[00:00:03] Welcome back to the Prayer Is Breathing podcast.
[00:00:09] My name is Latoya, I want to thank you for tuning in and today I'm going to talk to you
[00:00:15] about a very powerful message that has the ability to transform your life truly from
[00:00:22] the inside out.
[00:00:24] And so we are in 2024, God is doing a new thing and it is so important that we are
[00:00:31] in the Word of God like never before, but it's all so important that we are holding on to
[00:00:38] our faith, that we are not allowing the enemy to come in with the evil sin of unbelief.
[00:00:46] That's right, it's evil, it's sin and we're going to talk about three ways to uproot
[00:00:52] unbelief from your life.
[00:00:55] Okay?
[00:00:56] And the Bible tells us so much about unbelief.
[00:00:59] There's so many warnings that we see about unbelief, but we can overcome it.
[00:01:05] We have to hold on to the Word of the Lord and we have to stand in the promises of God.
[00:01:13] Okay?
[00:01:14] And so one verse that is super powerful when it comes to unbelief is Hebrews chapter 3
[00:01:20] verse 19 and it says, so we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
[00:01:27] And this passage is talking about the children of Israel.
[00:01:31] So I just want to go up a few verses earlier and read this passage, Hebrews chapter 3 starting
[00:01:37] with verse 16, for who having heard rebelled indeed was it not all who came out of Egypt
[00:01:45] led by Moses?
[00:01:46] Now with whom was he angry?
[00:01:48] 40 years, was it not with those who sinned whose corpses fell in the wilderness?
[00:01:54] To whom did he swear that they could not enter into his rest, but to those who did not obey?
[00:02:01] So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
[00:02:06] Let me tell you that you have come too far to not enter into the promises of God due
[00:02:12] to unbelief.
[00:02:14] And so the children of Israel, obviously they were in the wilderness.
[00:02:18] They were wandering.
[00:02:19] They were disobedient.
[00:02:20] They were complaining all the things, but we see that they could not enter in because of
[00:02:28] unbelief.
[00:02:29] And so you really have to take unbelief so seriously and be determined to uproot it
[00:02:36] from your life.
[00:02:38] I'm going to share with you three ways to uproot unbelief.
[00:02:44] Now it's really hard to talk about unbelief without mentioning Zacharias.
[00:02:50] He is one of the most powerful stories that we see in the New Testament when it comes to
[00:02:56] unbelief.
[00:02:57] And if you know me, you know that I have talked about this story.
[00:03:01] It's also in my book Before The Promise available on Amazon and you can look at Before
[00:03:06] The Promise by Latoya Bryant.
[00:03:09] And really I have a whole chapter on battling unbelief that talks about this very passage
[00:03:15] that I'm going to share with you today and pull out three different ways that we can learn
[00:03:22] from Zacharias and uproot unbelief from our lives.
[00:03:27] Okay?
[00:03:28] And so we're going to look at Luke chapter one where the angel Gabriel visits Zacharias
[00:03:34] and begins to tell him that he is going to have a son.
[00:03:38] And as you know, they were both righteous, blameless before God, Zacharias and
[00:03:44] his wife Elizabeth.
[00:03:45] And they have been praying for a very, very long time.
[00:03:49] And I want to jump right in and tell you that the first way to uproot unbelief from your
[00:03:54] life is to not limit God by time.
[00:03:59] If you are a person where you've been praying for 20 years, you've been praying for five
[00:04:04] years or 10 years, you cannot allow that timeframe to cause you to go into the sin
[00:04:12] of unbelief.
[00:04:13] And so Zacharias have been praying a really, really long time.
[00:04:17] Him and his wife, but she was barren.
[00:04:20] And so it's easy to start to doubt God when there's been a long time in the process of
[00:04:26] your answered prayers.
[00:04:28] But you have to understand that God is not limited to our timeframe.
[00:04:33] And even when it takes forever, God will still do what he says he will do.
[00:04:38] Hallelujah.
[00:04:39] And so let's read starting with verse five.
[00:04:42] There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias of
[00:04:48] the division of Abidja.
[00:04:50] His wife was of the daughters of Aaron and her name was Elizabeth.
[00:04:54] And they were both righteous before God walking in all the commandments and ordinances
[00:05:00] of the Lord blameless.
[00:05:02] But they had no child because Elizabeth was barren and they were both well advanced
[00:05:08] in years.
[00:05:09] So it was that while he was serving as a priest before God in the order of his division, according
[00:05:15] to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple
[00:05:20] of the Lord.
[00:05:21] And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense.
[00:05:27] Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him standing on the right side of the altar
[00:05:32] of incense.
[00:05:33] And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled and fear fell upon him.
[00:05:38] But the angel said to him, do not be afraid Zacharias for your prayer is heard and your
[00:05:44] wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you shall call his name John.
[00:05:49] And you will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth.
[00:05:55] For he will be great in the sight of the Lord and he shall drink neither wine nor
[00:05:59] strong drink.
[00:06:00] He will also be filled hallelujah with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb.
[00:06:06] Come on.
[00:06:08] Fill with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb and he will turn many of the children
[00:06:12] of Israel to the Lord their God.
[00:06:14] He will also go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the
[00:06:19] fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready
[00:06:25] a people prepared for the Lord.
[00:06:28] Let me tell you that God is so far in the future that this angel comes and shows
[00:06:35] Zacharias prophetically everything that his son will do according to the will of
[00:06:42] God.
[00:06:43] And this is such a beautiful passage.
[00:06:45] And so not only does he tell Zacharias your prayer has been heard, but he gives
[00:06:50] him some insight into the prophetic.
[00:06:53] He gives him some insight into things that haven't even happened yet.
[00:06:57] But the angel begins to walk him through the entire life of John the
[00:07:02] Baptist and tells him his purpose.
[00:07:05] Tells him even that John the Baptist will have to abstain from wine or strong
[00:07:10] drink.
[00:07:10] And so he lays out the whole plan of God, the whole heart of God to the
[00:07:16] priest Zacharias.
[00:07:17] Talk about a prophetic word.
[00:07:19] Talk about a sovereign faithful awesome God.
[00:07:25] How beautiful the Lord is how wonderful he is how kind he is.
[00:07:29] And so that is just so beautiful to me.
[00:07:32] Just how this is so prophetic because Zacharias had not seen any of these
[00:07:36] things yet, but the gate, but the angel, Gabriel begin to prophesy these things
[00:07:41] to him and declare it and reveal to him the things that were to come.
[00:07:44] And verse 18 and Zacharias said to the angel, how shall I know this?
[00:07:48] For I am a man and I'm an old man and my wife is well advanced in years.
[00:07:55] This brings me to our second point.
[00:07:57] So the first point was not to limit God based on time.
[00:08:01] And I know that you've been waiting a long time and I know that you've
[00:08:04] been praying a long time, but you have to understand that God has not forgotten
[00:08:08] you. You have to also understand that you are not limited, that God is
[00:08:13] not limited to your timeframe.
[00:08:16] God operates in his own timing and we don't always have the answers to
[00:08:21] that, but just because it's been a long time does not give us a right
[00:08:25] to go into the sin of unbelief.
[00:08:28] The second way to uproot unbelief from your life is to walk by
[00:08:33] faith and remove logic.
[00:08:37] Yes, logic can hinder you a lot.
[00:08:40] And when it, when it comes to walking by faith, because we walk by
[00:08:44] faith, not by sight, of course, we understand Proverbs three, verse
[00:08:48] five, which says, trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not to
[00:08:51] your own understanding.
[00:08:53] And so when you're trusting in the Lord, you have to remove your
[00:08:56] own understanding and your own logic.
[00:08:59] And so according to Zacharias, he really truly had every right to
[00:09:03] think, how shall I know this for?
[00:09:06] I am an old man and my wife is well advanced in years.
[00:09:11] Okay.
[00:09:11] He was smart enough not to just say his wife was old, but he
[00:09:15] said she was well advanced in years.
[00:09:17] And then verse 19 and the angel answered and said to him, I am
[00:09:21] Gabriel who stands in the presence of God and was sent to speak
[00:09:25] to you and bring to you these glad tidings.
[00:09:28] Okay.
[00:09:29] And then verse 20 says, but behold, you will be mute and not
[00:09:32] able to speak until the day these things take place because
[00:09:36] you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in
[00:09:39] their own time.
[00:09:41] One thing I love about God is Zacharias never said, I
[00:09:44] don't believe, but God was able to judge his heart.
[00:09:48] God was able to see his heart through the angel.
[00:09:51] Gabriel, of course is speaking here, but the Lord knows our
[00:09:55] hearts and this is why Gabriel rebuked Zacharias and put him
[00:10:00] on mute because of the unbelief that was in his heart.
[00:10:04] And so if you're honest, you will take an assessment in your
[00:10:08] heart and say, God, do I really believe?
[00:10:11] And so what helps you to believe is understanding that you
[00:10:15] do not have to figure out how God is going to do it.
[00:10:19] You don't have to calculate.
[00:10:21] You don't have to figure it out.
[00:10:22] It does not have to make sense to you.
[00:10:24] All you have to do is trust in the Lord.
[00:10:27] And we see that with Mary, she said, let it be unto me
[00:10:31] according to your word.
[00:10:32] And so she didn't try to figure out all these things.
[00:10:35] Of course she had questions in her humanity, but she
[00:10:38] didn't try to figure out every way that God was going to
[00:10:42] do it.
[00:10:43] Amen.
[00:10:44] And so that's one thing that you have to really release.
[00:10:48] If you're a person that likes to have all the answers or you
[00:10:51] like to be in control, you have to release those things
[00:10:54] to God and trust that God is going to do what he said he
[00:10:59] is going to do.
[00:11:00] And he doesn't need your logic or your calculations to
[00:11:04] bring those things to pass.
[00:11:07] Hallelujah.
[00:11:08] And the third point, the third way to uproot
[00:11:11] unbelief is so simple, but you have to agree with God.
[00:11:16] That's how you uproot unbelief.
[00:11:18] If God said it, you agree with it.
[00:11:21] So let's jump down in Luke versus one Luke chapter
[00:11:24] one verse 59.
[00:11:25] So it was on the eighth day that they came to
[00:11:28] circumcise the child and they would have called him by
[00:11:32] the name of his father, Zacharias.
[00:11:35] His mother answered and said, no, he shall be
[00:11:37] called John.
[00:11:38] Now, of course this went completely against their
[00:11:41] custom and their way of living in their way of doing
[00:11:43] life. And we see that in verse 61, but they said to her,
[00:11:47] there is no one among your relatives who was called
[00:11:51] by this name.
[00:11:52] So they made signs to his father what he would have
[00:11:56] him called.
[00:11:57] And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote saying
[00:12:00] his name is John.
[00:12:02] So they all marveled in love.
[00:12:04] Verse 64.
[00:12:06] It says immediately his mouth was opened and his
[00:12:09] tongue loosed and he spoke praising God.
[00:12:13] Then fear came on all who dwelt around them.
[00:12:16] And then all these sayings were discussed throughout
[00:12:19] all the hill of the country of Judea.
[00:12:21] And all those who heard them kept they kept them
[00:12:25] in their hearts saying, what kind of child will
[00:12:28] this be?
[00:12:29] And the hand hallelujah, the hand of the Lord
[00:12:32] was with him.
[00:12:34] And so the third way that you uproot
[00:12:36] unbelief is you agree with God.
[00:12:39] If God said it, you don't doubt, you don't second
[00:12:42] guess. And so Zacharias after he had been muted
[00:12:45] all this time, he was muted, y'all, from the
[00:12:48] time that Gabriel showed up and told him, you'll
[00:12:50] be muted until this child's birth.
[00:12:53] And then we have eight days after this child's
[00:12:55] birth where the child, John the Baptist, was
[00:12:58] going to be circumcised.
[00:13:00] So he had all that amount of time that he
[00:13:02] was mute. But then he decided to come into
[00:13:05] agreement with God.
[00:13:08] And you have to make a decision that you're
[00:13:11] going to agree with God, no matter how it
[00:13:14] looks, no matter if it's not been done before,
[00:13:18] because nobody had he was saying nobody in
[00:13:21] your family's name is John.
[00:13:22] And it doesn't matter because when God is doing
[00:13:24] a new thing, you have to come into agreement
[00:13:28] with what God has spoken.
[00:13:30] And so I want to encourage you to take
[00:13:32] this message very seriously and to uproot
[00:13:35] unbelief out of your life, because without
[00:13:37] faith it is impossible to please God.
[00:13:40] And we have to believe that God is who he
[00:13:42] says that he is and that he will do what
[00:13:45] he says he will do.
[00:13:48] I want to say a prayer for you today.
[00:13:50] God, I just pray for every person that is
[00:13:52] listening to this message.
[00:13:54] I pray that you would bind up the strong
[00:13:57] man of unbelief, God, that we will enter
[00:13:59] into your promises, that we will stand
[00:14:02] on the word of God, that we will
[00:14:04] understand that you are sovereign,
[00:14:06] you are not limited to time.
[00:14:08] And so God, we break off the sin and
[00:14:10] we repent for the sin of unbelief.
[00:14:14] Oh God, that we will believe you, that
[00:14:16] with you all things are possible to
[00:14:19] them who believes.
[00:14:21] And so God, we thank you for the
[00:14:22] conviction of the Holy Spirit.
[00:14:24] We thank you, oh God, for the ability
[00:14:26] to uproot the sin of unbelief and
[00:14:28] to walk by faith pleasing you,
[00:14:31] oh God, pleasing you with our faith
[00:14:33] because we know that you will do what
[00:14:36] you said you will do.
[00:14:37] And so Lord, we love you, we honor
[00:14:39] you, we glorify you, we magnify
[00:14:41] your name in Jesus' name, amen.
[00:14:44] And if you're listening to this podcast
[00:14:46] and you have not given your life
[00:14:48] to the Lord Jesus Christ, I just
[00:14:50] want to encourage you to do that,
[00:14:52] to invite Jesus into your heart,
[00:14:54] to allow him to come in to wash
[00:14:56] you, to cleanse you from your sins
[00:14:59] that you would just be made new
[00:15:02] and forgiven and repent of your sins
[00:15:05] and turn your life, your heart,
[00:15:07] your soul, your mind over to the
[00:15:09] Lord Jesus Christ and allow him to
[00:15:12] come in and to make you new
[00:15:13] and to make you whole and that
[00:15:16] you would be born again.
[00:15:18] Hallelujah.
[00:15:19] And so thank you today for listening.
[00:15:22] I pray that you tune in next week.
[00:15:23] If you have any prayer requests,
[00:15:25] you can send those prayer requests
[00:15:26] to prayerisbreathingatgmail.com
[00:15:29] and we look forward to answering
[00:15:31] your prayer requests.
[00:15:33] Also women every Monday night,
[00:15:34] I host the Bible study via Zoom
[00:15:37] at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
[00:15:39] You can register on eventbrite.com
[00:15:42] and that is called the equipping
[00:15:44] Women's Bible Study.
[00:15:46] So we would love for you to be
[00:15:47] apart and get involved.
[00:15:49] God bless you and have a
[00:15:50] blessed victorious week.