Pay The Price SERIES: HIGH PERFORMANCE PEOPLE
Unnecessary Poverty
SERIES: High Performance People
James 4:1-3 GNV
1 Where do all the fights and quarrels among you come from? They come from your
desires for pleasure, which are constantly fighting within you.
2 You want things, but you cannot have them, so you are ready to kill; you strongly
desire things, but you cannot get them, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have
what you want because you do not ask God for it.
3 And when you ask, you do not receive it, because your motives are bad; you ask for
things to use for your own pleasures.
Life in 2015 is more: COMPLEX, MASSIVE and UNMANAGEABLE.
Acts 4:8 GNV – Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders
of the people!
Acts 7:55 GNV – But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the
glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
Acts 11:24 GNV – He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great
number of people were brought to the Lord.
John 1:16 GNV – From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after
another.
Acts 1:8 KJV – But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:
and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in
Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Matthew 8:2-3 GNV – 2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord,
if you are willing, you can make me clean.” 3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched
the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.
We PREY on each other because we do not PRAY to God.
The greatest problem we face is not UNANSWERED prayers but UNOFFERED
prayers.
How to get prayers answered:
1. Maintain your RELATIONSHIP with God.
John 15:7 KJV – If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what
ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Not only pray FOR God’s will, but BE in God’s will.
Acts 16:6-10 GNV – 6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of
Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the
province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia,
but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went
down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing
and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the
vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us
to preach the gospel to them.
2. Be willing to FORGIVE
Mark 11:24-25 GNV – 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer,
believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand
praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in
heaven may forgive you your sins. ”
Hebrews 12:15 TLB – Look after each other so that not one of you will fail to find
God’s best blessings. Watch out that no bitterness takes root among you, for as it
springs up it causes deep trouble, hurting many in their spiritual lives.
1 Peter 3:7 GNV – Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with
your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with
you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.
3. Be willing to SHARE the results.
Proverbs 21:13 GNV – If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will
cry out and not be answered.
Isaiah 58: 3-9 NLT – 3 ‘We have fasted before you!’ they say. ‘Why aren’t you
impressed? We have been very hard on ourselves, and you don’t even notice it!’
“I will tell you why!” I respond. “It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves.
Even while you fast, you keep oppressing your workers. 4 What good is fasting
when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you
anywhere with me. 5 You humble yourselves by going through the motions of
penance, bowing your heads like reeds bending in the wind. You dress in burlap
and cover yourselves with ashes. Is this what you call fasting? Do you really think
this will please the Lord? 6 “No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who
are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the
oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people. 7 Share your food
with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who
need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help. 8 “Then your
salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your
godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from
behind. 9 Then when you call, the Lord will answer. ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will
quickly reply. “Remove the heavy yoke of oppression. Stop pointing your finger
and spreading vicious rumors!
4. Believe God WILL ANSWER.
James 1:6-7 GNV – 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt,
because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the
wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;
