Endurance

The Word says in Psalms 88 and 2, Let my prayer come before thee. Incline thine ear unto my cry. Welcome to Focus Prayer with G. Craig Lewis. just to make it to the end anybody plan on making it to the end i'm i plan on making it all the way amen so let's go ahead however you Whatever posture you want to be in and however you want to get for this prayer, we'll go ahead and get started. Father God, in Jesus' name.

We recognize how powerful you are. We start this prayer off with just that recognition of how powerful you are. You have kept every promise. You've done everything that you've promised. You've done everything that you said in your word. You have been here with us. You've been here for us. Father God, you've been an advocate. You've just been everything you promised you would be. And for that, we just.

Say thank you. We give you glory and honor for just being that powerful to where we don't even have words to express your power. All we know is what you've done. in our earthly realm but god there is just so much we do not know because you are just oh so powerful so we recognize that tonight knowing that you are above our thoughts

Above our wants, our desires. You're above our hurts, our pains. You're above the schemes of the enemy. You're above everything that the enemy's planning. Father God, you are high and lifted up. And we lift you up right now to the place. where you are in our lives, God, with our words, with our feeble English language, where we just don't have the words to express it, but we'll try and just say that you are all powerful and we love you and we lift you up.

and recognize that power right now to you be all glory all honor all praise because of how powerful and wonderful and magnificent and almighty You are. Ephesians 3 and 20. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh. in us so father god we just thank you and we come before you with thanksgiving we enter in

With thanksgiving. Just thanking you God. For all the many things you've done for us. For the many blessings you've bestowed upon us. God for food. feeding us when we were hungry, God, and giving us water when we thirst, and giving us clothes, and giving us shelter, place to live. Father God, we do a lot of complaining and we do a lot of wishing we had and all of that kind of stuff. But Father, when we think about it, we know that you have been.

Too good to us for us to deny. You have done things for us when we didn't think it could happen. God you have worked miracles in many of our lives. God we thank you for it. We thank you for loving us. We thank you Father God because you love us so much that you're going to move heaven and earth out of the way just to come and take us away to be with us forever. That's how much you love us.

you don't love like an earthly person you don't love like a human you love like a god that created a being to love and so we thank you God for loving us so much we thank you for loving us so much that you've forgiven us we thank you Lord for loving us so much that you've called us together called us to yourself we thank you lord god we give you thanks glory and honor psalms uh 104 says enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise

Be thankful unto him and bless his name. So we enter into your gates spiritually with thanksgiving and into your courts with praise, praising your name, really being thankful, God, for everything. You've done. God, we've taken you for granted so many times by not even mentioning it. But it's too much to mention, God. You've just done too much for us. So we take this time right now to thank you for everything that you...

have done and will continue to do in Jesus' name. And we will bless you, Lord. We will bless you.

And God, we ask for forgiveness for all of our sins, God. Everything that we've done, anything that we've done against your will. Father God, anything that we've done knowingly, unknowingly. Father God, anything that we've done when we just had a moment of weakness or God, anything that we even plotted or planned to do that wasn't...

pleasing unto you. Father God, we ask for forgiveness right now. We ask for forgiveness for even, Father God, the things that we may have planned to do after today. God, we ask for forgiveness. Please, God, stop us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us. from all evil help protect us from ourselves at times god when we're weak father god when we

When we've gone too long without your word, when we've gone too long without a good sound word, Father God, and we fall or we stumble into error. Father God, you said you would forgive us. So we ask for forgiveness right now. In the name of Jesus, 1 John 1 and 9, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.

And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So we ask to be cleansed right now from all unrighteousness. Everything that we've done, God, to hinder our relationship with you. Everything we've done to hinder. hearing your voice, God, anything that we've put in your way, any idolatrous thing, Father God, any idol, anything we've set up that is more important to us than you, God, we remove it right now and ask for forgiveness.

for even putting it there. Forgive us of all of our sins, God, so that we can be forgiven like your word says. You promised to forgive us and cleanse us. So cleanse us right now from all.

unrighteousness in the name of Jesus and we come to you in faith believing that you hear us God you said that if we come before you we must believe that you are who you say you are and that you are rewarded of those that diligently seek you in order to diligently seek you we have to believe that you are and so god we come in faith believing that you're the god that you said you were in your word

believing that you are a loving father like you said in your word believing that you created us to love us like you said in your word for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so father we know that you love us And we know because you love us, you hear us. So right now we come believing that it's our voices that you hear. God, no matter how many people are praying, talking, no matter how many activities are going on all across the universe.

You are focused in on what we're saying right here in ABC, right here on this Zoom call, right here in the Northristen Hills, God. We're your focus because you're God and you know how to do that. We believe.

that you are mighty enough to do that we believe that you can do more than our mind can even fathom so god we come before you in faith believing that this prayer is valid believing that this prayer is effective believing that what is being said and done right now is important to you and you have inclined your ear to hear our request We believe that. Mark 11 and 24. Therefore I say unto you. What things so ever ye desire. When ye pray. Believe that ye receive them. And ye shall.

have them. So God, we believe and stand on what Mark 11 and 24 says. The things that we desire when we pray, believe that we receive them and we will have them. So we're believing right now.

for the things that are requested in this prayer. And God, we are not afraid of things to come. You have not given us the spirit. of fear no matter how much fear they taught on the news and on social media and What people are worried about, even with the COVID and just all of the different things that people are afraid of. Father God, you have not given us that spirit so we don't receive that spirit. So we're not afraid of things to come. Fear is a spirit.

And fear is not from you, God. So we rebuke fear right now in the name of Jesus. And we are not afraid of anything that is to come. Because we have you, God. Almighty. We have you on our side. We're on the right side. So we don't fear anything, God. We don't fear anything. We don't fear plagues, pestilence. We don't fear what man can do to us. Father God, we don't even fear death.

God, we only fear you and we hide under your protective wing, God, as you care for us and protect us in this wicked and evil time. God, we believe. that we do not have to succumb to fear but we have power love and a sound mind second timothy 1 and 7 for god hath not given us the spirit of fear and because it says that it means it's not from you god so fear is not from you that it did not come from you you did not give it to us so wherever fear is it's not you it is the enemy

You've given us the opposite of fear, which is power, love, and a sound mind. So, Father God, we pray right now for those three things. Power, love, and a sound mind. Substitute the fear, God. Remove the fear. We expel the fear with power, with love, and with a sound mind, Father God, because we know that fear did not come from you. So hear our prayer today, Lord. Hear our prayer as we pray.

boldly without fear trusting and believing that you hear us and lord keep us strong in this hour Father, so many are being weakened by the constant ingestion of news and media. And all of the scare tactics they're using, all of the fear tactics and the fear mongering they're using. Many, Father God, are getting weak in this hour. Many are...

just letting go of the strong faith they once had. So Lord, I pray that those that are here gathered and those under the sound of my voice, God, that you would grant us a strength in this hour and keep us strong. Father God, keep us strong so that we can face everything that we're dealing with in our world today and help us to endure every test and trial that may come our way. Show us the things we must do to be strong.

Father God, show us the things we must do to be strong. Show us in your word. Show us through your preach word that we receive here on Sundays. Father God, show us what we must do. Show us the way to be strong right now and stay strong and stay strong in this time as our world grows more evil and wicked. Keep us strong, God. Show us all the things we need to do.

God, give us the things we need to do. When we're not reading your word enough, speak to us. Let us know, Father God, when we need to turn TV off. Speak to us. Let us know. Father God, when we need to change the radio station, let us know. When we need to turn certain things off, when we're watching something that we don't need, even if it claims to be.

uh christian or vital for the end times or whatever it is father if you don't want us watching it if it's going to get in the way of our strength father god take it away from us we're going to trust you with that we're going to trust you with leading us we're going to trust you with guiding us

You said that you would lead us and guide us in all truth because you are the spirit of truth. So reveal that truth to us, God, to keep us strong and show us all the things that we need to do in this hour to stay strong. As our world grows more evil and wicked. Psalms 140 and 7. Oh God the Lord. The strength of my salvation. Thou has covered my head in the day.

of battle so protect us lord right now as we go through all of these spiritual battles as the spiritual warfare has been unleashed on our planet father god cover us lord and protect us in

jesus name and give us more hope so that we will continue to believe that things will work out for us father god give us hope give us hope lord The time we spend with you, God, the things we read, what we hear your words saying. Let us go to scriptures. Let us find scriptures, God, that illuminate hope, that show us hope.

Hope for just making it through this time, Father God, like you've done so many times in your word. Lead us to those passages. Lead us to those stories. Lead us to those examples, God, so that we will have hope. Give us the hope we need to continue to believe that things will work out for us. And right now we break the spell of all hope hindrances and cast away all opinions that are contrary to the hope we have in Christ Jesus. We break the spell of hope.

hindrances the things that hinder our hope the things that take away our confidence in this hour and we cast away all opinions no matter whose opinions it is they are We cast all opinions away that are contrary to the hope we have in Christ Jesus because our hope is in you, Lord. Our hope is in what was done on Calvary. Our hope is in your promise to return.

and take us back with you that's where our hope is that's the blessed hope and we believe in that jeremiah 17 and 7 blessed is the man that trusted in the lord and whose hope the lord is so father god you are our hope you're our only hope in this time but you're the only hope we need in this time so we believe father god that you will work things out for us in this time

And help us to overcome fear and anxiety in this hour, Lord. Everything that is causing worry, stress. and depression we cast upon the lord who is able to carry it for us right now worry stress and depression we cast it out right now worry stress depression

Father God, we won't carry these things. We will not be worried about our future because you hold it. We will not be stressed about what's going on now because you're in control. And we will not be depressed because we have the joy of the Lord.

and your joy is our strength father god so we cast all our cares all fear anxiety stress depression and worry we cast it upon you because you're able to carry it for us and we break the curse of despair and unbelief in the mighty name of jesus right now with our words we break the curse by your spirit we break the curse of despair and unbelief

in the mighty name of jesus we will not lose sight of all that god will do for us in this hour we believe god that you're gonna do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think in this hour john 14 and 27 peace i leave with you my peace i give unto you not as the world giveth give i unto you so let not your heart be troubled neither let it be

afraid so father give us that peace give us your peace not the world's peace but your peace so that our heart will not be troubled and not be afraid

And help us to remain steadfast through trials and tribulations, Father God. All the things that we're going through. Those that are... where they're threatening vaccinations on their jobs and threatening their way of life and their careers and just all that is happening people going out of business businesses closing and people just all kinds of

trials and tribulations that are happening father god help us to remain steadfast through it all god planted believe in what you taught us god believe in what was taught to us by your Man, servants, God, believe in what was instilled in us by our own reading and receiving of the word. Father God, make us steadfast, make us unmovable, make us adamant.

Father God, through all trials and tribulations, the greater the test, the greater your power will be in us. We pray that you will use this moment in history to show yourself mighty. Through us. Father God. Use us in this hour. As your vessels. To show yourself mighty. To show your word true. To show your prophecies revealed. Father God. This is your hour.

to show yourself so show yourself through us father god as your collective body and move in our midst god and show the world that you are still the god of the bible that delivers his people from the world And we trust in you and believe you are with us. Psalms 106 and 2. Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? And I love this, God. Who can even utter your mighty acts?

You are so great and powerful. We don't have words for it. Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Who can show forth all his praise? So, Father, with the capacity that we have, we... give you praise glory and honor because you're going to show yourself mighty in this very hour hallelujah these are some things that

we need for endurance so we have to pray these things for endurance you'll have this pdf when it's over but it's very important these things are very important to make it to the end in order to endure we must remain spiritually efficient that means that we can't carry a bunch of baggage and garbage and different things so father help us to follow your plan for us and live so the enemy cannot weigh us down with issues So, Father, help us follow your plan, not our plan, not the things we...

feel we want to do things we feel we should do things that people told us we ought to do father we want to follow your plan because all those other ways will lead to issues that we will be forced to carry through these end times so father help us to follow your plan for now and live so the enemy can't weigh us down with issues when our ways please you we feel better and we can freely run the race

That is set before us. So help us Father God to stay pleasing unto you. God write your signature upon our lives. The way we live. The way we. work the way we take care of our families the way father god we purchase things just everything let it reflect you god let us do things your way so that we can get rid of some of these issues and not carry them And all that is going on in our world right now. And help us Father God to be pleasing unto you Lord. Let our ways please.

you so we can freely run the race that is set before us proverbs 16 and 7 when a man's ways please the lord he maketh even his enemies be at peace with him we want to please you god we want to please you in

this hour and in order to endure we must not harbor sin in our bodies we've asked for forgiveness but we got to go even deeper than that show us any sin that we need to repent of lord We don't want to be walking around. With something on our heart, something in our heart. Father God, something that we don't even know is a sin. Or something, Father, we feel we can't be loose from or free from. Something that we feel we're addicted to. Father God, something we feel we can't live without.

God, show us what that is. Whatever it is, show us any sin that we need to repent of. We don't want to walk around with unrepentant sin. We don't want to walk around, God, without your favor. We don't want to walk around, Father God, with the shadow of darkness upon our lives. So show us, God, any sin that we need to repent of. We ask for forgiveness for unforgiveness. So if we're carrying unforgiveness in our hearts, God, we ask for forgiveness right now or any malice we feel.

toward others any bad feelings we are carrying toward ourselves we denounce right now so father sometimes people can make us feel bad about ourselves and then we begin to question whether we are the the good creation that you made father god so we pray right now for uh forgiveness we pray father god for any unforgiveness that we've been carrying and any malice we're feeling toward any others and father god

Even what we're feeling and caring about ourselves, God, the negative imagery, the negative image that the enemy has placed on us because of our failures, because of who we hurt, because of who we let down. Father God we will not allow the enemy to speak those things to us anymore. We denounce that right now. We will not carry bad feelings about your creation. If you called your creation good it is good.

And so Father, we speak it and believe it and denounce all self-hatred right now in the name of Jesus. And God, we denounce right now all shame, blame, guilt. Fault finding, self-loathing, self-hatred, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, dysthenia, murderous thoughts, harm wishes, retribution, racial bias. prejudice, hatred, malice, envy, jealousy, and all of the spirits that have nested, nested, I mean set up camp in us, nested in our minds or hearts to cause us to hate ourselves or others.

We denounce every one of these spirits. We kick Satan out. We kick every demon, every devil out that has nested in us, Father God, to try to weigh us down and worry us during these times, Father God. We denounce it right now. Now I'm going to read them again. We denounce shame, all shame, blame, guilt, fault finding, self-loathing, self-hatred, self-harm.

suicidal thoughts, dysthemia, murderous thoughts, harm wishes, retribution, that's getting somebody back, racial bias, prejudice, hatred, malice, envy, jealousy, and all other spirits take notice.

you will be ejected from the nest that you have created you will not reside in us you will not live in us you will not control us you will not set up camp in our thought processes but we denounce you right now every spirit in jesus name that's in our minds and our hearts to cause us to hate ourselves and others be gone in jesus name 1 John 2 and 1. My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.

and if any man sin we have an advocate with the father jesus christ the righteous so all we have to do is repent no matter which what it was on this list if we repent and turn from it the devil has to pack up his nest And he has to go in the name of Jesus. If we denounce it and repent of it and move on from it, the enemy does not have legal right in the name of Jesus.

Jesus and in order to endure we must remain physically healthy so help us to take care of our temples naturally and spiritually Lord convict us God When it's time to eat right. Convict us God for eating bad. Convict us for all of our bad habits God. Everything we're doing to harm our temple God. Strengthen us to forsake. bad diets, bad sleep habits, and slothfulness, laziness. Father God, not wanting to get up and do nothing. Father God, convict us, convict our hearts.

in these areas these are the areas that the church has not really pushed and did not they were so inundated with the spiritual god and i don't want to speak for all of them but many of them were just so inundated with the spiritual that they forgot all about the natural man and they didn't know that the two come together but father god we pray right now that in this hour you will help us with our diets with our

our sleep father god help us to not be slothful help us to reflect you in our daily walk and our daily lifestyle in the name of jesus and make us more aware of what we're doing to ourselves so that we can remain healthy enough

To fight in this hour. 1 Thessalonians 5 and 23. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly. And I pray God your whole spirit, soul, and... body be preserved blameless spirit soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of the lord jesus christ so god sanctify us all three parts of us not just our spirit without the soul but the spirit and the soul not just our spirit and soul without the body but father god with our bodies let us glorify you

with our diets let us glorify you with our habits let us glorify you father god with the way we live our lifestyle in the name of jesus finally lord we

will love and forgive those that harmed us. Father God, we just thank you, Lord, even for the sermon elder preached on Sunday. God, we just thank you, Lord, that you're bringing us all to a place. Well, we will forgive those that harmed us so we don't carry the weight of unforgiveness and it end up turning into a physical condition. Father God, we will love and forgive those that harmed us.

Father God, help us to love them, God. Help us to pray. If we can pray for them, we can love them. If we can pray for them, then we've forgiven them. So Father God, help us to pray for those that have harmed us. Help us to love those that we feel have done us wrong. Father God, help us in this area so that our hearts can be clean and we free our hearts from the weight of it and illnesses that came from it.

If there be anyone that we have harmed, we ask for forgiveness right now. A lot of times we're the ones that did the harm. We're the ones that did people wrong. So Father, forgive us. And help them to be able to receive our repentance, Father God. So we can clean our hearts and have a clear heart, Father God. So when we talk to you, we know you're hearing us. Father God.

We want, Lord God, the pathway to you to be clean. So Father God, help us in this area to forgive and help us to ask for forgiveness. Lord, free our hearts. Clean us up.

so that we can run this race and endure till the end psalms 51 and 10 creating me a clean heart so god creating us right now a clean heart clean our heart whatever is dirty whatever area is not clean whatever is residing in there that shouldn't be clean our hearts created in us a clean heart oh god and renew a right spirit within me in the name of jesus we pray the right spirit we trust in you You're the healer of our hearts.

Strengthen our hearts, oh God. For your purpose. For your will to be done. in our midst, oh God. Strengthen our hearts, oh Lord. Creating me a clean heart. and renew the right spirit within me. Create in me a clean heart, Lord, and renew. right spirit within me for your Spirit. Adulteries do not belong here Envies don't belong here Oh God, we're calling on your name.

spirit to lay aside weights and we have to clean our hearts so we can be efficient to run this race in this time can't carry weights can't carry sin We can't carry malice, unforgiveness, hatred. You can't carry anything during this time. We have to lay it all aside.

So that we can be efficient to run this race and endure until the end. Hebrews 12 and 1. Wherefore sin. We also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us. And let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Who for. The joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

For consider him that endureth such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your mind. So the scripture is really just saying Jesus has already come against it all. He's already.

been through it all so we need to consider him and understand that we're running the same race and we got to finish this race to get to where he is he's sitting at the right hand at the throne of God and that's where we're all headed if we can endure until the end amen so lay aside the weight like we said Sunday leave it in this room

unforgiveness whatever it is somebody may have hurt you y'all we've all been hurt don't let that set up shop in your heart don't let it find roots the bible says that if it finds roots it's going to spring up the root of bitterness is going to spring up and then you're going to mess up a lot of people so let's get rid of these things let's get this stuff out of us and how do you do that pastor you pray you

pray when you feel it you pray prayer is not just in at the end of the night when you kneel down or when you wake up in the morning it's all day you got a call on god all day so when you get that flutter in your heart and that heart palpitation and just all of the lightheaded feeling whatever you feel and however it manifests itself you got a call on Jesus at that moment I need you to lighten my load I need to let go of this weight

So show me where the weight is and I'll take care of it. But I need you to show me where the weight is. Amen. Lay aside every weight. Let that be your prayer. Amen.