June 5, 2016 God Works Through Prayer & Fasting

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call, and Isaiah 58:6-9

the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.” Isaiah 58:6-9

What is the focus of our church? Building Relationships… To Transform Lives… To Impact the World! Making disciples through building relationships What is focus of our Sunday morning service? ◦ Net to gather people into opportunities for discipleship ◦ Equipping for carrying out our mission ◦ Educate and disciple our children in their small group settings Introduction

What will it take to accomplish our goals? ◦ Prayer ◦ Faith ◦ Action Prayer and Fasting are essential for growing and making disciples! Introduction

To be obedient to God, prayer must be part of our life ◦ "Pray for those who persecute you" Matthew 5:44 ◦ "And when you pray …" "This, then, is how you should pray …" Matthew 6:5, 9 ◦ "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Romans 12:12 ◦ "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests." Ephesians 6:18 ◦ "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6 God Commands Us to Pray

◦ Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." Colossians 4:2 ◦ "Pray continually" 1 Thessalonians 5:17 ◦ "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone” 1 Timothy 2:1 Prayer is an act of obedience. Jesus used fasting combined with prayer to launch His ministry Matt 4 He taught the proper way to fast Matt 6:16-18 God Commands Us to Pray

Prayer is our lifeline to God by which we live Prayer involves communication with our Creator God is personal, He cares for us, and wants to commune with us through prayer. ◦ 2 Chronicles 7:14 ◦ Isaiah 40:29-31 ◦ Hebrews 4:15-16 Prayer is about communication with the living God God Communicates With Us Through Prayer

Prayer and Fasting is a means we participate in the works of God Can God work without our prayers? Prayer is means that helps others know love of Jesus There is power in prayer and fasting It is a means of access or entry into the supernatural power of God It is a gateway to spiritual breakthroughs Mark 9:29 It is an impetus that positions us to encounter the manifest presence of God like never before God Commissions Prayer & Fasting

In prayer & fasting we renounce the natural to invoke the supernatural We want revival, are we willing to sow into revival? “For too long the world has seen what the church can do. It is time, past time, for the world to see what God can do. Through the gateway of prayer and fasting, the church will rise up and have the life of God expressed through it... When we look at the church today, we are seeing what man can do. While we may have greater technology or more expressive worship or more fine-tuned targeted ministries, let me ask you this: Do we have more of God?” Ronnie Floyd God Commissions Prayer & Fasting

Prayer & Fasting are essential to making & growing disciples God commands us to pray God communicates with us through prayer God commissions prayer and fasting as means for us to participate in His works Conclusion