Day 1: Global Prayer And Fasting With Pastor Chris by Pastor Chris Oyakhilome: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

The Call to Prayer and Fasting

Remember the words of Jesus when he said that men ought always to pray and not to faint, not to give up or give in. He wanted us to know that anything is possible. From this program, changes will be made around the world through prayer.

Set your heart on the Lord and pray. Pray in the spirit. Talk to the Lord from your heart. Begin by thanking him. Thank him that he put it in your heart to know him, to recognize him. That is a blessing from God.

Psalm 18 — Reading the Scripture Meditatively

This is a psalm of David. He addresses the Lord and speaks of him in beautiful ways. Some of them are prophetic of the Messiah. Read it with your heart on it, meditatively — observe carefully what concerns you and him, and what he says about the enemies of God.

Psalm 18:1-50 — I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer. My God, my strength, in whom I will trust, my buckler and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised. So shall I be saved from mine enemies...

He sent from above. He took me. He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy and from them which hated me, for they were too strong for me. They prevented me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my stay. He brought me forth also into a large place. He delivered me because he delighted in me.

The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness. As for God, his way is perfect. The word of the Lord is tried. He is a buckler to all those that trust in him. It is God that girdeth me with strength and maketh my way perfect. He teacheth my hands to war so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. Great deliverance giveth he to his king, and showeth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed forevermore.

The Blessings of Reading Scripture

Do you realize that there are blessings in reading the scriptures? Not just studying — reading. A lot of it will be stamped on your heart. The day will come that you will need it. It will pop out of your spirit. When you were reading, it was going straight into your heart.

Joshua 1:7-8 — Only be thou strong and very courageous that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded thee. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein. For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

He says, do not let it get out of your mouth — that means talk it. If you meditate in the word, it causes you to observe to do. It will make you do.

Isaiah 55 — The Word of God Goes Forth

Isaiah 55:1-13 — Oh, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good. Let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Love Does Not Keep a Record of Wrongs

When you know the Lord, you do not have a record of the wrongs done to you. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (Living Bible) — Love is very patient and kind. Never jealous or envious. Never boastful or proud. Never haughty or selfish or rude. Love does not demand its own way. It is not irritable or touchy. It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever truth wins out. If you love someone, you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him.

1 Corinthians 13:8 — All the special gifts and powers from God will someday come to an end, but love goes on forever.

If you act on the basis of wrongs done to you, that is the devil. If you live as God's word says, you will always win.

Sometimes churches are built on anger, dissatisfaction, or division. But if you build a life on such things, it cannot stand the harsh winds of adversity. Learn to do what is right. Practice God's word. Do what is right.

Godliness — A Disciplined Life Toward God

1 Timothy 4:7-8 — Refuse profane and old wives' fables and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth little, but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.

The Greek word translated godliness here is not the word that contains God — it is a generic word for devotion or commitment toward God. It refers to someone who generally is toward God, thinks toward God, acts favorably toward God.

Refuse profane fables and exercise yourself rather unto godliness — meaning exercise yourself in things toward God. He is dealing with spirituality in the things of God: being favorable toward what God wants, what God wants for you, the life God wants you to live.

The Message version renders it: exercise daily in God — no spiritual flabbiness, please. Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever.

Godliness is profitable unto all things — including the care of your body. And it has promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.

He wants you to become the living word. Jesus Christ was the living word and still is. He calls us epistles of Christ — living letters. Your everyday life is a testimony of his goodness, of his grace, of his love. Others can literally watch you and learn about God.

Remember what Jesus said: if you have seen me, you have seen the Father. He was the express image of the Father. And so that is what he wants you to be — the character of Jesus Christ. Your life is the outworking of his person.

The Vine and the Branches

John 15:1-7 — I am the true vine and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. And every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me.

I am the vine, ye are the branches. The beauty of the vine is found in the branches. The branches carry the glory of the vine. Jesus said, I am the vine and you are the branches — you bear my glory.

He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me, cut out from me, you can do nothing.

John 15:7 — If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. In which religion does the deity say, ask what you will and it shall be done? Not one of them. Jesus is daring. He did not say if you ask, I will pray to God to do something about it. He said if his words abide in you, ask what you will and it shall be done.

Intercession for Nations

Pray for these nations. Pray for the leaders that God will guide their minds so they can think right. Leaders are important people. If you do not pray for them, some voices may control them and they do things they should never do. But through prayer, we can supernaturally guide.

The Bible says the mind of the king is in the hand of the Lord. He is able to control that through our praying.

• We proclaim salvation to these nations. We proclaim righteousness. We proclaim in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
• Peace in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation, righteousness, justice in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
• The word of God into the house of God, into every nation, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.