prayer/

Prayer is of supreme importance in the life of the Christian because it is the Christian’s vital breath. The Christian life is a new life –- His life, the life of the risen Lord Jesus implanted in us by the Holy Spirit –- look up 1 John 5:13-14. This new life can only be sustained by prayer, and only by prayer can we develop into robust, healthy Christians; without prayer we shall be anemic, lifeless and ineffective. This means that we should pray privately (Matthew 6:6), frequently (Psalm 55:17), regularly (Daniel 6:10); in times of trouble (Psalm 50:15) –- in fact, without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Prayer is of supreme importance in the life of the Christian because of all it can accomplish in supplying every need. It is perfectly true that “more things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of”, but think of the wonderful accounts of the power of prayer which have been recorded for us in the Word of God. How many can you enumerate? In the light of these, is it not amazing that we do not pray more? For the believer, prayer is the divine method for supplying every need –- look up Philippians 4:19; and the reason we do not have is because we do not ask –- look up James 4:2. If only we would ask, we would receive –- look up Luke 11:9-10. What is it you need? Money? A house? Food? Employment? The salvation of some loved one? Then ask!

We Must Pray for Strength

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/pray-for-the-strength-that-god-supplies

We weak people frequently need to pray for strength. “Oh Father, please give me strength for ___” is a wonderful prayer. It’s a necessary prayer, and it’s a God-honoring prayer because it recognizes the true source of our strength (Exodus 15:2).

But when we ask God for strength, what are we asking for? Are we asking for the strength that God wants to give, or are we asking for the strength that we want to have?

The reason this is important to ask is because the two may not be the same. Highest on God’s agenda for us is strengthening our faith (Hebrews 11:6, Galatians 2:20). Highest on our agenda is frequently accomplishing something necessary or noble, or escaping affliction or humiliation. These may not be wrong desires, but they may be the wrong priorities.

When this is the case, our conception of the strength we need differs from God’s.When we pray for strength, we may imagine the answer looking like increased capacities to accomplish or escape. But the strength that God supplies (1 Peter 4:11) is often increased capacities to trust his promises, which might require dying to our envisioned accomplishment or enduring what we wish to escape.

When our conceptions collide with God’s, we are tempted to grow frustrated with God and lose heart in prayer (Luke 18:1). Because we ask for strength and what we receive, it seems to us, is less strength. In fact, things get worse. Our weaknesses are heightened, not diminished. But what’s really happening here is not God’s negligence or indifference to our prayers, but a conflict between our expectations and God’s intentions.

However, once we realize that the strength that God is working to supply us is the best, most joyful and hope-giving strength we can possibly have, it will change the way we pray for strength and change our understanding of God’s answers.

When God begins to answer our prayer for strength, often the first thing he does is help us unlearn our wrong understandings. Experiencing the failure of these wrong understandings might initially cause us confusion, discouragement, or depression. But through the process of unlearning and re-learning, God supplies us the “strength to comprehend” his fathomless love and wise purposes (Ephesians 3:18–19).

An accurate understanding of God’s love and purposes then increases our faith. We begin to increasingly “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7) because we have a deeper understanding that God’s promises are more trustworthy than our perceptions (Proverbs 3:5). We begin to rely more on God than on ourselves (2 Corinthians 1:9). This is the strength that God wants to supply in answer to our prayers because it is the showcase of his strength (“my power is made perfect in weakness”).

As the strength of our faith grows, so does hope in our souls. When we rely less on ourselves and more on God who raises the dead, and when we are increasingly confident that God is for us, so nothing can ultimately stand against us (Romans 8:31), what happens is that “the God of hope [fills us] with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit [we] may abound in hope” (Romans 15:13).

God loves when you pray for strength. And he promises to answer you:

Fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10, emphasis added).

So, pray with confidence. And pray for the strength that God supplies. And keep your eyes open for his answers. They may not look like your expectations. But you can be sure that even when he answers with a weakening agent, God is working to strengthen your understanding, strengthen your faith, and strengthen your hope in him.

The Benefits of Prayer

https://www.wordsoflife.co.uk/bible-studies/study-5-what-would-we-gain-by-praying%C2%85/

Read Isaiah 40:28-31 (KJV) and notice the argument here: God is great and He is our Creator; we are small, weak and frail. When we wait upon God in prayer He exchanges our weakness for His strength. How reasonable and logical this is! But the question is: do you believe this? Rainey, who we referred to earlier, points out that the word ‘‘wait’’ (KJV) can have at least three meanings: first, it means to stop, as a father says to his child, ‘‘Wait here!’’; second, it means to be in an attitude of expectation, as we might go to a railway station to meet a friend; third, the Hebrew word means ‘‘to bind together by twisting’’. If we will pause in the hectic rush of life and wait before God in expectancy, we shall become entwined in His purposes and experience Ephesians 6:10.

Read James 4:8. This short sentence means that as we, with all our heart and mind, in humility and in sincerity, approach God to worship Him and make our requests, He actually begins to approach us –- we feel His presence near us –- see what David said about this (Psalm 73:28). It is amazing to think that we who are so weak, sinful and needy can come near to God, but how much more amazing it is that He, who is so great and loving, wants to come near to us! His is fellowship at the highest level.

We have heard that expression ““Prayer changes things”” –- how true this is! –- but have you ever thought that in fact prayer changes the pray-er? When we experience a renewal of strength, provision for our every need, His joy in full measure, His supply of sustaining grace, His peace to fill our hearts and minds, His heavenly wisdom, and the enjoyment of His constant presence, then we realize how beneficial it is to pray.

The Power of Prayer

https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/prayer/the-strength-and-power-of-prayer.html

Do we realize the power we have available to us when we take our authority in prayer? Most of us don’t realize our authority because if we did, we would be praying far more. We would be sacrificing everything else in order to pray. Instead of worrying about the increase in evil in our land, we would be on our faces before God crying out for His intervention. Unfortunately in many churches prayer is the weakest link. It should be the strongest one because it is the key to God’s blessing in the spirit realm. 

Authoritative intercession and heartfelt repentance is key to breakthrough in America. By exercising our authority in prayer and standing strong in God’s truth, we are working together with Him to determine the future of our nation. We have authority in prayer to actually see our personal lives and the lives of others change. We can pray authoritative prayers for our neighborhoods and cities. Certain things in history will happen through our intercession if we pray the way God wants us to pray. We can change nations through prayer if we choose to use this mighty weapon.

God has provided everything for us if we pray. We can have all we need. Most of us have not realized the power there is in prayer. We are not asking. All we have to do is reach out by faith and ask Him to touch our lives, our cities, and our nations. When we tap into his resources by faith and pray, miracles happen. When we exercise our authority in prayer, God answers in a powerful way. There is a strength and power in prayer that the Church has not yet known or realized. 

“Of what infinite importance is the place the intercessor holds in the Kingdom of God! Is it not indeed a matter of wonder that God should give men such power? Yet there are so few who know what it is to take hold of His strength and pray down His blessing on the world.”  E. M. Bounds

Chapter 17 Questions

1. Pg 129-130: is the story of George McClusky who prayed for his family….and for future generations. His praying definitely had an impact within his family and beyond.
2. Investigate and discuss these biblical men and women whose prayers changed things.
   • Hannah – I Sam 1
   • Nehemiah – Neh 1
   • Daniel – Dan 6
   • Paul – Eph 1:17-19, Eph 3:16-19, Phil 1: 9-11, Col.1:9-12 ( We just studied these !!!)
3. Pg 131: True or false? “Many of us continue to make the mistake of trying to compensate for our lack of communion with God with increased social and spiritual activity“ (Thrasher)
4. Pg 131: ”If you do not pray … God will probably lay you aside from your ministry as he did me, to teach you how to pray “ (Robert Murray McCheyne). Has God ever changed your life to teach you how to pray ?
5. Share any new thoughts /insights from the book or notes.

https://www.heartlight.org/wjd/luke/0323-wjd.html

Jesus withdrew to the mountains to be alone with God and pray as he faced this momentous decision. He didn’t choose twelve and then ask God to bless his choice. No, he spent the night in prayer before he chose the twelve. When faced with decisions, whether they appear important or not, we need to follow the example of our Lord!

https://redeeminggod.com/sermons/luke/luke_6_12-16/

In Luke 6, Jesus is face with this sort of decision. He has come to earth to show and teach people what God is like and have an everlasting relationship with God. He only has three years of ministry, and by Luke 6, almost half of that is gone. He knows and realizes that one of the things he must do is pass on the essential truths of why He came to a few people who then in turn pass it on to others after He is gone. For over a year, He has been gaining hundreds of followers, but He knows that most of them have not clue about who He really is, or why He truly came. So He must choose out a few to teach and train so that they might continue to minister to others when He goes back to heaven. The eternal weight of the world is on His shoulders, and He must choose a few good men to pass that heavy weight to their shoulders.

we see that Jesus prepares Himself as well as He can for this incredibly important decision. And the amazing thing about it, is that unlike us, He doesn’t get a good night of sleep. When we face a difficult decision, or a rough day ahead, we think the most important thing is to get a good night of sleep. Jesus, on the other hand, realizes that the most important thing for Him is to be in touch and communion with God. The most important thing for Jesus is to spend the night praying.

Jesus is not only praying for the choice he must make the next day, but also for the healing (Luke 6:17-19) and teaching (Luke 6:20-49) He would do. Jesus always makes prayer his number one priority, because without prayer, His ministry would have no power. Did Jesus think carefully about His choice? Certainly. Did he watch his disciples interact with one another and base his decision on that? Of course. But prayer and communication with God was the primary step in making such a decision. …..whenever we see Jesus facing a critical decision, or an important action, he spends extra time in prayer. Prayer becomes more important for Jesus than food or rest. Prayer was His spiritual lifeblood. It is His wide open secret to being connected with God.

https://gccwaverly.net/2011/04/04/sermon-ordinary-to-extraordinary-luke-612-16/

What is Luke getting at here?  The prayer of God is a deep communion that Christ has with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  So, it wasn’t that Jesus was up all night praying, but He was up all night is deep fellowship and communion with the Father, reviewing the disciples one by one.  The Trinity was deliberating.  This isn’t an indicator as some might think that Jesus was simply a man in need of God’s guidance, but for 33 years God the Son did take on man’s flesh and much of our weakness.  He was tired, and needed the Father’s aid.  He needed the Father’s guidance as He selected the twelve.

Jesus prayed after the significant achievements of His life

https://fullstrength.org/ten-reasons-we-should-practice-solitude/

If we are to live as true followers of Jesus, we will be intentional about the practice of solitude. Let’s look at 10 different times in Jesus’ life when he made solitude a priority:

1. To Prepare for Ministry
   In Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus fasts for 40 days in the wilderness in preparation for the inauguration of his ministry.We should seek solitude to intentionally prepare for future ministry.
2. To Grieve
   In Matthew 14:13, Jesus receives the bad news of John the Baptist’s execution and withdrew by himself to grieve.We should seek solitude to recover from inevitable losses and disappointment.
3. After Success
   In Matthew 14:23, Jesus went up on a mountainside by himself to pray—right after feeding the 5,000.We should seek solitude in order to recover from a great victory that leaves us feeling tired and depleted.
4. Hear From God
   In Matthew 17:1-9, Jesus seeks the silence of a lonely mountain and God speaks through the transfiguration.We should seek solitude in order to intentionally listen to God’s Spirit.
5. Before a Major Challenge
   In Matthew 26:36-40, Jesus wants to pray alone in the garden before he faces the cross.We should seek solitude so we can find our quiet center and pray as a looming challenge approaches.
6. To Gain Perspective
   In Mark 1:35, Jesus went off to a solitary place to pray following and during an intense season of ministry. He gains perspective as he talks with his Father and prepares for things to come.We should seek solitude to gain a clear perspective that leads to wise decisions.
7. As an Example
   In Mark 6:31, Jesus invites the disciples to come away to a quiet place and rest after an intense season of ministry. He’s teaching the disciples the importance of the practice of solitude.We should seek solitude as an example to others who live noisy lives.
8. For Renewal
   In Luke 5:16, we learn that Jesus often withdrew to lonely places to pray. He does this after draining seasons of life.We should seek solitude for rest, rejuvenation, and renewal.
9. For Wisdom
   In Luke 6:12, Jesus spends the entire night on the mountainside praying before he chooses his disciples.We should seek solitude to find wisdom in choosing who we will serve alongside.
10. To Find Direction
    In John 8:1, after the people debate whether Jesus is the Messiah and the Pharisees consider arresting him, Jesus went to the Mount of Olives while everyone else went home. In the midst of conflict, Jesus is seeking direction and clarity.We should seek solitude to find direction in the midst of internal and external conflict.

With so many instances when Jesus needed solitude, what makes us think we can just delete it from our lives?

Jesus prayed when life was unusually busy

https://www.gci.org/articles/a-lesson-about-priorities-mark-135-39/

Prayer is the kind of priority that lies at the root of all the others — at the root of life itself. It’s a lot like eating; if we rarely eat, our physical health will suffer. We’ll be weak and sick. It will affect our ability to carry on the activities of life. In a similar way, if we rarely pray, our spiritual life will lack vitality. We’ll approach the challenges and successes of life on our own, as though we’re not totally dependent on God even for life itself.

Prayer is the grease, we might say, that keeps the gears and wheels of life in good working order. Without prayer, we see ourselves as alone against the world, left to fend off the storms of life on our own wits and brawn. It is in the course of prayer that we learn to see the true state of things — that we are creatures within a creation, creatures dependent on our Maker and on all the other parts of the creation, and as such, never alone.

We make priorities out of things we care about. It isn’t that we don’t care about prayer, it’s just that it often seems like just one more chore on top of all the other chores, and since God doesn’t cry when he doesn’t get his dinner or send collection agents out to repossess the washing machine, we tend to put prayer farther down the priority list.

Spending this time with God is great therapy. Therapy is remedial treatment of a bodily disorder, whether physical, emotional or psychological. When we think of prayer as much needed therapy, rather than as “our Christian duty,” it puts prayer into a clearer perspective, I think. When we go through our daily, weekly, monthly routines without acknowledging God as the root and core of our lives (which he is), our attitudes, emotions, psyche, even our bodies, suffer the ill effects of trying to live as though we are self-existent — not dependent on God and his creation for our life and being.

To hand over our concerns to God, whether for ourselves or for others, reminds us that our lives and future are in God’s hands. Even our past, with all its baggage of sin, selfishness and ignorance, is in God’s redemptive hands. The act of acknowledging God as the loving, wise and powerful Being that he is is remedial treatment for fear, worry and frustration. 

The point is, see prayer as a priority that will make all your other priorities more manageable and less stressful. Let your prayer time be a time to relax, to let God’s love bathe and salve your frayed nerves, your taut emotions, your exhausted and frightened heart. Let prayer time be your time to rest in God, to let him renew your strength, brighten your hope, sharpen your faith.

Jesus prayed when He was overwhelmed with need

https://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/your-daily-prayer/a-prayer-for-the-overwhelmed-your-daily-prayer-march-27-2017.html

When I run to God’s Word, even just one verse, I find that God is my “refuge and strength, an ever-present help in of trouble” (Psalm 46:1, NIV). When I run to Him, I find that my refuge isn’t an escape from my stress. God is my refuge. I’m reminded once again that my strength doesn’t come from me and my stamina or drive. My strength comes from the Lord.

He is the rock that is higher than I am. When I run to His Word, I discover that His law is “my delight” and it protects me and keeps me from totally freaking out or giving up or falling apart. (Psalm 119:92) He really is the Rock that is stronger and higher than anything you and I face.

And, when you find yourself sheltered in the truth of His Word and in the sanctuary of His presence, all the stress that overwhelmed you and felt bigger than you suddenly shrinks down to the pebble size it really is!

God’s Word gives you the perspective you need. God’s presence gives you the peace you need, so run away sister … run to the Rock who’s waiting to shelter and settle you.

Chapter 16 Questions

1. Pg 120: Bill Thrasher discusses Jesus going off to pray before He chose the Twelve. Share a time when you went to prayer before a big decision. Or have you had the experience of deciding THEN going to God to have Him bless your decision.
2. Pg 121: Discuss Thrasher’s statement , “after success is when it is easiest to be the most prayer less“. Agree/ disagree, why or why not !
3. Pg 121: Thrasher’s statement pertaining to Jesus’ time to pray alone , “the result was that He went from victory to victory as the Father prepared Him for the next miracle and ministry”. Does this encourage you to increase your prayer time after experiencing answered prayer/ success ?
4. Read Matt 14:23: How do you practice solitude with the Father ?
5. Pg 123:  Discuss Thrasher ‘s conclusion – ”I came to this conclusion you do not spend time with God, You invest it. Time alone with Him can be one of the greatest time savers of your life“
6. Pg 123: Discuss Thrasher’s conviction when you are busy – ”The conviction I came to was that God would never give me so much to do that I could not accomplish it after having time with Him.”
7. Pg 122-123: What three things that you can experience/ gain when you have your time alone with the Lord
8. Pg 125:  “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. … Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest“. Share a time when God has “awoken “ you through a sense of need.