Harrison Faith Church
One Spirit - Part 6 "The Key to Spiritual Alignment with God" | Pastor Larry Burton | July 21, 2024
guest here today. As you guys can see, our pastor and pastor's family are out on vacation but he has asked his loving pastor to come and be a part of this day. Pastor Larry Burton and he delivered an absolute incredible word and we're looking forward to what God has in order to use. What a beautiful worship service. In God good. Good morning, you look good. Take your Bibles. Turn to James 4. We're going to be reading verses 1 through 6. In a few moments of time, we're not going to do it all at once, so keep your Bible open and we'll be referring to the verses. Pastor has begun a series on prayer. How many of you know that is very important and timely moment, especially where we're living at culturally, biblically and prophetically. I believe if there was ever a time the church needs to pray it is now. I'm honored to share Pastor Scott's pulpit. I love Scott and Julie and the girls. You're blessed to have authentic leadership that loves you passionately and loves Jesus loudly. The only part about being here today that I miss it, I just miss hugging them there. So you'll have to hug them for me. So you start a series on prayer and today we're going to be focusing on that as we look at James's discourse on prayer. The thought that I want to bring is that prayer is the key to spiritual alignment with God. There's a lot of conversation going on about walking in the abundance of God and Christ came that we might have life and have it more abundantly and I love that. But if you're going to walk in the abundance of God, you first have got to walk in alignment with God. Could we do something and just how many appreciate the work of the Holy Spirit? Would you just stop right now and let's invite him and his presence into this house because the Holy Spirit can minister far more and just a short amount of time than what we could ever minister. So without him we can do nothing. So would you join me as we invite the Holy Spirit? Father, we love you. Holy Spirit, we welcome you. What a blessing and an honor it is that you are our comforter, that you lead and you guide and you shelter. And I pray, Father, that as you minister the Word, what you've imparted to my heart and soul, God, I'm just going to be a vessel by which you can pour out your Word. It's your Word that is important. It's your personality. Your power is in the Word and I pray God that that Word will not return void. The Holy Spirit you know ever heart. There are people that have come into this building. Some of them are just weary. They're tired. They're exhausted and I pray that this morning would be a moment of rest. There are people that have come in here that have just fought and fought and fought. And I pray God you'll breathe a word of peace to their situation and that the attack that the enemy has made upon your life, their life will be silenced. I pray for the broken. But you will pick up the broken pieces and that you will put them in new baskets. I pray for the people that have lost. There's been years of loss that have gone in their life that you this morning will begin to restore the years that the kangaroo worm and the pommel worm and the locus have eaten and you're going to bring them suddenly into a new season. I pray for this church. God that the season ahead is going to be the greatest season of their life as a church and you're going to bring them into a fruitful harvest. The Holy Spirit take the Word and would you capture our heart and would you minister to us? Would you speak to us individually as well as corporately that while I'm sharing what you've laid upon my heart, Holy Spirit will you deal individually with what's going on in every person's life as we sit here under the sound and the auspice of your Word and you honor the Word above your name God. And as for that we're thankful and we give you praise in Jesus name. And everybody said amen. So we're talking about prayer in James 516. He said the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man, it availed us much. We're not to our text yet. I just want to kind of lay a foundation. I believe if there is in the economy of God and in the process of how many of you know we're always under attack. And if there's two things I believe that the enemy hates the most. I believe the first one he hates the Word of God because the enemy does not want God talking to you. But how many of you know that Word is important? It does not return void. It accomplishes what God sent it. And so from the very beginning in the garden the enemy has attacked the Word. He doesn't mind you having bits and pieces of the truth. He just doesn't want you to have the whole truth. Because if he can approach you on the basis of how God really said and you can begin to pick and choose what scriptures you want to believe then you have a designer deity and a buffet religion. But God's Word you're going to be judged not only authority of God's grace. How many of you know you're going to be judged according to the truth? The full counsel, we are following what? We're following one book and the authority of our life is based upon us obeying that one book. So the enemy does not want God talking to you through the Word. The second thing the enemy hates is he doesn't want you talking to God in prayer. Because when you when you begin to pray something changes in the atmosphere. You see I believe that prayer is the most unused and the most powerful weapon in the war chest of the believer's arsenal. And if there was every time I think we need to get spiritually dressed up and take the weapons of our warfare it is now. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 10, 4, and 5 the weapons of our warfare they are not carnal but they are what? Mighty through God to the pulling down the strongholds and the casting out of imaginations and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God and bringing ever thought into captivity through the obedience of Jesus Christ. If there was ever a time for us to pray it is now. And when you pray all the power of prayer it is prayer that reaches up and takes the key to the storehouse of heaven and begins to unlock the provision. It is in prayer that we walk boldly into the throne of God and we summons His grace. It is in prayer that we bind demons and we beckon the angel armies. Aren't you glad about the angel armies? That he that abides in the sacred place of the most holy shall abide under the shadow of the almighty is when you come in prayer you enter into a place of sanctity and immunity from the attack of the enemy. The prayer will bring you into a powerful place. It is prayer. It is us talking to daddy. It is us communing with God is there in prayer that I see the enemy stronghold being cast out and broken. It is in prayer that I see people that are bound and in captivity begin to be liberated. It is in prayer that the trial becomes a triumph and the test becomes a testimony. He shuts the mouths of lions and he opens the prison doors and he reverses the captivity and restores years that you have lost if there was ever a time for us to pray it is now. In 2 Chronicles 7-14 he said this and he can quote it by heart if my people do we have any of his people in the house. If my people which are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then I will hear from