Labor to enter His rest.

Introduction: The greatest fear that Jesus had among the people was not laboring to enter into His rest. Even today Christians are facing the same problem as what Jesus described. Matthew 11:28-30 28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” God want His people to rest in His presence. How we enter? Hebrew 4:1-2 "Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it" (4:1). We can paraphrase the thought in this way: God makes it possible for us to enter his rest, so we need to make sure that we accept his offer. If we do not keep our faith in him (the main exhortation of this book), we will fail to enter. How do we enter? Verse 2 tells us, "For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith." The author urges us to be diligent, then he talks about the gospel. This implies that we enter God's rest by means of the gospel. HOW T0 FIND RELIEF FROM LIFE'S CARES; Prayer is the method whereby we attain our goal of relief from our immediate concern or problem. How can we, as Christians, spell relief? We spell it: "P-R-A-Y-E-R". Prayer in itself is our Balm of Gilead.  PRAYER BRINGS HEALING To OURSELVES AND OTHERS:  The Balm of Gilead was obtained in very small quantities from certain trees and plants. It was considered very precious, and it was used for medicinal purposes. Jesus Christ is the Christian's Balm of Gilead. He is very precious to each one of us, and by His stripes; we are healed. PRAYER ACTIVATES THE POWER OF GOD:   Isaiah 53:4-5, Surely He hath borne our grieves, and carried our sorrows: yd we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. Prayer is communication with the "Great Physician" who loves us and cares for our every need. It brings with is powerful rejuvenating properties.   PRAYER BRINGS NEW LIFE: Prayer brings new life to our dead situation. Prayer ignites the flames of faith and hope in our hearts. THANKSGIVING IS INVOLVED IN TRUE PRAYER: King David was a man after God's Own Heart, and he composed 2 Sam. 22:1-51. The words of this song describe the awesome power found in prayer. David knew his God, and he magnified His Name in this model prayer/song. In this song, David tells of the great mercies of God to the merciful. He tells of God's power in delivering the righteous, sand he tells of God's goodness to those who obey His commandments. The Lord tells us that our labor should be to enter into God's rest. This sounds contradictory, but this is the only striving, and laboring that is commanded by the Lord. We are to cease from our own works. Prayer is our labor of love, devotion and surrender. It is the means whereby we can enter into God' The process of prayer in itself brings a rest into our hearts, souls and spirits that produces God's peace and comfort in our lives. Prayer is the key to entering into the rest of the Lord, where we can dwell with the Prince of Peace. Hebrews 4:9-l L, There remained therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. We can enter into this rest from our own works on a daily basis. We do this when we place our total trust, hope and faith in God. Our faith comes from God Who made heaven and earth. He is the beginning of our faith when we are born again, and He is the end of our faith when we experience eternal salvation. 1 Pet. 1:9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. When we pray; it is an activity of faith as we are humbling ourselves before the mighty hand of God, and we are turning everything over to His care. It is an act of love, humility, obedience and faith. We know that our faith comes from hearing and hearing by the Word of God. When we study the Word of God; He is able to communicate His Truth, Life and Way to us. The Word is God (John 1: l), and His Spirit flows throughout His Word. We then know how to pray according to His will. The Word of God will then be flowing in and through us as we pray. 1 John 5:14, And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us. ENTER INTO GOD'S REST THROUGH PRAYER; To enter into God's rest: our desires will be His desires as we have turned our own desires over to the King of kings. The Lord's way and will is best, and we place our total trust in Him. When we pray in this manner, it brings a great liberty into our hearts and lives as we are confident in God's wisdom and direction. Our own ways are unreliable in comparison with God's ways. GOD'S WAYS ARE HIGHER; We can safely surrender all of our needs, problems and cares into His loving arms. Isaiah 55:9, For as the heavens are higher than the　earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. PRAYER IS A TREMENDOUS PRIVILEGE:   The Three Origins of the Ability to Pray All are of and from God: l.) God's great love paved The Way. God the Father gave the very best to all of us; His only begotten Son. He did not spare anything for our salvation. 2.) The Blood of Jesus Christ made it possible for us to enter into God's Presence. 3.) All prayer is heard and answered by the grace of God. God's favor was toward all mankind even when we were in sin. This is a great miracle and an enormous gift. THE FIVE ELEMENTS OF EFFECTUAL　PRAYER: 1.) First, we must come before the Father by the blood of Jesus Christ. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any areas of sin in our lives so that we can have communion with the Living God. A. We experience a Godly, sincere sorrow for our sins, and we repent: 1. We confess these sins to God. 2. We turn from the sin. 3. We then turn to God with all of our hearts. 2.) We then enter God's gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. A. The Lord inhabits the praises of His people. 1. We thank Him for Who He is and what He has done to secure our salvation, 2. We thank Him for all of His past, present and future benefits. 3. We thank Him for protecting His saint, and for the victory that He has won in our behalf throughout all eternity we will be with Him. 3.) We surrender our desires, our heats and our minds to His care. A. By trusting in the Lord totally; we are able to enter into His wonderful rest. 1. We study His Word to discover His glorious purposes in our lives and in this world. 2.    We pray that we will be led by the Holy Spirit of God and His Word and not by our own understanding. 3. We pray God's Kingdom come; His perfect will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 4.) We listen to hear the Lord speak to us through the power of the Holy Spirit. A. We welcome the Holy Spirit to come and speak to our hearts, 1. We wait on the Lord to hear His voice. 2. We bow before the Lord in humility and adoration. 3. We worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. 5.) We now can ask Him for our petitions according to His perfect will: A. We seek Him first, His Kingdom and His righteousness in our prayer of petition. 1. We ask that He brings His Kingdom into our own hearts, our leaders hearts, our families, and we claim His Kingdom where He has given us the authority to claim it for His honor and glory. 2. We name the specific needs that we have found in our area of authority and in the lives of our leaders, families, church and work. 3. We end with thanksgiving for the great and mighty work that God has accomplished, is accomplishing and will accomplish in the future. Five is the number of grace, and the glorious opportunity and ability to be able to enter boldly into the throne room of almighty God is given by the undeserved favor of God. To take advantage of this great opportunity is wisdom and to fulfill this provision of God in our life will have eternal significance for good. Through the process of prayer; we are at rest. We haw the peace of God. There is no peace in this world, but peace can be found at any time night or day in the presence of the Prince of Peace. He wants to transport you into His heavenly realm. There is only one type of striving that is acceptable in the Kingdom of God and that is the labor found in entering into God's rest. When (through prayer) we enter into His rest we no longer will strive in our flesh, but we will learn to be led by the Holy Spirit in all that we do, in all that we think and in all that we say. It is a beautiful freedom from the bondages of this present world. This Way is the strait gate that leads to eternal life with the Lord. We are told to strive to enter into the gate that the Lord has entered through. He has shown us the Way; we need only obey. Luke 13:24, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able Let us pray. Father in Heaven we thank you that you have taught us to labor into your rest. This is to totally depend on you and not on ourselves. Your word says that without Me you can do nothing. We believe in your Word and we will labor to enter into your rest to receive every peace and joy You have for us. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.