Last week Shirley preached on our authority as believers. Understanding this authority is one of the keys to getting our prayers answered.

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1 ENTER THE REALM OF FAITH! 1 INTRODUCTION Over the last while, I have spent a fair amount of thought on why some prayers get answered and why some don t a tough question but we do know that we serve a faithful God who still heals, delivers and sets free today. He still raises the dead and miracles are not a long forgotten thing. Most of us have either seen a miracle take place or heard about one from a credible witness. Last week Shirley preached on our authority as believers. Understanding this authority is one of the keys to getting our prayers answered. I believe there is a another practical truth we need to come to understand so that we can live a fuller, more victorious life in Christ, seeing much greater success in our prayers and as a result much greater fruit from our lives! MESSAGE WE HAVE TO GO BEYOND REALISM Have you ever heard someone say Let s just be realistic? This seems perfectly normal because when you weigh up the facts regarding a situation, the outcome seems obvious. In Christ, this is not the case. If we have faith, we can reach beyond realism, we can achieve what the facts tell us is impossible. Romans 4:17b God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; In God, it s not what we see that matters, it s having faith in His ability to go beyond the natural and call the things that don t exist into being. Let s investigate further: 2 Kings 6:15-18 And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, Alas, my master! What shall we do? So he answered, Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see. Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. So when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, and said, Strike this people, I pray, with blindness. And He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

2 Elisha and his servant were surrounded and his servant panicked - "alas my master" 2 But Elisha could see into the spiritual realm... He could see into the faith realm. He knew they were not alone! What Elisha s servant needed was to see into the spiritual realm he was looking at the natural and it scared him! More and more I am realizing that if we want to experience the fullness of the Lord's blessings for us, then we have to start walking by faith and that means we have to stretch into the faith realm and claim our victory! Ephesians 1:15-23 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. Paul was praying for the people to have the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of their understanding being enlightened...about what??? to know what is the hope of His calling, to understand the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, to see the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead to see Jesus Christ seated at Father s right hand in heaven, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. to see put all things under His feet, to understand that Jesus is the head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. Paul did not stop writing there he continued and let s look at what he continues to say in Ephesians 2: Ephesians 2:4-6 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved, and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, God made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved,

3 God and raised us up together with Jesus our Lord, and He made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus 3 In the natural, we are not seated in heaven at the right hand of Jesus...but in the spirit, we certainly are, and that means all things are under our feet... Our problem is just like Elisha's servant, we limit ourselves to the natural realm! All we can see is that which surrounds us; we need to start seeing with eyes of the spirit! Peter did this when he walked on the water... He knew it was impossible to walk on the water but when he saw Jesus do it, he believed he could do the same and for a brief moment in time, he did what no man can do in the natural, he walked on water! Where did he appropriate this ability from?...he reached into the spiritual realm, took hold of the supernatural ability of God and made it manifest in the natural! To believe the impossible, one must first see the invisible! HOW DO WE MAKE THIS A REALITY IN OUR LIVES? Through prayer! When Elisha prayed, his servant's eyes were opened. When we pray, God will allow us to take hold of that which is only available in the spiritual realm. When we pray, God will allow us to see the enemy's strategy. When we pray, God will show us His plan and solution for our situation. Seeing into the invisible is a key to victorious praying and discerning issues from God's perspective rather than mans. Shirley shared last week about binding and loosing what takes place in heaven happens on earth! Jeremiah 33:3, 6-9 Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know. Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. And I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return, and will rebuild those places as at the first. I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me. Then it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them; they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it. We need to call on The Lord and He will show us the great and mighty things that we do not know! We may not see it in the natural, but there is health & healing, peace, release from captivity, cleansing and forgiveness, joy, restoration, goodness and prosperity.

4 We need to see this through the Lord's eyes and then take hold of it in the spirit! 4 THE BATTLE IS IN THE SPIRITUAL REALM Many of the manifestations of spiritual war are found in the natural realm, but the true battle is in the spiritual realm. Ephesians 6:12, 16, 18 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints Our battle is a spiritual battle It requires faith - the key to appropriating that which is in the spirit It requires prayer in the spirit! 1 John 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith. Mark 11:22 So Jesus answered and said to them, Have faith in God. OUR FAITH 1 John 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith. Mark 11:22 So Jesus answered and said to them, Have faith in God. As born-again believers, we are overcomers. The key to victory as overcomers is our faith! Not only are we overcomers, but we are more than conquerors by faith in Christ Jesus. Through faith in Christ Jesus, God has given us victory over the world, over our fleshly nature and over every onslaught of the enemy. Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. We need to evaluate our responses to the attacks we face and determine if we are living by faith does our world fall apart each time we face a difficulty? Or are we responding to each attack in faith? God is calling us to fight the good fight of faith. When we do this the fiery darts of the enemy will fall harmless at our feet!

5 5 CONCLUSION As believers, we have to take hold of what God has made available to us in the spiritual realm. We need to realize the there is a very real parallel realm and we have to reach in by faith and tale the healing, providence, favour and victory we need. Just knowing it s there and doing nothing about it makes us carnal Christians, but we are God s people, spirit, soul and body and He wants us to reign both in the natural and in the spiritual. 1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. Let us stretch our faith going forward. Let us reach in and take hold of our promises in Christ.Who says we can t walk on water!