I.

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Matthew 5:6, NIV).  I remember when I gave my life to Jesus Christ on August 26, 2001. Leading up to August 26, 2001 I was sick of my life, the filthiness of it, the destruction that I was headed towards. I didn't like the wickedness of my life. I was so aggravated and unhappy. I wanted relief from my pain. I didn’t want to go to hell. I just wanted to be saved, to be cleansed from all unrighteousness, I wanted Jesus. To be saved and accepted into the family of God, to be delivered from the destruction I was headed towards . . . well, all it took was a SINGLE PRAYER. That’s when it happened . . . then . . . everything changed. . .

II.

The very first reason for prayer in a person’s life is for salvation. The Holy Spirit will convict the unbeliever of sin in his or her own life and the need for a Savior. You must admit you are a sinner and in need of forgiveness and believe that Christ died on the Cross for your sins and rose from the dead.  You must listen to Jesus Christ when he knocks on the door of your heart. "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20, NIV). Jesus doesn’t break the door down. He gently knocks, waiting, hoping that you (the unbeliever) will open the door of your heart to Him. He longs to give you salvation and eternal life. All that is required is that you open the door and accept the free gift that Jesus offers. How do you open this door and how do you accept this free gift? It begins with prayer to God. "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13, NIV). It is as simple as that. Once you have prayed the humble, repentant, sinner’s prayer and confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of your life and truly meant it, you are saved for eternity. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life (1 John 5:11-13, NIV).

Once you are saved, life has now begun. Seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit in prayer. "All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them (Acts 2:4, NIV).  The empowerment of the Holy Spirit in your life will equip you to do the will of God. Continually seek the filling of the Holy Spirit everyday in your life. You need this so that you can be fully equipped and empowered to serve God and minister His Word to the lost always.   "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8, NIV).

III.

Progressive Sanctification: becoming holier unto God, growing to be more and more like Jesus Christ day after day after day. After you become a Christian, seek after the Lord with all of your heart, soul, and mind.  Don't be complacent but press into the Lord and tell Him how much you love Him and serve and obey Him with your whole life.  "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Matthew 5:6, NIV).  Seek after the Lord daily in prayer and in the reading of His Word.  As a Christian, you will learn to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit if you are sincere and dedicated in your commitment to God and you continually surrender your life to Him.  As part of the Christian walk, each and everyone of us should "hunger and thirst for righteousness." If you want to live a holy life, becoming more and more like Jesus day by day you must communicate and get to know God in a deeper and powerful way through continual prayer. This is accomplished through maintaining an active and consistent prayer life that never ceases. When you get up in the morning, the first agenda for your day should be in prayer to the Author and Creator of life. When you get up in the morning you must read God’s love letter to you: His Holy Word, the Bible. When you go throughout your day you must have God and His will always on your thoughts. Pray continually to Him. He loves to hear His voice. "Lord, what should I do in this situation? Lord, I love You with all of my heart. Lord, thank you for the storm that I am going through. Jesus, I long to see Your face." If you want to grow in holiness, becoming more and more like Jesus, you MUST talk to God. He longs for you to talk to Him. He wants you to get to know Him better. He wants you to learn to hear His voice in ALL situations. He wants your full surrender to Him. These things are accomplished by starting with praying without ceasing. Talking and getting to know God better and learning His will. When you fully surrender to Jesus giving complete control over to Him, just watch the amazing power of the Holy Spirit rule and reign in your life.  Wow! Want to know what’s on God’s heart? Pray to Him daily.

When you learn to hear His voice, you will know His will. It’s God’s will that every person become part of His family. He doesn’t want anyone to perish. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9, NIV). The Lord wants His children to pray for the saved and the unsaved.  We are to pray that God equip and empower our fellow believers to help them minister the Gospel to the lost. We are to also pray that God protect our fellow believers from the evil one. "Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field" (Matthew 9:38, NIV). Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith (2 Thessalonians 3:1-2, NIV). For the unbeliever, we are to pray for their salvation. Jesus Christ all throughout Scripture ministered to the lost and dying. He didn’t want anyone to perish. He wanted everyone to be a part of His heavenly family. That is why Jesus Christ went to the Cross. To die for our sins so that we might have eternal life. We must always follow Christ’s example of ministering the Gospel to the lost and dying. Pray to God . . . Pray that the Holy Spirit convict the unsaved people of their sins and their need for a Savior. Pray that the Lord prepare their hearts to hear the Gospel message of salvation through Jesus Christ. Pray for yourself that God enable you to do His will, that he empower you with His Holy Spirit, and that He give you the words to say to the lost and dying people. Pray that God keep your eyes focused on Jesus Christ at all times, relying on Him in all situations and circumstances.  Tell people about Jesus.  Remember, you must always be fully surrendered and obedient to the Lord. All you have to do is pray, obey God, and let God perform the miracle of salvation in the lost sinner’s life. It is as simple as that. Pray, obey, and watch the power of God take over. Amazing!

IV. Conclusion

Once you’ve prayed and accepted Christ as Lord and Savior of your life, and as a result of confessing your sins and accepting Christ into your life you are incorporated by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ; then pray, seek, and receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit into your life, as a result of this you are empowered to do the will of God and to live a holy life unto Him; then there is progressive sanctification, continuing and growing in holiness.

Is there more? How do I conclude this message? What will Biblically grounded holy prayer do in and through the life of a humble believer? Just what is the secret to living a life that is dominated by the Spirit, driven, motivated, non-stoppable when it comes to loving, serving, and always obeying God, ministering the Gospel to the entire world, evangelizing wherever God sends you, not worried about the huge storms surrounding you, or whether you’ll face danger, great difficulty, strong opposition, and even physical harm? . . . The answer:  full surrender to God and relying totally on Him 100% to carry you through each and every situation, knowing that His divine will is always in control and He will protect you from the storms and evils in this life. 

"The parting of the Red Sea" (miracles of God) can happen in your own personal heart and life if you will just HUMBLY SURRENDER every aspect of your life to God.  You must live a holy life unto God. You must seek to have your feet planted on higher ground. You must be willing to be broken continually, over and over and over and over again. Pray for brokenness. Seek it. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart O God, you will not despise (Psalm 51:17, NIV). Recognize that you must decrease so that He can increase. Rely on the grace of God to carry you through every area of life. Delight in your weaknesses (by weakness I don't mean sin.  Read the following Scripture passage). To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:7-10, NIV). Pray to God so much that you become consumed with talking to your Lord, you hunger to cry out to Him, you long to hear His voice. What is the life of a committed Christian like? . . . It is a praying man or woman who is deeply in love with Jesus Christ, who can’t wait to communicate with his or her Lord and Savior, who without this communication with the Lord would not survive (literally); who has to feed on the daily bread God feeds him or her in His holy Word, who if he or she misses even one day of reading the Word, would literally not make it through the day without being wounded in some way.

God wants to take over and rule in your heart and life.  He wants to carry you through the difficult storms of life.  He wants you to love and obey Him and love people.  You must pray for both the believer and unbeliever with a compassionate, loving heart that bleeds for them.  The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops (James 5:16-18, NIV).

Let me conclude with this: If you really want to have your feet planted on higher ground, pray this prayer. "Lord Jesus, I want to be me more like You. Do whatever it takes, whatever the cost may be . . . break my will and bring it into submission to Your will." Is this truly your heart’s desire? Are you prepared to pray this prayer? How deep is your love for Jesus Christ?

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