Sermon
Prayer and Fasting that Breaks Strongholds - Ps Rob Urban
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Welcome to Logan City Christian Church podcast where we bring God's Word to you weekly.
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We pray what you hear will bring clarity to your situation and open doors in your life.
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Enjoy the message.
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Wow, well I'm ready.
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Praise God.
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You know, I've been, I ministered last week on fasting and it's such a popular subject.
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Fasting, it is one of those subjects that I guess are largely misunderstood and fasting
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is not dieting, fasting is not, you know, just abstaining from food for no reason at
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all.
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Fasting has a spiritual purpose and fasting is so, so very important.
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Last week I shared out of Isaiah 58 to just reinforce the fact that fasting, primarily
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when we begin to fast, that our heart is right before God and before other people.
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It's incredibly important and so when we lay that foundation in our own hearts that we're
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about to start a fast and to pray for whatever we are believing God for in a breakthrough,
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it's vitally important first that, as I said, that we position ourselves correctly in God,
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our vertical relationship with God and our horizontal relationship with each other.
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Now that goes to say that, you know, there are times that our horizontal relationships
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may be strained in whatever area and thus causing the need to fast to see a breakthrough
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relationally and so, you know, but we still do what we can do and do what we know we should
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do.
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But today I'm going to continue about prayer and fasting that break strongholds.
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So last week it was about our position that we stand when we fast and that our heart is
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as right as we know that we can be before God and before other people and that is vitally
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important.
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But today I'm now speaking, we're positioned right and now we're starting to get into some
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breakthrough, some prayer and fasting for breakthrough.
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Now, is there anyone here today that you are believing God for breakthrough in your lives
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or in any relationship, I'm sure there would be plenty of us.
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Some of us may be believing God for breakthrough with healing in our bodies and it might be
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for a better job, it might be for, you know, as I said, within relationships of all kinds,
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so vitally important.
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Now before I go into the prayer and fasting that break strongholds, I just need to wind
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back thousands of years as to the reason why there is a need for prayer and fasting today
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because a stronghold is exactly that, it's a stronghold on people, on people's lives
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or on our finances.
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Now God is not the author of these strongholds and often God gets blamed for things that
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happen in this world where God didn't do it at all.
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And for us to understand the, and get the whole picture of what is going on here, we
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need to go right back to the beginning of the creation of humanity where God created
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Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and there God created everything so perfect that in
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the Garden of Eden there was no sin, there was no sickness, there was no disease, there
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were no relational issues in the Garden of Eden, there was nothing like that and God
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had created everything so perfect in his own way that humanity would live for God and for
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each other and always giving preference to the other first, that's how God had planned
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it.
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Jesus actually said in the Lord's Prayer that on earth here as it is in heaven, that we
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are to pray that life here on earth be exactly like it is in heaven.
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Now God in the beginning had established it that way.
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Do you know that humanity was created to live forever in the Garden of Eden?
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That there was no plan, God did not plan sickness and he didn't plan death, he didn't plan divorce,
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he didn't plan sickness, he didn't plan any of those things.
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They are not in the plan or the will of God.
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So we see that from right back then that there was a third person who was roaming around
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the Garden of Eden and he was Lucifer, the devil himself that was Lucifer and so that
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devil knew that he wanted the authority that God had given to humanity.
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God had given Adam authority over all the animals of the earth, God had given Adam a
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kingdom authority to rule this world.
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But the devil wanted that, there was something that was his prized possession.
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If there was ever a trophy in his cabinet that it would be that.
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He wanted the authority that God had given to man.
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You see in heaven the devil, his name was Lucifer, he was the chief worship leader in
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heaven if you like and pride filled his heart that he wanted to take God's place if you
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like.
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And so from that point he created war with God and God being God, you know the devil
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managed to influence a third of the angels of God to join on his team and war broke out.
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But the thing is God being who he is cannot be defeated.
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If God needed some more angels he just created them.
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I mean God will not be outmatched, he will not be outdone.
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God is God.
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And so the devil was cast to the earth, you know he wasn't going to win this battle against
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God and so if you can imagine here is the devil now Lucifer, you know it was a name
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that was given to him because he was built and created so perfectly and he was that perfect,
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that pride ruined his own existence.
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When he was cast to the earth lo and behold he sees man created lower than angels being
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given something that he desperately wanted and that was that authority.
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And so the devil is thinking I got to get this authority because it would humiliate
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him to no end that him roaming around on this earth under the authority of a human being
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that God had created it was more than he could bear.
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So the devil decided then to deceive.
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Deception is a powerful tool that the devil uses and please don't think that it only happened
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in the Garden of Eden, deception is something that happens every day, every waking and sleeping
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moment of their life the devil is always out to deceive.
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And so the devil deceived Eve and then Adam and then through their obedience to him and
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their disobedience to God they forfeited that authority that they had and the devil took
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it with both arms.
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So from that time to this hour that we live today the devil has been ruling and reigning
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in this world creating havoc, creating destruction, sickness, disease, you name it everything
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that is horrible and terrible is created at the doing of the devil himself.
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You see Jesus even said that the ruler of this world he was speaking about Satan and
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so many times God gets the blame for things that go wrong for wars that take place in
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this world for the humanity suffering and starvation that God seems to be the first
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in line to be blamed.
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But the answer to that really is that we've got to ask which God because Jesus said that
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the God of this world he's speaking about the devil.
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So the God of this world the devil is trying to destroy your life, he wants to destroy
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my life, he wants to destroy your family and my family, he wants to destroy all relationships
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and he just comes to steal, to kill and to destroy but Jesus had come to give life and
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life in its abundance.
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So when I speak about a stronghold the strongholds are not created by God we need to establish
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that firmly first.
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Strongholds are created in life initially the person who instigates and orchestrates
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strongholds is the devil.
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Now this is the turning point for us today.
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Jesus said to Nicodemus a religious leader who came to Jesus by night and said to Jesus
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you know Jesus nobody could do what you do unless God is with you.
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He was so taken by the wonderful works that God was doing through Jesus and so Jesus himself
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was healing the sick, people that were lame were healed, I mean regardless what the sickness
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was demons were cast out and you know the dead were raised and this religious leader
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approached Jesus at night and says wow you know this is really amazing we've never seen
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this before, God's with you and Jesus said something remarkable, he said something that's
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life changing to every human being today.
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Jesus said to this religious leader he said to him you must be born again, that's John
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chapter 3 verse 3 you must be born again, Jesus wasn't making a suggestion he's saying
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you know you need to be born from above.
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Being born again or born from above we go right back to the cause and effect that humanity
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Adam and Eve fell from grace, they fell from God's holiness, they were cast out of the
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garden of Eden and from that point on Adam and Eve took on the nature of sin and therefore
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every person that was born from that day on whether they liked it or not was born with
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the nature of sin.
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When Jesus said you must be born again Jesus is saying about that old sin nature that we
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inherited going all the way back to the kingdom or sorry to the garden of Eden that when we
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received Jesus as our Lord and Savior and that we accept him that all of our sin nature
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and everything we have possibly done wrong in life is forgiven at that point and we are
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given a new nature, a nature of righteousness and from there we read the rest of the script
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throughout the New Testament and all of the epistles that were written by the apostles
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that from there every person who now is a child of God through the new birth through
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the born again experience that you have received an authority and a power over the works of
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the devil.
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So that means then that where there is a stronghold or something that the devil is trying to you
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know encapsulate you and hold you from achieving and accomplishing what God has for your life
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you have the power and the authority to bind that stronghold and for it to be destroyed.
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Now I want to speak more now about the principle of prayer and fasting because prayer and fasting
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coupled together is an incredible force that every believer when I say a believer every
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person that truly has surrendered their life to Jesus and has received that born again
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experience and is a child of God.
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Now you might say I don't have that how do I get that I'm going to finish the message
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with that how do I receive Christ today so so important.
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You see it's one thing to be God friendly and it's a good thing and it's another thing
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to be church friendly in other words going to church and that that's great but it's
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yet quite a different thing to be a child of God.
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It is a different thing again it's another level to be born again accepted into the family
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of God.
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So again when we receive this incredible blessing being adopted into the family of God all of
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our sins have been forgiven we've been given a new start a new life a new nature everything
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has become new.
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Now that does not mean then that the devil gets a long stick and a white flag and waves
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and says okay I surrender I'll leave you alone I'll never hassle you again you win I lose
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no he actually steps it up and so the war begins the battle begins the Bible talks a
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lot about the testing of our faith and so our faith the faith that we released when
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we got born again is more than enough to overcome the strategies of the devil so prayer and
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fasting coupled together is an incredible force against the works of the devil against
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your life.
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If there is sickness coming against your body like thank you Marion for sharing that incredible
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testimony it is so beautiful to hear and I do know that many people were in prayer and
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fasting and there are so far only so far we can go in prayer and prayer is powerful I'm
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not underplaying prayer and the power of prayer it is incredibly powerful but let me tell
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you men and women of God when we are people of prayer and then we pray on the foundation
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of this fasting when the two collide and the two come together it's a formidable force
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against the works of darkness it is powerful and I'd like to bring something out here in
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Matthew chapter 17 from verse 19 to 21 then the disciples came to Jesus privately and
Matthew 17 chapter mention
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said why could we not cast it out and Jesus said to them because of your unbelief for
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assuredly I say to you if you have faith as a mustard seed you will say to this mountain
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move here to there and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you however this kind
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does not go out except by prayer and fasting let me put you in the picture of what happened
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here in the beginning of chapter 17 we see that Jesus himself took Peter James and John
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with him to the mountain to pray and Jesus was teaching them a principle church prayer
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is part of our Christian experience prayer is our communication with God prayer is not
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a monologue it's a dialogue so expect that if we're praying and speaking to God that
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God is going to speak back and he always does it is such an incredible thing so they're
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up on the mountain and Jesus begins to pray and all of a sudden a supernatural occurrence
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takes place a supernatural experience and there there appears before them Moses and
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Elijah now these guys had died long ago didn't they but here they are on the top of the mountain
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and the first thing that Peter James and John suggested is that wow an incredible experience
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let us build a tabernacle for each of them you know an experience with God doesn't validate
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us to start a ministry or build a church I mean they're both good things but we got
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to learn something from this is that Jesus allowed them to experience another level of
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the supernatural because they were going to need it and then Jesus when he was going to
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heaven he was imparting into these men something that really mattered they needed to experience
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the supernatural side of Christianity and we do too Christianity is supernatural Christianity
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is powerful so they're up there and they had this experience and then they're walking
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down the mountain and as they're on their way down to the mountain there's the remaining
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disciples are dealing with the situation with a father that has this young child that has
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a demon and this demon is really ferocious it throws him into the fire it you know throws
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him into the water tries to kill this kid and when Jesus turns up he says to Jesus he
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said look Jesus I had your disciples try and cast this thing out and they couldn't do it
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and Jesus actually said to them you know about their faithlessness you know their faith was
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not really there and so Jesus then leads us into what I just read now Jesus said because
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of your unbelief the disciples asked him afterward how come we couldn't cast this thing out and
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Jesus said because of your unbelief unbelief is a stronghold unbelief is a supernatural
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force that tries to overpower the soul of humanity our mind our will our emotions that
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unbelief is that God this might be too big for you God this is really probably not going
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to happen and Jesus is saying you know this is guys one of the main causes why it's not
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happening because of your unbelief but then Jesus said in verse 21 he said however this
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kind this kind of what this kind of demon that possessed this boy does not go out except
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by prayer and fasting and so Jesus is saying about there are different ranks and there
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are different levels of the demonic there are principalities and powers and rulers of
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wicked spirits and high places we don't know which one was affecting this young boy but
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you know the casual prayer was not going to count it today and Jesus is saying that this
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kind of demon it's a strong man and this strong man had bound this child all of his life and
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Jesus was telling them unbelief is one of the things that was hindering them and then
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he said but this kind will only come out by prayer and fasting not just prayer prayer
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and fasting fasting number one deals with unbelief you still with me unbelief is an
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area that I believe that the devil tries to work in our mind some call it the battlefield
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of the mind that's where the battle begins and there are times that we will look with
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their visual eyes with our five senses and discern what is possible and what's not possible
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but Jesus is saying but your faith faith does not operate it under the five senses faith
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operates way over the top at a different level altogether so what the devil wants to do is
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to eliminate our believing our faith to try and hinder it so doubt and unbelief is a really
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good stronghold that he uses so fasting you know we can pray and pray all through a night
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and still carry doubt and unbelief so how does that doubt and unbelief be rid of our
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thinking fasting fasting this is why fasting and prayer joined together is so powerful
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because fasting when we are fasting one of the first things that we will feel is hunger
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are you with me and so the natural person that we are will then say feed me and then
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our spiritual side will say no we are not going to eat today and then this war begins
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that who has the greater leverage is it your spiritual person that was born again the Christ
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that lives in you is he the stronger one inside of us over our desires the desires of our
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soul the desires of the flesh the desires to eat now eating is an important part of
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life if you don't eat you die it's as simple as that but there is a time where the scriptures
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make it so clear that there's a time for fasting there's a time to abstain from food and when
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we begin to abstain from food that's where the challenge begins the war begins there
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now you might be praying for a breakthrough in health you might be praying for a breakthrough
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in relations in relationship let's and push that aside now because the battle does not
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start there the battle starts within here so when we stop eating with the intention
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to fast and pray because of the problem that is over yonder that we fast the challenge
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begins in the soul of humanity and then this will to eat or not to eat becomes the focus
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the main issue that we're dealing with now and when we in prayer and fasting overcome
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that desire overcome the need or the want I'm hungry I'm hungry who likes their food
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man I love food you kidding me I just I mean look at that that just didn't pop out one
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day from fresh air it was intentional it was designed that way by me and isn't it amazing
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how when you get it you go I don't want it and it's so much harder to get rid of it
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than to get it and anyone know what I'm talking about and so I right now since Christmas have
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been in the Battle of the Bulge trying to work on this tight drum and I've come to
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realize it's some it's a challenge but I've noticed just in the last month I'm gaining
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another hole in my belt so I'm winning men your belt does not lie but the challenge has
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been at the dinner table apparently a 300 gram steak is sufficient whoever thought of
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that I think that's nuts they say you're not supposed to eat a steak bigger than your hand
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they do yeah palm your hand but they didn't say how thick it can be yeah I'll do one
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like that and it's eight feet tall praise the Lord and so we love our food right so
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why did God choose fasting why couldn't he have chosen something else that was easier
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because fasting affects every part of our of our makeup every part of our being because
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when you fast you get hungry when you fast you run out of energy when you fast your eyes
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are looking you know how is it when you're fasting you're driving down the road and all
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of a sudden you say how long have all these billboards been here of food you never noticed
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them before but all of a sudden now there are billboards everywhere at food and this
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subliminal message flashing at you pull over KFC McDonald's and all these were just a little
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burger won't hurt does anyone know what I'm talking about today and so the challenge to
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pull in and and you know just top up a little bit just a little bit and that's where the
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battle begins so remember I'm speaking about a breakthrough with relationships or healing
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whatever it might be and we so focus on that which we need to there are times we need to
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come back a bit and focus on do or am I in control of me because if I am not in control
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of me I'm speaking of in in this in God how can I be in control over spiritual things
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if I don't have that self-discipline in in my life as such how can I be trusted by God
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and other things now I'm not saying that to put anybody down I have the evidence to say
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I haven't worked this thing out yet but prayer and fasting when we fast if you have let's
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say a medical condition make sure you speak to your doctor and say I'm gonna go on a five
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day fast or something what do you recommend I mean be sensible about it because I know
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some people just said I'm gonna do a 40 day fast and they're not at church for two weeks
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where are they're in hospital on a drip that's not real smart and I don't recommend that
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start with one day and then do that once a week then two days and if you want to progress
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from there but I have found that fasting the breakthrough for me has always come around
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about the third or fourth day of fasting because I love my food so much I really get intense
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with praying and believing for a breakthrough so I can eat again right no that's not true
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fasting is an incredible thing Jesus said you're never going to be able to to cast this
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kind of demon out unless you pray and you fast you know some strongholds are at different
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levels some sicknesses I don't know why they seem to be at different levels you know our
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faith and is important doubt and unbelief is what undermines the very the very flow
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of God that is available to you and I but when we fast and and fast seriously about
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I'm intentionally fasting because of this fasting on its own can be more like dieting
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fasting needs to have a target it needs to be intentional it needs to be directional
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and pick your target whatever it might be and so right on this day I'm declaring a fast
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because I'm tired of whatever it might be controlling me or making me sick or whatever
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it might be enough is enough and I'm declaring war the Bible shows me that I have been given
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life and life in its abundance and here I am not experiencing that today well enough
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is enough the gloves are off I'm getting into prayer and fasting and this thing about these
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strongholds is going to come down in Jesus name in Jesus name in Jesus name as Marion
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said this morning sometimes what our eyes behold seem to be greater than our God at
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first isn't that true I've seen it many times into hospitals and things like that and you
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look and you go wow what a mountain that is but sometimes we we we talk to God how big
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the mountain is but we need to talk to the mountain how big our God is that's the difference
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that is the difference and so in Luke chapter 4 verse 1 and 2 is a very print very powerful
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principle here Luke chapter 4 verses 1 and 2 and it reads here then Jesus being filled
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with this Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness
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and being tempted for 40 days by the devil and in those days he ate nothing and afterward
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when they had ended he was hungry surprise surprise we all get hungry but Jesus when
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he was baptized in the river Jordan the Spirit of God descended upon him in bodily form as
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a dove and that's when he heard those wonderful words from God behold my beloved son in whom
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I am well pleased whether you realize it or not that was like another bar mitzvah for
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Jesus from God the Father in whom he was well pleased and so moving on Jesus then went straight
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from the baptism he was filled with the Holy Spirit and then he moved straight out into
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the wilderness not to have a party not to do ministry not to do anything else but to
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fast for 40 days and he knew he was going to be tempted by the devil for 40 days now
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the devil himself tried everything that he knew to try and turn Jesus but I'd like to
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bring something out in verse 14 that is incredibly powerful then Jesus returned in the power
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of the Spirit to Galilee and news of him went out through all the surrounding region verse
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one and two Jesus was filled with the Spirit he went out for 40 days and 40 nights he walked
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through the desert not eating anything being tempted for that duration of time but then
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it says something quite remarkable it's a key here that it says that Jesus returned
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from that 40 days in the power of the Spirit he went into the wilderness being filled with
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the Spirit he came out in the power of the Spirit church there is a key for us here today
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fasting is one incredible part of our Christian makeup we can be filled with the Spirit praise
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God speak in tongues and and do all the hunty shunty until all day Monday you know but the
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thing is are we moving in the power of the same Spirit that we were filled with that
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is the question because the Spirit the baptism of the Spirit in the life of a believer was
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not an experience to be reached it was a person and a power to be placed in us and so that
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we can use to preach this gospel and see wonderful things that God is doing so what took place
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for when Jesus was filled until Jesus come out in the power temptation overcoming temptation
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how did it happen fasting that time of fasting Jesus managed to subdue the fleshy desires
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and those desires of that nature of man and was flowing purely in the end and right through
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actually in that the very power of the Spirit if we want to see the power of the Spirit
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of God move in our life there needs to come a challenge or a test to see what is really
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in us do we have that intestinal fortitude to actually go through the hills and the valleys
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and there's one thing that will bring it out of us to paint a picture of really what is
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in us and that is fasting fasting will draw out of us what's in us and it'll tell us a
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story about ourselves fasting is an incredible part of our Christian makeup in Jesus name
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now just got a couple of examples and then I'll be done prayer and fasting repentance
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leading to acquittal of divine judgment the story of Jonah Jonah himself was asked by
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God I want you to go to Nineveh and I want you to warn these people about what's coming
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and Jonah didn't want to go so he went the opposite direction about 2000 miles the opposite
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direction why did Jonah run from the call because the Ninevites were the very people
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that were murdering the Israelites the Ninevites were the people that were squandering all
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their possessions murdering their people raping their women and God says to Jonah I want you
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to go and tell them to repent now how would you go and how would I go in a situation like
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that to go and extend grace and mercy to a nation of people who are consistently doing
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you harm and no good that's a challenge I would say so Jonah ends up going we know he
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God just said well I'm gonna get you in a big fish boy and you'll go in there don't
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fight God when he calls you to do something just give in and go because he'll win in the
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end God will always win and then Jonah walks through Nineveh and he was saying about repent
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repent for the judgment of God is coming and you know what happened they took heed of his
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word and the king of Nineveh proclaimed a fast and told everyone in that nation everyone
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is to fast and repent of everything that we have done wrong and the end of the story is
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is that God relented of that judgment that was pending upon the Ninevites why because
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they proclaimed a fast and they repented there are times that I have been with people that
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have made some really wrong decisions in life and have never known how to get back with
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God thinking that God would never forgive me how could God ever forgive me for what
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I have done prayer and fasting is a very good place to start folks in the same way with
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the Ninevites prayer and fasting the second one prayer and fasting for divine protection
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and deliverance in second Chronicles chapter 20 we read with Jehoshaphat the king of Judah
2 Chronicles 20 chapter mention
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he gets word that there are three different nations coming against him and they their
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intention is to wipe the Judah off the map to kill every man woman and child and what
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did Jehoshaphat do and it reads here from verses 3 and 4 of 2 Chronicles 20 and Jehoshaphat
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feared and said himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah so
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Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord and from all the cities of Judah they
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came to seek the Lord the end of the story is simply this is that God created confusion
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in the three armies that were coming against them they ended up fighting each other and
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wiped each other out the people of Judah came down and saw the armies just laying flat dead
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and it took them days and days to pick up the spoil the treasures left behind folks
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prayer and fasting before God is an incredible principle that we really need as a New Testament
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church to learn and to practice and to engage in more probably more regularly than we're
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doing possibly I'm not sure we have elections coming up soon now I don't need to remind
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you the importance of having a good government and what I'm about to say I'm not speaking
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about the people I'm speaking about the policies all right presently we have please hear me
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the most ungodly government this nation has ever seen I'm not speaking about the people
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per se I'm speaking about the policies that are celebrated and we're about to head to
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the polls very soon to vote the Bible says when the righteous rule the people rejoice
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righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to all the people in other words
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what it's saying if we allow an existing government that is not is not upholding the
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basic fundamentals of life we're in trouble prayer and fasting has so much power to turn
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a nation politically even if the people will pray if the people will fast and pray I believe
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God has given the power into our hands and we need to be wise when we go to the polls
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and every many weeks it is spend the time to get to know who you're going to vote for
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because I am certainly not going to be voting for a government that does not celebrate life
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I'm not going to do that and many other things that I could say again I'm not speaking about
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the people per se I'm looking at the policies the policies what they intend to do can a
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nation be changed can a group of people can one or two people come together and fast and
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pray and turn a nation the answer is absolutely yes do you have any evidence well I have one
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in the book of Daniel chapter 9 where Daniel was by the river Tigris for two or three weeks
Daniel 9 chapter mention
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I can't remember now and he was interceding on behalf of a nation and praying and there
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was great change that took place yes even one person one person fasting and praying
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can make a difference can you imagine when in a whole body of believers come together
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with the same heart and same mind can change the world and I want to finish with this this
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story a true story there's you've heard of the Inuits right the Eskimos right up in the
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real cold country there were certain regions around there and the leading up to the mid
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1990s that darkness had crept in over that place it was so bad that people were saying
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that God has even forsaken that land that youth suicide was out of control no one knew
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how to deal with it it was just out of control drugs and alcohol violence just taken over
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an entire community and region and people didn't know what to do the churches were
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empty people were boozing on through the nights and just enjoying themselves even to the point
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that police weren't were no longer found in the regions because it was no point and
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the devil had placed a stronghold over that area it was horrible it was a terrible experience
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for these people to the point that they keep the people said it seemed that even God had
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lifted his hand off our people and off our land they said that the hunters could no longer
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find wild game to hunt for food the caribou and all the other wild animals no longer came
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the fish were no longer found in their food sources and streams and rivers and oceans
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gone where did they go where did the caribou go the ground stopped producing and yielding
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the berries and the place became so barren so fruitless people began to consider leaving
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that region to live somewhere else in the hearts of many they declared and cried out
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there is no hope for us it's all over that we are doomed but yet two people an evangelist
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and a pastor got together and they said enough is enough we are going to declare a fast and
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prayer for this region until we see this stronghold totally destroyed off our communities and
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off our land and they began to pray one by one more people started attending these meetings
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and toward the end the church started I guess they would have been in the vicinity of around
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about 50 people all coming together fasting and praying for God to break through for this
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curse on their land to be destroyed and then one night in a meeting in the middle of winter
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as they were praying and fasting and their hearts being poured out to God begging God
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to move and to help them this sound of a mighty wind began to blow inside the building and
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around and it started getting louder and louder and louder and they testified that with the
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intensity of this sound that got louder and louder there was an increase of the presence
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of almighty God increasing and increasing and the pastor thought there was a problem
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with the sound desk so he tried adjusting it but the noise kept getting louder so he
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unplugged the sound desk turned the power off to everything then they realized this
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is a supernatural visitation of God that has come to our land that has come to our people
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and God began to move the miracle is is that somehow the sound of that and the people wailing
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and crying was recorded on a machine that the power was turned off and the Spirit of
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God was poured out in that region and it began to spread from next village to the next village
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into the next village how did this start it started with a couple of people just saying
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I had enough I'm just we're not allowing this darkness to invade our community anymore
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have we had enough of darkness invading this nation of Australia well it's going to take
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some committed people to fast and to pray and to see God's hand move on this land once
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again that's what it's going to take and then bit by bit this move of God started spreading
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out through across the land and the testimonies were that men that were very unkind to their
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wives let me put it that way repented youth suicide stopped drugs and alcohol there was
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no more they had at church services a big drum where everyone brought their their drugs
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alcohol pornography everything else and they had burnings before a church service God was
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moving God was really really moving people began to get saved by the hundreds the churches
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began to be filled to capacity how did this happen it all happened with two people to
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say enough's enough we're going to pray we're going to fast until we see God move and God
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moved and they testified and said the incredible thing is is when God began to move again the
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caribou came back the wild animals came back when we had repented and asked God to forgive
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us the fish came back the ground started producing and yielding it's it's yield again and and
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everything just started changing and marriages were being healed and people's physical bodies
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were being healed and there was such a liberty taking place you know what happened the stronghold
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over that place was destroyed the devil had a stronghold over that region and two people
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that became I think five and then fifty and then thousands continued to pray and God moved
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mightily it happened in the Bible it's happened in in the middle 90s it's happened many times
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throughout this world I'm letting you know folks it'll happen again it'll happen again
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it'll probably happen sooner than we think but we as children of the living God need
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to take this principle of prayer and fasting so so seriously when is enough enough when
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is it I decree today that enough enough is enough is today today we don't want to see
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it anymore enough's enough the devil is not going to do this any longer the releasing
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of family members that has been bound into darkness being loosed into the kingdom of
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light relationships restored people healed are you with me this morning as I close I
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know that's probably my fourth close this morning I get really good at them don't I
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if you have never made a decision to come to Christ I want to give you an opportunity
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today as I said in the beginning it's a good thing to be cool with God like God friendly
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and be cool with church yeah I can go to church and I don't mind going to church but the question
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is are you a Christian we don't become a Christian because we go to church I don't become a
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Christian because I read a Bible I become a Christian when I'm born again when I'm
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born again what is it being born again when I got saved when I gave my life to Jesus I
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surrendered my life to him and said Jesus I'm asking you to save me come into my life
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I'm heading to you please forgive me for everything I've done wrong and receive me into your family
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and you know what he did wholeheartedly that was over 30 years ago and it was the best
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decision I ever made in my entire life I've never been so happier I've never felt so more
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complete inside and outside a future and a hope and the best thing is is that I know
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that when I draw my last breath I have no question in my heart where I'm going I know
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that I will be going home to glory with my heavenly father amen you see people don't
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end up in heaven by accident it's by choice and I'm giving you and offering you today
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this choice to receive Christ would you do that with me this morning I'm just going to
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pray a very simple prayer very similar to what I prayed some over 30 years ago it was
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the turning point in my life I used to do a lot of things and that I don't do anymore
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and drunk enough alcohol the flow to battleship and I realize you don't need all that when
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you have Jesus such a peace will come into your life such a peace if you're able to stand
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if you're not remain seated but if you're able to stand could you stand and I'm going
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to pray a very simple prayer this morning and that if you follow me in this prayer and
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you really really mean what you're about to pray the greatest miracle that can ever happen
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to any human being will happen to you today you know we've seen as Christians God do many
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great and wonderful things miracles signs and wonders but the greatest miracle that
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can never happen to any person is to be born again to be accepted in the family of God
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would you pray with me that means just repeat after me repeat after me if you would dear
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father God I come to you in the name of Jesus I believe in my heart and I confess with my
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mouth that you Jesus are the Son of God you died for me God you raised him from the dead
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for me this day Jesus I give you my life I ask that you forgive me everything I've done
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wrong and receive me into the family of God in Jesus name amen amen thank you for joining
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us we pray God's richest blessing on your life if you haven't already make sure to join
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us on Facebook Instagram and YouTube you can also find us at Logan City Christian Church
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com see you next week