IMPORTUNITY: The Watch Letter

IMPORTUNITY. Years ago, Chief Apostle H.C. Gunn introduced us to the power of this word. It was stirred up again after going over the message and scriptures from yesterday’s special called service in Blountstown, FL.

I am thankful for a pastor that’s sensitive to God, yielding to change service to Saturday because the Lord said so (just like the solemn assemblies in the Bible). Some people would be too religious to change service and miss a service that was sent to help us focus on the power of prayer and relationship with God. Two things we can't make it without.

In Luke 11, Jesus speaks of a man needing bread to feed a guest. He went to a friend’s house at midnight to ask for help. The friend initially said “no” because he had shut down for the evening, the children in bed. But Jesus said because of the man’s IMPORTUNITY his friend opened to him and provided as much as needed. Jesus told this story after teaching the disciples how to pray in fellowship with God the father. It was underscoring the importance of steadily seeking, asking, and finding through prayer.

IMPORTUNITY means unrelenting, consistent, without ceasing, pressing, treating with urgency, sincere in one’s coming. Vivid examples of this in the Bible are Mary (Martha’s sister), the widow before the judge, and the woman with the issue of blood.

Side note: The wall art in the photo above was given to me by my niece and our youth pastor, Amaya. When she gave it to me, I knew it was God. Chief Apostle Gunn always reminds me: Pray, pray, pray. God was reminding me of IMPORTUNITY. It also reminded me of when Chief Apostle once called us to prayer watch times of 3 (pray), 6 (pray), 9 (pray). He said we can find time to pray on the way to/from work/school, on breaks, in the bathroom, waking up, falling asleep, etc.

Here is a summary of the message from 1/21/2023.

Scripture references: Psalm 61-63, John 15:7, Luke 11, 1 Corinthians 15:24

• God is knocking. He’s trying to preserve us and answer us. But we won’t qualify ourselves to ask Jesus anything because we aren’t praying.

• Prayer will. Prayer let’s praise into your life. Praise keeps the devil backing up.

• We don’t realize what the value of prayer and praise are in the sight of God.

• Don’t let “one thing after another” happening silence you in prayer, praise.

• Prayer is what puts the power of God in you. It takes power to overcome the devil.

• One of the key things Jesus said to the disciples when teaching them about prayer is: “When you pray.”

• We can’t let our situation or what we face cause us to speed past God and talking to him as father.

• Prayer is communicating with God as father: “I need your help because you’re my father. I want to know what you’re saying because you’re my father.” Plead your son/daughter-ship to God as father. “Lord, I’m coming to you as your son/daughter.”

• The most important thing is a constant relationship with God as father.

• We have been given the ability to get to know father God by having access to read the word. We can talk to him about the word and ask him to help us understand.

• Our end goal should not be to achieve/attain something but to be with God. We should be hoping in Jesus’ return so we can be with our father.

• Jesus showed us the pattern for cultivating a relationship with our father. Jesus turned to God about everything and turned everything over to him in prayer. Even, as all things are made subject to Jesus, he will turn over everything to his father. (1 Corinthians 15:28)

• We can’t let business, feelings, transactions, family matters, and our flesh hinder our relationship with our father. Instead of letting these things have rule, we need to place them under our feet like Jesus by rolling them over to God in prayer.

• PRAY. PRAY. PRAY. Pray about what we need to be doing and preparing for. What we face is an opportunity to draw close to God in prayer.

• To have power to do his will and stand against the devil, we need his spirit. We must have his spirit. We can go to him every day asking: “fill me with your spirit.”

• Call on God not just concerning the devil and his ploys. Call on God concerning you and your ways.

• Prayer is opportunity to tell God all about it. We can tell on ourselves -- where we are wrong. We can tell him about when we feel someone else has wronged us. So, he can fix it/show us how to handle it.

• A lot of times it’s our mouth, our mad, our mess that’s in the way of God answering our prayers, especially when it comes to our marital issues.

• There’s a difference between a sincere praiser who prays versus a person who’s pushing noise. In prayer, we learn to have a party of peace and be raptured in God.

• Prayer helps us to suffer being mistreated and to pray for those who mistreat us.

• David pleaded with God: “HEAR MY CRY.” He was crying out his feelings to God, and following the word: “if any man lacks wisdom ask God for it.”

• Consistently coming to our father in prayer is tied to gratitude. Gratitude comes from being saved. If you don’t have gratitude, you might not be saved. Get with God. If we pray, he will answer.

Please listen to: