The Other 4 P's- Power, Pleasure, Pride And Profit Series

ii. The second way to pray is through vibrant prayer meetings filled with passion for Jesus.

1. Mike Bickle said, “At one time, I thought that being anointed in ministry would keep a person’s heart encouraged in God. Now I’ve learned this is simply not true! A deeply satisfied soul, a personal sense of meaning and significance and a rich treasure store of divine pleasure can only come through the intimate knowledge of God himself” (2).

2. It involves Praise/worship – where we take the spiritual direction from God received in prayer and put it into action by first worshipping Him.

a. Praise comes from a heart that is in love with Jesus.

b. A few weeks ago we talked about what genuine worship was and is.

c. It’s a heart that knows what’s important to God.

d. Susan Nikaido states, “Knowing what matters to God provides a plumb line for our lives. When we identify His purposes and make them our own, we can be sure that our lives will count for eternity” (Discipleship Journal, 35).

e. God wants us to praise Him and enjoy His presence.

f. Mike Bickle adds, “When I enjoy the Lord, I obey more, serve him with greater perseverance and endure hardships with greater patience. In other words, I am renewed in my spirit and in my spiritual identity. Things that were once difficult for me now flow freely” (4).

3. It involves Preaching/teaching times – Lectures which train us in the knowledge of God and to what he desires us to look like and act like as a Christian.

a. It’s not just even lectures but times of Study in God’s Word. These are times when the Holy Spirit preaches to us and teaches us about God’s desires for our lives.

b. Preaching and teaching is God’s method to get his message out clearly and precisely to His people.

c. The Hebrew word for, “teaching” and “learning” have the same root word and are interlinked with each other. When you preach and teach there is learning going on. When learning is going on there is teaching and preaching happening.

4. Participation/serving- is the next area, which leads to spiritual wholeness.

a. He did this with group therapy times.

b. Support groups are designed to serve each other in the group. But it takes participation to take the knowledge that we learn from the head and to put it into action.

b. Which amazingly fits what we have in front of us today in the formula you are looking at for Spiritual wholeness in your life. I did not know about Saint Benedicts approach to spiritual wholeness and spirituality until I was almost down with my sermon.

1. Spiritual wholeness, a balanced life can only come from practicing and experiencing the presence of God.

a. But it happens as a result of doing the 4 P’s and keeping them in proper balance.

b. When we experience God Like Isaiah we then experience the power of God as it touches our lives. God will impact our lives for the purpose to touch other lives.

i. This is always his plan-we have to pass it on to others!

c. True spirituality can only be found in Jesus Christ!

i. The other spiritual deceptions out there will only leave you hopeless and helpless.