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| Prayer causes us to Boldly Speak! |
We find this of true grit and spit in Jesus:
John 9:1-12 NKJV Now as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who
was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him saying, “Rabbi, who sinned,
this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered & said,
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned; but that the works of God should be
revealed in him. 4 I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day,
the night is coming when no one can work.
1. That work
is: the urgent energy to accomplish or perform the tasks given
2. The
things accomplished through Jesus were works of God’s power and His might.
3. And this act of divine presence had spit in it! Did you ever have a cousin who wanted to spit on you? I remember being eight years old and my four year old cousin wanted to spit on me. If he could not reach me with his spit, he would spit in his hand and then run fast to at least touch my arm....yuck!
John 9:5-12 As long
as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 When he had said these
things, he spat on the ground & made clay with the saliva; & He
anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. 7 And He said to him. “Go,
wash in the pool of Siloam (which is translated ‘Sent’). So he went &
washed & came back seeing. 8 Therefore the neighbors & those who
previously had seen that he was blind said, ‘Is not this he who sat &
begged?” 9 Some said, “This is he.” Others said, “he is like him.” He said, “I
am he”. 10 Therefore they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?” 11 He
answered & said, “A Man called Jesus made clay & anointed my eyes &
said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went & washed, &
I received sight.”
12 Then they said to him, “Where is He?” He said, “I do not
know.” Silver & gold did not heal this man of blindness but Jesus did!
As Jesus was the Sent One, so too He gives instruction to us in being obedient to the truth of His word He brought! He worked in the spit and moistening of the clay with yes, spit and applied! In this work of God through His Son Jesus brought many problematic things into the life of Jesus. For one thing: The work of Jesus gave rise to division. BUT: Obedience is seen
in the blind man to obey Jesus’ command! Many became the "haters" of Jesus because of that which was done to glorify the Father!
Healing came to the blind man in that he could now see and see Him who expressed great love to see the recovery of sight to those who desired to see!To have grit is to have time in prayer with God! Jesus did. He prayed alone in Matthew 14:23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there to pray.
Multitudes can gather around you when someone is healed, when someone has received strength in their body, when a precious word has come in that encouragement and these same multitudes can highlight every aspect of that moment, hour or period of time spent whether it is for a conference, healing event or worship event! A person can highlight that specific thing as when Pastor Jude came up to bring an encouraging word to the divorced people, and Jenny Jo came up and sang your favorite song or relate the three woman teaching all had give such similar messages without being together at any one time in the last three months before this conference.
Point is prayer should guide our lives in that we should speak what the Lord directs us in speaking and doing ( that work given to us do through Jesus Christ)
In John 11:41 we find Jesus now praying in public! John 11:14-44 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. AND Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, " Father, I thank You that You have heard Me, 42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that YOU sent Me."43 Now when he had said these things , He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!" 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go."
From praying in the lonely place, the private place ( secret place) we find love, truth and confidence to speak out loud without a mega phone and tell others of the love of God. We speak with a confidence that shakes the ground, it gives glory to the Father Who heard us in the secret place to speak loudly before men and women and see the glory of God come in this place that was a cemetery, yes the dead place!
Unless we have that quiet time with Him and allow Him to speak to us, we rely on ourselves in situations like seeing healing for the blind or the dead man to walk. We know of a couple that expected to see the dead walk out of the tomb. They pray together and ask others to agree with them to see that come for those who may have died suddenly without any warning. They die suddenly without fulfilling the purpose for which God had for them to finish in the lifetime. It has been my great honor to pray with such ones who believe the Lord come in all His glory to raise the dead. I believe it will occur soon for them for they will not let go of God nor of His plan for the people who loves to have life and to have it abundantly.
We have examples of a praying man:
Jesus prayed when He as baptized: Luke 3:21-22 When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened.
Jesus prayed after healing people: Luke 5:16 So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.
Jesus prayed all night before choosing His 12 disciples:Luke 6:12-13 Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
Jesus prayed before walking on water. Matthew 14:23 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. 23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, he went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, he was alone there.
Jesus prayed for Himself, His disciples, and all believers just before heading to Gethsemane: John 17:1-26 ( verses 1 through 5 He prays for Himself, verses 6-19 He prays for His disciples and verses 20-26 He prays for all believers!
Jesus prayed in Gethsemane before His betrayal: (3 prayers) Matthew 26:36-46 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, "Sit here while I go and pray over there." 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 38 The He said to them, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me." 39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."
He prayed for the Father's Will!
Matthew 26:40-42 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "What?" Could you not watch with Me one hour? 41 "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is will, but the flesh is weak." 42 Again a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done."
For Him to pray this, His spirit man was in dominance over the flesh creature!
Matthew 26:43 -46 and He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.
To obey the Father was paramount for Jesus. In love Jesus took the cup wrath meant for man-kind. Our trust is to be in God and the promises He has given us. Jesus was the Betrayed. And it was into the hands of sinner he the messianic King takes the path of suffering. He prayed in agony and rose with a poise of humility to face the "haters"!
Jesus prayed before being nailed to the Cross: Matthew 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying "Eli , Eli lama sabacthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
Also found in Mark 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eloi, Eloi lama sabacthani? which is translated, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
Jesus prayed with His dying breath: Luke 23:46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, 'Father into Your hands I commit My Spirit.' Having said this, he breathed His last.
Jesus blessed the disciples before His Ascension: Luke 24:50-53 And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. 51 Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that he was parted from them and carried up into heaven 52 And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.
From the English Oxford Living Dictionary, grit
means: courage and
resolve; strength of character…
This given according to the
Merriam-Webster dictionary, grit in the context of behavior is defined as
“firmness of character; indomitable spirit.”
In understanding the longing of eternity with God,
should we pay attention to today in prayer that strengthens to fulfill that
which God has given to us to work through Jesus Christ?
What attitude we hold toward knowing God and knowing
Him through prayer will determine our outcome!
Teddy Roosevelt, a Grand Sire of Grit had to make many speeches before large crowds of people of many countries! If you have
ever looked at the history of this man’s life, it was noted of the very
importance of overcoming fear and managing vulnerability. This was given in a speech in 1907. An excerpt from the
speech “Citizenship in a Republic” that was delivered at the Sorbonne in Paris
France!
He stated:
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who
points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have
done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose
face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs,
who comes again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;
but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the
great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in
the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at
least fails while daring greatly.
Remember the couple I told you earlier in this writing? Their heart is to see people raised from the dead to finish the purpose God had for them to work in their lifetime. Too many people have died early without fulfilling any thing regarding that purpose God set for them.
Prayer connects us to our Creator. Prayer communicates and allows Him to communicate with us. In that we should expect to fulfill that purpose. For God set it in motion in His Son. We have read some of those examples in this writing today. Join me in prayer and let us expect that Excellence in the fulfillment of that purpose and it will be seen as we are being
dependable. And that only comes through having a courageous heart with God's creative ability within us. Let us find that secret place that leads us to the public speaking arenas and raising the dead to see His kingdom come on earth in Jesus' Name. Amen.
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