NOTES

● IN OUR DIFFICULTIES WHAT WE PRAY MOST OF THE TIME- GET US OUT OF CHALLENGE,
TROUBLE AT WORK, FINANCIAL SETBACK, RELATIONSHIP
● NOTHING WRONG WITH IT BUT BEFORE GETTING OUT INVITE HIM IN
● MIRACLE IS NOT GETTING OUT BUT WHAT GOD IS GOING TO DO IN THE SITUATION
● INSTEAD OF JUST PRAYING GOD GET ME OUT, WHY DON'T YOU START PRAYING GOD COME
IN. (HOSPITAL, WORK, ANXIETY)
● WHAT'S MORE POWERFUL GOD BRINGING YOU OUT OR WHEN GOD COMES IN AND BEGINS TO
CHANGE THINGS. WHEN HE COMES IN - STRENGTH, GRACE AND POWER TO FACE AN
OBSTACLE.
● STILL IF YOU'RE ONLY FOCUSED ON GOD BRINGING YOU OUT, THEN YOU'RE GOING TO BE
DISAPPOINTED, BECAUSE GOD DOESN'T DO THINGS ON OUR TIMETABLE
● BUT IN THIS TIME WHEN YOU ASK GOD TO COME IN, YOU CAN BE AT REST.
● SO YOU WOULD ASK ME WHAT DO I PRAY TO GOD (1ST PRAYER)
● WHEN YOU'RE ONLY FOCUSED ON GETTING OUT - UPSET, SLEEPLESS NIGHTS, FIGHT
EVERYTHING.
● WHEN YOU INVITE HIM IN, YOU'RE ASKING GOD, "DON'T JUST CHANGE THE CIRCUMSTANCES,
CHANGE ME. HELP ME TO NOT JUST GO THROUGH THIS SITUATION, HELP ME TO GROW
THROUGH IT, HELP ME TO LEARN, INCREASE MY FAITH.
● WHY DOESN’T GOD DELIVER US INSTANTLY? - HIGHEST POTENTIAL, GOD WORKS IN-
TROUBLE, UNCOMFORTABLE SITUATIONS- WHEN HE BRINGS YOU OUT GREATER AND
UNIMAGINABLE MIRACLE.
● WHISPERS (EVIL, CONSCIOUSNESS)- GOD DOESN'T HEAR PRAYERS- NO CHANGE
● TRUTH IS GOD IS LISTENING- HE’S JUST TESTING YOU - HE’S TESTING YOUR FAITH
● PSALM 11.5 - HE EXAMINES (TESTS) THE RIGHTEOUS (THE QUALITY OF BEING MORALLY
RIGHT OR JUSTIFIABLE.)
● THAT'S WHEN WE HAVE TO REMEMBER TO NOT QUAVER AND NOT LOSE FAITH AS IN-
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 (GREATEST)
THOSE WHO EARNESTLY SEEK HIM (INVITE)
● MAKE THEM OPEN BIBLE TO ISAIAH 43.2 - WHEN YOU PASS THROUGH THE WATERS, I WILL
BE WITH YOU; THROUGH THE RIVERS, THEY SHALL NOT OVERWHELM YOU; WHEN YOU WALK
THROUGH FIRE YOU SHALL NOT BE BURNED, AND THE FLAME SHALL NOT CONSUME YOU.
● IT'S INTERESTING THAT GOD DIDN'T SAY, "I'LL KEEP YOU OUT OF EVERY FIRE. YOU WON'T
HAVE TO FACE ANY FLOODS." NO, HE SAID THE CHALLENGES WILL COME, THERE WILL BE
ADVERSITIES. THE WHOLE KEY OR CRUX IS HE WILL BE WITH YOU.
● WE HAVE TO ASK OURSELVES IS IT A GREATER TESTIMONY THAT GOD KEPT YOU OUT OF THE
FIRE, OR THAT HE CAME WITH YOU IN THE FIRE AND BROUGHT YOU THROUGH IT?
● PSALM 23.4 "THOUGH I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH, I WILL
FEAR NO EVIL," WHY? "BECAUSE YOU ARE WITH ME."
● THE REASON DAVID DIDN'T LIVE AFRAID- HE WASN'T JUST WAITING TO GET OUT, HE KNEW
THAT GOD WAS RIGHT THERE WITH HIM.
● WHEN YOU INVITE HIM YOU WON'T BE COMPLAINING ABOUT THE TROUBLE, WORRIED ABOUT
WHEN IT'S GOING TO WORK OUT, YOU'LL BE AT PEACE.
● SCRIPTURE DANIEL 3:14-25( NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION 14) AND NEBUCHADNEZZAR
SAID TO THEM, “IS IT TRUE, SHADRACH, MESHACH AND ABEDNEGO, THAT YOU DO NOT
SERVE MY GODS OR WORSHIP THE IMAGE OF GOLD I HAVE SET UP? 15 NOW WHEN YOU
HEAR THE SOUND OF THE HORN, FLUTE, ZITHER, LYRE, HARP, PIPE AND ALL KINDS OF MUSIC,
IF YOU ARE READY TO FALL DOWN AND WORSHIP THE IMAGE I MADE, VERY GOOD. BUT IF
YOU DO NOT WORSHIP IT, YOU WILL BE THROWN IMMEDIATELY INTO A BLAZING FURNACE.
THEN WHAT GOD WILL BE ABLE TO RESCUE YOU FROM MY HAND?” 16 SHADRACH, MESHACH
AND ABEDNEGO REPLIED TO HIM, “KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR, WE DO NOT NEED TO DEFEND
OURSELVES BEFORE YOU IN THIS MATTER. 17 IF WE ARE THROWN INTO THE BLAZING
FURNACE, THE GOD WE SERVE IS ABLE TO DELIVER US FROM IT, AND HE WILL DELIVER US
FROM YOUR MAJESTY’S HAND. (THIS WAS THEIR STATEMENT OF FAITH.) (THEN THEY SAID
SOMETHING EVEN MORE POWERFUL) 18 BUT EVEN IF HE DOES NOT, WE WANT YOU TO
KNOW, YOUR MAJESTY, THAT WE WILL NOT SERVE YOUR GODS OR WORSHIP THE IMAGE OF
GOLD YOU HAVE SET UP.”
● WHEN YOU CAN SAY GOD, THIS IS WHAT I BELIEVE AND HOPING WILL HAPPEN, BUT GOD,
EVEN IF IT DOESN'T WORK OUT MY WAY, I'M STILL GOING TO GIVE YOU PRAISE, BE GOOD TO
OTHERS, GOING TO SHOW UP SUNDAY FOR MASS, GOING TO PURSUE MY DREAMS. THAT
ATTITUDE GETS GOD'S ATTENTION- FOR YOU'RE SAYING TO GOD, NOT MY WILL, BUT LET
YOUR WILL BE DONE.
● 19 THEN NEBUCHADNEZZAR WAS FURIOUS WITH SHADRACH, MESHACH AND ABEDNEGO,
AND HIS ATTITUDE TOWARD THEM CHANGED. HE ORDERED THE FURNACE HEATED SEVEN
TIMES HOTTER THAN USUAL 20 AND COMMANDED SOME OF THE STRONGEST SOLDIERS IN
HIS ARMY TO TIE UP SHADRACH, MESHACH AND ABEDNEGO AND THROW THEM INTO THE
BLAZING FURNACE.
● WHY DID GOD HAVE THE KING MAKE THE FIRE EVEN HOTTER? HE WANTED IT TO BE A
BIGGER MIRACLE
● GOD COULD HAVE KEPT THEM OUT OF THE FIRE - PARTED RED SEAS, GAVE SIGHT, MOVED
MOUNTAINS. HE COULD,VE CHANGED THE KINGS MIND OR HELP ESCAPE
● GOD DOESN'T DELIVER US FROM EVERY FIRE. SOMETIMES HE'LL TAKE YOU THROUGH THE
FIRE - HE KNOWS HOW TO MAKE YOU FIREPROOF
● HE USES ADVERSITIES, TRIALS & DIFFICULTIES TO MOVE US BECAUSE HE HAS PURPOSE. AND
THE PURPOSE IS NOT SO YOU CAN LIVE MISERABLE, WORRIED, AND AFRAID; HIS PURPOSE IS
TO MAKE YOU STRONGER AND TO SHOW HIS GLORY THROUGH YOU.
● 22 THE KING’S COMMAND WAS SO URGENT AND THE FURNACE SO HOT THAT THE FLAMES
OF THE FIRE KILLED THE SOLDIERS WHO TOOK UP SHADRACH, MESHACH AND ABEDNEGO,
23 AND THESE THREE MEN, FIRMLY TIED, FELL INTO THE BLAZING FURNACE. 24 THEN KING
NEBUCHADNEZZAR LEAPED TO HIS FEET IN AMAZEMENT AND ASKED HIS ADVISERS,
“WEREN’T THERE THREE MEN THAT WE TIED UP AND THREW INTO THE FIRE?” THEY REPLIED,
“CERTAINLY, YOUR MAJESTY.” 25 HE SAID, “LOOK! I SEE FOUR MEN WALKING AROUND IN THE
FIRE, UNBOUND AND UNHARMED, AND THE FOURTH LOOKS LIKE A SON OF THE GODS.” 26
 NEBUCHADNEZZAR THEN APPROACHED THE OPENING OF THE BLAZING FURNACE AND
SHOUTED, “SHADRACH, MESHACH AND ABEDNEGO, SERVANTS OF THE MOST HIGH GOD,
COME OUT! COME HERE!” SO SHADRACH, MESHACH AND ABEDNEGO CAME OUT OF THE FIRE,
27 AND THE SATRAPS, PREFECTS, GOVERNORS AND ROYAL ADVISERS CROWDED AROUND
THEM. THEY SAW THAT THE FIRE HAD NOT HARMED THEIR BODIES, NOR WAS A HAIR OF
THEIR HEADS SINGED; THEIR ROBES WERE NOT SCORCHED, AND THERE WAS NO SMELL OF
FIRE ON THEM.
● THEIR HAIR WAS FINE, SKIN WAS FINE, CLOTHES WERE FINE, JUST THE CORDS- THAT IS
DIFFICULTIES AND THE LIMITATIONS THAT WERE HOLDING YOU BACK. THE FIRE'S GOING TO
BURN OFF THE FEAR, BURN OFF NEGATIVE MIND-SETS, BURN OFF RELATIONSHIPS THAT
WERE PULLING YOU DOWN AND YOU'RE GOING TO COME OUT FREE, BOLD, CONFIDENT,
HEALTHY, PROMOTED, VICTORIOUS, READY TO FULFILL YOUR DESTINY.
● YOU MAY BE IN THE FIRE NOW(TROUBLES) BUT THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO COMPLAIN, IT'S
NOT THE TIME TO JUST PRAY GOD GET ME OUT. IT’S THE TIME TO REMEMBER THAT GOD
OUR PROTECTOR. PSALM 91 (SEND CRYS) GOD OUR PROTECTOR
● GENESIS (37-50) JOSEPH IN THIS SCRIPTURE. AS A TEENAGER, HE WAS BETRAYED BY HIS
BROTHERS AND SOLD INTO SLAVERY. HE WORKED FOR A HIGH-RANKING MILITARY OFFICIAL
IN EGYPT NAMED POTIPHAR. AFTER SEEING HIS LOYALTY AND BEING BEST AT HIS WORK HE
PUT HIM IN CHARGE OF HIS HOUSE. WIFE GREW FOND OF HIM AND WANTED TO SLEEP WITH
HIM. ONE DAY SHE TRICKED HIM AND FALSELY ACCUSED HIM TO POTIPHAR OF FORCING
HER AND THEN HE WAS PUT IN PRISON. EVEN IN THE PRISON HE WAS HIS BEST AND THE
WARDEN MADE HIM INCHARGE OF ALL THE PRISONERS.
● JOSEPH IN ONE SENSE HAD EVERY RIGHT TO BE BITTER, ANGRY. HIS DREAMS WERE
SHATTERED, HE WAS IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY, HE DIDN'T KNOW ANYONE, BUT YOU NEVER
READ WHERE JOSEPH COMPLAINED. HE JUST KEPT BEING HIS BEST WHERE HE WAS. HE
WAS SO EXCEPTIONAL THAT POTIPHAR PUT HIM IN CHARGE OF HIS WHOLE HOUSE. HE WAS
SUCCESSFUL IN EVERYTHING THAT HE DID. HE DIDN'T JUST PRAY GOD GET ME OUT OF THIS
TROUBLE, AND I'LL HAVE A GOOD ATTITUDE. HE SAID GOD COME INTO THIS TROUBLE, HELP
ME TO SHINE, HELP ME TO STAND OUT.
● THRICE IT WAS SAID IN GENESIS 39 (3,21,23) THE LORD WAS WITH JOSEPH. CAN PEOPLE SEE
THAT GOD IS WITH YOU IN THE FIRE? ARE YOU BEING YOUR BEST EVEN THOUGH IT'S UNFAIR?
ARE YOU SHINING WHEN YOU COULD BE COMPLAINING? IT'S SIGNIFICANT THAT THE
SCRIPTURE TELLS US THREE TIMES JUST A FEW VERSES FROM EACH OTHER THAT THE LORD
WAS WITH JOSEPH. WE GOT IT THE FIRST TIME, BUT GOD WANTED US TO SEE THIS
PRINCIPLE THAT WHEN YOU INVITE HIM INTO THE FIRE YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE A FAVOR
THAT PUSHES YOU UP WHEN LIFE TRIES TO PUSH YOU DOWN, A STRENGTH TO EXCEL WHEN
YOU COULD BE SLACKING OFF, A POWER TO OVERCOME WHAT SHOULD STOP YOU.
● AFTER 13 YEARS OF BEING IN THE FIRE, GOD BROUGHT JOSEPH OUT, MADE HIM SECOND IN
COMMAND OF EGYPT. YOU MAY BE IN A SITUATION NOW THAT YOU DON'T THINK IS NEVER
GOING TO CHANGE, BUT WHAT GOD STARTED IN YOUR LIFE, HE'S GOING TO FINISH. YOU
HAVE TO BE LIKE JOSEPH EVEN THOUGH HE FACED THE HARDEST OF SITUATIONS. HE
ALWAYS GAVE HIS BEST AND HE NEVER COMPLAINED, WE LEARNT FROM THIS SCRIPTURE IS
THAT WHEN YOU INVITE GOD IN, YOU WILL FEEL HIS PRESENCE IN A NEW WAY.
 ● MARK 4.35-41 35 THAT DAY WHEN EVENING CAME, HE SAID TO HIS DISCIPLES, “LET US GO
OVER TO THE OTHER SIDE.” 36 LEAVING THE CROWD BEHIND, THEY TOOK HIM ALONG, JUST
AS HE WAS, IN THE BOAT. THERE WERE ALSO OTHER BOATS WITH HIM. 37 A FURIOUS SQUALL
CAME UP, AND THE WAVES BROKE OVER THE BOAT, SO THAT IT WAS NEARLY SWAMPED. 38
JESUS WAS IN THE STERN, SLEEPING ON A CUSHION. THE DISCIPLES WOKE HIM AND SAID
TO HIM, “TEACHER, DON’T YOU CARE IF WE DROWN?”39 HE GOT UP, REBUKED THE WIND AND
SAID TO THE WAVES, “QUIET! BE STILL!” THEN THE WIND DIED DOWN AND IT WAS
COMPLETELY CALM.40 HE SAID TO HIS DISCIPLES, “WHY ARE YOU SO AFRAID? DO YOU STILL
HAVE NO FAITH?”
● NOW, THESE DISCIPLES HAD SEEN JESUS PERFORM GREAT MIRACLES. YOU WOULD THINK
THEY WOULD BE CONFIDENT. THEY DIDN'T REALIZE THE WINDS AND WAVES COULDN'T STOP
THE GOD WHO CREATED THE WINDS AND WAVES. HE’S THE CREATOR.THEY HAD NO REASON
TO BE AFRAID, THE SON OF GOD WAS IN THE STORM WITH THEM.
● I CAN RELATE TO THOSE DISCIPLES (MY STORY). THIS WAS THE STORM I FACED, YOU MIGHT
HAVE FACED YOUR OWN STORM- WORK, SICKNESS, RELATIONSHIPS. REMEMBER TO RELAX
AND PRAY, YOU HAVE AN ADVANTAGE, THE GOD WHO CONTROLS THE UNIVERSE IS RIGHT
THERE WITH YOU ONLY HE’S WAITING FOR YOUR INVITATION.
● LIKE THE TEENAGERS- THAT FIRE IS NOT GOING TO BURN YOU AND YOU'RE ABOUT TO SEE
THE FOURTH MAN SHOW UP BY THAT I MEAN UNIMAGINABLE THINGS ARE ABOUT TO
HAPPEN- HEALINGS, BREAKTHROUGHS, PROMOTION, RELATIONSHIPS. BUT THESE
BLESSINGS AND UNIMAGINABLE MIRACLES ONLY APPEAR WHEN YOU KEEP GOD FIRST
PLACE.
● AS MY MOM USED TO ALWAYS REMIND ME THAT IF YOU KEEP GOD FIRST PLACE AND HE
WILL TAKE YOU TO GREAT PLACES.
● I WOULD LIKE TO END WITH A HYMN AS IN CHALLENGING TIMES AND IN GOOD TIMES THIS
HYMN BECOMES MY PRAYER

VERSE 1 AMAZING GRACE HOW SWEET THE SOUND, THAT SAVED A WRETCH LIKE ME! I ONCE WAS
LOST, BUT NOW AM FOUND; WAS BLIND, BUT NOW I SEE.

VERSE 2 ‘TWAS GRACE THAT TAUGHT MY HEART TO FEAR, AND GRACE MY FEARS RELIEVED; HOW
PRECIOUS DID THAT GRACE APPEAR THE HOUR I FIRST BELIEVED!

VERSE 3 THROUGH MANY DANGERS, TOILS AND SNARES, I HAVE ALREADY COME; ‘TIS GRACE HATH
BROUGHT ME SAFE THUS FAR, AND GRACE WILL LEAD ME HOME.