2. While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” (Matthew 26:26) Common Pattern in the NT ( 10 x):  Blessed  Broken  Reinstated  Used

3. Acts 16:5: So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers. “They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:46-47)

4. Acts 16:6: Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.

5. Closed door, trials, depression, divorce, job loss, conflict, separation, emotional pain, abuse, broken promises, sickness, disease, grief, bankruptcy, despair, lost opportunity, crisis of belief, etc… The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. (Ps 34:18)

6. “ A crisis of belief is a turning point where you must make a decision. You must decide what you truly believe about God. The way you respond at this turning point will determine whether you become involved with God in something God-sized that only He can do or whether you will continue to go your own way and miss what He has purposed for your life.” Experiencing God, p. 134

8. Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. (Luke 18:1) How much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Matt 7:11) If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer. (Matt 21:22) For everyone who asks receives... (Luke 11:10)

9. Acts 16:9: During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

10. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. (Romans 8:26- 27) Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matt 6:8)

11. As we struggle to express in articulate language the desires of our hearts and find that our deepest emotions are the most inexpressible, we “groan” under this felt inability. But not in vain are these groanings. For 'the Spirit Himself' is in them, giving to the emotions which He Himself has kindled the only language of which they are capable; so that though on our part they are the fruit of impotence to utter what we feel, they are at the same time the intercession of the Spirit Himself in our behalf.

12. Acts 16:13: On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message.

13. God uses the humbled, reinstated heart.

14. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves and He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them; and He divided up the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied. (Mark 6:41-42)  Blessed  Broken  Reinstated  Used