GOD Morning! April 29 Boot Camp Day 55 / Persistence

GOD Morning!  April 29

Boot Camp Day 55

Persistence

Luke 11:1-28 AMP

Instruction about Prayer

11 It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” ² He said to them,

“When you pray, say:
‘Father, hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come.
³ ‘Give us each day our daily bread.
⁴ ‘And forgive us our sins,
For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us [who has offended or wronged us].
And lead us not into temptation [but rescue us from evil].’”

It’s no accident that the parable of persistence follows the Lord’s example of how to pray.

Parable of Persistence

⁵ Then He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves [of bread]; ⁶ for a friend of mine who is on a journey has just come to visit me, and I have nothing to serve him’; ⁷ and from inside he answers, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ ⁸ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything just because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence and boldness he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

⁹ “So I say to you, ask and keep on asking, and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking, and you will find; knock and keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who keeps on asking [persistently], receives; and he who keeps on seeking [persistently], finds; and to him who keeps on knocking [persistently], the door will be opened.¹¹ What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³ If you, then, being evil [that is, sinful by nature],know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and continue to ask Him!”

Don’t ever stop asking. Pray scripture. Pray every day. Pray, “If it be Thy will.”  Ask in His name. If it’s not His will, He will let you know.

Pray in tongues. When I pray in tongues, God gives me clarity. God changes my mind sometimes. God shows me my real motives for the things that I am asking Him for.

The most important thing to remember when praying persistent prayers is this: Don’t take even one step forward without His confirmation. Don’t try to make something happen. It will end in disaster. I have done this too many times to count.

Just pray with confidence that He will complete His perfect work in you. And that He will give you the desires of your heart. Sometimes He changes your heart and changes your desires! Be willing for Him to change Your desire! If you pray stubborn prayers, it ain’t gonna happen. Be bold and brave about asking for what You want but always end with, “However, Thy will be done. I want what YOU want for me.”

Pharisees’ Blasphemy

¹⁴ And [at another time] Jesus was casting out a demon, and it was [controlling a man so as to make him] mute; when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds were awed. ¹⁵ But some of them said, “He drives out demons by [the power of] Beelzebul (Satan), the ruler of the demons.” ¹⁶ Others, trying to test Him, were demanding of Him a sign from heaven.¹⁷ But He, well aware of their thoughts and purpose, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is doomed to destruction; and a house divided against itself falls. ¹⁸ If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand and continue to survive? For you are saying that I drive out demons by [the power of] Beelzebul. ¹⁹ Now if I drive out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons [the Jewish exorcists] drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges. ²⁰ But if I drive out the demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has already come upon you. ²¹ When the strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his belongings are undisturbed and secure. ²² But when someone stronger than he attacks and overpowers him, he robs him of all his armor on which he had relied and divides his [goods as] spoil. ²³ He who is not with Me [believing in Me as Lord and Savior] is against Me [there is no impartial position]; and he who does not gather with Me [assisting in My ministry], scatters.

Don’t be shocked if you are criticized and compared to satan. Seriously? Jesus was the Perfect Man! He was compared to satan by religious leaders. When folks falsely accuse you, just remember what Jesus went through. Simply wait it out with a smile and a right spirit.

²⁴ “When the unclean spirit comes out of a person, it roams through waterless places in search [of a place] of rest; and not finding any, it says, ‘I will go back to my house (person) from which I came.’ ²⁵ And when it comes, it finds the place swept and put in order. ²⁶ Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in [the person] and live there; and the last state of that person becomes worse than the first.”

This happened to me. I don’t know exactly when, but a few years after we moved to Madison, WI, I was struggling with depression. I went down to the altar and it was as if I was the woman who grabbed the hem of Jesus’ garment. He turned and looked into my eyes and I looked into His eyes and all I could say was, “My Jesus, my Jesus”, over and over. Through the night, His presence was so near as I kept repeating, “My Jesus, my Jesus.” The next morning, I woke up saying the same words and feeling so clean. I had tears behind my eyes all day. God did a miraculous healing in me on that Sunday night.

But over the years, I allowed depression to creep back into my life. In 2007 and early 2008, the depression morphed into a giant boulder on my chest that was hindering my breathing. Y’all know the rest of the story of my deliverance on April 12, 2008.

So yeah. I understand this passage of scripture first hand.

²⁷ Now while Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed (happy, favored by God) is the womb that gave birth to You and the breasts at which You nursed!” ²⁸ But He said, “On the contrary, blessed (happy, favored by God) are those who hear the word of God and continually observe it.”

I love how Jesus artfully reminded the woman that being blessed is about hearing and doing God's word.

It’s interesting how one minute folks were comparing Jesus to satan and the next minute they were gushing on over Him.

“Jesus, there are several lessons to learn this morning. How to pray. How to be persistent. How to be strong when I am criticized or falsely accused. How to stay clean. How to give all the glory back to You when praise comes my way. Thanks for all of these nuggets of truth. Now I know how to pray today! How I love You, Jesus! AMEN.”