The Importance of Continuing in Prayer | Never Give Up

our life will not always be a bit of roses for all of us because we need resistance we need challenges we need opposition to push us so that we can break through the shell of being comfortable the Bible is filled with men and women of God who went through trials trials that produce giant prayers trials that produce passionate prayers burning prayers to the Lord when Hezekiah became deathly ill and the prophet Isaiah came to him with a message from God that he would die the Bible says in second Kings chapter 20 verse 2 and 3. then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord say now O Lord please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart and have done what is good in your sight and Hezekiah wept bitterly can you begin to imagine the passion behind that prayer imagine being in the room and listening to Hannah praying desperately for a son [Music] imagine being in the vicinity when blind Bartimaeus was shouting Jesus Son of David have mercy on me imagine being there in Jonah chapter 2 verse 1 where the Bible says then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the stomach of the fish all of these are examples of hard tough and challenging situations but equally they are all occasions that produce passionate prayers to the Lord never be too quick to fall and be discouraged when you're faced with adversity it could very well be the thing needed to light a fire in your faith adversity and pain is a catalyst for some of us [Music] it moves us from being lukewarm to praying with fluency and for your prayer to be effective it needs passionate Faith behind it have you ever noticed how the fire and intensity you pray with when everything is good and comfortable in your life it's very different to how you pray when you are in a testing season at times we need to have the presence of mind to realize that the Lord allows he allows certain things to happen to us he'll allows certain events to take place all so that we can tap into the next level of Prayer our next level of faith so what you're going through may not be designed to destroy you but instead to build you what you're going through isn't intended to ruin you but instead it's all to strengthen you [Music] Philippians 1 verse 6 says being confident of this very thing that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ the Amplified version says I am convinced and confident of this very thing that he who has begun a good work in you will continue to perfect and complete it until the day of Christ Jesus the time of his return [Music] take a moment and consider what does the bible mean when it says this very thing what is this very thing why should we be confident of it why is this very thing so important that it's associated with the beginning of a good work that will be completed until the day of Jesus Saints I believe that when the Bible talks about this very thing it's talking about your salvation and the reason I believe this is because when you are saved and when you accept Jesus Christ into your heart you don't automatically become detached from your flesh automatically become this perfect person who never gets angry or upset that's not the case you need to work on your salvation by seeking more of Jesus Christ by meditating on his word by pursuing a closer relationship with him by yielding to the Holy Spirit your salvation never stops that's why Philippians chapter 1 verse 6 says being confident of this very thing that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it will complete it your salvation is not complete until the day of Jesus Christ's return Philippians 2 verse 12 says therefore my beloved as you have always obeyed so now not only as in my presence but much more in my absence work out your own salvation with fear and trembling did you hear that the Bible tells you to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling do you know what this means it means you need to continue to work out your salvation to cultivate it bring it to full effect to actively pursue spiritual maturity with the fear of God and as you do this do it with caution because your Eternal Destiny depends on it once you are saved and born again there is no Curtain Call or final whistle once you are saved and born again that is just the beginning the beginning of a good work the beginning of the good fight of Faith the beginning of running a good race the beginning of discovering the kingdom of God which we are all called to seek first [Music] we may not enjoy difficult times we may not enjoy tough times or challenges however there is no denying that when you are in the middle of great difficulty when you're in the middle of a storm [Music] you pray with fire you pray with passion imagine being on the Mount of Olives when Jesus was praying in Luke 22. imagine hearing the sheer intensity he prayed with when he said the words father if you are willing remove this cup from me nevertheless not my will but yours be done this was just before he was betrayed he knew the pain and suffering that was to come he knew the task at hand he knew the size of the sacrifice he was to make Luke 22 verse 44 says and being in agony he prayed more earnestly and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground such was the weight he was under such was a passion behind his prayer that his sweat became like drops of blood or how about Paul and Silas imagine listening to them as they pray they were in prison they were chained it was cold it was uncomfortable but they were still praying they were still praising the Lord can you just imagine the passion in their voices you see at times we all need to be placed in a place of difficulty we at times need to be placed right in the middle of a storm because it will bring out a deeper intensity in our prayer lives we need a battle to keep us on fire for the Lord because there is a danger in us becoming comfortable there's a danger in us becoming complacent if everything is good all the time now don't get me wrong the only thing constant is Jesus Christ he is the same yesterday today and forever God is good all the time and all the time God is good [Music] the Amplified translation for First Corinthians 11 verse 31 says but if we evaluated and judged ourselves honestly recognizing our shortcomings and correcting our Behavior we would not be judged evaluate yourself why judge yourself why I believe this is necessary it's imperative because how do you tell somebody how to live when what they see in the world is going on in your life how do you preach Jesus sing Jesus but you don't live like Jesus did how do you call yourself Christian but the way you live is anything but christ-like come out from among them the Bible says be ye separate touch not the unclean says the Lord this topic of self-evaluation self-examination and the Judgment of self is hugely important if we are to become Christians who are living a life pleasing to