Faith, Prayer, & Miracles | Ps Glenn Bleakney

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to the Numa Church podcast. Wherever you are in the world, we are so glad that you've joined us. Our prayer is that this message will reveal more of who our heavenly Father is as we grow deeper in intimacy with Jesus. Enjoy the message. [00:00:14] Speaker B: Welcome. Good to see you guys. Everybody is well in Jesus. Amen. You are too blessed to be stressed, right? Okay, good. All right, how you. We're going to talk this morning on the topic of faith, prayer and miracles. We're moving into a new season in the development of Newman Melbourne North. Today is actually three months that we've been gathering here in Montmorenci secondary college. [00:00:42] Speaker C: Three months. [00:00:43] Speaker B: It seems longer some days, and some days it's like, wow, where did the time go? But yeah, today is an awesome time for us. The end of February moving into March where we launch our pneuma discipleship. And pneuma discipleship is basically, we have something typically we do once a week, but for us, because we're just starting, we're going to kind of have a hybrid version of that. So we will be having some prayer gatherings and we're going to have also some time in life group for discipleship, which is going to be just kind of everybody getting on the same page and understanding our culture, the vision, the things that we believe, which is all things I love. It says, this is so cool. When Jesus rose again and he was among his disciples for 40 days, do you ever wonder what he said? What did he say to them? Well, we know he walked through walls. He did all sorts of cool things. But it says in Acts chapter one, he spoke to them many things of many things pertaining to the kingdom. So he spoke to them about the kingdom. So we have a huge emphasis on the kingdom. The kingdom of God is kind of the neglected emphasis in many places. Today we talk more about the church and the kingdom. Jesus only mentioned the church two times. Paul did, obviously a lot more. But the kingdom he spoke of over 100 times. And he said in Matthew 20 414, when the gospel of the kingdom is preached throughout the world as testimony to all the nations, then the end will come. So it's very important that we understand the kingdom and part of our discipleship will be really kind of taking a deeper dive into that topic. So we start next month, March. You'll be more information about that. Hey, if you're not in our email list, make sure you do by scanning the QR code so you can get the information. All right, Matthew 17. I'm going to read starting at verse 21, Matthew 17. This is the story of a boy who desperately needed healing. His father brought him to the disciples and the disciples apparently ministered to him, tried healing, but were not able to. They weren't effective. It didn't happen. And have you ever experienced that in your life where you prayed about something, you were really believing God for an answer, maybe even fasted, and it just seems like it didn't happen? Well, we're not averse to tackling the difficult topics here, okay, because I believe the Bible has all of the revelation. We need to bring ourselves into alignment with what God is doing. So we're going to debunk some myths, some false theology today, some things that people believe about miracles or the lack thereof, and we're going to look at what does the scripture actually say about it. How many know that our experiences need never should dictate what we believe about God, but the word of God should dictate what our experiences are, right? Let's align our experiences with the word. And if for some reason we haven't seen something and the word says we should, well, let God be true and let's align ourselves with what he says. And I don't care personally. I'm just speaking of myself. [00:04:24] Speaker C: Now. [00:04:25] Speaker B: If I've not seen something come to pass, if I see it in the word, then that just tells me that it's an invitation to seek God for manifestation. So revelation is an invitation to intimacy. But we need revelation, don't we? [00:04:41] Speaker C: Right? [00:04:42] Speaker B: Because if the Bible says that my people are destroyed for lack of. And it means revelation, knowledge, prophetic revelation. So that's the idea. All right, so let's pick it up. Verse 14. And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to him. So this is speaking of Jesus and the three disciples that were with him on the top of the mount of transfiguration. And this man came and he was kneeling down to Jesus. And he said, lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely, for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. So I brought him to your disciples. [00:05:22] Speaker C: Notice this. [00:05:23] Speaker B: But they could not cure him. Then Jesus answered and said, o faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? [00:05:35] Speaker C: Bring him here to me. [00:05:37] Speaker B: And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him and the child was cured from that very hour. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, hey, Jesus, what's up with that? Why could we not cast it out? Why weren't we able to? But you just did it like that. So Jesus said to them, because of your unbelief. For surely I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, move from here to there, and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you. And then verse 21, which is not in all translations I'm using, the new King James version, says this. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting. So this is a powerful story. It's something that I feel the Lord really wants us to take a look at closely to reset some things in terms of our beliefs and even our expectations. It you can believe something, say, hey, I believe God can do anything, but in reality, is he doing things in your life? Is there things that you're saying, hey, you know what? I really need God to do this. But you're saying, I believe. So there's a disparity, there's a dissonance there between what you believe and what you're experiencing. And I really believe that God wants to help narrow that and just bring that into a place where it becomes more and more common for us to actually see what we believe come to pass in our lives. So the Bible is full of miracles, right? It's a book of miracles. And it's amazing that we know that Jesus witnessed constant miracles wherever he went. And the supernatural was natural with him. It was like there wasn't really a single day that went by while he was on the earth for three and a half years during his earthly ministry that a single miracle did not occur. So here's a verse that we all probably know. It's John 21 25. Jesus also did many things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world would not contain the books that could be written. That would be written. So think about that. Of all the miracles that we read about in the gospels, they're just a snippet. They're just like a little snapshot of all the miracles that happened when he was on the earth. Absolutely astonishing. And I can't wrap my mind around that. But that's what the scripture says. Matthew 816. That evening, they, the people brought to him Jesus, many who were oppressed by demons. And he cast out the spirit, says how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and he went around doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him. And then there's so many other verses. Luke 440 says he laid his hands on each one of them and he healed them. All in acts, chapter five, verse 16, that says they brought the multitudes, came to Peter, and they said if we could just, even his shadow would fall on us, we'd be healed. And it mentions great multitudes coming. And it specifically says that they were all healed. They were all healed is what it says. So, whoa, we just have to stop for a moment and let's just pause and reflect on that. This is what we see happening in the book of Acts and in the Gospel. So how do we respond to this? We'd all love to experience miracles as profound and as frequently as Jesus did. But let's be truthful. Are we seeing that in our lives? I get that there's certainly a mystery to God. Let's put it in a proper biblical perspective. There's a scripture in Hebrews eleven that talks about women who received, I believe it's verse 35, they're dead. They were raised to life again. But then it says this in literally the next verse or the same verse. It says others, they did not experience the resurrection of their dead loved ones because there's a better resurrection awaiting. So let's put things in biblical context, right? Sometimes a miracle does not happen in this life because it's appointed to man to die once, right? Hebrews nine says that. And then judgment. So we're all going to die unless Jesus returns. And even the people that Jesus raised to life again when he was on the earth, remember when the earthquake happened. [00:10:43] Speaker C: When he rose again from the dead? [00:10:45] Speaker B: And it says that the bodies of the saints, they literally of great many. [00:10:51] Speaker C: Saints, great men and women of God. [00:10:53] Speaker B: They came up out of their graves and they walked through the city of Jerusalem. Wow, that is creepy. [00:11:01] Speaker C: Think about that. That's what it says. And yet, what happened to those guys? Did they live forever? They died again. They actually died again. [00:11:14] Speaker B: We all are going to die unless Jesus returns first. [00:11:19] Speaker C: That's the reality. So I'm not saying that we shouldn't die. [00:11:23] Speaker B: I'm not saying we all should live to be 190 years old or whatever. I'm not saying that. [00:11:30] Speaker C: I'm not saying that you should feel. [00:11:33] Speaker B: Bad if you're sick. No, that's not at all what I'm saying. But there is definitely a mystery as it relates to understanding the things of God, his sovereignty, his timing, the extent of miracles in our life. [00:11:51] Speaker C: But one of the other things about. [00:11:53] Speaker B: Miracles that often we miss a miracle because it presents itself in a way that really evades our discernment. And what I mean by that is. [00:12:05] Speaker C: Let'S think about David Samson they both. [00:12:11] Speaker B: Killed lions with their bare hands. Wow, that's a miracle. [00:12:16] Speaker C: But Daniel had to spend the night in a lion's den. Is that not a miracle? Right. Okay. Now, Jesus stood up and he spoke to the storm, peace, be still. But then in acts 27, the apostle Paul goes through the storm and God promises him, hey, I won't let you die. And even those that are with you will live, but you're going through the storm. So sometimes he causes the lions literally to be destroyed. Other times we have to spend the night with lions. Both are equally as miraculous. Amen. Do you believe that? Now, how many would rather kill a lion than spend a night with the den of lions? All right. Okay. [00:13:07] Speaker B: Well, you probably don't have a choice on that. [00:13:10] Speaker C: I pray you don't have to do either. But let's leave it in God's hands ultimately. So here's the point, though. [00:13:18] Speaker B: Scripture also tells us that we have a responsibility. We have a responsibility to see miracles come to pass. [00:13:27] Speaker C: If you or believe that it's just all God, 100% God. [00:13:32] Speaker B: No, because in Matthew ten seven, he commanded his disciples to go and heal the sick. Preach the kingdom and heal the sick. [00:13:39] Speaker C: So why would he command us to. [00:13:41] Speaker B: Do something if he was just going to do it? [00:13:44] Speaker C: So there's a lot of false teaching out there regarding miracles. Kind of like, hey, God knows. And if he decides to do it, that's awesome. [00:13:54] Speaker B: No, that's not the way it works. We're going to see this from the. [00:13:59] Speaker C: Passage that we've just read. [00:14:02] Speaker B: There's actually a role and a responsibility. We have to partner with God and to contend for the miraculous. [00:14:09] Speaker C: Now one of the other things is we can believe that miracles don't happen today. And guess what? [00:14:17] Speaker B: According to your faith, it shall be done to you if you don't believe. [00:14:21] Speaker C: That God does miracles today. If you believe the crazy teaching is known as cessationism, that God no longer does miracles. Whoa. [00:14:34] Speaker B: That's why you're not seeing miracles. [00:14:37] Speaker C: That's why you're not going to see miracles. [00:14:39] Speaker B: Thank you. Come on now. It sounded a little bit Pentecostal in here. [00:14:45] Speaker C: All right now, that's it. We got to believe. We got to have faith, right? See, the Bible says that all things are possible for God. But it says in Hebrews eleven, verse six, there's something that is impossible for us. And you know what that is to. [00:15:02] Speaker B: Please God without faith. [00:15:05] Speaker C: If we don't have faith without faith. [00:15:07] Speaker B: It is impossible to please God. [00:15:12] Speaker C: I mean, it doesn't say to please him a little bit or fully please him. It says, without faith, it is impossible to please God. Boom. Full stop right there. Okay, so we've got to have faith. The christian life is, we walk by faith, not by sight. We walk by faith. Faith is the evidence of things not seen. It's the substance of things hoped for. Faith is something that we need to contend for and we need to embrace in order to see miracles take place. So what I would love for us to do here is recognize that there is a balanced and complete biblical theology of miracles that calls us to a place of greater faith and also to. [00:16:05] Speaker B: Partner with God to see the supernatural. [00:16:08] Speaker C: Today, the responsibility to see miracles in. [00:16:11] Speaker B: Our generation cannot be solely placed on God. [00:16:14] Speaker C: We have a place. We have a role. Now let's look at our story, verses 14 through 16. And it says this. And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to him, kneeling down to him and saying, lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely, for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. Verse 16. So I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him. They could not cure him. So how did Jesus respond to this? He says in verses 17 and 18, o faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to me. And Jesus rebuked the demon and came out of him, and the child was. [00:17:02] Speaker B: Cured from that very hour. [00:17:03] Speaker C: Notice, Jesus did not say, hey, why are you bothering me? You brought him to my disciples and they prayed. Nothing happened. The same Holy Spirit that's with them is the spirit that is upon my life, and it must not be the will of my father. Why are you troubling me? Why are you bothering me? He did not say that. He did not say that. Now there's something else he did not say. He did not say, it's because you don't have enough faith. It's all your fault. It's all your responsibility. It's all because of you. No, he didn't say that. In fact, he did. If you look at the parallel account of this story in Luke's gospel, chapter nine, interestingly, when the father comes to Jesus to see his son healed, Jesus said, all things are possible if you can only believe. And the father cries out and he says, Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. So Jesus is challenging him to have faith. You need to have faith. As the father of this boy, you need to have faith that all things are possible, that I can do anything but you need to have faith. But here in the account in Matthew 17, Jesus actually puts the responsibility on the disciples as well. So not just the prayees, but the prayers. In other words, there is a role that all of us have in contending for the miraculous to become normal in our lives. So I could say, hey, you know what? My job is just to tell you to have faith. But that's not true. My job is to partner with you and to contend for the manifestation of miracles by me having faith and your faith and my faith joining together so that we see God manifest his glory and goodness. See the Pharisees. It says in Matthew 23, verse two, that the Pharisees would place heavy burdens on people, but they wouldn't even lift a finger to help them. They would command and they would demand, but they wouldn't lend a hand. You see, our role is to partner with one another. This isn't about your miracle, your journey, your breakthrough. The Bible is clear that we are a body. And if one part of the body is hurting, the whole body suffers as well. So we don't see this very often today. We don't come to a place where we begin to contend for one another. And so the ministry is all about believing God to be God and do what he wants to do among all of his people, and particularly among those who don't know him. I've preached all over the world, and I've seen incredible miracles. I've seen the dead raised. I've seen the blind, blind see so many times, deaf hear so many times. And I can tell you this, that in every situation and every time I've seen a miracle, often, most typically, the greatest miracles that I've ever seen are. [00:20:33] Speaker B: Among people that are not Christians. I've got some funny stories. [00:20:43] Speaker C: Like the. [00:20:44] Speaker B: Guy that falls down and is speaking in tongues, and he's getting set free and healed, and while he's there crying and weeping, he looks up at me and goes, I don't even believe in this. [00:20:59] Speaker C: I was like, wow. Well, apparently the Lord believes. Yeah, that's true. I don't even believe in this. Shout out. He's speaking in tongues. He's baptized in the Holy Spirit, and he's, like, being healed and set free, just crying and weeping under the presence of God. [00:21:21] Speaker B: I don't even believe in this. There is a place where sometimes our faith is sufficient for those who don't have faith. [00:21:38] Speaker C: If we believe that, if they don't. [00:21:41] Speaker B: Have faith at all, it's not going to happen. Then if we're ministering the gospel, then we aren't going to see that. See, the truth is we're called to contend for kingdom demonstration. [00:21:56] Speaker C: So often when that breaks forth and. [00:21:59] Speaker B: A miracle takes place, it opens up the heart of someone who is maybe a new believer or completely an unbeliever, a pre believer, whatever you want to call them. And it brings them to a place of surrender. I think I've shared this story before, but I'd love to share it again for the sake of those who maybe have never heard it. And even if you did hear it, it's so powerful. We were in Canada preaching at a church. This church was one of the first churches in Canada to experience revival. It was birthed out of the Azusa street movement. And literally, here's the building, the auditorium, but behind it there's a separate building. And we went in that, it's an old building. And when we walk inside, there's this pulpit, old wooden timber pulpit. And the pastor showed me something. He said, I want you to see this. And we walked up to, and he said, do you see on both sides of the pulpit? And I said, yeah. I said, there's like impressions there. He said, yeah, that's from the handprints of the preacher during the day when the Holy Spirit broke out and Amy Semple McPherson administered there as well. And just the hands and just the imprint, it was true story. Fire trucks came, people said they saw fire over the building, things like that happening. It was a powerful thing. [00:23:27] Speaker C: So here we are, partnering with this. [00:23:29] Speaker B: Pastor to see a fresh move of God's spirit. And they are starting to see people coming from all over. Miracles are happening. [00:23:37] Speaker C: We get invited to speak there under. [00:23:39] Speaker B: Our ministry, awake nations. [00:23:42] Speaker C: And as we go in there, I. [00:23:44] Speaker B: Have a word of knowledge. [00:23:46] Speaker C: And the word of knowledge was quite. [00:23:50] Speaker B: Specific and very interesting. [00:23:52] Speaker C: The word of knowledge is this. There's someone here tonight from the nation of Turkey, and the father has scheduled. [00:24:02] Speaker B: A divine appointment for you. [00:24:06] Speaker C: So who is here from Turkey? [00:24:10] Speaker B: So wait, seems like eternity. It's probably only 20 seconds. [00:24:16] Speaker C: Who's from Turkey? Anyone? Finally, at the very back, literally in the shadows, a man puts up his hand and he says, pastor, I'm here tonight with my friend. She is from Turkey. It's her first time in a christian gathering. [00:24:35] Speaker B: She's from Turkey, she was a Muslim. [00:24:38] Speaker C: And he says, she's never been in a christian gathering before. And I said, would you please tell her, because she didn't understand English, that we would love to pray for her and just to see God touch her life. In response to the word that was just issued, he speaks with her. Then he says, all right, she's willing to come forward, but no one can. [00:25:03] Speaker B: Lay hands on her or touch her. [00:25:05] Speaker C: He literally said this? He said, she actually feels that when. [00:25:12] Speaker B: You pray for people and they fall. [00:25:14] Speaker C: Down, she's afraid of that because she thinks that they really get sick or perhaps they even die. [00:25:22] Speaker B: And sometimes when you throw that cloth. [00:25:24] Speaker C: On them, they come back to life. [00:25:26] Speaker B: Or they get healed. [00:25:28] Speaker C: No, honestly, that's the way she viewed it. [00:25:32] Speaker B: We are a peculiar bunch, aren't we? [00:25:37] Speaker C: We said, fair enough, no problem, we won't lay hands on her, but we'd. [00:25:41] Speaker B: Love to pray for her. [00:25:43] Speaker C: So she starts walking from the back to the front. And as she's walking, no kidding, she. [00:25:49] Speaker B: Gets about maybe 10 meters away, and we're watching her. Everyone, all eyes are on her. [00:25:55] Speaker C: All of a sudden, we see her go. [00:25:57] Speaker B: She falls down backwards. [00:25:59] Speaker C: No one was around her. No one touched her. She falls down backwards and she starts crying out. And she's saying, Jesus, Esau, Esau. And she's crying out and she's asking Jesus into her life, apparently. Then she starts speaking in tongues. She starts speaking in tongues. [00:26:18] Speaker B: Lyn goes over and ministers to her. This woman, who'd never heard the gospel before, had never been in a church before, got hit by the power of the Holy Spirit. No one laid hands on her. No one touched her. And that demonstration of the supernatural power of God brought her to salvation. [00:26:35] Speaker C: Come on. God is good. That did challenge my theology a little. [00:26:43] Speaker B: Bit, because I thought she didn't pray the sinner's prayer. Read John Wesley's testimony and you'll understand what I mean. So the fact is, God wants to reveal his power to this generation. He's a God of miracles. Right? Scripture talks about that. It says that Jesus in acts 222 was actually accredited by the Father. By God with signs, wonders, and miracles. Accredited. That word can be translated to be endorsed. He was endorsed by the father. Interestingly, in Hebrews two, three and four, it says that the disciples preached the gospel. Jesus preached the gospel, and the disciples preached it as well by this as a God bore witness to it with signs, wonders and miracles. God bears witness through signs, wonders and miracles. So the truth is God still does miracles today. It's our responsibility to partner with him. So we have a place where we have to contend for miracles in our own personal life as believers. But also there's a responsibility for us to believe, for others to have faith for others. And sometimes our faith, literally, we invest it. It's almost like they have to kind of make a withdrawal of our faith. And that's the gift of faith. That's when the gift of faith, often on an apostolic anointing, a prophetic anointing, also will break things open in the atmosphere and will cause people to just all of a sudden have an expectation. It changes things. Changes things. It's amazing. So what is the reason for the disciples not being able to cast out the spirit? Jesus said it this way. He said, because of your unbelief. Now, what is the antithesis of unbelief? Belief. Right. So in Greek, it literally, unbelief literally means no faith. So you have faith or you don't have faith. Okay, now some of you say, well, my faith is not really strong, but yeah, okay. But Jesus says here, because of your unbelief. Now you'll notice in some translations it actually says because of your little faith. That's not correct. It's not correct. If you study it in the original language, it says unbelief. Now there's another thing that many translations say that is not correct. Many translations say that the antithesis or the solution to unbelief is having faith the size of a mustard seed. But the Bible does not say faith the size of a mustard seed. Some modern translations say that, but the Bible does not say that literally in. [00:30:00] Speaker C: The New Testament language. [00:30:02] Speaker B: It says this, faith as a kernel of a mustard seed. Faith as a kernel. That's a literal translation if you look it up. Okay. Doesn't say anything about size. [00:30:18] Speaker C: It doesn't compare our faith to a size. [00:30:21] Speaker B: If you would have faith even the. [00:30:24] Speaker C: Size, the word size is not in the New Testament language. [00:30:27] Speaker B: See, this is something that man has conjured up. It actually says, and I'll just get a little technical for a second, that we are to have faith as a mustard seed. Faith as a mustard seed. It's the greek word hos. And it means like the same as, even as in the same manner as. It never refers to the size. A size never. [00:30:55] Speaker C: So when he says, you are to. [00:30:58] Speaker B: Have faith like a mustard seed, or in the same manner as a mustard. [00:31:04] Speaker C: Seed, what is it that Jesus was referring to? [00:31:08] Speaker B: Well, in Matthew 17, verse 20, in. [00:31:10] Speaker C: The amplified, look at this, it says, for truly, I say to you, if you have faith that is living and growing like a grain of mustard seed. [00:31:21] Speaker B: You can say, the mountain, move here to yonder place and it will. [00:31:24] Speaker C: Faith that is living and growing. Notice that the amplified Bible, which obviously takes the liberty to bring explanation to what the word means, but often is very accurate. [00:31:38] Speaker B: Most of the time is very accurate. [00:31:40] Speaker C: In what the original language is saying. Aren't you glad we're a church that teaches the word? Okay, so it doesn't say faith, the. [00:31:48] Speaker B: Size of a mustard seed. It's not referring to the size or the quantity. [00:31:54] Speaker C: It's speaking of the quality. The quality. Okay, now let's go to Matthew 13, verse 31. Because how many know that the word. [00:32:02] Speaker B: Of God explains the word of God? That's called synthesis, the principle of understanding scripture that way. [00:32:10] Speaker C: So Matthew 1331 says this. He put another parable before them. Jesus saying, the kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, same wording the man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown, it has larger than all the garden plants and. [00:32:33] Speaker B: Becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its trees. [00:32:37] Speaker C: So he's talking about faith that is vibrant, faith that is growing. How many have heard of Smith Wigglesworth? [00:32:46] Speaker B: Right? [00:32:47] Speaker C: He preached literally at Numa church in the city. [00:32:51] Speaker B: He literally did. [00:32:53] Speaker C: So, guys, do you know that Smith Wigglesworth. [00:32:59] Speaker B: Faith Wigglesworth, might as well call him that. [00:33:02] Speaker C: He actually would teach this principle. [00:33:05] Speaker B: And he called it ever increasing faith. There's a book that he wrote called ever increasing faith. [00:33:13] Speaker C: And the revelation is that our faith. [00:33:16] Speaker B: Is to be ever increasing. [00:33:19] Speaker C: So why is it that the disciples were not able to set the boy free to deliver him, to cast the demon out, when previously they had done that very successfully? But all of a sudden now, right? So sometimes we say new devils, right? New levels, new devils. I preached a message just over a year ago at city location called new Levels, new devils. Nor is it the other way around. [00:33:53] Speaker B: No, new devils, new levels. Right? [00:33:56] Speaker C: That's what. Yeah, because why? [00:33:57] Speaker B: Here's my point. [00:33:59] Speaker C: Because when you are going to deal with principalities and powers that are stronger, sometimes, boom, it's easy. You ever just pray and it just happens? [00:34:10] Speaker B: How many love those kind of prayers, right? [00:34:13] Speaker C: How many know that's not normal? [00:34:15] Speaker B: It doesn't always happen, right? [00:34:18] Speaker C: Then there's times you're like, I'm praying and it's not happening. It's amazing that typically when we first come to the Lord, he's so good to us that we pray and we say, God, I pray, and a million dollars would be deposited in my bank account. And you look and there it is. No, but seriously, I'm saying you pray these outlandish faith prayers, and it happens, especially when you're a new believer. But then later on it's kind of like, hey, hey, hang on a minute. Why is it that this isn't happening? Because God is calling us to a higher place in him. He's calling us to a deeper place of faith. And sometimes that only comes through praying and fasting and contending. I remember when there was a time when Lynn was quite ill and the doctors thought she had cancer in her stomach. And we began to pray and seek God and prayed many times, prayed many times, nothing happened. And then the Lord just called me to fast. Now it wasn't a religious fast, it's not about fasting certain amount of days, but it's about fasting until, see, sometimes God can tell you to fast a certain amount of days, but I found typically people fast a certain amount of days and they make the focus, getting through the fast, I just get through this, three more days to go, praise Jesus, can't wait. And that becomes our focus. Rather than contending for a miracle, contending for a breakthrough, getting into a place of deeper consecration with the father. And so we have to know that. So we ended up praying. And after praying for a certain period of time, we just laid hands on Lynn and prayed for her. And she felt in her stomach, it was like boom. She said it felt like a baby kicking. And at that moment there was internal bleeding and it instantly has stopped. [00:36:29] Speaker B: And she was completely healed from that moment. [00:36:33] Speaker C: Went back, all the tests, nothing. But guys, I can tell you, we. [00:36:39] Speaker B: Contended for the miracle. There was fasting and there was prayer that we went into it with faith, with faith. [00:36:47] Speaker C: And it wasn't about saying oh God, won't you do it? Why don't you do it? No, fasting isn't twisting God's arm, he's more than willing to do it. It's about aligning our heart into a place of consecration. It's about breaking through things, even our unbelief, and coming to a place of. [00:37:07] Speaker B: Desperation and dependence on him and contending. How desperate are we for miracles today? [00:37:16] Speaker C: Not just see often when we are sick, when we are in trouble, then we pray, right? But what about others? What about the lost? What about a generation that has never come to Jesus? The apostles advance the kingdom of God through signs, wonders and miracles. What would happen if we started to see amazing miracles happen all the time? We'd see a lot of people come. [00:37:46] Speaker B: To Christ, we see a lot of. [00:37:48] Speaker C: Backsiders come home, the goodness of God. [00:37:50] Speaker B: Drawing them back, it's amazing. [00:37:53] Speaker C: So when you are praying for something and it's not happening, the answer is not to say passively. Well, God knows. And when he feels like it, or if he chooses to do so, he's going to heal me. No, that's not biblical. We have a responsibility to contend. We have a responsibility to believe even when things don't happen, we have to contend. And as long as you have breath, as long as you and I are alive on the earth, let's contend for the miracles. Let's contend for the prayer to be answered. Let's contend in another message and even in discipleship, we'll talk about prayer that. [00:38:45] Speaker B: Really is effective and what it looks like, what it consists of. [00:38:49] Speaker C: So it's not like in the example of Jesus when he comes down from the mountain. It's not like Jesus when they know, okay, your disciples couldn't cast out the demon, couldn't heal my son. It's not like Jesus said, okay, guys, I need to go away for three days, and I'll come back after I fast and pray for three days, and then I'll pray for your son. No. Why? [00:39:13] Speaker B: Because he lived a fasted, prayed up lifestyle. [00:39:16] Speaker C: It was a consistent lifestyle. [00:39:19] Speaker B: He had faith as a mustard seed. [00:39:22] Speaker C: His faith was always growing. His faith wasn't like. [00:39:29] Speaker B: No. [00:39:30] Speaker C: He was in constant communion with his father. Constant communion. There are times, I mean, we all go through faith challenges, don't we? [00:39:42] Speaker B: Right? But Jesus is a rock. [00:39:47] Speaker C: And the Bible says in Hebrews 1228. [00:39:49] Speaker B: That we have received a kingdom that cannot be shaken. [00:39:52] Speaker C: Religion can be shaken. But if we really understand that we are in a kingdom that cannot be shaken, no matter what happens, we are in a kingdom that stands firm, and it will endure forever. So we are called to go to a place where our lifestyle is that. [00:40:17] Speaker B: Of having faith as a mustard seed. [00:40:20] Speaker C: Faith that is increasing, faith that is constantly going from one level to the next. You see, our spiritual development happens incrementally. In Romans 117, Paul said, we grow. [00:40:34] Speaker B: From faith to faith. [00:40:36] Speaker C: He says, listen to this, the amplified Bible, Romans 117. For in the gospel, a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed. What does it say about this righteousness? [00:40:48] Speaker B: This gospel? [00:40:49] Speaker C: It springs from faith and leads to faith. It literally is disclosed through the way of faith and arouses to more faith. As it is written, the man who through faith is just and upright shall live and shall live by faith. What it means, guys, very simply stated, is we are called to live by faith and to go from faith to faith to faith to faith to faith to faith. It's not to be, man. I had faith back in the day. Somebody said, it's like many of us. Our faith is like a bath. [00:41:26] Speaker B: After a while, it's not so hot, right? [00:41:29] Speaker C: It's true. Our faith is like, oh, yeah, I used to believe, I used to contend, I used to see miracles. But then we stop believing, we stop growing, we stop praying. See, this message is all about faith, prayer and miracles. The reason why Jesus saw all the miracles that he did, many people say it's because he was God. No, why would he say to us, of course he was God. Why would he say to us in John 1412, the works that I do, shall you do? Also, why would he say that? Because he's saying, I want you to experience the same type of supernatural power. I want you to see miracles. And so Luke's gospel and I shared this in our team huddle before the service this morning. Luke's gospel emphasizes three main themes. And the first thing is the humanity of Jesus. He's known as the Son of man. Secondly, the power of the Holy Spirit. That everything Jesus did, he did in the power of the Holy Spirit. And then lastly, what literally holds it all together. The glue is prayer. Jesus prays and prays and prays. Luke emphasizes prayer more than any other gospel writer. So he's saying this. Jesus saw so many amazing miracles because of the power of the Holy Spirit that operated in his life. As someone who's 100% God but also 100% man, he leaned into the power of the Holy Spirit through prayer. He leaned into intimacy and communion with his father, and he saw amazing things take place. He never grieved the Holy Spirit, but he went from a place of faith to faith. And so what we understand about the New Testament followers of Christ is that they were diligent not only in pursuing God's presence, but in protecting it. They were committed to both growing and guarding their faith. Growing and guarding. [00:43:36] Speaker B: So where are we in our walk with God, in our faith today, say, compared to one year ago, have we gotten closer to Jesus? Has our faith increased? No condemnation, but reality check, reality check. First love, fresh faith. I'm believing for more today. I mean, I love miracles because what I see happen is it changes people's lives. It just changes people. It shifts things. It just literally can someone who's going astray, their heart's astray from God, and something supernatural happens. [00:44:32] Speaker C: Boom. [00:44:33] Speaker B: I remember when we were here, when we came back and visited Australia after COVID. So this would have been in September of 2022. [00:44:45] Speaker C: We went out to Adelaide, and the. [00:44:48] Speaker B: Pastor, he said to me, hey, Glenn, I've got you to speak to the guys in teen challenge. And I said, oh, okay. So honestly, I was kind of like, it was very far, we had to drive like 2 hours. And I was like, why can't they just come to one of the churches where I'm speaking, just saying, being honest. And the Lord said, no, I'm going to do something tonight, you need to go. So I went there, I think there was about 15 of these guys. And I saw this one young man standing at the front and God gave me a specific word, very specific, very precise for him. I didn't have a word for anyone else that night. I prayed for everyone, but I had a specific word for him, that word, when I spoke it out publicly and I pointed at him and I said, this is what God says he broke, he wept and he literally was just about to commit suicide. And it literally was the breakthrough that shifted everything in his life, literally saved his life, got him back with the Lord, because it brought clarity to things that he was wondering about. He didn't understand, and it literally turned his life around. And I've got a photo of him like he's hugging me and he's weeping and just what happened that night, guys? We need miracles today. We need miracles today. Wow. We need to see miracles again. See, we have to go on this journey where we're hungry for him, we're hungry for his presence, we're hungry for his power. We want to see the demonstration and the manifestation of miracles again. We're not seeking after the miracles in that sense of we're wanting just to focus on the miracles. No, the Bible calls them signs and wonders. What is a sign? There's a sign right there. What is the purpose of that sign? Well, it's telling us. But is it telling us that if we want to leave this building safely, we need to crawl through this sign, we need to make contact with this sign. This is our goal. No, not at all. It's pointing to something of significance. Signs point to Jesus. They point to Jesus. That's the purpose of them. There are people that pursue the signs even in Jesus day, right? He's saying, like, why are you following me? Because I gave you free lunch, right? Yeah, it's true. But they still, even though there are people that will abuse it and misuse it, it's still God's way. And God wants to answer your prayers. He wants to do miracles in your life, and he wants to do miracles through you. I love this verse. I want to look at it. It's Hebrews five, verse seven. In the amplified classic edition, it says, the reason why Jesus was heard. Why was it that it actually says in John eleven, I think it's verses 41 42. Jesus said this when he was about to raise Lazarus from the dead. He said, father, I thank you that you've heard me. I thank you that you always hear me. [00:48:49] Speaker C: I thank you that you've heard me. [00:48:51] Speaker B: In other words, this thing with Lazarus, done deal. And I thank you that you always hear me. [00:48:56] Speaker C: And the only reason I'm praying and. [00:48:58] Speaker B: Saying this publicly is for the sake of those who are here when they might believe. So what happens is, so Jesus has this confidence, right? He said, I thank you that you've heard me. This thing with Lazarus, it's like it's already done. And I thank you that you always hear me. Then Hebrews five, verse seven. It says that Jesus was heard because of his reverence toward God. Some translations say his godly fear. Some say his piety. But the amplified says in that he shrank from the horrors of separation, from the bright presence of the father. The word that is translated fear, in the New Testament most of the time is Phobos. We get Phobia from it. [00:49:44] Speaker C: Phobia. [00:49:45] Speaker B: But this word is a different word. [00:49:49] Speaker C: And it's only used two times. The second time is in Hebrews 1228. [00:49:54] Speaker B: Where it's translated godly fear. [00:49:57] Speaker C: And this word, what it literally means is to walk carefully, to walk circumspectly. Let me give you an illustration in closing. [00:50:08] Speaker B: Bill Johnson speaks of what it means to host the presence. [00:50:14] Speaker C: And he says, when Jesus came out of the water, he was baptized and the spirit came. [00:50:22] Speaker B: In John's gospel, it says, the spirit. [00:50:25] Speaker C: Descended upon him and it literally stayed upon him. It means that the spirit rested upon Jesus, didn't come and then fly away. What he shares and you maybe heard this is, it's like this. I want you to think of what it would be like if you had a dove on your shoulder and you wanted that dove to stay on your shoulder. You didn't want it to fly off. How would you walk? You would be very careful, right? You don't want to scare away the dove. And what it's saying here in Hebrews five, verse seven is that Jesus walked in a way that he was aware of what grieved the spirit, what displeased the father. And he was absolutely horrified by the. [00:51:24] Speaker B: Very prospect of being separated from the father. [00:51:29] Speaker C: He never wanted to experience that. He said, I need to have this intimate relationship connected to your presence at all times. Of course, we know when he was on the cross, when he cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? [00:51:44] Speaker B: The father turned from him as our sins were placed upon him. But he's saying, I don't want to do anything that would grieve the spirit. [00:51:54] Speaker C: See, the call of God to his church is to walk circumspectly, to live in a way that pleases him. Ephesians 510 says, find out what is acceptable to the Lord. Find out what is acceptable to the Lord. New King James the NLT says, carefully determine what pleases the Lord. You ever thought about that? When you love someone, you like to. [00:52:23] Speaker B: Know what pleases them, right? [00:52:25] Speaker C: Okay. Ephesians 515 and 16, look carefully then. [00:52:31] Speaker B: How you walk, not as unwise, but as wise. [00:52:37] Speaker C: And it means to walk circumspectly. I'm from Canada. It gets cold there. You know what we do in the winter? [00:52:48] Speaker B: We have ponds, they freeze over and we play ICE hockey. [00:52:53] Speaker C: In the early stages of winter, we. [00:52:55] Speaker B: Have to be careful because we're not sure how thick the ICE is. So we step out on the ICE. [00:53:02] Speaker C: And we kind of do. [00:53:07] Speaker B: And then you hear. [00:53:11] Speaker C: But then when you walk, when the ICE is thin, you walk very cautiously. [00:53:16] Speaker B: Very circumcised, because you don't want to fall through. It's what he's talking about, being circumspect in our walk, being cautious, making sure that we don't grieve him. Look carefully how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of time, because the days are evil. In other words, look carefully, then how you walk. Live purposefully and worthily and accurately. Wow, I want to say that again. Live purposefully, worthily and accurately. How are we living? We have the amazing opportunity to go to a deeper place in our walk with God, where we see miracles, breakthroughs, things that maybe you've been believing for years. Come to pass on the 6 march. We're going to be gathering for prayer that evening. It's a Wednesday. We're going to be coming together to pray. We're going to be coming together to pray regularly. We're going to be seeking God because we believe he's a God of miracles. God hasn't established this church in the northern suburbs to take up space, but to take territory. We're not here to take up space, real estate venue. We're here to take territory to see the enemy destroyed. Let's stand. We're going to pray. We're going to believe God for amazing things. Faith is like a well watered garden. We have to nurture it. It's going to ask the worship tam, just to. We're just going to worship him. But we're here this morning, guys, and this isn't about. Okay, today I'm going to get this tick this box. God's going to do this. God's going to do that. No, that's fine. He can do that. But this is an invitation to a journey. This is an invitation to go to a place where we begin to believe God. The Bible says, I would have fainted if I had not believed I would see the goodness of God in the land of the living. Do you believe you're going to see the goodness of God or have you stopped believing? Zephaniah 112 says, they have said in their heart, the Lord will not do good. Yeah, that's what it says God says of my people. They say in their heart, I will not do good. Wow, he's a good God. Do we believe for miracles? Do we settle for things? We just kind of put up with it. We accept things that maybe it's not God's will. Say, well, yeah, I prayed. It's good. Keep praying. Keep growing in your faith. Keep trusting him. Get closer to him. Draw closer to him. No condemnation. I wear glasses, obviously, I need healing. And this isn't about feeling bad or heaping guilt or condemnation. No, that is so evil. That is so not the heart of Jesus. I hate that. But this is him saying, church, my. [00:56:41] Speaker C: People, I love you. [00:56:43] Speaker A: There's so much more I want you to experience of me. I want you to see my glory. I want you to encounter my goodness. I'm the God of miracles. I'm the God that causes the supernatural to be natural. Miracles are normal. My son, my daughter, believe me, draw close. Faith has a mustard seed. Faith has a mustard seed. Faith, faith, faith. [00:57:19] Speaker B: The Bible says, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. The Bible says, build yourself up in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. Build yourself up through prayer. Build yourself up through the word. [00:57:34] Speaker C: Speak the word. [00:57:34] Speaker B: Declare the word. [00:57:35] Speaker A: Believe the word. Come on, enter into that place. [00:57:41] Speaker D: Thank you for joining us. We hope that you enjoyed today's podcast. Now we realize that not everyone has had the opportunity to respond to the good news of the gospel. And for this reason, in all of our services and platforms, we want to extend to you the opportunity to follow Jesus. The Bible teaches us that we have been created for a relationship with God. However, sin, which is essentially disobedience, independence and disbelief, or are simply missing the mark entered the world and separated us from God. Romans chapter six, verse 23 says that the wages of sin is death and a debt was owed. And the Bible tells us that he, Jesus, demonstrated his love for us, that while we were still sinners, he died for us. Jesus paid the penalty for our sin. John 316 says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. God so loved the world that he gave us Jesus, that whoever believes in him will be saved. All that is required of anyone is that they believe in Jesus. The son of God who came, lived, died and rose again so that we could be forgiven, made right and given the right to become children of God and to have life forevermore with him. Today you can begin a relationship with Jesus. To believe in him is to simply to respond with faith in our hearts and confess with our mouths that he is Lord and we do that through a simple prayer. Follow along with me dear Jesus, I believe that you are the son of God. I thank you that you love me and came to forgive me of my sin. I repent from my old way of life and I turn to follow you. I receive the free gift of eternal life and I ask that you fill me with the Holy Spirit so that I can live a life of following after you. I thank you that I am born again as a child of God and that I am a new creation in Christ Jesus. Amen. If you prayed this prayer for the first time, we would love to connect with you and connect you to your next step and the local church in your area. You can contact us on our website at Numa Church thanks for listening.