Hope Unlimited Church

1 Peter 5:8

8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 

Matthew 4:1-3

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. 2 For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry. 3 During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”

LIE 1: LIE OF PROVISION

Matthew 4:4 

But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’

Matthew 4:5-6 

Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”

LIE 2: LIE OF PROTECTION

Matthew 4:7

Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”

Matthew 4:8-9 

Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”

LIE 3: LIE OF POWER

Matthew 4:10

“Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”

Matthew 4:11

“Then the devil left Him, and angels came and attended Him.”

The enemy's favorite weapons:

Deception

Division

Doubt

Distraction

Key #1 - Prayer Gives Courage in Crisis

Daniel 2:17-18 NLT

Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened. 18 He urged them to ask the God of heaven to show them his mercy by telling them the secret, so they would not be executed along with the other wise men of Babylon.

Daniel 2:19 NLT

That night the secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven.

Key #2 - Prayer Brings Wisdom and Direction

Daniel 2:27-30 NLT

“No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries… As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else, but so that Your Majesty may know the interpretation.”

James 1:5 NLT

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault.”

Key #3 - Prayer Shapes Our Character

Daniel 6:10 NLT

“When Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.”

Key #4 - Prayer Pushes Through Unseen Battles

Daniel 10:12-13 NIV

“Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me…” 

Ephesians 6:12 NLT

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

Psalm 29:2 NLT

“Honor the Lord for the glory of his name. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.”

KABOD

WEIGHT, Heaviness, significance

Key #1 - Worship recognizes His Worth

Proverbs 3:9 NLT

“Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops.”

Key #2 - Worship Reorders Our Priorities

Romans 12:1 NLT

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him.”

Matthew 6:33 NLT

“Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” 

Key #3 - Worship Aligns Our Hearts

1 Corinthians 6:19 NLT

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you?”

Psalm 133:1 NLT

“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.” 

Acts 16:25-26 NLT

​​Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!

Genesis 3:8 ESV

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Luke 5:17 KJV

And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.

Luke 5:18 NASB1995

And some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him.  

Luke 5:19 NASB1995

But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus.  

Luke 5:20 NASB1995

Seeing their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.” 

Luke 5:21 NASB1995

The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” 

Luke 5:22-24 NASB1995

But Jesus, aware of their reasonings, answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”—He said to the paralytic—“I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home.”  

Luke 5:25-26 NASB1995

Immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God. They were all struck with astonishment and began glorifying God; and they were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

Isaiah 40:31 KJV

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Luke 24:28-33 ESV

So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. hey said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem.

Romans 1:11–12 NLT

“I long to visit you so I can bring you some spiritual gift that will help you grow strong in the Lord. When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours.”

Key #1 - It gives us Life

Proverbs 17:22

“A merry heart does good like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.”

Key #2 - It Sets the Rhythm

Romans 1:12

“When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours.”

Galatians 5:25

“Since we are living by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

Key #3 - It Fuels the Body

James 1:22 NLT

“But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.”

Key #1 - The Word Grows our Faith

Romans 10:17 NKJV

“Faith comes by hearing… and hearing by the Word of God.”

Key #2 - The Word Guides our Decisions

Psalm 119:105 NASB1995

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

Key #3 - The Word Grounds us in Truth

Isaiah 40:8 NLT

“The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.”

Matthew 7:24 NIV

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

Key #1 - He will guide you through your Submission

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

Key #2 - He will empower you through your Service

Colossians 3:23-24 (NASB)

“Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord and not for people, knowing that it is from the Lord that you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”

Key #3 - He will change you through your Surrender 

Philippians 2:5-8 (BSB)

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.”

POINT #1: “ARE THERE LIMITS TO GOD’S POWER, ABILITY, AND BLESSING?”

Ephesians 3:20 (NASB1995)

20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us. 

Ephesians 3:20 (PASSION TRANSLATION)

Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for his miraculous power constantly energizes you.

POINT #2: YOUR CAPACITY TO RECEIVE WILL LIMIT WHAT GOD CAN DO IN YOUR LIFE.

2 KINGS 4:1-7 (NASB1995)

1 Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord; and the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” 2 Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” 3 Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels at large for yourself from all your neighbors, even empty vessels; do not get a few. 4 And you shall go in and shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour out into all these vessels, and you shall set aside what is full.” 5 So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons; they were bringing the vessels to her and she poured. 6 When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not one vessel more.” And the oil stopped. 7 Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons can live on the rest.”

POINT #3: WE CAN LIMIT GOD BY OUR SMALL THINKING!!!

JOHN 10:10

JESUS SAID THAT HE CAME THAT WE MIGHT HAVE LIFE AND HAVE IT MORE ABUNDANTLY!!

ABUNDANTLY: GREEK = OVER AND ABOVE, MORE THAN IS NECESSARY, SUPERADDED. SUPERIOR, SURPASSING, EXTRAORDINARY!!!

2 Peter 1:3 (NAS)

seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

2 Peter 1:3 (PASSION TRANSLATION)

Everything we could ever need for life and complete devotion to God has already been deposited in us by his divine power.

John 17:18 NLT

“As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.”

Key #1 - KNOW THE ENEMY’S LIMITS

Ephesians 6:12 NLT

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

James 4:7 NLT

“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Key #2 - WE ARE EQUIPPED FOR OPPOSITION

Ephesians 6:10-11 NLT

Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.

Luke 10:19 NLT

“I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy.”

Romans 8:31 NLT

“If God is for us, who can ever be against us?”

Key #3 - WE FIGHT DIFFERENTLY

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NLT

We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do.4 We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. 5 We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God.

Key #4 - “HERE I AM, SEND ME”

Isaiah 6:8 NLT

“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’”

Key #1: Outcome Focused

Hebrews 12:2 (ESV)

“…Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross”

Key #2: Train Up The Next Generation

Proverbs 22:6 (ESV)

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Key #3: A Deeper Revelation of The Grace of God

Titus 2:11-12 (NIV)

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,

Key #4: We Are On the Brink of Revival 

Joel 2:28-29 (ESV)

And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.