18 Feb IHOP (International House of Prayer) Cancel that order! Part 3
At one time in our lives, we all have been to a restaurant and ordered something from the menu. Shortly after our waiter left we saw something just a bit more delectable on the menu. We then hailed our waiter and cancelled our order! Unfortunately we do this all the time when it comes to prayer. We place our order with God and abruptly cancel it with doubt!
Over the last couple of weeks we began our series and started to discuss “Four considerations that will either cause you to cancel or keep your order”:
- What you continually mind you eventually find (James 1:5-8).
- What continually comes out of your mouth will eventually go south (Mark 11:23).
This week let’s continue our series.
- What you continually see you will eventually be (Mark 14:25-33).
Your focus will eventually determine whether you are in doubt or in faith. What you continually look at will eventually determine whether you doubt or believe. That’s why you should never gaze at anything you don’t want in your future.
When you are driving, if you focus on something to your left…eventually you’ll drift left. Some of the top professional golfers will not look at an errant shot made by one of their competitors. They don’t want this in their mind as they go to make their shot. Remember this, where you focus your attention…you aim your life!
Matthew 14:25-33 says, “An in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway, Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. Then they that were in the ship came and worshiped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.”
Notice the phrase “…beginning to sink”. Doubt is a process. It doesn’t happen instantaneously. That’s why we must identify the snowball before it rolls down the hill. When Jesus questioned Peter and inquired “Why are you doubting?” He wasn’t so much scolding Peter, but He was educating Peter. He wanted Peter to identify what caused him to doubt. What do you say we identify the root. What caused Peter to walk on the water? One word… “Come”. Well then, what caused him to sink? Peter shifted his focus from God’s Word, “Come”, to the wind and the waves. Peter looked at the irrelevant. “What do you mean, Pastor Jim, ‘irrelevant’? I think the storm was pretty relevant!” Then let me ask you a question, could Peter have walked on water if it was calm? The answer is obviously, no! Peter looked at something that had nothing to do with the power equipping him to walk on water.
The reason most people doubt is they begin to focus on the circumstances. They look at the doctor’s report instead of the healing. They look at the economy instead of God’s supply. They look at the discouraging circumstances instead of the joy of the Lord! You see, circumstances have nothing to do with answered prayer anymore than winds and waves have anything to do with walking on the water. The very reason you prayed in the first place was to change your circumstances. Why look at your circumstances now that you’ve prayed! You won’t get faith from circumstances you get faith from the Word. Circumstances, like the wind and the waves, change all the time… “Come” never changes!
Next week we’ll continue our series!