Picture This | Week 2

July 16th & 17th

Pastor Tonderai Bassoppo-Moyo

A Story of Relationship

LUKE 11:5-13 (NIV)
Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Relationship is the groundwork for persistence.

PICTURE THIS: THE STORY OF THE FRIEND AT NIGHT

Effective prayer is persistent and borne out of relationship.

THE FOUR BUILDING BLOCKS TO RELATIONSHIP

1 - Expectation

When your prayers are based on knowing about Jesus instead of knowing Jesus, you lose the will to persist.

2 - Intention

Matthew 19:21 (NIV)
Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

If you don’t know your intentions, how can you know when your answer arrives?

3 - Motivation

Love seeks to give.
Lust seeks to get.

4 - Trust

Trusting in the Lord is believing in God’s ability, God’s wisdom, and God’s goodness.

Psalm 37:5 (NLT)
Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you.

You are persistent when you know who He is and His ability and goodness to provide.

James 1:6-8 (NLT)
But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.

KINGDOM CONCEPT: AN INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP CREATES PERSISTENT PRAYER.

2 Corinthians 3:18
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.