Summary: A prayer sermon addressing our God in the form of a consuming fire

Our God, A Consuming Fire

Isaiah 61 (New King James Version)

1 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,

Because the LORD has anointed Me

To preach good tidings to the poor;

He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to the captives,

And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,

And the day of vengeance of our God;

To comfort all who mourn,

3 To console those who mourn in Zion,

To give them beauty for ashes,

The oil of joy for mourning,

The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;

That they may be called trees of righteousness,

The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”

Basically YOU are here reading this message today for Jesus to set you free from various demeaning and negative situations. What I always tell any congregation where I am blessed to minister is that if you see the move and the power of God in the meeting then do not hesitate to link yourself to Him quickly. The Lord has sent His power for those who see to believe and accept Him. It is also for those who feel for one reason or another that they have disconnected from His presence to come back quickly. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power. So as we pray and look at God’s word His power will flow.

Why do you not go ahead and worship Him with these songs for a few minutes before you start to pray.

• He’s alive, Amen…..

• That wonderful name, Jesus, there is no other name I know.

• His name is higher than any other name, His name is Jesus, His name is Lord.

• The name, the name of Jesus, is greater and higher than all names, it is not an ordinary name, is the name that’s full of power and praise.

• How excellent is your name O Lord

The scriptures below demonstrate that our God is a consuming fire.

Exodus 24:17

The sight of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel.

Deuteronomy 4:24

For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Deuteronomy 9:3

Therefore understand today that the LORD your God is He who goes over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and bring them down before you; so you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the LORD has said to you.

Hebrews 12:29

For our God is a consuming fire.

Today we are here to study and use the consuming fire of God to address various issues in our lives and situations.

Prayers;

• Every situation of Jezebel threatening to destroy me, die in my place, in the name of Jesus.

• Every situation of Hamman threatening to hang me, be hanged instead in Jesus name.

• Every strange god, claiming me from my place of birth be consumed by fire in Jesus name.

• I receive fire to overcome my Goliath today in Jesus name.

• Every Sickness designed to destroy my body, be consumed by fire in Jesus name.

One way in which the Holy Spirit manifests Himself at times is fire. In fact, the last time that

the Holy Spirit appears visibly in Scripture is as “seven lamps of fire . . . burning before the

throne . . . of God.” Revelation 4:5

(And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.)

In Hebrew 12:29 the writer of Hebrews makes a simple, but profound, statement: 5“Our God is a consuming fire.” He does not say that God is like a fire, but that God is a fire. For this reason, “we must

serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.” Not slavish fear, but “the fear of the LORD, [which] is clean, enduring forever.”

The writer of Hebrews is not speaking of God the Father, or of God the Son, but of God the Holy Spirit. He actually is a fire—a consuming fire.

At various points in the history of Israel the Holy Spirit came down among the people as a fire. In the tabernacle in the wilderness, when Aaron had offered all the appointed sacrifices, fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.

In Solomon’s case, when Solomon had finished praying at the dedication of his temple, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD’S house.

Later, in a time of apostasy, when the LORD responded to Elijah’s prayer on Mount Carmel, the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!” Each time the fire came down and the people fell on their faces, they were not simply moved by a spiritual manifestation. They were responding to the presence of God—God the Holy Spirit—who had come down among them as a consuming fire. In His presence they were physically incapable of standing.

Pray like this;

• Lord, Let every sacrifice I have ever made in your kingdom, be consumed by fire.

• O Lord that answereth by fire, consume me with your fire in Jesus name.

To Purify or to Destroy?

But there are two opposite sides to fire. Fire can be beneficial, but also dangerous. Fire can purify, but also destroy. So it is with the fire of the Holy Spirit. He can minister God’s blessing and favor on those who are obedient. But He can also minister God’s wrath and judgment on those who are presumptuous and self-willed.

You will pray like this;

• Let the fire of the Holy Ghost heap blessings on my destiny this morning in Jesus name.

• Wherever the train of my destiny has been derailed, adjust by Fire in Jesus name.

• Every power and personality sitting on the manifestation of my glory, be consumed by fire in Jesus name.

• O Lord justify your calling over my life with your consuming fire.

• Let all those who are questioning my calling be shamed because you have helped me.

• Every impurity of foundational bondage threatening my existence, be consumed by fire in Jesus name.

• Lord, overhaul the engine of my very existence by Your fire, in the name of Jesus.

Leviticus 10:1-3. 1 Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command. 2 So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. 3 Moses then said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD spoke of when he said:

" ’Among those who approach me

I will show myself holy;

in the sight of all the people

I will be honored.’ "

Aaron remained silent. In Leviticus we see the account of the fire that fell on Aaron’s sacrifice in the tabernacle, the

record continues:

1 Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it,

put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the LORD, which He had not

commanded them. 2. So fire went out from the LORD and devoured them, and they

died before the LORD.

What a solemn lesson! The same fire that brought God’s blessing on Aaron’s sacrifice offered

in obedience brought instant death to his two sons when they went into God’s presence with

“profane [unholy] fire.”

Prayers;

• Strange fires emanating from my neighbourhood, die now in Jesus name.

• Powers of discouragement, wither and dry up now, in the name of Jesus.

• Powers of failure discomfiting me, be consumed now, in the name of Jesus.

• Powers of disappointment, be consumed by fire now, in the name of Jesus.

Prayers; Let’s pray for your ministry/calling/assignment now!

• Every strange fire, targeting the success of this ministry/calling/assignment, be consumed by Holy Ghost fire.

• The altar of strange fire confusing the helpers of this ministry/calling/assignment, be extinguished now in Jesus name.