DESTINY #7: POUNDING THE GROUND IN PRAYER
KICKING OFF OUR SUMMER OF SEEKING:
“And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13).
• Starting July 4th and every Sunday from 6-7 pm this summer.
• Prophetic challenge – getting ready to grow and go to the next level as a church.
• God is calling us in this season to seek Him in prayer and fasting: “Announce a time of fasting; call the people together for a solemn meeting. Bring the leaders and all the people into the Temple of the LORD your God, and cry out to him there.” (Joel 1:14).
THE BIG IDEA: The Lord is calling us as a church family to head into a summer of seeking Him in prayer. As we ‘pound the ground’ in prayer, with passionate perseverance, we will see incredible, miraculous things take place.
OPENING TEXT:
“10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:10-17).
“Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere. And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words as I boldly explain God’s secret plan that the Good News is for the Gentiles, too.” (Ephesians 6:18-19).
• God wants us to be persistent in our prayers, and He wants you to pray for your pastors!
• We’re in a spiritual war, and we need to stay alert in prayer.
KEY TEXT:
“14 Elisha had become sick with the illness of which he would die. Then Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, "O my father, my father, the chariots of Israel and their horsemen!" 15 And Elisha said to him, "Take a bow and some arrows." So he took himself a bow and some arrows. 16 Then he said to the king of Israel, "Put your hand on the bow." So he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands.
• When Elisha was dying, King Joash came to see him.
• The man of God gave him instructions: “Take a bow and some arrows.”
• Then Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. What a great example of anointing and passing on the torch to the next generation. This was a profound prophetic act!
17 And he said, "Open the east window"; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, "Shoot"; and he shot. And he said, "The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you must strike the Syrians at Aphek till you have destroyed them."
• The man of God gave the king two more instructions:
O Open the east window = remove any obstacles in your way.
O Shoot = active and aggressive, not passive.
O Prophetic = “The arrow of deliverance.”
O Command: STRIKE the Syrians until you have destroyed them.
18 Then he said, "Take the arrows"; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, "Strike the ground"; so he struck three times, and stopped. 19 And the man of God was angry with him, and said, "You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! But now you will strike Syria only three times.” (2 Kings 13:14-19).
• Why was Elisha angry with the king? Because he stopped. He was supposed to STRIKE and keep striking, but… he STOPPED.
• If he had persevered, he would have prevailed. He would have achieved victory!
• This story is a prophetic picture of us today.
• God wants us to learn to passionately persevere in prayer, to pound the ground.
• We need to P.U.S.H. in our prayers = pray until something happens.
AN EXAMPLE OF A WOMAN WHO ‘POUNDED THE GROUND’ IN PRAYER:
“24 From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden. 25 For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 But Jesus said to her, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs." 28 And she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs." 29 Then He said to her, "For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter." 30 And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.” (Mark 7:24-30).
• Would this woman have received her miracle from Jesus if she had given up when he first said no? NO! But she pounded the ground in prayer – she persevered!
JESUS’ TEACHING ON ‘POUNDING THE GROUND’ IN PRAYER:
“1 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, 2 saying: "There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. 3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ’Get justice for me from my adversary.’ 4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ’Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ " 6 Then the Lord said, "Hear what the unjust judge said. 7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:1-8).
• Jesus said that God will answer the prayers of those who ‘cry out day and night to Him.’
• What is the lesson? Pound the ground! Don’t stop! Pray Until Something Happens!
EXAMPLES OF THOSE WHO PERSEVERED IN PRAYER:
1. Jesus had to pray twice for someone to be totally healed:
“Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking." Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.” (Mark 8:22-25).
2. Elijah had to pray seven times for the rain to fall:
“And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, and said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." So he went up and looked, and said, "There is nothing." And seven times he said, "Go again." Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, "There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!" So he said, "Go up, say to Ahab, ’Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.’ " Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain.” (1 Kings 18:42-45).
3. Daniel had to pray for three weeks to receive an answer from the Lord:
“In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks…. Then (an angel) said to me, "Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come” (Daniel 10:2,12-14).
A PROMISE FROM THE LORD:
“if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
CLOSING: CORPORATE PRAYER: CALL UP WORSHIP TEAM
SONG: Hosanna:
I see a generation, rising up to take their place, with selfless faith.
I see a near revival, stirring as we pray and seek, we’re on our knees. (PRAYER!)
• Prayer for our families
• Prayer for our community and our nation
• Prayer for the harvest of lost souls
• Prayer for healings and miracles
• Prayer for Costa Rica team and trip.
Beausejour Community Church Website: www.beausejourchurch.ca
Pastor Chris Jordan’s Blog: http://thelandofpromise.blogspot.com/
