FULLY ALIVE IN 2025!

 Matthew 17:15-16 (NLT) “Lord, have mercy on my son. He has seizures and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. So, I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.”

 Mark 9:22 (NLT) The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.”

Mark 9:23 (NLT) “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”

 Matthew 17:20b (NLT) “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”

 

LET GO OF DISAPPOINTMENT, DISCOURAGEMENT, AND OFFENCE

 

Mark 9:24 (NKJV) Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

Gen. 1:26-27 (NLT) Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground. “So, God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God, he created them; male and female he created them.

Micah 7:19 (NLT) Once again you will have compassion for us.  You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!

 a.      By faith choose to release every disappointment into the hands of the living God.

b.      By faith choose to forgive all those who have offended you, disappointed you, betrayed you.

c.      Ask for the help of the Holy Spirit.

 

SATURATE YOUR HEART AND MIND WITH THE WORD OF GOD.

Romans 10:17 (NKJV) So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Mark 9:24 (NKJV) Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

 a.      Read the Word.

b.      Meditate upon the Word.

c.      Pray the Word.

d.      Sing the Word.

e.      Declare that Word.

2 Corinthians 4:13 (NKJV) And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak

 

FAST AND PRAY FOR SPIRITUAL BREAKTHROUGH

Mark 9:28-29 (NKJV) And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” So, he said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer]and fasting.”

Neh. 1:3 (NLT) They said to me, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.” When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.

Daniel 10:2-3 (NLT) When this vision came to me, I, Daniel, had been in mourning for three whole weeks. All that time I had eaten no rich food. No meat or wine crossed my lips, and I used no fragrant lotions until those three weeks had passed.

Daniel 10:12-13 (NLT) Then he said, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia.

Matthew 6:16-18 (NLT) “And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get.  But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face.  Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

 

Question for discussion/reflection

1.      What are some things you are contending for in 2025?

2.      What are you contending against? (this could be a combination of physical, relational and spiritual barriers)

3.      What are some practical action steps you can take as you contend?

4.      What are some things holding you back from fully contending?

5.      What are some specific Scriptures you need to be standing on as you contend?

6.      Are you willing to commit to 3 weeks of fasting and prayer? 

7.      What would be the biggest barriers to your full participation?