Prayer5

Sermons Praying for a Miracle

Series: The Art of Prayer

Jason Hopkins

Homework Did you do it? What was the outcome?
1. What is the one thing that you should go banging on the doors of heaven for? What in your life is worth consistently prayer for?
2. Praying for someone you don’t like?

Recap
1. One of the aspects of prayer. (We talked about in week 1) is God’s faithfulness. (Others- Persistence, Content) faithfulness in day to day life and faithfulness when his miraculous power is displayed in our lives.

2. We talked about in week 2, the most dangerous time in when all is well, don’t need anything. Sometimes most growth, best time, is when you need a miracle.

 When we need a miracle, state the miracle you need. __________ (Acknowledge your only hope is Jesus) He already knows our needs.

 That’s the first thing you need to know about miracles. All of God’s miracles have one thing in common, and you know what that is?

 They all start with a problem. Now, how many of you have a problem? Maybe, your problem is sitting right next to you? Don’t tell! Truth be told, You have problems, I have problems, all God’s children have problems!!! If you have a problem your candidate to receive a miracle.

All the miracles you read about in the Bible have this one thing in common. They all start with a problem or a need. That’s the starting point for God’s action. If you don’t have any problems then you don’t need God.

o State your problem. ADMIT YOU HAVE A PROBLEM.

Now for many of us, this is a very difficult step to take. We don’t like to admit some of our problems do we?

o We would rather pretend our problems don’t exist. We falsely think, that If we don’t talk about them, maybe they will go away. And when we’re confronted with them, we have all kinds avoidance strategies like blaming others, getting defensive, or just plain denial.

 Admit there is a problem. Acknowledge your need for God.

1. Each week we have talked about seeking to know God’s will in the situation and pray accordingly.

a. We have been through the best ways to know God’s will- To be familiar with the Bible. The bible is full of promises that let us know God’s will.

b. We can ask him to perform the miracle we know he wants to do. When His will and our request line up, something is going to happen.

 An important part of praying for a miracle is Faith.
Faith and Prayer – Go hand in hand. Hard to have great faith and not be prayer minded or have the relationship needed with Jesus. Vice versa- hard to be prayer minded and lack in faith.

Matthew 17:14-21 This is following the Transfiguration James and John (Sons of Thunder) Peter see Jesus in His glory along with Elijah, and Moses.

14 At the foot of the mountain, a large crowd was waiting for them. A man came and knelt before Jesus and said, 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son. He has seizures and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 So I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.”
17 Jesus said, “You faithless and corrupt people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18 Then Jesus rebuked the demon in the boy, and it left him. From that moment the boy was well.
What if Jesus said this to us?
19 Afterward the disciples asked Jesus privately, “Why couldn’t we cast out that demon?”
20 “You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain (Problem), ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.[d]”
God has a way of getting our needs met, our problems solved. Uses people with faith.
Principle #1 Must have faith for a miracle.

Whether it is $20 in the mail or moving a mountain, no more of a challenge for my God.

Mark 11:23

15 When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, 16 and he stopped everyone from using the Temple as a marketplace.[c] 17 He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”[d]
18 When the leading priests and teachers of religious law heard what Jesus had done, they began planning how to kill him. But they were afraid of him because the people were so amazed at his teaching.
Teachers and priest had no relationship with Jesus. No prayer life.
19 That evening Jesus and the disciples left[e] the city.
20 The next morning as they passed by the fig tree he had cursed, the disciples noticed it had withered from the roots up. 21 Peter remembered what Jesus had said to the tree on the previous day and exclaimed, “Look, Rabbi! The fig tree you cursed has withered and died!”
I’m sure at that moment Jesus wanted to turn to Peter and say “No da Pete” “Here’s your sign” I would have said something like Peter did.
22 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. 23 I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. 24 I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. 25 But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that you’re Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.[f]”
The #1 thing that blocks our access to God through prayer?
Lack of Forgiveness blocks access to the kingdom of God and its marvelous power.
Matthew 6:5-15 The Lord’s Prayer has taught us that.
With forgiveness often the 1st person you need to forgive is yourself.
Psalm 103
8 The LORD is compassionate and merciful,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
9 He will not constantly accuse us,
nor remain angry forever.
10 He does not punish us for all our sins;
he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.
11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him
is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
12 He has removed our sins as far from us
as the east is from the west.
The 2nd person might be God, maybe for an answered prayer or a mountain (problem) in your life that you have blamed him for because there was no one else to blame.

 OK, we have no unforgiveness, we have faith, we have acknowledged a problem exist, what next?

 The spoken word is a key to the miraculous that needs exercised. We need to exercise our faith through the words we speak.

We don’t have to have much faith either, faith as small as a mustard seed.

Faith that appears small or weak to us still can accomplish the humanly impossible.

Story- Orphan girl in Asia. Harbor with mountain in middle blocking her view of the ocean. Missionaries shared these verses at the orphanage. Orphan girl had faith. Each day she spoke the words that the mountains shall be moved. She believed these words of scripture. Local authorities decided the mountain needs to b leveled to open the harbor for trade purposes. Within a few months the girl’s prayer was answered.

We all have mountains I our lives.

Mountains represent a massive obstacle.

I think Mt. McKinley is highest mountain in North America, over 20,000 ft high. You have seen footage of people trying to climb the mountain. It’s hard, many die, and few even attempt. Original climbers gave up and said it was 19,000 feet high, they guessed, never made to the top the mountain.

 God’s power comes when the price is prayed. I like the attorney analogy- Power of attorney for God. We have authority. Mountains represent hardship and difficult times. I like the fact that we are mountain climbers by faith.

Last week we talked about having all the tools we need.

Even Marvin Gaye sang “Ain’t no mountain high enough, to keep me from getting to you…”

What if we took that emotion, that passion, in relation to seeking God? What if we allowed nothing to keep us from God?

Nothing is impossible for those who are committed to God, in prayer, understanding their authority to use his name, know His power, will, purpose and provision. Nothing is impossible.

What is the mountain in your life that needs a miracle? ___________
Sickness, troubles, financial hardships, unpaid bills, rebellious children, addictions,

We know life is full of problems, mountains. But my Jesus says,” if you have faith as small as a grain of mustard seed, you can say to the mountain (the problem, the hardship) be moved and it will obey.

Believe in your heart that it has already happened. With anointing of faith that give gives you, speak it forth.

Last week we talked about AMEN- so be it, truly. The spoken word, faith that our prayer is heard.

• Now we need to LOOK FOR THE UNEXPECTED!

God performs miracles his way, not our way. He does it His way, not our way.
Frank Sinatra sang “I did it my way” We need to sing “I did it His way”.

• God has a miracle working agenda and it doesn’t always work the way we think it’s going to work.

The miracle may come in a way you never thought. And it may come when you don’t expect it.

• Miracles are miracles for a reason, you can’t manufacture them. God is God, and we are not.
And sometimes he chooses to work in a way that we never thought humanly possible.

• There’s a sense of awe and wonder when a miracle takes place. God is God and if he chooses to do so He can supernaturally intervene in the natural order of things and do a miracle.

We serve a miracle working God who works in unexpected ways. Now that is exciting.

The greatest miracle is changed lives.

You can read the miraculous accounts of God moving in scripture and you’ll find in every case that it resulted in someone’s life being changed.

o In the Bible there is a litany of miracles from beginning to end, Jesus performed 39 of them that we know of that got recorded, who knows there could have been hundreds upon hundreds more, in every case there’s the miracle and then there’s the miracle behind it.

o The miracle is walking on water, or feeding a hungry crowd or healing a terrible disease. Bu the miracle behind the miracle is the life change that results from it.

o Real miracles from God have a different agenda, it brings about dramatic life change, and attitude change. You’ll never be the same after a God given miracle. That’s God’s agenda.

When God performs miracles, unexpected changes in your life may occur. Look for the unexpected.

 Miracles come by faith in God’s present power, not be ritual or formula of human works or willpower.

He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We can believe right now, for a miracle.

Hebrews 11 – Let’s go back to the faith factor.

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

Hope means expected anticipation. Expecting with confidence.

By faith Abel, offered a better sacrifice than Cane. Abels- faith, Cain’s formality.
By faith Noah built a boat when he had never seen rain.
By faith, Abraham obeyed.
By faith Isaac blessed Esau and Jacob.
By faith, Moses refused to be known as Pharaoh’s daughter’s son.
By faith, Moses parted the red sea.
By faith the walls of Jericho fell.
By faith, Rahab was not killed.

2 Corinthians 5

7We live by faith, not by sight.

Paul was dealing with his own upcoming death. He had been blinded on Damascus road, shipwrecked, beaten. He knew faith. He knew the assurance of what is not seen.

What level of faith do you have? Is it at least the size of a mustard seed?

I read a poem that said “Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered and no one was there.” Where Faith is, fear can’t exist. Faith can move mountains.

 We don’t need to be afraid of what is already ours, miracle working power that comes from only one source, Jesus Christ our Savior. It’s here today in God’s present power.

 None of these people in Hebrews 11 allowed fear to lessen their faith. They believed, they hoped, they expected and anticipated.

God has given us authority over disease, demons, sickness, storms and finances. The list can go on. We have authority to be used as God’s vessel for a miracle.

Matthew 10:1 1He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil[a] spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

You and I are His disciples.

Last week Jack mentioned that we need to be doers of the word. We have to exercise the spoken word. We need to speak the authority He has given us and be doers of the word.

Often we keep asking God to act, when in fact he calls us to employ his authority by our actions with God powered speech.

An example. Story –Tornado.

When we declare His authority, know his will, act in obedience, use his name, needed funds appear, storms obey, and sickness departs.

BE WILLING TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

If you want to see miracles happen in your life, be willing to sacrifice! Nothing happens except by way of sacrifice. You need a financial miracle? Be willing to sacrifice and discipline yourself.

You need a marriage miracle? Then you have to be willing to put some other things aside in order to make your marriage a priority. It won’t happen until you sacrifice something.

God is looking for some people who are willing sacrifice! So that miracles can happen and the world will know that He is alone is God. And so often He uses what’s in our hand, if only we would be willing to sacrifice it.

I’m not stating the ‘God helps those who help themselves” that’s the point of the lesson." The point is this:

God helps those who are willing to make a sacrifice, and that’s his way of doing things, not our way. You see, miracles usually involve some degree of sacrifice.

Matthew 14:13-21
As soon as Jesus heard the news, he left in a boat to a remote area to be alone. But the crowds heard where he was headed and followed on foot from many towns. 14 Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
15 That evening the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.”
16 But Jesus said, “That isn’t necessary—you feed them.”
17 “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish!” they answered.
18 “Bring them here,” he said. 19 Then he told the people to sit down on the grass. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he gave the bread to the disciples, who distributed it to the people. 20 They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers. 21 About 5,000 men were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children!
You remember the story of the loaves and fishes. This was the only miracle that Jesus performed recorded in all four gospels.

That’s how important it was.
Jesus is teaching a multitude of hungry people, it’s late in the afternoon and they’re all hungry. Along comes a little boy with 5 loaves and two fishes, Jesus said, "give me your lunch" And the little boy willingly gave up his lunch. He didn’t do it begrudgingly or with hesitation, he gave his lunch to the Savior.

Did Jesus need the 5 loaves and 2 fishes?
• No, he could have called down manna from heaven and spontaneously created a hug buffet line. But Jesus didn’t do it that way, He took what little bit that boy had to offer and multiplied it.

• God typically uses what’s already in our possession. We just have to be willing to give it to Him. The key word is: Sacrifice. Surrender.

You have to, because when God supernaturally intervenes, everything is going to change anyway. When miracles happen nothing stays the same, old things pass away and new things come about.
Miracles have a way of changing our habits, attitudes and lifestyles.

Back to Surrender and Sacrifice.

Romans 12:3 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual[a] act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Obedience and prayer, sacrifice and surrender, result in a miracle.
Story- Kenya money. Mailbox. Obedience. To me it was a miracle.

God was able to use my problem, my mountain to bless others. To spread his word and give him glory as a testimony.

 Each one of us can pray and receive a miracle by Jesus power and the authority in his name he has given us.
Full surrender guarantees his guidance, and you, by faith can ask him to perform the miracle you know he wants.
Back to the Faith and prayer go hand in hand.
Lets look at some of Jesus miracles, what’s the common bond.
1. Matthew 9:18-26 Women bleeding for 12 years and touched the fringe of his robe. Jesus said “Your faith has made you well”
2. Matthew 9:27-31 Blind and Mute. Jesus asks them “Do you believe I can make you see?” Yes. Jesus says “Because you have faith, it will happen.”
3. Matthew 14:22-34 Jesus walks on water. Peter falls. “Ye of little faith.”
4. Matthew 15:21-28 Jesus heals the gentile’s daughter. He says to the Gentile ”Your faith is great, your request is granted.”
5. We talked about Matthew 17:14 Boy with demon falling into the fire. Disciples “so little faith”
How many times has Jesus looked at me and “So little faith”?
So many miracles and his response was based on the individual’s faith or lack of. Pray for strong faith.
That mountain can be moved.

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