Prevailing Prayer by Apostle Emmanuel Iren: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Prayer must meet you prepared

The Lord is pushing us to pray. It means there is something that must meet you prepared and must not meet this version of you

Small things to men, big things to God

When you are dealing with God, there are things that are small to other people but a big deal to God

It is like getting to know someone. You learn the particular things that matter to that person. It might be small to you and big to them

Spiritual indifference is a big deal to God. As a child of God, you are not permitted to be indifferent

The Bible doesn't just tell us to pray. It tells us how to pray. There is a type of prayer God wants for his children

The prophet told the king to strike the arrow on the ground and did not tell him how many times. He stopped at the third and it was a big deal 2 Kings 13:18

There is a favor that should come naturally to someone who desires to fulfill the will of God. You should want to go the extra mile. Let it be God who says it's okay

Matthew 16:23

Jesus rebuked Peter because he savored not the things of God.

If your heart is not ready to embrace with excitement the things of God and the responsibilities that come with them, you are doing something that is not like the kingdom of God

God selected Gideon's army by taking them to the water. Everyone who lapped instead of bowing to drink was not permitted to be part of the army Judges 7

Anyone always looking for the easy way out, there are things in your destiny you cannot fulfill. It's just a principle

You must be the kind of person who prays when it's time to pray, fasts when it's time to fast, studies when it's time to study

Prevailing prayer or importunity in prayer

Romans 12:11

There is a way to serve God. You don't serve God according to your personal temperament. You serve him the way he wants to be served

There is reasonable service Romans 12:1 to Romans 12:2

There is a way God expects you to pray, to fast, to think the things of God

Men ought always to pray and not to faint

Luke 18:1

The church knows the first part. The second part needs to be emphasized

Not to faint means consistency in prayer requires that even when the opportunity to faint presents itself, you push through and push further

Fainting is when you are trusting God for something and things around you present themselves to the contrary

Jesus prayed for a man who could not see and the man saw men as trees. Jesus laid hands on him a second time Mark 8:22 to Mark 8:25

There must be tenacity in you. Even when what you are praying for is not manifesting the way you prayed, you push further

The servant checks the cloud and says he sees nothing. You say, go and check again. Check again, check again, check again 1 Kings 18:43

Instead of fainting, you reemphasize your devotional practices

God wants to build in you a fortitude that is more stubborn than the stubborn problem, more shameless than the shameful situation

You have to be able to endure long, to tarry until you see what you are trusting for happen

You see a situation that seems contradictory and you keep your conviction and your focus. You don't allow that situation to change what you believe about the word of God

The second aspect of fainting is in your personal devotion

The paradox of devotion: magnetic induction

In physics there is magnetic induction. I'm paraphrasing, it's been a while since school. A magnet around iron, under certain circumstances, makes the iron take on magnetic properties

Here is a red flag in many Christians.

One of the ways to know someone who has been with God is that being with God is no longer a chore, at least not as much as it used to be

The more you stay with God, the more you want to stay with God. Just as the magnet imparts magnetic properties to the iron, there is a strength that comes from being with God

Isaiah 40:28 to Isaiah 40:31

He gives two descriptions. God does not faint and is never weary. Then he tells you about man, and he uses youth as the example because among men the youth are in the prime of their strength

Now the magnetic induction part: those who wait on God

The more you see someone who has spent time with God, the more you see things inconsistent with the natural tendencies of man

Someone went up a mountain and spent 40 days with God. It's not normal. There is an atmosphere of heaven that sucks up your natural weakness and imparts a strength that is not naturally yours

You are changing and you don't even realize it. Moses comes down from the mountain and does not know his face is radiant Exodus 34:29

It might not be 40 days. Even a slice of heaven for a few minutes.

You were praying and it seemed mechanical, you had just got out of bed, and all of a sudden, like a suction, you are gliding. It's like autopilot

Sometimes prayer is a gift God gives you and it carries you. You who had been struggling begin to pace

Ephesians 5:18

There is an intoxicating effect the Spirit has, where it looks like something else takes over your tongue.

You who had been struggling for words and courage to press on are now pressing, making movements that seem involuntary

There is the discipline of prayer, but there is the gift of prayer. The more you spend time with God, the more it rubs off

Angels strengthen those who press

We have taught on angelic ministry Hebrews 1:14

There is an aspect even Jesus in the incarnation benefited from Luke 22:43

Angels are the ones that wake you up in the night. You are tired but you wake up three times in an hour with a sense that something is telling you, "Stand up and pray"

If you obey, there is a surge of strength. You know heaven is helping you, if you receive that help

God does this because of the right and privilege he has given man. He has given you dominion

There are things he wants to do for you that you have to want. It is yours, but you have to want it.

It is in his plan for your life, but you must press for it. It's your destiny, but you must press for it

If you don't learn this, it will always seem like you step into seasons. You say, this is the season for this, at this time this is what I should be seeing

Matthew 7:7

Why is it hidden? Why must I seek for it? Why are there things that are mine that are hidden, that I need to seek for to find? Proverbs 25:2

There are things in God's template for your life at this season that you still won't touch until you press

Am I saying God can't answer if you simply ask? No. The answer requires that a different type of you emerge. It is you that God wants to change.

This is the same way he selected Gideon's army

Prayer changes you: the ministry of the Spirit

2 Corinthians 3:1 to 2 Corinthians 3:6

Paul talks about the efficacy of his ministry

This is how prayer changes you. You can come to church for 20 years, know you ought to pray and struggle to pray

You know you ought to live a certain way and struggle to live it

You are like an Old Testament believer following rules. The instructions are written on tablets of stone and you are trying to obey

In the ministry of the Spirit, the same things are written in your heart. You become the epistle written to men and read by men. The Spirit gives life

There are two ways to try to follow God. One, you look at instructions and try, try, try. Two, a life animated by the Spirit where you become the epistle

This is one of the major differences between a believer in the Old Testament and a believer in the New Testament

Moses came down with tablets of stone and a radiant face. That should have told them the change doesn't come from the tablet of stone but from communion with God

He had just received instructions that would change their lives if they obeyed, but he came back already changed. The real change comes from intimacy, spending time with the Holy Ghost

You can know it is written in the word. But there are things you know in your head that you cannot live until you spend time with God

That is when you experience the autopilot, where you are animated. Then you understand Philippians 2:13

There is a type of prayer, in the Old Testament and the New, that transfigures you. It doesn't change your problem. It changes you, and then you change the problem.

That type can only happen with the investment of time

Thank God for the prayer of faith. But sometimes you are the prayer project

When prayer becomes a chore

When you find you are not able to spend time with God, it's an attack of the enemy. It is one of the worst things that can happen to you

Every one of us experiences it. No matter how deep you are, prayer is sometimes tougher than at other times

But if you go a long time where every service feels long, others are being blessed and you can tell they invest their whole emotions

You are struggling to stay awake, and it is not because you had a long week. Something is happening under the hot atmosphere of the Spirit.

Could it be that the devil is after your life?

Sometimes God prescribes a regimen. Sometimes it is the church, sometimes it is God on your own

Have you been in a season where you feel something rests on you like a burden that only prolonged prayer can lift? Learn not to ignore those things. Don't deceive yourself

When it is time to fast, eat your food in peace. Don't lose both ways. Don't lose the spiritual virtue and get lean physically

Don't always look for a shortcut. Can I use a whole loaf of bread for communion? Why use a whole bottle of juice? You want to drink the full blood of Jesus?

Sometimes the harder the better. It is good for a reset and for reprioritization. It reminds you that some things are bigger than food. There are matters of destiny

Indulged flesh and the loss of feeling

One of the ultimate attacks of the enemy in this last time: some people have so indulged their flesh that even in an emergency they don't know how to fake favor

A relative is fighting for his life and they call you and you say, "Don't worry, I will pray. I'm with you in prayer." You don't know how to lock in on anything

We have a church that is not angry enough about anything. Nothing makes you lock in for 21 days and say, "I'm going to focus on this one matter"

I have a theory that this is the conditioning of social media.

You scroll, you see 35 people died, and before you have grieved the next video is comedy and you laugh. You are training your heart not to feel

If you cannot feel, your anointing will reduce, because it is compassion that releases the anointing

When was the last time you cried in worship? It is not by crying, I know. But it's been 3 years and you are hard like cold. Something is happening

Importunity: the same prayer point hits you more

Has it happened that you pray the same prayer point for 30 minutes, an hour, and then it hits you more?

Sometimes God allows it to linger so that the real import of what we are asking for can dawn on us

It happens regularly to me. I was praying about something 3 days ago at 4:00 a.m. and had prayed about it for a while.

Then it was like a new gusher was hit. Tears welled from my eyes and I began to groan

Sometimes the first few hours of prayer are just the shedding of flesh. The last movie you saw is in your eyes. There is a screen behind your eyelids

Prayer begins before prayer

There is a way to prepare your heart. When God was coming down on Sinai he said, let them prepare Exodus 19:10

I don't like to create a protocol, otherwise your prayer life that is already epileptic gets more structure.

But if you can, even with a chapter of the Bible, first cleanse out all the shows you've been watching

Have you been praying and another soundtrack is playing in your head? You think it's a small issue because you think prayer happens with the lips.

The real part of you that prays is filled with nonsense

God says, your lip is saying this, what is your heart saying? Isaiah 29:13

The real organ of prayer is your heart Jeremiah 29:13

It is like a rendering in the spirit. God is saying, "You are 10% there. 20% there." This is why sometimes one hour is not enough Matthew 26:40

Nobody tells you, but you know you're not done. Sometimes you have to leave the prayer place for work, then come back the next free time and continue where you stopped, like Jesus in Gethsemane

There is an internal compass that tells you when it's enough

You learned to cook by sight and taste, not by exact minutes and seconds. You can tell from the texture that the rice is no longer hard.

Start doing that in your prayer life. My heart is lighter, my soul is lighter

Prayer requires a heart of dedication. Surrender your heart to the Lord and focus on him 1 Peter 5:7

Ministration

• Be conscious of his presence. His angels are here. He loves you.
• Holy Spirit, you are welcome. Flood this place and fill the earth with your glory.
• Lord, you are raising in us an army that knows how to stand in your presence to receive strength, so that we can walk and not be weary, run and not faint.
• We lay hold of all that is yours, and all that is ours in you.
• We refuse to be lazy in this season. We apply pressure. We go the extra mile to embrace all that is ours.
• You are all that matters to me. I'll make room for you.

Can you not see the enemy is playing games? God is asking, who will stop it? There are aspects of personal warfare nobody can do for you.

It will take personal determination and personal seriousness. Awake to your calling. Let Christ give you life. Let Christ give you strength Ephesians 5:14

• Lord, you are all that matters. I focus on you.
• Let all the things that are consistent with focus be consistent with my life.
• Let the attacks of the enemy cease.

I sought for a man who will stand in the gap. I sought for a man in your family. Whom shall I send in your vicinity? Whom shall I send in Nigeria? Ezekiel 22:30, Isaiah 6:8

• Lord, I will be that man. I will be that vessel in my era, in the place where I am.
• Yes to the rigors of devotion. Yes to the call to consecration.
• I embrace my priestly ordination. I say yes. In the body of Christ, I will be that man.

Charge

Mount a guard on your heart so that nothing distracts you. Lock in. Fellowship with the Lord as if you are the only one here

If you fall under the power, stand up and continue praying. Receive all that God is giving you, but stand up and continue praying

What God wants to do is build stamina in you and repair your ability to focus and concentrate

Let the Lord give you the things to pray. Take the time uninterrupted

You are a man and a woman of the presence of God. You have that intimacy, that priesthood. God can count on you

God wants to tell you things to pray, things to focus on, things to build. Where is that man of God? Where is that woman of God?