Prayer Works Morning Devotion March 25, 2026

A Chapter By Chapter Study Of The Gospels To Know And Teach Who Jesus Is And What Is Required Of The Sons And Daughters Of The Most High God

Luke Chapter 4

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.

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A very good morning, a very good morning to you everybody. I hope you are well and I pray that you have a restful night and that you're well rested and you're ready for another day.  And I know that some are with kids on spring break and if you are, I hope you're enjoying the week so far. 

And for those who are up north, I know they probably don't have spring break yet. But nonetheless, I pray that we are all doing well. Let us go to the Lord in prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we come before you this morning. 

This is the day that you have made for us and we are glad and we are going to rejoice in it. We thank you for the many blessings that you have bestowed on us, and we thank you for the many talents that you have given us. 

We thank you that we have the ability to commune with you at any given moment, that we can come to you in full confidence, knowing that your grace has been made sufficient for us. 

And that all things will continue to work together for those who love the Lord and are called according to your purpose. So we bless you this morning and help us, give us revelation as we look at your word and to gain understanding to what you are saying to us in this hour. We bless you and honor you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

Well we are back today brothers and sisters and we are in Luke 4 and uh this is where Jesus gets tested. One of the things that I want us to pay attention because to is that the devil always uses the same narrative, the same door. 

He always test us as human beings against what the Lord has said. And to best understand how He plays, is you always want to go into, back to the Garden of Eden. What transpired in the Garden of Eden is always going to be the way that he comes. 

He comes through that door all the time. There's no change. And it might vary, but he always testes against what God said. And you're going to see with Jesus' response to him, He reiterates what the Lord said, what God said. 

Adam and Eve did not reiterate what God said. They wanted to find out something else. So verse number one, Jesus full of the Holy Spirit. We can stop right there and examine that little passage here, Jesus full of the Holy Spirit.

Which means there's times you can be full and there's times you can be maybe half empty. But he was full of the Holy Spirit. He left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.

The Holy Spirit is leading him, where for 40 days he was tempted by the devil. He wasn't tempted on day 40 only, but for 40 days he was tempted by the devil. Every single day there was a temptation that the devil threw at him. He ate nothing during those days. 

40 days of not eating anything. Now, at the end of those 40, he was hungry. And the devil said to him, if you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread. If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.

Jesus answered him, it is written, using scriptures, Man shall not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from God. And now the devil leads them up to a place, to a high place, and show him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.

Which means that Jesus was lifted up, spiritually that is, where he could have a full view of all the kingdoms of this world. You see, what's happening here is spiritual. The first test is the test of sustenance, food, eating.

The second test is the test where he is tested spiritually. So he lifted him up and he said to him, I will give you all their authority and splendor. It has been given to me and I can give it to anyone I want to.

If you worship me, it will be yours. Brothers and sisters, right there you understand when the scripture now says what profits a man to gain the whole world and lose your soul. Because the devil always rewards people who worship him.

But always remember this. When the devil lifts you up, he has one mission to throw you down. Because his job is to kill, steal, and destroy. You might enjoy whatever you enjoy temporarily, but the end is destroy.

But if he is to give you access to the kings of this world, you must worship him. Look at Jesus' response, it is written, worship the Lord your God, and serve him only. Because one of the commandments, one of the ten.

And the devil led him to Jerusalem. And he said to him, standing on the highest point of the temple. So the first test, test of sustenance. The second test, test for things of this world.

The third test is the test of things that God has already given you. The devil led him to Jerusalem, and he had him stand on the highest point of the temple. Now they are at the church. 

If you are the Son of God, he said, throw yourself down from here. For it is written, he will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully. They will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against the stone. 

It's called Psalm 91. And Jesus answered, it is said to not put the Lord God to the test. Now, if you are saved, this is one of the most dangerous and cunning ways the devil comes. Because it sounds like the church. 

He uses scriptures, he uses things that you already know that are holy. And he then asks you to violate that which is holy. It sounds good, but truly speaking, it's a violation. And this fear is very subtle is because we do it sometimes unknowingly, because it sounds right. 

We test God. God, if you really want me to do this, do that. It sounds holy because you are genuinely looking for the Lord's answer. But the incredible thing that we see in Jesus response is that God has already answered through the scriptures. 

That's why we have scriptures and in them contains every answer to every human challenge that we might possibly face. And the ones that we don't have, you also have the Holy Spirit to guide and to give us what to say. 

Verse 13, when the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. In other words, I will come back. But right now, you have the victory, I will come back.

And this is a scripture, since when a spirit is cast out a man, it goes to an arid place, and once in a while it comes to check if the house is empty. And if it is, then I will get an opportunity to get you.

But he could not do that with Jesus because he had already proven that he's above him now. So that's why Scripture says, he's like, yeah, I'll come back at the opportune time.

And we know when he comes back in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus returned to Galilee in the power, oh my God. He returned to Galilee in the power of his Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.

Now, what we gain after temptation, I always say this, and you've heard me say that the quickest way to holiness is through temptation, that every time that you see temptation, you should know as a believer that this is the way to get me to holiness.

Holiness is not praying, holiness is not coming to church, holiness is not reading scriptures. Those are all values and statutes, and things that we must do in this kingdom. But the quickest way to holiness is through temptation. 

When you see temptation, if you overcome it, in that moment you become holy. So now, after you become holy, after Jesus is holy, he is now empowered by this Holy Spirit and then news about him spread throughout the whole countryside.

He was teaching in their synagogues and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth where he had been brought up on the Sabbath day. He went into the synagogue as he was his custom.

He stood up to read scriptures and the scrolls of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it He found the place where it is written: The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. 

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Then he rolled up the scrolls and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. 

The eyes of everyone in the synagogue was fastened on him. He began by saying to them, today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. All spoke well of him. We were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. 

Isn't this Joseph's son? They asked. Jesus said to them, surely you will quote this proverb to me, 'Physicians, heal yourselves,' and you will tell me, 'Do here in your hometown what we have heard you that you did in Capernaum.' 

Truly I tell you, he continued. No prophets is accepted in his hometown. I assure you that there was many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years, and there was severe famine throughout the land. 

Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet no one of them was cleansed, only Naaman the Syrian. 

All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up and drove him out of town and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliffs. 

But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way. Oh my God, you have to love scriptures because they explain how we should deal with the world. And as believer, scriptures are a manual of how we ought to do things whenever we face challenges. 

And the beautiful thing about the Gospels, in them we find how Jesus interacted with the devil, with people, with nature. And we also find instructions from him pertaining to the things that he did. 

And every time we see how he did it and what he did, it simply means that He was showing us what we should do. Everything that's in the Gospels that Jesus did, we should be able to do. 

And I'll tell you why, because He said, Greater works will you do than I did. In other words, everything that I did, all the works I did, greater works, we have to do them. So what we are seeing here is the interruption and the force of Jesus in full display. 

And we ought to do the same very thing. Verse 31, Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, on the Sabbath. He taught the people they were mercy because his words had authority. 

In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon and impure spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? This is one man. 

What do you want with us? Plural, which means he's carrying many things inside of him. Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. Be quiet, Jesus said steadily. Come out of him. 

Then the demon threw the man down before the mall and came out without injuring him. All the people were amazed and he said to each other, where's this? What word is this? 

With authority and power, He gives order to impure suits and they came out and the news about him spread throughout the surrounding areas. Jesus left the synagogue, went to the home of Simon. 

Now Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever and they asked Jesus to help her. So he bent over and rebuked the fever and it left him. She got up at once and began to wait on them. 

At sunset, the people brought all kinds of people with different illness, various kinds, and he laid his hands on each one and healed them. Moreover, demons came out of many people shouting, You are the Son of God! 

But he rebuked them and he would not allow them to speak because they knew he was the Messiah. At daybreak, Jesus went out of solitary place. The people were looking for him, and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. 

But he said, I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent. And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea, beautiful.

Again, what I want us to understand today is how the enemy comes using the same methods. It's not going to change the way he tempted Jesus, the way he tempted Adam, will always remained, and we ought to learn from precedence. 

We should not do what Adam did, we should do what Jesus did. because he proclaimed, Greater works will we do than we did. So everything that he did, that we are reading about in the scriptures, in the Gospels that's a reference point of what you and I are capable of doing. 

It's an instruction. And also remember, the quickest way to holiness is through temptation. Do not run away from temptation, use scriptures because it is an opportunity for you to become holy. 

And when you become holy, what comes right after is a full measure of authority of God's Spirit in you, which will enable you to do some things. So all testing is not bad. Some testing is opportunity. 

But we ought to know what to do so we don't fall trap to the enemy's devices and schemes. The greatest thing that happened to us is Jesus. 

And the other greatest thing that happened to us is that we now walk with the Holy Spirit to counsel, to guide and to lead us in all things right and in all things and to do all things well. Let us pray. 

Heavenly Father, we come before you. We thank you for your Spirit, without measure, that you now have given us to walk, to counsel, to be a friend, companion along this journey, of our Christian lives. 

Father, I pray that may we see you through the eyes of Jesus, in order for us to do what you have called us to do, to walk circumspectly before you, but also to understand that authority comes after temptation.

Because we know there are many things we must do that you are empowering us to do. Father, I pray for great grace to now abound in us. I pray, Lord, that may we walk in the authority that you have given to us through the Holy Spirit. 

There are many challenging things that we must do. And Father, we know without you, it's impossible and that we are nothing. But as we continue to submit and to humble ourselves before you, we know it's going to come with you bestowing authority over us. 

We want to be useful. and to be used in this kingdom as we interact with this world. Help us to grow in wisdom. Challenge us where we need to be challenged so that our shoulders continue to be broadened to hold on to, but also to carry revelation knowledge. 

So that all of us what flows is the rivers of living waters that many that we meet will drink from. May our wells never run dry. May we continue to be refreshed so that we can be refreshing to those we meet. 

Open the eyes of our understanding so we can see clearly and know your words and know your voice. For we dare not walk in this world without knowing your voice. It is a treacherous terrain full of many minds, but God, you have sent us Jesus.

Who has overcome, so that we can overcome. As you give us opportunities, I pray, Lord, that may we embrace that which you are sending us to do, individually, corporately, as believers. 

I know you have sent us to teach and to preach this word throughout this whole entire world. And I know we cannot do it with our own strength, but it is by your Spirit. 

That Lord God, you continue, Lord, to equip us so that we can be the voice that people hear, that carry revelation and truth to all that you desire to see in mankind. Help us with authority to challenge the things that need to be challenged. 

And help us to stand the ground, for the Word says, when we have done all to stand, Lord, that we should stand. So help us to stand with courage, boldness, determination, and fortitude, knowing, Lord, that we are victorious, because when we look at the end of the book, it says we win. 

So, Father, we don't want to be weak Christians. But we want to be strong in the power of your mighty. So help us in our devotions, help us in our study, help us in ministering, help us in teaching, help us in study. 

And help us, Lord, as we gather together to remember and to commune with one another and to fellowship with the Holy Spirit, that you have given us power and we want to utilize it for the benefit of your kingdom. 

So Father, I pray for all that you are doing. We gladly open our arms and receive it. And we pray, Lord, as you send us, continue to equip us accordingly in the name of Jesus. I know because your word said it for a fact that you have prepared something for every single person to do. 

And Father, in the gospels we see many times the parables of the vineyard where you give every single one of those talents to utilize. And I pray that may we never be found bearing our talent in the name of Jesus.

I pray Lord, that while we serve you, may you take care of our family's needs. May you take care of all the things that need to be taken care of. Spirit without measure, supplying according to your riches and glory. 

May we not want for anything. Father, continue to bless us in the name of Jesus. Just like the writer says, Bless us, Lord, so that we may not sin against you by stealing. But don't give us too much so we might forget who you are. 

I pray, Lord, that may contentment be part of our values and things that we uphold as statutes in our lives. For we desire to walk with purity of heart, purity of mind, purity of thoughts, and purity in spirit. 

Clean hands, pure hearts. May our feet continue to be prepared by the gospel as we light our paths through the word of God. Oh, bless our children. Bless them and bless them and bless them mightily. 

We continue to pray for healing, for we know it is our bread, children's bread. Heal every single one of us amongst us who desire the gift of healing. And we pray, Lord, that you extend it to family members.

Who desperately need this gift. We continue to lift up Mother Russell for wellness of body, wellness of soul, in the name of Jesus. As we make some things clear to her, I pray, Lord, for continued forgiveness, to walk in pure spirit, in the name of Jesus. 

Father, we continue to pray for Sarge's strength to retain full recovery in the name of Jesus. And all our aging seniors, bless them, walk with them, counsel them in the name of Jesus. 

Angel on assignment on their side, walking, guiding and protecting them from falling. And Father, I pray for wisdom for them to do all the things that continue to give them the strength they require and need to live healthy life in the name of Jesus. 

Bless marriages. Bless those who might be dealing with issues and challenges. And I pray, Lord, that may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon all of us. Continue to make us rich and add no sorrow to it. 

I pray for contentment. Now, as we go into this day, we want to continue to do your will as it is in heaven, while you continue to guide us and lead us not into temptation, but to deliver us from the evil one. 

For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever, Amen and Amen. Brothers and sisters, I want to wish you an incredible, phenomenal day. 

Walk with God, walk in expectation, walk knowing that God has given us the Spirit without measure to guide us for the rest of our days on the earth. May the Lord bless you and we'll see you back here tomorrow morning in Jesus name, Amen.