There is only one way to walk consistently in the power of God, and that is focus.  What a man beholds, he sees that thing, and it is magnified in his imagination.

If a man set gaze upon it, he can possess it, though it is costly.

Consider the following:

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Matthew 7:7

Other version tranlate “ask” as, “ask and keep on asking”.  But the immediate point is the same, it will be given.  Consider even Jesus’ parable about the friend’s house (Luke 11:1-11) or the unjust judge (Luke 18:1-8).  It was not the right standing that either of them had that got them what they were looking for, it was simply their relentlessness.  Jesus even goes so far in Luke 11 to say that the man would NOT get up because he was his friend, but would answer simply because the man wouldn’t stop!  He was his friend, but that wasn’t the reason for the answer.  It was simply the continual knocking.  If even a man would do that, then so much more would God!  God is NOT an unjust judge as in Luke 18, but IF EVEN an unjust judge would, so much more will the Father when we ask.

We despise in Western culture things that make a scene, things that disrupt, things that cannot be emotionally contained.  These actually come to Jesus as faith.

The determination to push through a crowd to touch Him.  The tenacity to climb a tree to see Him.  The boldness to stand up and respond wisely to being called a dog.  The ability to recognize authority, a Roman’s own unworthiness, and yet still come because of need.

These go beyond what the mind can control.  These go beyond what is possible to drum up in the intellect and the soul.  A cry within was stirred, like that of a father named Jairus when he needed his daughter to not die.

When all logic is gone, and everything else that can stand falls, and there is still that cry within that will not let go, you will win if you keep on asking.

When there is a theme in your heart, a passionate cry for something that defies your very spirit, and you are pricked with a passion you CANNOT contain, then you WILL not be stopped until heaven responds, even unto death.  This is the focus of the cross, and this is the prayer of focus that heaven always hears, one way or another.

It takes faith to hope beyond all hope, like Abraham did.  It takes the substance of the thing on the inside.  It takes tenacity to keep pressing in, even when every demonic voice is screaming at your brain telling you to back off.  The warfare, the spikes and the needles going through your body, can be very imposing.

Yet, Jesus promises us that He will prevail.  He will answer, if only we keep on asking.  Ask, and keep on asking, knock and keep on knocking, seek, and keep on seeking, and you will find it.

Many people can run with the footmen on the open plain..  But, if they tire you, how will you ever keep up with the horsemen in the thickets by the Jordan (Jeremiah 12:5)?

But at the end of your strength, you meet his, and at the place of desparation, there is a Kingdom waiting.

Fight until you cannot fight anymore, and then take one more step…  What have you got to lose?  Every time, Jesus has always come through.

Faith is spelled faithfulness, and Integrity is only based on its first letter.  I will bless the Lord at all times.  I will praise Him.  I will seek Him in His holy dwelling.  I will honor Him with my whole heart.  Bless the Lord, Oh my Soul, and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name

They overcame by the blood of the lamb, the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives even unto death.

Revelation 12:11

It was all three parts of this verse that they overcame by.  If you are living for anything less, you may reach your destination, but your way is not as secure.

We live for nothing but His presence.  We hearken to nothing but His Word.  He is able to deliver and sustain us, and He is the one that is faithful even unto death.  Though we walk through the valley, we will fear no evil, for He *IS* with us.

The walk in the Holy Ghost is a steady, continual growth of trust, love, and consistent faithfulness.

Psalm 116 says that precious in His sight is the death of His saints.  Until America loses the “Your best life now” notion in the church, and adopts the “Only His life now” attitude, I can see little progress against the darkness.  Gains will be made, and more prayer movements are better, but it is when men and women begin to once again count the full cost of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and pay it, that we will see America turn back to God.  Not before.

And the lie that comes against this is straight from hell’s original playbook:  “But God wants better for you” or worse “But God’s keeping you from the best part” (see Genesis 3).

Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven was like a treasure hidden in a field, that when a man found it, he hid it again, and FOR JOY, went, sold all he had, and bought that field (Matthew 13:44).

Or, perhaps look at this concept in the light of another parable of Jesus…

But He said to him, A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many;  and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’  But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.’  Another one said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.’  Another one said, ‘I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’  And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’  And the slave said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’  And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled.  ‘For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.’

Luke 14:16-24

The various excuses included “I’ve just bought land”, “I’ve just bought oxen”, and “I’ve just gotten married”.

Now compare this with another passage from the Old Testament, Dueteronomy 20:5-9, in the instructions on going to war.

The officers shall say to the army: “Has anyone built a new house and not dedicated it? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else may dedicate it.Has anyone planted a vineyard and not begun to enjoy it? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else enjoy it. Has anyone become pledged to a woman and not married her? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else marry her.” Then the officers shall add, “Is any man afraid or fainthearted? Let him go home so that his brothers will not become disheartened too.” When the officers have finished speaking to the army, they shall appoint commanders over it.

Deuteronomy 20:5-9

The loving-kindness of God is demonstrated wonderfully here in Israel’s instructions for times of war.  God cared if someone had just bought land, and wouldn’t be able to use it.  Or just got married, and wouldn’t be able to enjoy life with his wife.  But, the Kingdom is something different.  It supersedes all other realities.  It is better than any other thing of any human origin, anything of the Earthly life, and transcends it.  In this saying, Jesus confirms what He spoke concerning John the Baptist, saying he was the greatest ever born of a woman, but the least in the Kingdom was greater than him.  John turned an entire nation back to God in repentance single-handedly, yet in the Kingdom, even the least in the Kingdom, even those sin and teach others to sin but are still in the Kingdom and who proudly promote themselves, they are greater than John the Baptist.

I admire John in his position as the one to introduce Messiah, and his austerities, yet what he did does not even constitute the floor of where I desire to go in the Spirit.  For, Jesus is my chief cornerstone, and John was not worthy to untie His sandal.  And, while I am not, in myself, worth either, I chose to believe the report of the Lord, and trust His word that says He has qualified me and made clean.

My vision is Jesus, His Kingdom, and not another.  My pathway is His blood, and His Word.  My life is His life, and cannot be altered.  His judgement is sure, and in this I am secured.

His love is my sure portion, and His faithfulness is my shield.  I shall not be moved, nor shaken, nor hindered.  For surely, nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few (1 Samuel 14:6).