Sermon Prepared by James McCullen
Email Preach Him with Dr. Jim

Prerequisites for A Consistently
Fruitful Prayer Life. - 4
Luke 11:1, Luke 18:1 ; John 15:16
Confirmation and Conflict

Luke 11:1 And it came about that while He was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples."

Luke 18:1 Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, (NAS)

John 15:16 "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. NASU

Introduction
This is the fourth sermon in the series titled " Prerequisites for A Consistently Fruitful Prayer Life". In the first message I emphasized A Christian's Pardon, Position and Procedure for prayer. In the second sermon I emphasized the Relationships, Resolve and Revelations as the relate to these prerequisites. In the third message I emphasized Praise and Purpose.

Tonight I want to Share related too the Confirmation and Conflicts of our prayer lives.
 
 

Introduction
Note in Ezek. 20:3 & 31 indicate a people coming to God in prayer but the Lord says "I will not be inquired of by you." Why did God say that? Certainly because of their sin. But in their sin they continued to ask of the Lord.

Do you and I ever think we have the right to pray about anything and everything without really confirming our request with God?

A.    Our . . Person and the Confirmation of Prayer.
        Ezekiel 20:3, & 31 3 "Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD, "Do you come to inquire of Me? As I live," declares the Lord GOD, "I will not be inquired of by you."' . . . . 31 "When you offer your gifts, when you cause your sons to pass through the fire, you are defiling yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live," declares the Lord GOD, "I will not be inquired of by you. NASU

        1.    Do I have the peace of God as I make this request.
        2.    Do I sense the presence of God as I make this request?
        3.    Do I have a back log of unconfessed sin?
        4.    Have I confessed but not repented?
        5.    The People In This Text seem to be unconcerned but demanding of God.

B.    Our . . Privilege and the Confirmation of Prayer.
        Ezek 36:37-38 37"Thus says the Lord GOD, "This also I will let the house of Israel ask Me to do for them: I will increase their men like a flock. 38"Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so will the waste cities be filled with flocks of men. Then they will know that I am the LORD."'" NASU

        1.    This verse speaks to Israel after their repentance.
        2.    God will now allow them to request of Him.

C.    Our . . Persistence and the Confirmation of Prayer.
        2 Cor 12:7-9 7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me -- to keep me from exalting myself! 8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. 9 And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. NASU

        1.    Paul Prayed three times for the thorn to be removed.
        2.    He recognized a hindrance and stopped requesting.
        3.    He got an answer from God.
        4.    My Grace Is sufficient for you.

Illustration Matt 20:20-23
20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, bowing down and making a request of Him. 21 And He said to her, "What do you wish?" She said to Him, "Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit one on Your right and one on Your left." 22 But Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?" They said to Him, "We are able." 23 He said to them, "My cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father. NASU

Application

The Mother did not confirm her request. Is there any thing we are desiring right now that we have really not confirmed with God?

Confirmation will be known through the Peace of the Lord; and the Presence of the Lord.
 
 

Introduction
Wednesday my youngest grand son(4 years old) was at our house and I was going to take him to meet his mom and dad at Popular Bluff.. He did not want to leave because he had all of his solders out on the floor and he had a war going on in great detail.

He finally said to me papa if you let me stay longer "I will buy you something.". I said "we have to go". He replied but "I will buy you something." I asked "well what will you get for me" and "he said a new screw driver".

He wanted to continue playing war. I want to tell you we are not playing war but we have a very real conflict with the forces of evil. Satan and his demons would like to hinder our prayer life. Note the following verses.

A.    The . . Details of the Conflict. Eph 6:13-19
        2 Cor. 2:11 so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes. NASU

        1. "Schemes" of the Devil. 1 Cor. 2:11; Eph. 6:11
        2.    "Forces of wickedness. Eph. 6:12
        3.    "flaming arrows" of the wicked one. Eph. 6:16
        4.    "Demands" of the Devil Luke 22:31 "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission
                to sift you like wheat;
        5.    Luke 22:31 "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat;
               I think Unconfessed sin opens one to the demands of the devil.

B.    The . . Dress for the Conflict. Eph 6:13-19
        1.    The Belt of Truth
        2.    The Breast Plate of Righteousness.
        3.    Our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel
        4.    Taking the shield of Faith.
        5.    Taking the helmet of salvation.
        6.    Taking the sword of the Spirit.
        7.    All kinds of prayer.
        8.    I am Including In my praying most every day the armor of the Christian for me and my family.
 

C. The . . Deficiency of the Conflict. James 4:7 NASU Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

1 Peter 5:8-9 8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. NASU

        1.    We are deficient without the Power of Christ.
        2.    The Devil is deficient under the Power of Christ.

Illustration Dan 10:10-13
10 Then behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. 11 He said to me, "O Daniel, man of high esteem, understand the words that I am about to tell you and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you." And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. 12 Then he said to me, "Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. 13"But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia. NASU

RYRIE Study Bible
Vs. 10:12 Daniel's prayer was heard on the first day of the three-week period, but the answer was delayed because of angelic warfare.

Vs. 10:13 the prince of the kingdom of Persia. A supernatural creature who tried to direct the human rulers of Persia to oppose God's plan. Evil angels seek to influence the affairs of nations. Michael, which means "who is like God?"

Believers Study Bible v 12 The angelic messenger sent to Daniel to encourage him
announced to the prophet the reason for God's response to him. Daniel's hunger for the knowledge of God, added to his self-discipline, was rewarded not only with the wisdom sought, but also with a theophany.

The angelic messenger encountered difficulty in approaching Daniel. The prince of Persia withstood the angel. We are not to understand this "prince" as Cyrus or any other earthly ruler. The conflict here is a spiritual one (cf. Eph. 6:12). The world of the demonic is exceedingly active in the Gentile world governments. The "prince of the kingdom of Persia" refers to a malignant spirit whose assigned purpose was to frustrate the purposes of God in the lives of the rulers. However, the angelic messenger was assisted in this struggle by Michael, a prince among the angels of God.
 
 

Several years ago while pastoring in California several churches took their youth up to the mountains for a winter retreat. I have always been one who kind of policed the activities that I am in charge of and one of the young ladies from another church brought some booze and decided to just make a general havoc out of our camp.

We started watching her very carefully and when we had an evangelistic rally we knew she would try to disrupt it. We prayer asking God to build a hedge around the building we were meeting in and claimed Job 1:9-10 9 Then Satan answered the LORD, "Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 "Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. NASU.

We were having a great song service and it seemed most youth wee in to the singing. This young lady could not get anybody to pay attention to her so she got up to leave and one of the counselors stopped her.

A little later she got up to leave and before a counselor could get to the door she hit the panic bar to open it and it would not open she tried several times but the door would not open. She let out a string of curse words and the counselor then got her to sit down.

We had a great service and at invitation time this young lady made a profession of faith. Later I went back to the door she had tried to open and it opened without a problem. All of the counselors believed God built a hedge around the door. We had won a victory over the schemes of the Devil.

If I want a consistently Fruitful Prayer Life I will Confirm my prayer request with God.

If I want a consistently Fruitful Prayer Life I will be aware of Spiritual Conflict of my prayer life it is Spiritual War