Praying for an Unbeliever & Serving at Church
“So it is with faith: if it is alone and includes no actions, then it is dead. But someone will say, “one person has faith, another has actions.” My answer is, “show me how anyone can have faith without actions. I will show you my faith by my actions.” So then, as the body without the spirit is dead, also faith without actions is dead.” James 2:17-18;26 GNT
CONFESSING SINS REGULARLY: REPENTANCE
READING & STUDYING THE BIBLE
PRAYING FOR AN UNBELIEVER
“This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:3 NLT
“For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” Luke 19:10 NLT
“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world…” Ephesians
“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” Ephesians
“But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!” Matthew 5:44 NLT.
PRAY THAT THEY WILL KNOW GOD
“And this is the way to have eternal life – to know you, the only true God….” John 17:3 NLT
PRAY AGAINST HARDENED OR STUBBORN HEARTS
PRAY FOR GOD’S SPIRIT TO FILL THEM
“I’ll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I’ll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that’s God-willed, not self-willed. I’ll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands.” Ezekiel 36
PRAY AGAINST THE INFLUENCES OF THE WORLD
“Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.”
PRAY FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO MINISTER TO THEM
PRAY AGAINST THE SIN IN THEIR LIFE
THERE IS POWER IN YOUR PRAYERS
“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew
YOU WERE PRAYED FOR
SERVING AT CHURCH
MINISTRY IS THE PATHWAY TO MATURITY
“..He has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. Now these gifts are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.” Ephesians 4:7;11-15 NLT
ADMINISTRATION
APOSTLESHIP
COMPASSION
DISCERNMENT
EVANGELISM
EXHORTATION
FAITH
GENEROSITY
HEALING
HELPING
INTERPRETATION
KNOWLEDGE
LEADERSHIP
MIRACLES
PROPHECY
SERVANTHOOD
SHEPHERDING
TEACHING
TOUNGES
WISDOM
“God has given each of you a gift from His great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 4:10-11 NLT
YOU ARE BEING PRAYED FOR
Reading God’s Word
“SO IT IS WITH FAITH: IF IT IS ALONE AND INCLUDES NO ACTIONS, THEN IT IS DEAD. BUT SOMEONE WILL SAY, “ONE PERSON HAS FAITH, ANOTHER HAS ACTIONS.” MY ANSWER IS, “SHOW ME HOW ANYONE CAN HAVE FAITH WITHOUT ACTIONS. I WILL SHOW YOU MY FAITH BY MY ACTIONS.” SO THEN, AS THE BODY WITHOUT THE SPIRIT IS DEAD, ALSO FAITH WITHOUT ACTIONS IS DEAD.” JAMES 2:17-18;26 GNT
CONFESSING SINS REGULARLY: REPENTANCE
READING & STUDYING THE BIBLE
YOU SACRIFICE GROWTH WHEN YOU CHOOSE THE EASY WAY OUT
330,222,422 Americans as of 2020
9% = 29,720,018
Approx. 205,000,000 proclaimed believers of Jesus in America
29,720,018 = 14%
“IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD, AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD, AND THE WORD WAS GOD.” JOHN 1:1-5 NIV
“I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD, WHO TEACHES YOU WHAT IS GOOD FOR YOU AND LEADS YOU ALONG THE PATHS YOU SHOULD FOLLOW.” ISAIAH 48:17 NLT
“I WILL GUIDE YOU ALONG THE BEST PATHWAY FOR YOUR LIFE. I WILL ADVISE YOU AND WATCH OVER YOU.” PSALM 32:8 NLT
“YOUR WORD IS A LAMP TO GUIDE MY FEET AND A LIGHT FOR MY PATH.” PSALM 119:105 NLT
IF WE FOLLOW GOD’S GUIDANCE IT WILL LEAD US TO PEACE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS
“MY CHILD, PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT I SAY. LISTEN CAREFULLY TO MY WORDS. DON’T LOSE SIGHT OF THEM. LET THEM PENETRATE DEEP INTO YOUR HEART, FOR THEY BRING LIFE TO THOSE WHO FIND THEM, AND HEALING TO THEIR WHOLE BODY.” PROVERBS 4:20-22 NLT
“YOU WILL KNOW THE TRUTH AND THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE” JOHN 8:32
“PEOPLE DO NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE, BUT BY EVERY WORD THAT COMES FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD.” MATTHEW 4:4 NLT
“I KNEW YOU BEFORE I FORMED YOU IN YOUR MOTHER’S WOMB. BEFORE YOU WERE BORN I SET YOU APART AND APPOINTED YOU AS MY PROPHET TO THE NATIONS.” JEREMIAH 1:5 NLT
“..BUT YOU ARE GOD’S CHOSEN TREASURE – PRIESTS WHO ARE KINGS, A SPIRITUAL ‘NATION’ SET APART AS GOD’S DEVOTED ONES. HE CALLED YOU OUT OF DARKNESS TO EXPERIENCE HIS MARVELOUS LIGHT, AND NOW HE CLAIMS YOU AS HIS VERY OWN…”1 PETER 2:9 TPT
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USE THE S.O.A.P. METHOD
S – SCRIPTURE
O – OBSERVATION
A – APPLICATION
P – PRAYER
BE INTENTIONAL & PRIORITIZE
EVERYONE HAS A DREAM, BUT VERY FEW HAVE EXECUTION
'So it is with faith: if it is alone and includes no actions, then it is dead. But someone will say, “One person has faith, another has actions.” My answer is, “Show me how anyone can have faith without actions. I will show you my faith by my actions.” So then, as the body without the spirit is dead, also faith without actions is dead.' James 2:17-18,26 GNT
8 ATTRIBUTES OF A DISCIPLE
1. THEY ENGAGE IN THE BIBLE
2. THEY OBEY GOD AND DENY SELF
3. THEY SERVE GOD AND OTHERS
4. THEY SHARE JESUS WITH OTHERS
5. THEY HAVE A FAITH IN GOD
6. THEY SEEK AND WORSHIP GOD
7. THEY BUILD A RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHERS
8. THEY ARE UNASHAMED ABOUT THEIR FAITH
THE KEY TO GROWTH IS THE POWER OF PROGRESSION
ACTIONS OF A DISCIPLE
CONFESSING SINS REGULARLY: REPENTANCE
'For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. ' Romans 3:23 NLT
I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. Philippians 3:12 NLT
ADDRESSING ONLY THE ACTION OF SIN IS LIKE TAKING IBUPROFEN TO HEAL A DISEASE. IT MAY TEMPORARILY RELIEVE THE SYMPTOMS, BUT IT NEVER FIXES THE ISSUES.
And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it… Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Romans 7:18-20;24 NLT
Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 7:24-25 NLT
1. REPENTANCE CAUSES A DEEPER PURSUIT OF JESUS
THE DISTANCE BETWEEN YOU AND WHAT YOU LOVE DETERMINES WHETHER YOU HAVE THE CAPACITY TO ALLOW SOMETHING TO SEPARATE YOU FROM WHAT YOU LOVE.
If you love me, keep my commands. John 14:15 NIV
COMPROMISE DOESN'T EXPOSE OUR WEAKNESS IN WILL POWER, BUT OUR WEAKNESS IN OUR RELATIONSHIP
2. REPENTANCE IS THE COMMITMENT TO LEAVE THE PAST IN THE PAST
I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead… Philippians 3:12-13 NLT
When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds that its former home is all swept and in order. Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. Luke 11:24-26 NLT
3. REPENTANCE DRIVES COMPASSION
We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love. 2 Corinthians 6:6 NLT
'Our High Priest (Jesus) is not one who cannot feel sympathy for our weaknesses. On the contrary, we have a High Priest who was tempted in every way that we are, but did not sin.
Let us have confidence, then, and approach God's throne, where there is grace. There we will receive mercy and find grace to help us just when we need it.' Hebrews 4:15-16 GNT
ALTAR
And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! 1 Corinthians 15:17-18 NLT
But very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes. The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Luke 24:1-6 NLT
THE RESSURECTION IS REVOLUTIONIZING HISTORICAL EVENT
It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and several other women who told the apostles what had happened. Luke 24:10 NLT
Then he (Jesus) asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he ate it as they watched. Luke 24:41-43 NLT
THE RESSURECTION SHOWS THAT ALL THE BIBLE POINTS TO JESUS
They stopped short, sadness written across their faces… Luke 24:17 NLT
He was a prophet who did powerful miracles… Luke 24:19 NLT
But our leading priests and other religious leaders handed him over to be condemned to death, and they crucified him. We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel… Luke 24:20-21 NLT
Then Jesus said to them, “You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?” Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. Luke 24:25-27 NLT
They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24:32 NLT
And within the hour they were on their way back to Jerusalem Luke 24:33 NLT
THE RESSURECTION GIVES US HOPE FOR THE FUTURE
HOPE THAT THE FUTURE IS THERE
Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies. 1 Corinthians 15:43-44 NLT
HOPE THAT THE FUTURE IS PERSONAL
And he (Jesus) said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’ Luke 24:46-47 NLT
THE RESSURECTION SHOWS THAT JESUS IS THE TRUE KING
So they worshiped him and then returned to Jerusalem filled with great joy. Luke 24:52 NLT