Topic: Dog Days of Summer

(John 10:10 AMP) The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).

(1 Timothy 6:12 NKJV) Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life…

The Bible talks a lot about praise.

(Psalms 34:1-3 NLT) I will praise the LORD at all times. I will constantly speak His praises. (2) I will boast only in the LORD; let all who are helpless take heart. (3) Come, let us tell of the LORD’s greatness; let us exalt His name together.

(Psalms 117:1 NLT) Praise the LORD, all you nations. Praise Him, all you people of the earth.

(Psalms 150:6 NLT) Let everything that breathes sing praises to the LORD! Praise the LORD!

What Does Praise Look Like?

1. Praise puts God in first place.

• It is remembering and recounting who He is and what He has done, instead of wallowing in the mire of self-absorption.
• Praise turns our eyes from ourselves to God. It focuses our thoughts on His majesty and power and invites others to do the same.

(Psalms 25:15 NLT) My eyes are always on the LORD, for He rescues me from the traps of my enemies.

2. Praise flows out of our friendship with God.

• You cannot brag about someone you do not know – at least your bragging cannot be truthful and sincere.
• Although praise may start with what you know about God, it must eventually progress to what you yourself have experienced of Him.

(Psalms 34:8 NKJV) Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

• This is when praise becomes more than a choice or duty.

3. Praise is a decision.

• Praise is an act of your will and is not based on your emotions or feelings. You don’t have to feel great or even good or okay to praise the Lord.
• Despite the many things in your life that may seem to be wrong, praise is your conscious choice because you know that God is the answer to your problems.

(Psalms 42:5-6 NLT) Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again–my Savior and (6) my God! Now I am deeply discouraged, but I will remember You–even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan, from the land of Mount Mizar.

(Acts 16:25-26 NKJV) But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. (26) Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.

4. Praise is a willing sacrifice.

(Leviticus 22:29 NKJV) And when you offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the LORD, offer it of your own free will.

(Psalms 54:6 NIV) I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you; I will praise your name, LORD, for it is good.

(Hebrews 13:15 NKJV) Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

• Two times that the Bible teaches we should praise God: when we feel like it and when we don’t.
• You may not feel like praising Him, and in truth, it may be quite difficult for you to look beyond the difficulties in your life. Yet when you choose to open your lips and speak forth your adoration, gratitude, and thanksgiving to God, you please Him.
• The sacrifice of praise will not cost you any money, but it will cost you your self-centeredness and your natural tendency to dwell on whatever is wrong in your life.
• This sacrifice can never be forced from you by someone else. You may sing or raise your hands because someone tells you to, but outward show is not inward praise. A sacrifice of praise comes from inside you.
• It is your will taking control over your emotions and doing what God wants and empowers you to do. The sacrifice that is pleasing to God is what you give from your heart despite what you are feeling or what your circumstances are.

5. Praise is the highest expression of your faith.

• Faith is the highest act of praise, and praise is the highest form of faith. Both are expressions of agreement with God. It believes anything is possible with God.
• When you have faith, you hold to His promise no matter what you see at the moment.
• When you praise Him, you proclaim what you know to be true in spite of evidence to the contrary.

(2 Chronicles 20:15-17 NLT) (15) He said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. (16) Tomorrow, march out against them. You will find them coming up through the ascent of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jeruel. (17) But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the LORD’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the LORD is with you!”

(2 Chronicles 20:21-25 NLT) (21) After consulting the people, the king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the LORD and praising Him for His holy splendor. This is what they sang: “Give thanks to the LORD; His faithful love endures forever!” (22) At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the LORD caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves. (23) The armies of Moab and Ammon turned against their allies from Mount Seir and killed every one of them. After they had destroyed the army of Seir, they began attacking each other. (24) So when the army of Judah arrived at the lookout point in the wilderness, all they saw were dead bodies lying on the ground as far as they could see. Not a single one of the enemy had escaped. (25) King Jehoshaphat and his men went out to gather the plunder. They found vast amounts of equipment, clothing, and other valuables–more than they could carry. There was so much plunder that it took them three days just to collect it all!

(John 10:10 AMP) The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).

(1 Timothy 6:12 NKJV) Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called…

Prayer that Brings Results

1. What does the Bible say about your situation?

You must base your prayer on the Word of God.

You cannot pray beyond your faith and you cannot have faith beyond the Word that you know and have in your heart.

(1 John 5:14-15 NKJV) Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. (15) And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

For God to be able to respond to our prayers, they must line up with His Word, which is His will.

(John 15:7 NKJV) If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

(John 1:1-3 NKJV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) He was in the beginning with God. (3) All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

God has attached Himself to His Word and you will never get Him to do anything apart from His Word.

You must have the Word in your heart because there will be a fight that must be waged for what you are praying for.

It may take time for you to receive the answer to your prayer.

Be prepared to stand and fight for what you have prayed and believed for with the Word of God.

Start with the answer, which is the Word, and work your way backwards from there.

2. Ask God for the things you desire and believe that you have received them.

(Mark 11:24 NKJV) Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

(Mark 11:24 NIV) Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Expressing a desire and asking the Lord for something are two different things.

When you ask you MUST believe that you receive the answer at the time that you pray.

Smith Wigglesworth said, “If you have prayed seven times for any one thing, you prayed six times in unbelief.”

Andrew Murray said, “It is not good taste to ask God for the same thing over and over again.”

Murray also said, “If, when you do pray what you’ve prayed for hasn’t materialized, don’t pray for it again in the same way because that would be unbelief. Remind God that you have already asked for it, and what His Word says, and tell Him that you’re expecting it and thank Him for it.”

3. Refuse to doubt what you have believed.

(James 1:5-8 NKJV) If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. (6) But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. (7) For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; (8) he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

There are two kinds of knowledge that we deal with:

• Sense knowledge – based on what can be perceived with the five physical senses.
• Revealed knowledge – what has been revealed to you from God’s Word.

These are OK with each other until they contradict. When they do contradict, you must get to the place that you automatically default to the revelation truth of God’s Word.

The enemy will try and get you to keep checking to “see” if the thing or situation has changed.

4. Pull down every thought that is contrary to God’s Word.

(2 Corinthians 10:3-5 KJV) For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (4) (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) (5) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Cast down – to demolish with violence

5. See yourself experiencing what God’s Word has said.

Failure is not an option! Don’t plan to fail and have a plan “B” in case God does not come through.

Never permit a mental picture of failure to enter your thinking.

(Psalms 1:1-3 NKJV) Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; (2) But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. (3) He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.

(Proverbs 4:25 AMP) Let your eyes look right on [with fixed purpose], and let your gaze be straight before you.

Uproot every thought, image, dream, impression, or feeling that is contrary to what you have prayed and believed that you received the answer.

(John 10:10 AMP) The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).

(1 Timothy 6:12 NKJV) Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called…

Enough is Enough!

(2 Samuel 23:11-12 NIV) Next to him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines banded together at a place where there was a field full of lentils, Israel’s troops fled from them. (12) But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field. He defended it and struck the Philistines down, and the LORD brought about a great victory.

Three warriors for David: Josheb, Eleazar, and Shammah

The people of this area were all farmers and had put in the labor and the cost to generate a harvest and the Philistines came every year at the time in the harvest to raid the harvest of these people.

Shammah stood in the midst of the bean patch and said, “Enough is enough, I’m Not Putting Up With This Any More”, and defended it and the Lord brought great victory.

You and I are going to have to be willing to defend our bean patch until we defeat our enemies.

Your enemy is always trying to steal your harvest from you in your bean patch and he will until we are willing to stand in our bean patch and defend it and then the Lord will help you and bring you a great victory!

What is Your Cause?

(1 Samuel 17:16 NKJV) And the Philistine drew near and presented himself forty days, morning and evening.

As long as you continue to take everything that life brings to you and just accept it you will never be a fighter.

What Giant is speaking to you and trying to force you to cower in the ditch and hide and fear?

It does not matter what your Giant is (sickness, disease, lack, relationship problems, no peace, oppression).

If you give heed and regard to what the giant is saying you will never rise up to defeat the giant, you will stay in the ditch.

It will require a fight. If the giant is still there, you have put up with it and tolerated it.

1. Determine what you are fighting for.

(1 Samuel 17:29 NKJV) And David said, “What have I done now? Is there not a cause?”

What was David’s cause?

(1 Samuel 17:26 NKJV) Then David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

Reproach – an occasion for disgrace or shame.

• Remove the shame from his people.

(1 Samuel 17:25 NKJV) (25) So the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel; and it shall be that the man who kills him the king will enrich with great riches, will give him his daughter, and give his father’s house exemption from taxes in Israel.”

• He saw his life and the lives of his family being better.

You must have a cause that will make you a fighter. What is your cause? You must identify your cause and what gives you the drive to win the fight and bring your enemy to the mat.

Your cause is the thing that absolutely fires you up from deep within and makes it impossible for you to accept anything else but complete and whole victory.

This cause made a ruddy, redheaded 17-year-old boy take up a sling and confront the enemy of the armies of Israel and defeat him and feed his carcass to the fowls. What David was actually saying was, “Enough is Enough, I’m Not Putting Up With This Any More.”

You will never become a fighter until you can stand up and say, “I’m Not Putting Up With This Any More, I have had enough of the enemy trying to steal from me.”

(Mark 10:46-52 NKJV) Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. (47) And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (48) Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” (49) So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.” (50) And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus. (51) So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.” (52) Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.

2. Cast aside what you have been depending on and what identifies you and go to Jesus.

Blind Bartimaeus heard about Jesus and decided that he had enough of his blindness and cried out to the Lord in spite of the religious people trying to make him be quiet.

He cast away his blind man’s garment (used for his provision and identification) and went to Jesus and received his sight and was made whole in every area and went and followed Jesus.

(Mark 5:25-34 NKJV) Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, (26) and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. (27) When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. (28) For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” (29) Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. (30) And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?” (31) But His disciples said to Him, “You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ” (32) And He looked around to see her who had done this thing. (33) But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. (34) And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”

(Mark 5:34 KJV) And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

3. Press your way to victory!

The woman with the issue of blood got to the point that she finally said I have had enough and then she did what it took, ignoring all social and religious rules to get what she wanted from the Lord.

You must be willing to stay in the Word, speak the Word, do the Word and whatever it takes to get your victory and when you stand up and say that “I’m Not Putting Up With This Any More”, it will give you the drive to win the fight.

4. If you will not quit, you will win!

(John 10:10 AMP) The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).

We can never use the devil as an excuse for bad behavior or wrong mindsets. But, he is a very real adversary who is bent on your destruction.

He is an enemy of the worst sort.

The enemy does not play fairly and has no rules of his own but wants to steal from you and kill you.

1. He vents his hatred on the ones that God loves most because he cannot express that hatred directly to God.
2. He seeks to destroy the anointing on your life and ruin your testimony because he knows that delays that plan of God and ultimately his demise.

(1 Timothy 6:12 NKJV) Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

You will not lay hold onto eternal life until you fight the good fight of faith and are willing to fight until you win.

One More Night with the Frogs

(Exodus 8:1-15 NLT) Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go back to Pharaoh and announce to him, ‘This is what the LORD says: Let My people go, so they can worship Me. (2) If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague of frogs across your entire land. (3) The Nile River will swarm with frogs. They will come up out of the river and into your palace, even into your bedroom and onto your bed! They will enter the houses of your officials and your people. They will even jump into your ovens and your kneading bowls. (4) Frogs will jump on you, your people, and all your officials.’” (5) Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Raise the staff in your hand over all the rivers, canals, and ponds of Egypt, and bring up frogs over all the land.’” (6) So Aaron raised his hand over the waters of Egypt, and frogs came up and covered the whole land! (7) But the magicians were able to do the same thing with their magic. They, too, caused frogs to come up on the land of Egypt. (8) Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and begged, “Plead with the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people. I will let your people go, so they can offer sacrifices to the LORD.” (9) “You set the time!” Moses replied. “Tell me when you want me to pray for you, your officials, and your people. Then you and your houses will be rid of the frogs. They will remain only in the Nile River.” (10) “Do it tomorrow,” Pharaoh said. “All right,” Moses replied, “it will be as you have said. Then you will know that there is no one like the LORD our God. (11) The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials, and your people. They will remain only in the Nile River.” (12) So Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh’s palace, and Moses cried out to the LORD about the frogs He had inflicted on Pharaoh. (13) And the LORD did just what Moses had predicted. The frogs in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields all died. (14) The Egyptians piled them into great heaps, and a terrible stench filled the land. (15) But when Pharaoh saw that relief had come, he became stubborn. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had predicted.

Four reasons for one more night with the frogs:

• I am a little comfortable in my issue (situation or circumstance).

Does not mean you like it, might mean you don’t even realize the problem is there or you have adjusted to it.

What has become “normal” for you is not “normal” for God.

We should never grow accustomed to what the devil tries to bring into our lives.

• I am a little fearful – God’s Word might not work for me.

It might be God’s will for me to live with these frogs.

• I am a little lazy – It might take some work to overcome this.

You mean I have a part to play in being free?

How bad do you want to be free?

• I am a little selfish – We don’t think about the bigger picture – who my situation is really affecting.

Pharaoh – “I’m not really bothered by them, I have people for that…”

We don’t realize how our problems are affecting those around us.

Are You Done with Your Frogs?

1. Stop making allowances for your frogs.

Everybody can make frogs and has frogs…

(Exodus 8:7 NLT) But the magicians were able to do the same thing with their magic. They, too, caused frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.

What you make excuses for you will tolerate! What you tolerate, you will never be free from it.

2. Believe God’s Word when it says you don’t have to live with the frogs.

God’s Word is the final authority on your situation. You need to receive it that way.

3. Set the time. Decide TODAY there will be no more pet frogs.

(Exodus 8:9 NLT) “You set the time…”

(Hebrews 11:1 NKJV) Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

(2 Corinthians 6:2 NLT) For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.

Don’t leave what you are believing God’s Word for out in the future. Jesus said to receive it NOW.

(Mark 11:24 BBE) For this reason I say to you, Whatever you make a request for in prayer, have faith that it has been given to you, and you will have it.

4. Speak God’s Word about and to your frogs.

(Mark 11:23 GW) I can guarantee this truth: This is what will be done for someone who doesn’t doubt but believes what he says will happen: He can say to this mountain, ‘Be uprooted and thrown into the sea,’ and it will be done for him.

Say, “Yesterday was my last full day with the frogs.”

(Exodus 8:13 NKJV) So the LORD did according to the word of Moses. And the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courtyards, and out of the fields.

5. Begin to thank God you are free from the frogs!

(Philippians 4:6 NIV) Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

(Romans 4:20 AMP) No unbelief or distrust made him waver (doubtingly question) concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God,