Prayer Warriors, Part 2

Calvary Temple

Prayer Warriors, Part 2

March 24, 2013 • Pastor Star R. Scott

Amen! Hallelujah! Let's turn to James. I don't know about you, but I love studying and reading and teaching about prayer. And I hate it. It always reveals how much more I need to improve; and so often, we seem to think that some of these men that have done these great exploits for God were somehow supermen, different than you and me; but, of course, the Scriptures reveals another truth about that, doesn't it? And as we read here in James, Chapter 5, the Scripture speaks. Says in verse 13, "Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. [Elijah] was a man subject to like passions as we are" These were not supermen. Subject to like passions as we are, "and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by a space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, "now, he had prayed in between these two events, but he prayed again, "and the heavens gave rain, the earth brought forth her fruit. Brethren, if any of you do ere from the truth, and one convert him; let him know, that he which [has converted] the sinner from the errors of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins."

As James is speaking here and he's encouraging us in some of these covenant promises, the passages that we're very familiar with out of James that speaks of the effectual fervent praying, and in the context of that, he talks about Elijah. Elijah, a man subject to like passions as we are. The one thing that's obvious about a great prayer life and a great life of power and faith is you're not on a hundred percent of the time; amen?...

Prayer Warriors, Part 1

March 24, 2013 • Pastor Star R. Scott

Hallelujah! Amen. Let's turn to Ephesians this morning, Chapter 6, verse 10. "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. As we are coming into this hour, we don't want to be trusting in our own strength, do we? Yet it is so natural. It's in all of us. We have that tendency to trust in ourselves. We want to be in control. We do not only want to be able to understand all the "whys" and the reasons, but it's a very difficult thing for us to trust God. Most of us don't like to admit that. It is a very difficult thing to trust God, isn't it? Do you find it hard? Do you find it hard to make every decision based upon His promises, to make every decision and to live every day by faith? That's what it means to trust God. Do we trust our own wisdom? Do we trust our own accomplishments of the past? Do we trust our education? Do we trust our physical abilities? Do we trust our networking systems that we set up, or do we trust God? Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. As this hour is coming on us in a day that men have never known, iniquity shall abound. Guess what? That means tomorrow is going to be worse than it was today. How many of you think it's bad today? It is going to be worse tomorrow. Iniquity will continue to abound. As we war against principalities and against powers, we are not going to be able to trust in ourselves. You remember that David went into the camp of Israel as a young man. All of Israel was cowering down, and David was astonished at the hearts of the people that had melted before their enemies. He said, "What's wrong with everybody? Have you forgotten who our God is?" That spirit that's in men like Joshua, Caleb, and David there's another spirit in those kind of people, isn't there? "What's wrong with all of you people?" It's not our ability. It's God in the camp. Amen? If God is for us, who can be against us? But if we don't live our lives in that way, if we begin to trust in ourselves, we'll begin to be fearful just like everybody else around us. We're fearful. We're dismayed by the corruption and the vileness of this crooked and perverse generation that we live in...

Prayer Warriors, Part 3

March 24, 2013 • Pastor Star R. Scott

Hallelujah! Amen. Let's turn to James and see if we can continue along where we were Sunday and just listen to what the Holy Spirit has to say to us. Father, we do come and we just ask that You would speak clearly to us this evening. Give each of us, Father, hearts to hear. Father, I ask that even now each one of us would just consciously bring our minds into subjection from the busy day that we've had and put it all aside because You deserve our attention. Cause us to focus upon You and Your greatness at this moment and rejoice in the love that You've shown us. Prepare us for the task that's ahead, Father, for that that You've called us to, that we'd look not with weariness or in any way fearful of what might lie ahead, but with an expectation and a joy for the privilege of Your call. For You have called us and You have ordained us to go and to bring fruit forth and You said that fruit would remain. For that we give You all the praise and all of the glory, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. As we were looking Sunday, of course, at that very familiar passage in James, Chapter 5, we took a little bit of time and talked about the great prophet Elijah. We saw that he was a man subject to like passions as we are. We can identify with that aspect of his life, but the Lord doesn't want us to just identify with his defeat and his depression, but with his victory on the mountain. Amen? He's declared that these signs shall follow them that believe in His name; they shall? When the Lord speaks that "they shall" it doesn't leave any room for questioning, does it? In our minds or in the enemy's. I want you to know something. There is nothing that Satan wants to war against more than a good prayer life. I can't remember who it was, but he said, "If you want to humble a man, just ask him about his prayer life." And that goes primarily for a lot of preachers. But the Scripture says, "http://...men ought always to pray [Amen?], and not to faint" (Luke 18:1)...

Prayer Warriors, Part 4

March 31, 2013 • Pastor Star R. Scott

We're a blessed people to have come to that knowledge, amen? Not everybody knows it. I was out yesterday. I had an opportunity to minister to a number of different people out on the street. As I was talking to this man and his son, the son was probably in his thirties. Just sharing the gospel. The young man began to share his perspective. I just patiently listened to him as he just shared that his perception that there's just one God, and it's the same God for the Hindus and for the Muslims and that he, himself, was a Christian, however. But he believed that Christianity needed to be a little more acceptable of the other religions. He was saying that in just a very matter of fact way. I won't belabor the point, but as we talked, I let him say all that he had to say. When he was finished, I just shared with him. I said, "Well, you know, isn't the real issue what is going to be celebrated tomorrow? (Easter.) Don't you believe if God Himself truly came down in the flesh and walked among us in a sinless life and took our sins upon Himself to redeem the world and was buried and rose again" I said, "If Jesus is risen from the dead, don't you think that probably answers this issue?" He looked at me for just a moment. I said, "Do you know of any other religions that teach resurrection and the power of God to raise the dead?" He was like, "Well, no. Now that you say it." I said, "And if He is risen, then shouldn't we listen to what He says about Himself? He said, "I am the resurrection, and the life" and "He that believeth on me shall never die." Shouldn't we believe what the Scriptures say about Him that He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me"? Shouldn't we realize that the thing that you're saying should be taking place, Jesus spoke to actually in the total opposite? He is not a god, and we do not serve in a kingdom of tolerance." He snickered a little bit and said, "Yeah, I guess so, when you put it that way." It's great just to let Jesus speak for Himself, amen? The tomb is empty. He is raised. He has ascended to the right hand of God the Father, and He ever lives to make intercession for us. So we rejoice in that. That's one of the great things, really, of Easter Sunday: not only that the tomb is empty, but that the throne is full. He has ascended back to the right hand of God, and He said, "If I go back to My Father, I will send you the Holy Ghost, a Comforter. And He will dwell in you, and He will bring all things that I have said to your remembrance." Do you want to know why that's such a big deal? Because as the Holy Spirit brings all things to our remembrance, that's where our ability to pray the will of God comes from. We know that it's the will of God because it was lived out in the life of Jesus...