Rock Of Refuge Ministries

B2B Series Part 5: Prayer of Repentance
(Clear all the dirt and take out the trash)

📖 II Chronicles 7:14-15 NKJV
“if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.”

Introduction: Natural man default setting

Key truth:
Repentance is not our natural default setting but self justification is.

When I have done something wrong I want to explain why I did it 
It’s never about me or my choices in the situation but it’s always about what the next person did to make me do what I did

You see what you made me do?

Fact: People don’t take full responsibility for their actions 

📖 Genesis 3:12-13 NKJV
“Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” And the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.””

This is the first response of the first man and his family:
Blame God
Blame others
Blame satan 

Nothing has changed; we still follow the same pattern the only difference is that the scope of things to blame have expanded to:

Blame the weather 
Blame the government 
Blame the workers
Blame the management 
Blame my background 
Blame my parents 
Blame my children 
Blame the teacher
Blame the police 
Even blame yourself 

When we did wrong do introspection and list the facts that lead to what happened. Ask for forgiveness and repent. 

Repentance is like cleaning 🧹 your house and taking out trash. 

When we approach God in prayer we need to be repentant. 

II Chronicles 7:14 precedes the building of the temple by king Solomon. The temple was the place of prayer and worshipping God. 

God is not just setting up the temple appearance, the gold and furniture but also the heart ♥️ posture of people entering the temple. 

Key truth:
God promises to answer the prayers of His people if they come in repentance.

My people - sense of belonging 
My name - relationship with God
Humble themselves - deny me put God first
Pray - communicate with God
Seek my face - make an effort 
Turn from wickedness - repent
I will hear - God will surely hear you 
Forgive their sins - cleansing 
Heal their land - act of blessing

B2B Series Part 4: Eat The Word of God

📖  I Peter 2:1-3 NKJV
“Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”

Introduction
Key truth:
Like a baby can’t survive without milk, the church can’t survive without the Word.

B2B Series Part 3: The Seed - The Word of God

📖 Luke 8:11-15 NKJV
““Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.”

📖 Genesis 1:11-12 NKJV
“Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.”

Key truth:
From the beginning, God designed creation with the power of reproduction contained in the seed.

A seed may look small and insignificant, but within it is the potential for something much greater. As long as you have the seed, you have the potential to start again, grow, and produce fruit.

The same principle applies to the Word of God.

📖 Luke 8:11 (NKJV)
“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.”

The seed is not the problem. The question is: What happens when the seed enters our hearts?

Jesus shows us four different conditions of the heart: the wayside, the rocky ground, the thorny ground, and the good ground. The same seed is sown, but the results are different because the condition of the soil is different.

This means the power of God’s Word is not determined by the seed, it is revealed by how we receive, retain and respond to it.

We often ask, “What is God going to do in my life?” But Luke 8 challenges us to ask a deeper question:

“What am I allowing the Word of God to produce in my life?”

God’s Word contains everything necessary to transform us, establish us, and make us fruitful. But we must receive it, keep it, obey it, and allow it to take root.

  📖 Deuteronomy 28:1 NKJV
““Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.”

📖 Joshua 1:8 NKJV
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

These are some of the scriptures putting it plain that obedience to God’s Word will result in a prosperous life. 

The Word must move from our ears, into our hearts, into our actions and ultimately into our fruit.

So, in Part 3 of Back to Basics, we are going back to the seed:

The Seed is the Word of God.

The question is not whether the seed has power.

The question is: What kind of ground are we giving the seed?

B2B Series Part 2: Doers Of The Word
(The am Mirror, The Light, The Action)

📖 James 1:21-25 NKJV
“Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”

Introduction 
📖 Genesis 1:1-3 NKJV
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.”

Key truth:
The state of the earth before God spoke the Word was chaotic. What brought thing to order was The Trinity 

Darkness was in the face of the deep.
Water was covering the whole earth.
When God spoke the earth responded with movement (action)

Revelation and Insight:
This is true for us, when God speak to us the first thing that happens is light 💡. 
Light represents revelation and insight. 
However revelation and insight that has not been put to action doesn’t mean anything.

The scripture encourages us to lay aside filthiness and wickedness so that we may receive the word of God with meekness. 

In our days people would rather justify their actions than to align them with the word of God, which is the lack of faith.

1. Live by the Word

📖 James 1:22 (NKJV)
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

2. What is the next step - The Light 💡(Insight)

📖 Psalms 119:105 NKJV
“Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”

Key truth:
Life does not always come with a clear map. There are moments when we know where we want to go, but we are uncertain about the next step.

3. The Doers Build on the Rock

📖 Matthew 7:24 (NKJV)
“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock.”

Key Truth:
Jesus gives us a simple picture of what it means to build a life that can withstand the storms.
Conclusion: The Word Gives Life

📖 John 6:63–64 (NKJV)
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.”

We have been reminded that God’s Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.

We have also learned that the doers of the Word build their lives on the Rock, Jesus Christ.

THE WORD OF GOD
📖 FOUNDATION SCRIPTURE
John 1:1–5 (NKJV)
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
There are times in our Christian walk when we need to go back to the basics.
Before we pursue greater things, we need to make sure that our foundation is strong.
The Back to Basics (B2B) series is about returning to the fundamental truths of our faith—those things that should form the foundation of our relationship with our Heavenly Father.
We will come back to three foundational areas:
The Word of God — how God speaks to us.
Prayer — how we communicate with God.
Worship and Praise — how we honour and glorify His name.
Today, we begin with the foundation:
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth… Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.”
Notice the pattern:
God spoke — and something happened.
God did not create by human effort.
He spoke.
And creation responded to His Word.
John takes us back to the beginning and gives us an even deeper revelation:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
The Word was with God.
The Word was God.
And everything that was created came through Him.
Everything we see began with the Word of God.
If God created the universe through His Word, we should never underestimate what His Word can do in our lives.
God can bring:
Order where there is confusion.
Light where there is darkness.
Life where there is death.
Restoration where there is brokenness.
Hope where there is despair.
Direction where there is uncertainty.
Where have you placed your faith?
We have been speaking about faith, but faith must have the right foundation.
Our faith must be:
In God and in His Word.
You cannot separate believing in God from believing what God has spoken.
John 1 does not simply tell us that God has words.
It reveals that the Word is a Person.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…”
Jesus Christ is the Word who became flesh.
When we encounter Jesus, we encounter the revelation of God.
Jesus is not merely someone who came to tell us about God.
He is the Word of God revealed to humanity.
Therefore:
You cannot genuinely claim to believe in Jesus while deliberately rejecting His Word.
The Word reveals Christ.
Christ reveals the Father.
And the Holy Spirit helps us understand and apply the Word.