Unlocking Heaven's Door in Prayer

Jesus asked His disciples who are I?

Matthew 6:14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist. Others say Elijah. Still others say Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”

Matthew 6:15 “But what about you?” he asked. 

“Who do you say I am?”

Matthew 6:16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah. 

You are the Son of the living God.”

In John 1:34 B, John the Baptist said that Jesus is the Son of God. 

John saying this was common knowledge.

  

When John the Baptist spoke it with his lips, God spoke it into Peter's heart.

  

Matthew 6:17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah! 

No mere human showed this to you. My Father in heaven showed it to you.

   

When Peter's thoughts and speech lined up with the Word of God as spoken through John the Baptist, they were divine, and Peter was commended. 

Matthew 6:21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples what would happen to him. 

He told them he must go to Jerusalem. 

There he must suffer many things from the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law. 

He must be killed and on the third day rise to life again.

This was a revelation from God, too!

Matthew 6:22 Peter took Jesus to one side and began to scold him. 

“Never, Lord!” he said. 

“This will never happen to you!”

Matthew 6:23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “

Get behind me, Satan! 

You are standing in my way. 

You do not have in mind the things God cares about. 

Instead, you only have in mind the things humans care about.”

When Peter's thoughts and speech opposed God's Word, it was Demonic.

  

During a two minute conversation, Peter was both speaking for God and Satan!

Peter was thinking at this point like a man instead of from God's vantage point, and Jesus called him out on that.

  

When you speak or pray from man's point of view, it is of demonic origin, and we should know better than that.

  

Jesus was attempting to teach both Peter and us in this passage how we are being influenced in the Spiritual realm by both God and Satan in our thoughts.

The only way to figure out which is which is to determine how our thoughts line up with Scripture.

  

At this time, Peter wasn't living up to his name. He was wishy washy, thinking both God's and Satan's thoughts.

     

Jesus previously said to Peter...

Matthew 6:18 Here is what I tell you. 

You are Peter. 

On this rock I will build my church. 

The gates of hell will not be strong enough to destroy it.

Peter would eventually figure it out by not mixing God's and Satan's thoughts in his speaking, praying, and actions.  

He would eventually only stand on thoughts and words that line up with God's word like a rock (or a Peter), and whip Satan by doing so.  

Jesus also said to Peter...

Matthew 6:19 I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. 

What you lock on earth will be locked in heaven. 

What you unlock on earth will be unlocked in heaven.”

The key that unlocks the kingdom is the will of God as revealed in the Word of God.   

We lock and unlock the doors of heaven by...

1. Distinguishing the origin of our thoughts. 

2. Thinking from God's point of view not Man's. 

3. (Only) Speaking, Praying, and Acting aligned to God's will as revealed in God's Word.      

1 John 5:14 (NIRV) Here is what we can be sure of when we come to God in prayer. If we ask anything in keeping with what he wants, he hears us.

M. H. Dennis

Desperation Prayer

Before Jesus was taken to be crucified,

He prayed in desperation for escape; 

but He surrendered His will to the will of the Father. 

In Luke 22:42 (NIRV)  Jesus said, 

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup of suffering away from me. 

But do what you want, 

not what I want.” 

44 Because he was very sad and troubled, he prayed even harder... 

His sweat was like... 

drops of blood... 

falling to the ground.

On the cross in Matthew 27:46 , Jesus cried...

“My God, my God, 

why have you... 

deserted me?”  

At that time, He felt abandoned by God His Father.  

That's mind boggling!

In Hebrews 5:7-8(NIRV)It says... 

"Jesus prayed while he lived on earth. 

He made his appeal with sincere cries and tears. 

He prayed to the God who could save him from death. 

God answered Jesus because he truly honored God.

Jesus was God’s Son. 

But by suffering he learned what it means to obey."

Jesus prayers weren't answered in a way that He wanted,but He prayed anyway. 

He prayed an escape for Himself, 

but He obtained escape for everyone along with Himself. 

A miracle greater than He prayed for happened. 

That great need birthed a greater miracle. 

You too can birth a great miracle... 

Maybe greater that the one that you're praying for if you never give up, too!

Luke 18:8  

Notes taken from Layne Schranz, Church of the Higlands 

Dealing with Difficult People

This isn't a message about changing difficult people, but how God changes you to handle them in a Christ like way.  

Ask God what are your trying to do in me through the difficult people that you've brought or allowed in my life?  

We can't control or change anyone else.  God wants to change you.  To have God's peace, we must allow God's work within us. 

Surrender to God in this area and all other areas is the pathway to peace.  Nobody can blame their way to happiness.  

If you believe other people are the key to your happiness, you are giving to them the key of your life.     

(James 4:1-2) What causes fights and quarrels among you?  Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?  (James blames you.  Not them) 

You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. 

You do not have, because you do not ask God. 

Have you asked, "is this desire in keeping with your purpose, Lord?"  If God's answer is no, then your problem is with Him and not with the other person. You have laid claim to a right that you haven't been given.   

The person who lives a great life is the person who surrenders it.  This message isn't about growing the church, but growing church people.  

You haven't received because you haven't asked, "Lord, what do You want for me?"  God is trying to give you something far more valuable than your desire, patience.  

(Pray Lord, help me to go slower.  When we hurry, we move closer to sin).  

We keep trying to change others.  God is trying to change us.  Here are some keys to dealing with difficult people.    

 1. Overlook the offense from them. 

In our culture, we not only disagree, but we want them to die.  Lord, give me patience.  Forgive my anger and intolerance.

  

(Proverbs 10:12 CEV) Love overlooks the wrongs that others do. 

(Proverbs 12:16 TEV) When a fool is annoyed, he quickly lets it be known. Wise people will ignore an insult. 

(Proverbs 19:11) A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense. 

Love looks past their behavior, and into their pain.  Looking into their pain gives us compassion. 

2. Pray for them. 

We pray for them because it changes us. Your heart softens when you pray for others.  

(Matthew 5:43-44) “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’   

But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” 

3. Forgive them. 

Forgiveness is a one player game. You can do it with or without their help.

I'm not going to hold the bill for their offense.  It doesn't change the past, but it does change your future.   

Reconciliation on the other hand requires two people, and you can't control how they will respond to your forgiveness. 

They may even misinterpret your attempt to forgive them as an attack.  

If they won't reconcile, have an imaginary conversation with them telling them how their offense effected you, and end by giving them your total forgiveness. 
          

(Luke 23:34) Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” 

(Colossians 3:13 NLT) You must make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive the person who offends you. 

Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 

4. Bless them. 

To bless means to speak well of or good to.  It is the opposite of a curse.  This is how to get the war within you quieted.  

Don't focus on who they are, but what God says they are if they yield to Christ.  

God created His world through His words by speaking what He wanted it to become.  

You can bless the people within your world by speaking who they are if they yield to Christ. 

Pray Lord, you don't see me for who I am, but who I am when I surrender to Christ.  Lord, do a work within me.  Change me.  
       

(Luke 6:27-28) But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 

(1 Peter 3:9 NCV) Do not do wrong to repay a wrong, and do not insult to repay an insult. But repay with a blessing, because you yourselves were called to do this so that you might receive a blessing. 

5. Do good to them. 

You have the capacity to do good to your enemies, but you must move first.  

(Romans 12:17-21) Do not repay anyone evil for evil. 

Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 

On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. 

In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. 

(Matthew 10:8) …Freely you have received, freely give. 

The forgiven forgive. 

(Ephesians 4:31-32) Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. 

If you are far from God, you're just a heart felt prayer away.  Pray God, I am sorry for my past.  Lord Jesus, be my Lord and Savior.  I put my faith in you.  

Notes taken from Chris Hodges, Church of the Highlands

Purple: M. H. Dennis 

https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/media/message/dealing-with-difficult-people1

The Noise of Worry

Is it just me, or is our world getting busier and noisier?  Worry, stress, and anxiety has a way of distorting the voice of God. 

What the devil can't stop, he will accelerate.  He makes us feel overwhelmed and under qualified.   

It's hard to hear from God when your life is smothered and suffocated with stress. 

If you can't hear God's voice, you'll struggle to make the right decisions on your own. 

If you're listening to the right voice, you'll make the right choice. 

The enemy likes to throw a lot of things at you, so you'll begin to hurry.  Then,you'll struggle to hear God's voice. 

The enemy tries to distort the voice of God.  You kind of hear it, and you kind of don't.

The plan of the enemy is to plant confusion into your life. 

How do you move from fear to faith? How do you move from stress and worry to trust?

In the Bible, Paul says...

Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 

Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything.  Here is the result...

7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Here are four simple thoughts taken from these verses.  

#1.  Don't worry about anything.  

Have you ever been in a situation or a season of life that you felt totally helpless?

Paul is assuming that we have the capacity to choose to worry or not.  

We're not helpless. 

If God tells us to do something, He's going to give us everything that we need to do it. 

If God tells us not to do something, He's going to give us the grace, the strength, and the wisdom to stay away from it.  

Worry is rooted in fear, and it exaggerates what might happen to you.   

In worry, we live in Hypotheticals. 

We are constantly playing the "what if" game.  Jumping through hoops of what might be. 

99% of the things that you worry about never happen, but what about that 1%?  The devil will try to leverage that 1% to unsettle the 99%.

We can't live in the Hypotheticals.  We trust in what we see, but we must step out in faith into whom God is.

  

Jesus asked his followers...

Matthew 6:27  (NLT)  Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?  (No) 

Worry doesn't add.  It subtracts. 

Worry subtracts the best moments from your life.  

If you're short and you worry about it, you're not getting any taller.  

We think that if we worry, we'll gain something; however, we lose the power of the day. 

Corrie ten Boom said, worry doesn't empty tomorrow of it's sorry. It empties today of it's strength. 

Paul said to not worry about anything!

Sure you may say, I don't stress the little stuff, but what if it's BIG?

How BIG is the BIG stuff as compared to your GOD?

From God's point of view, everything that you face is small.  

In other words, if you're worrying about something, you are choosing to worry about it.

You don't have to worry.  You have a choice in the matter. 

If you feel pressure and stress coming down on you, you can turn to the Word of God, and you can find help.  

#2. Pray about everything. 

When you pray, you are inviting God into your situation.  

When we pray, we are putting our worries into God's hands. 

Worry will lie to you. 

In our minds, we create scenarios that may seem true to us, but they are not true in real life. 

At the center of worry's lie is the illusion of control.  

One of the most frustrating things in life is trying to control something or someone that you have no control over.

Prayer is the process of letting go of the control of your lives to the Lord. 

Paul goes on to say...

Philippians 4:8  (NLT) 8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.  

Worry is meditating on bad things.  Biblical meditation is meditating on good things. If you know how to worry, you know how to meditate.

It all depends on your mindset. What you think about becomes big.  Then, what should be manageable becomes overwhelming! 

#3. Thank Him (God) for what He has done!

Gratitude and worry are fundamentally incompatible.  

When you worry, press pause, and begin to inventory the goodness of God in your life.

If you look into your past, you'll see God's faithfulness there.  You can be sure that when you look into your future, you'll see God's faithfulness there, too!

I challenge you before your head hits the pillow tonight that you begin to document the goodness of God in your life.  

Start with up to ten blessings, and set your mind on those things.  It'll make going to sleep a whole lot easier. 

When you are thankful for what God has done, it builds confidence in your spirit.   

King David said...

Psalm 37:25  (NLT) Once I was young, and now I am old.   Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread.   

#4. Then, you will experience God's peace.  

   

The alternative to living in worry is living in the peace of Jesus.

You will never find the peace of God from the things of this world.  

Trying to find the peace of God from this world is like going to Wal-Mart to buy a Rolls Royce.

Nothing in this world can give you this kind of peace, but God Himself.  

God's peace is an irrational peace.  (It passes understanding). 

It's a peace that protects! What does it protect?  Your heart and your mind...  

Philippians 4:7 (NLT) Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. 

Some of you.  Your life is in pieces.  God's saying, I want you to live in peace.  

If you'll give Jesus all the pieces,  Jesus will give you His peace in exchange. 

You see, Jesus is the Prince of Peace.  He is the author not of confusion, but of peace.  

There may be a storm around you, but don't let that storm get inside you... 

  

Colossians 3:15 (AMPC) 15 And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts

 [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] 

to which as [members of Christ’s] one body you were also called [to live]. 

And be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to God always].

Peace is like an umpire.  It calls the game.  Let's God's peace be the final authority when you're making decisions. 

Say, Lord Jesus, take my life.  Please forgive me for my failures.  I give them to you. Take control of my life.  I give you my pieces, and I ask for your peace.  Amen!

Mike Hamon, Healing Place Church