Podcast

DNA
Becoming who you are.

Written within your DNA your genetic code determines who you are. Genetic research continues to uncover attributes and behaviors that are hidden within our DNA. Your DNA says a great deal about you.

When a person is regenerated by the miracle of salvation through Jesus Christ, God literally rewrites our genetic code.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
[17] Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

We are recreated in the image of Jesus Christ, by following Him through the power of the Holy Spirit we learn to live out this new life.

Philippians 2:12-13 (NIV)
Shining as Stars
[12] ...continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, [13] for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

It is an instant miracle when a person comes to Christ. They are born again. They are declared to be in right standing with God. This is a gift that comes from God by His grace, His action, based on His merit, because of His great love. We simply receive this free gift. When you receive this gift your eternity is settled in heaven.

But God has so much more than just heaven for you. Think about what I just said, God has so much more than just heaven for you. Heaven is beyond amazing. Words cannot describe the beauty and joy of heaven, but if heaven was all that was important, God would let you be killed right after you accept Jesus as savior.

I want to talk with you about the wonder of the life that God has prepared for you, and us at New Hope. Over the next few weeks (8) to be exact we are going to discover some great things that God has placed within our spiritual DNA. As we discover these qualities we can also see them developed or unleashed to reach the full potential of what God has intended for us. You will probably figure out these qualities mirror what we have identified as our core values at New Hope. It is my prayer that these will be developed in us as individuals as well as corporately.

Releasing the Prayer Giant in You.
Prayer is key to your relationship with God. prayer is key to your success and our success at New Hope. I borrowed a statement from Mark Batterson, author and pastor of National Community Church in D.C. It is a part of their core values as well. "We will work like it depends on us and pray like it depends on God. This is really two values in one statement, right? .... Hard work and prayer. I am pretty confident that most people understand the importance of prayer. But I wonder how many people do not feel like they pray enough.

When I began to prepare for this talk I told the team that we were not going to do the 'guilt thing' when it comes to prayer. I am sure that many people start to get a little squeamish when people start talking about prayer. But I believe that there is a prayer giant waiting to get lose in each one of us. I believe written in our DNA is a heart and a capacity to pray. Today many of you are going to be set free to pray like never before. And when you do astounding things will take place in your life, in your home, in your business or on campus and certainly here at New Hope.

Are you ready?

To become the prayer giant that God has created you to be you must first see the correlation between your relationship with The Father and your prayer life. The strength of your prayer life is determined by the strength of your relationship with the Father.

Follow me for a moment.

Luke 6:12-13 (NIV)
[12] One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. [13] When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles:

Luke 9:28-29 (NIV)
[28] Jesus took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. [29] As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.

Luke 11:1 (NIV)
[11:1] One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

Luke wants us to see that prayer was a very important part of Jesus's life. So here is my question, "Why was prayer so important to Jesus?" Did Jesus pray to prove his spirituality? No! Did He pray to grow in His faith? Well some might want to debate that. Jesus did grow in wisdom and favor with God and man, but I don't think that was the primary motivator. Did He pray for power to do miracles? Again this is some what debatable. Some would say He prayed to see what The Father was doing. I believe main reason Jesus would go to spend time in prayer was because He longed to be with His Father. I believe it was a relational longing that compelled Jesus to pray.

Now look closer at Luke 11

Luke 11:1-4 (NIV)
[11:1] One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

The followers of Jesus saw Him praying. They watched everything that their Rabbi did, and they saw how important prayer was to Him. And notice the request of the disciple. Lord teach us to pray. He didn't ask Jesus to teach him how to pray. I believe this request was Lord motivate me to pray like you are motivated to pray. And that is exactly what. Jesus does. He says when you pray say FATHER.

[2] He said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘Father,*
hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.*
[3] Give us each day our daily bread.
[4] Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.*
And lead us not into temptation.*’”

Yes prayer builds our relationship with God. Just like communication is so important in building a strong marriage or friendship. But communication is also the sign of a good strong relationship. Think about it, have you ever been in a fight with your spouse or your girl friend or boy friend and you said, "I'm not talking to you right now?" your relationship dictated your communication.

In the same way, when we understand and enjoy the full rights of knowing God as FATHER we can't help but pray. As your relationship with God grows so does your prayer life.

So you can do some self diagnosis here. Do you feel like your prayer life isn't as vibrant as you want? Perhaps there are some relational blocks.

If you have sin in your life, you don't like to pray. You have noticed that right? Sin is more of a relational issue than a performance issue. When you sin it effects your relationship with God. God doesn't disown you every time you sin, but repetitive sin creates relational blocks between us and God. The result is often less prayer.

You don't talk to someone if you don't think they like you. When you understand how much Your Father loves you you have to spend time with Him.

God is relatable. Because of Jesus God proved He can relate.

Hebrews 4:15-16 (NIV)
[15] For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. [16] Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

He understands. And we can relate to God. We can grow in our understanding of God.

1 Corinthians 2:6-16 (NIV)
[6] We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. [7] No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. [8] None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. [9] However, as it is written:
“No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him”*—
[10] but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. [11] For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. [12] We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. [13] This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.* [14] The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. [15] The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment:
[16] “For who has known the mind of the Lord
that he may instruct him?”*
But we have the mind of Christ.

Really? We have the mind of Christ? Wow that is great. We can grow in our understanding of God.

Psalms 119:130 (NIV)
[130] The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.


1 John 5:20-21 (NLTSE)
[20] And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God.* And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life.
[21] Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.*

Only you can answer this. Has anything taken the place of God in your heart?

So first of all prayer is a reflection of our relationship with God. Build the relationship build the prayer life.

Secondly, and this might sound a little strange when I first say it, we pray because we need to pray. When we don't sense a need in our life we often don't pray. Desperate people pray. As Jesus was teaching his disciples to pray He turned their attention to need. Give us this day our daily pray. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. These are basic needs that we encounter. We need God to provide. When we need provision we turn to prayer. And rightly so. God is our provider. I would say that the more desperate our need the more fervent our prayer life. When you need a job or groceries you are more apt to pray. And God does provide.

Take a look at what Jesus tells His followers in the continuation of the lesson on prayer.

Luke 11:5-8 (NLTSE)
[5] Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, [6] ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ [7] And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ [8] But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.*

Jesus likens prayer to the man going to a friends house at midnight. Now this is not the time to go knocking on someone's door asking for some food. This man must have been desperate. His desperation led to audacious behavior. I love how the NLT puts it. The friend got what he needed because of his "shameless persistence."

Desperate people pray.
I want you to do a little bit of self diagnosis now. What is your level of desperation? Prayer giants are desperate people. No you might not be desperate because your needs are met. Maybe you don't pray because you don't think you need to. For you my prayer is that God will give you a vision that only He can accomplish. I pray that God will give you a Kingdom vision that will thrust you to your knees. Thy Kingdom come Thy will be done is a huge prayer.

This is a historic time, and God wants to do something of epic proportions. There is a war between the forces of evil and the forces of truth and righteousness. In this time the Church must grasp the enormity of the situation. We must get a God sized vision because people's eternity lies in the balance. I pray that Holy Spirit will compel New Hope with a vision that will make us desperate for God to move. May God give us a vision that only He can fulfill.
In many ways your intensity in prayer corresponds to your vision. The bigger your vision, the more desperate you become for God's power to work in you. The more desperate you become, the more you will pray.

Finally, the reason you are going to become a prayer giant is because prayer works. God answers prayer. This is what Jesus taught. Take a look.

Luke 11:10-13 (NLTSE)
[10] For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
[11] “You fathers—if your children ask* for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? [12] Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! [13] So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

Jesus is telling His friends they should pray because it works. Look at the certainty in the way Jesus explains it. He says that everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks finds and everyone who knock has the door opened.

I know that you will be a prayer giant when you realize that prayer works. God answers prayer. It may not be immediate, but it is certain. God loves you as His child and He will answer your prayer.

James 5:13-16 (NIV)
The Prayer of Faith
[13] Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. [14] Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. [15] And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. [16] Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

If you are a follower of Christ in is in your DNA to be a prayer giant. You just need to become who God made you to be. The moment you decide to follow Christ. The moment you you pray the prayer of faith and invite Jesus to be your Lord a miracle takes place. The Holy Spirit regenerates you. He places in you the genetic code of the Holy Spirit. And unique in that DNA is the ability to be a prayer giant. Today we are going to pray that this is released in you and in New Hope. Before we do I want to give the opportunity for anyone who has not prayed that prayer of faith to receive Jesus to do that today. This could be the day that changes your life completely.