The 5-Fold Necessity
1. PRAYER
The first element of this 5-fold necessity is prayer because everything in the Victorious Christian Walk begins by, continues through, and ends with prayer. we will never accomplish anything of any lasting value outside of sincere, diligent, fervent prayer. Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Faith for any task depends upon our submission to God.
Read Mark 9:14-27. Now look at verses 28-29: And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him [the foul spirit (a devil)] out? And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting. Matthew says that in answer to the disciples' question: Why could we not cast him out? Jesus answers: Because of your unbelief . . . Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting [Matthew 17:19-21]. Yet, Jesus didn't hesitate to cast the devil out (He didn't go into any special prayer or fast), He commanded and the devil came out. Verse 20 in Matthew 17 has the key statement in this discourse between Jesus and His disciples: . . . verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
With this discourse in mind, let's consider another of Jesus' teachings in this same context. Remember the instance where Jesus cursed a fig tree because it had no fruit for Him when He was hungry? Listen to what He says to His disciples in Matthew 21:21-22 = Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. In the Gospel of Mark this event is recorded in chapter 11, with Jesus' Words in verses 22-24 as: Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
At the tomb of Lazarus, John writes: . . . And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always . . . [John 11:41-42]. It was John who also wrote: And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him [1 John5:14-15]. All right, let's get serious here. We are not talking about just saying some "kind of prayer" here. We're talking about actually praying in all earnest, sincere, confidence in God as our true Benefactor. Remember always: The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much [James 5:16]. If I know God hears me when I pray then I know I have the petitions I desire of Him. Begin now to substitute "confidence" and "trust" in the place of the word "faith" in God and you will notice a new earnest, sincere expectation in your prayer life.
So, how do we begin? How do we get to the place where we have unshakable confidence? Listen to the Scripture: And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight [1 John 3:19-22]. Here is the beginning, and here is the measure of our true submission to Him as Lord. We quoted from James 5:16 above, and now I'd like us to look at verses 17-18: Elias [Elijah] was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. Elijah was working with and through and by the Spirit of God, according to the will of God, when he did this miraculous work [see 1 Kings 17-19]. Ah, Lord, help us to acquire that attitude of total devotion of service to You that whatever is needful for Your glory we not hesitate to do it! Jesus Himself said: I can of Mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and My judgement is just; because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent Me [John 5:30] and My meat is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work [John 4:34]. He says of us: He that believeth on Me, the works that I do he shall do also; and greater works than these shall he do [(allow me to paraphrase here) as I have kept My Father's commandments and done that which was pleasing to Him, so will he keep My commandments and do that which is pleasing to Me]; because I go unto My Father. And [then] whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it [John 14:12-14 (see also John 16:23-24)].
Going back to the work of casting out the devil in Mark 9:14-29, and reflecting
upon the subsequent miraculous works [as recorded in the Book of Acts] done
by the Apostles after Jesus' ascension to the Father, I'd like us to look
at something in
Acts 19:11-20
[11] And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:
[12] So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons,
and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.
[13] Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call
over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure
you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.
[14] And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests,
which did so.
[15] And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know;
but who are ye?
[16] And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame
them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked
and wounded.
[17] And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus;
and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
[18] And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.
[19] Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together,
and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found
it fifty thousand pieces of silver.
[20] So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.
Now, look at verse 15: the evil spirit answered and said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know . . ." We must realize that this is not a casual act of wishful thinking here. This is not an exercise in self-exaltation. We are dealing with actual spiritual beings: principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, spiritual wickedness in high places [Ephesians 6:12]; and we must war lawfully. The spirits know Jesus and they know those who are in the work of Jesus for the purpose of the will of Jesus, and to them they must bow. Anything else is leaving too much to speculation and could be highly dangerous to all involved. The question the chief priests and elders asked Jesus is similar to the question raised in spiritual warfare: By what authority doest Thou these things? and Who gave Thee this authority? [Matthew 21:23].
In Luke 10:17-20, when the seventy disciples said Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through Thy name [v 17], Jesus said I beheld Satan as lightening fall from Heaven [v 18], He was speaking of seeing Satan lose his hold when we speak in the name and the authority of Jesus. And, in verse 19, He says: Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. This is total, absolute authority over the works of the devil. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven [v 20]. Now, if we would just go forth in this world, as those who know our names are written in Heaven, humbly submitting to the will of our God, doing the work of Him who sent us, with all assurance and certainty that the Lord is working with us to confirm His Word and bring glory to the Father, then we would be experiencing the fullness of the joy of Christ that He said He desires for us. This is Victorious Christian Living! This is what Jesus meant by prayer and fasting [Mark 9:29] . This is the outward manifestation of the Disciplined Lifestyle of continual submission to, and prayerful communication with, our Lord. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover [Mark 16:17-18] . They that believe will be doing His work and He will be working with them, and confirming His Word with signs following [Mark 16:20] . If we would have the confident assurance that He hears us when we pray, then let us keep His commandments and be about His work of beseeching the world to be reconciled to God [2 Corinthians 5:18-20].
When we give ourselves, in total submission to the will of God that He might be glorified in us, we find that something else begins to happen from within. We find ourselves also submitting to a total dependence upon God. We learn early that we can truly do nothing of ourselves but that our effectual sufficiency is of God. Jesus says Without Me ye can do nothing [John 15:5], yet, we soon learn that we can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth us [Philippians 4:13]. As this reality sets in, we wouldn't dare try anything under any sort of power of our own. Consequently, we will be continually in prayer for direction, boldness, guidance and opportunities. And, with continual prayer will come spiritual sensitivity. We will begin to know and even understand what His will is for every moment. We will hear Him speak what we are to say and what we are to do. Only a totally submitted will to His purposes, in total dependence upon Him for the ability to carry out His purposes, will ever be able to perform according to His purposes. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; who hath made us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life [2 Corinthians 3:5-6]. With this dependence comes trust, and with trust comes confidence, and this trust and confidence in God is the faith Jesus spoke of in Luke 18:8 - Nevertheless, When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth? Will there be any who truly believe to the point of working with Me in the way that I might work with them?
Such a dependence upon God for the work of ministry will also lead us into a total dependence upon God to supply for our every need in this world. If I truly be His, to be used of Him for His glory, then surely He will supply all that is needed. And, If we ask anything of Him, He will do it. This subjection to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, with its subsequent dependence upon Him as our Benefactor, is the key to our Victorious Life here in this world with the promise of all that awaits the True and Faithful in Heaven. And this is that which overcomes the world, the devils and the flesh. Listen to this: The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it [Matthew 8:8-9]. This centurion understood something of the principle of authority that is the power Jesus spoke of giving to us in His name. If I be under authority to Jesus, then I have the authority to speak in His name, and anything I say will be with all the authority of Jesus Himself. Herein is living under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, herein is that confidence of knowing that He hears us at all times. This is not merely "Prayer and Fasting" for the moment of great mass movements of God, but a life lived in prayer and fasting. This is that "Fasted Lifestyle" of the one who walks and talks with God, Who in turn walks and talks with that one.
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