Our lives are like a basketball court, we have many times that ball on our side and we are dribbling that ball on our way to the other side of the court to shoot that ball in the basket when suddenly our opposition steals our shot.

 

James 4:7 NIV

7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

 

TODAY, Where do we stand? Who has the ball? What is the next play?

 

Pray is not something we do to feel good, win favor or get God to do something for us. We learned last week that prayer is a bidirectional, direct line to God the Father and its through prayer that our faith is matured in God. Prayer allows us to draw closer to God and see His hand move in and through our lives.

 

Prayer is the Power/Ammunition all believer have and we are call to use it without ceasing.

 
Bold Prayers in the bible:
  

• • Jacob Wrestles with the man of God “I won’t let you go until you bless me”
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  • Moses cries out to God “Do not take me to a place where you presence will not be with me, Show me your glory”
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  • Jesus “Father forgive them for you don’t know what they do”
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  Scripture shows us that we have been given keys. What are keys used for?
   
  To open and To Close.
   
  Tell your neighbor “To Open and To Close”
   
  Have you ever lost your keys? I mean its so annoying, especially when you are running late. You start looking everywhere you typically would not place your keys because for some apparent reason you believe you might have place them there.
   
  Matthew 16:19 NKJV
   
  19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
   
  Jesus gave us powerful keys. Use your keys. They may have been misplaced but they are not lost.
   
  Come on church!! Lets get excited. We are getting ready to make our next move.
   
  Elijah and his word
   
  When God is about to do something in your life he will call you into a deeper intimacy and devotion. For this reason prayer is so important. You can’t fight an enemy without being prayed up. You can’t just go on the court and believe that because you had previous victories there is no need to train. That is the biggest mistake we make as Christian. We are to pray without ceasing.
   
  Elijah was about to say something that would change the course of his life and also the life of the Israel.
   
  Context: God’s people had turned their backs to God and start to serve Baal.
   
  How did they worship Baal? Adults would gather around the altar of Baal. Infants would then be burned alive as a sacrificial offering to the deity. Amid horrific screams and the stench of charred human flesh, congregants — men and women alike — would engage in bisexual orgies.
   
  Baal was the god of fertility and rain. God was tired of this and sends his prophet who makes a bold prayer.
   
  1 Kings 17:1 NKJV
   
  And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.”
   
  Talk about BOLD Prayers
   
  When was the last time you made a bold prayer?
   
  They looked everywhere for Elijah
   
  1 Kings 18:10 NKJV
  As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to hunt for you;
   
  Prayer is the weapon of every believer and the keys to bind and loosen.
   
  Elijah shows up but he wants the people to finally see who the true God is. So he asked that all of the prophets of Baal show up on Mt Carmel for a showdown. 1 Kings 18:20-26 he said “Which ever God responds by fire, that will be the true God and we will serve him”.
   
  450 Prophets of Baal vs 1 Prophet of God Almighty
   
  1 Kings 18:27 Elijah starts to tease them “Cry Louder, perhaps he is sleeping or gone on vacation”
   
  The GREAT Showdown
   
  1 Kings 18:37-39 NKJV
  Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”
   
  38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”
   
  You would think that this was enough for Elijah to feel empowered against all enemy’s, but was it?
   
  The Threat
   
  1 Kings 19:2-3a NKJV
  Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” 3 And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life,
   
  Win some, loose some?
   
  God has called us to be heads and not tails. Victors and not victims. Yet there are times we are running for our own lives because the threat can seem bigger than the God who just replied with Fire from heaven.
   
  Prayer & Fasting.
   
  Your Next Move Begins with the ABC’s of Fasting
   
   Alignment
   
  Elijah in the Cave / What are you doing here?
   
  1 Kings 19:9 KNJV
  And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
   
  WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?
   
  Is your will aligned to God’s will?
   
  -Relationship
  -Career
  -Family
  -Vision for future
   
   Breakthrough
   
  The Still Small Voice / The Unexpected will give you the breaktrhough you need
   
  1 Kings 19:11-13 NKJV
  Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire [e]a still small voice.
   
  13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
   
  Stop looking for the Fire
  Stop looking for the earthquake moments
  Stop seeking the wind of change and learn to be still so that you can walk into your breakthrough
   
  Emily (Bone Cancer) 8yrs old
   
  Break the mold
   
  -Slow down
  -Breathe
  -Gain insight to your next move
   
   Clarity
   
  Elijah although knowing God and seeing His glory ran for his life because he did not have the clarity he needed to what God was doing. His response every time God asked him “What are you doing here?” was
   
  And he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”
   
  Through Prayer & Fasting you will not only get alignment (find those keys that were misplaced), you will also receive the breakthrough you need (sometimes not what you expect) so that you may have the clarity to walk in God’s will.
   
  1 Kings 19:18 NKJV
  Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
   
  What are you seeking today?
  The ball might be on your opponents side and they are coming your way to make another shot. You might feel hopeless for you have tried everything in your own strength. Probably you have prayed the same as Elijah “take my life”. The hurts of this life have been so severe that you just don’t have the strength to keep going on.
   
  I’ll ask you the same question God asked Elijah and is asking you and I today “What are you doing here?”
   
  Takeaway:
  ABCs
  -Alignment
  -Breakthrough
  -Clarity
   
  This week: Lets fast, lets pray and seek God
   
   Next week Apostle Oscar Aguero lets pack the house. God has a word for you and your family. 
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