False believers are not a modern problem—they were predicted by the apostles themselves. In Jude 17–21, believers are warned that scoffers, divisive voices, and spiritually empty people would arise to dilute the power of the Body of Christ from within. Rather than panic — rather than retreat, Jude gives us a clear winning response: build yourself up on your most holy faith through prayer, by praying in the Holy Spirit. In this Light on Life teaching, we uncover God’s vision for prayer in your life. Acting on it, will build you up and strengthen your faith. This ‘inside your spirit strength’ will keep you from being weakened by outside deception. Built as a mighty strong structure on the unmovable foundation of Jesus, is your destiny. Why Ironclad Prayer Is God’s Vision for Terrific Life, that’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

This Week: Discover why prayer in the Holy Spirit is God’s strategy for building unshakable faith in deceptive times.

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Accept the Challenge

Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put into operation.
This weeks call is:

Build. Pray. Stand.

This week: Make prayer a daily construction project—not a reaction to crisis. Set aside intentional time this week to pray in the Holy Spirit, asking God to draw out the plan He placed inside you.

Remember this: Spiritual strength is built over time. Show up and let God build you.

Join the Conversation

Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony. Testimony is vital to a believers life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11).
This week’s question is:

Question:  What does “building yourself up” through prayer look like in your daily life?

Share: Is prayer currently reactive or intentional for you?

Remember: Growth doesn’t come from one moment—it comes from faithful consistency.

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 49 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 44 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Podcast Notes:

• Well, again welcome.
• Let’s pray.

Father God, as we jump into a new year, we know that you are the same unchanging God that you have always been. Help us today. We need your help. Grant unto us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of you. Let the eyes of our hearts be enlightened that we might know the hope of your calling and the riches of the glory of your inheritance in the saints and what is the exceeding greatness of your power to us who believe. We ask you for this today and everyday in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

There Are Those Who Have An Agenda Against Jesus

Jude 17–21 (ESV) — 17 But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” 19 It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.

• In the light of all the descriptors that Jude gives us about false Jesus followers — you know people who have an agenda against Jesus — who say they know God but, in fact, they don’t, Jude starts out verse seventeen with a ‘but.’
• So, we have all these heavy-duty, heavy-weight signs, traits, characteristics, identifying marks, — line after line — verse after verse and now Jude pulls up and says.

But, you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ

• So Jude, after all verse upon verse of scathing remarks about false teachers, says to his readers that these remarks should be nothing new to you.
• The apostles of Jesus Christ predicted that in the last time, these things would take place.
• The Greek word ‘predicted’ is the Greek word ‘rhema’ which means spoken word.
• So, the apostles of Jesus were giving out warnings about false prophets, false teachers, and false believers.
• It wasn’t just Jude.
• So in the mouth of two or three witness is every word established.
• That’s Second Corinthians 13:1.
• So, there are those who have an agenda against Jesus.
• We know that now.

God’s Prayer Vision Plan for Building Yourself Up Against False Brethren

• We know that trying to infiltrate the Body of Christ via false brethren is a tactic of Satan.
• Satan wants to destroy from within.
• He knows he is no match for Jesus.
• So, Satan tries to worm his way into the body of Christ and weaken it from within.
• Get this: Worm and weaken is Satan’s way.
• Now that we know that, what’s next?
• What is a Jesus followers response?
• We have already heard Jude tells us in verse three that we are to respond by contending strenuously in defense of the faith.
• Verse twenty, gives us a second way are to respond.

Jude 20 (ESV) — But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.

• Let’s talk about responding by building ourself up through the action of praying.
• We must capture a vision for our prayer lives.

The Dynamics of Prayer Vision: What Is It?

• Let’s remind ourselves about what vision is.
• God’s plan is God’s vision.
• On December 21, 2024, the Lord said to me, “During the month of January teach on vision and do it every year.”
• So, God has a plan for your life.
• He has a vision for your life.
• These are one and the same.
• In Acts twenty-six, Paul is standing trial before King Agrippa.
• He says.

Acts 26:19 (ESV) — “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision…

• And with that thought, here is the Historical Background of the Day.

This King Agrippa was the great-grandson of Herod the Great, the king who sought to kill Jesus after learning of his birth from the wise men.

• Paul is standing before Agrippa, who is just one of a string of government officials as Paul is trying to gain his freedom from the false accusations of the Jewish religious leaders.
• These Jewish religious leaders were trying to shut Paul down and they tried to use the Roman court system to do it.
• And, so Paul talks to King Agrippa about the vision that he had on the road to Damascus.
• The Damascus Road vision was his vision for his life.

Acts 9:15–16 (ESV) — 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”

• So Paul’s vision was to reach the Gentiles something totally disagreeable to the Jewish view of the world.
• Paul said, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.”
• The Greek word for ‘vision’ used here means a supernatural seeing.
• In the world of men we often say ‘Get a vision for your life.’
• Basically, vision means to see.
• Now, this is a ‘seeing’ that comes from God.
• It’s a seeing found or generated by his Word.
• It’s not something you make up.
• Now vision must be discovered.
• It starts out as hidden.
• God hid it in you and for you.
• ‘In you’ means in your heart.
• God designed humans to operate from their heart.
• The Lord placed a vision for your life in your heart.
• And, He did it when He formed your days.
• Your spirit man is command central for your life.
• It’s where God talks to you and directs you.
• You were wired to live life out of your heart.
• That is, from the inside out.
• Your ‘why,’ — your reason for living — the prayer vision for your life is inside of you.
• That’s where God deposited it.
• It’s in you not outside of you.
• Let me show you that fact.

God’s Prayer Vision Created In You

Psalm 139:13–18 (ESV) — 13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.

• Twice in this passage we just read, the word ‘formed’ is used.
• Verse thirteen said, you ‘formed’ my inward parts.
• Then verse sixteen says, we have the phrase, days that were ‘formed’ for me.
• So, you see the words ‘formed’ are used in Psalms 139:13 and Psalms 139:16, they are not the same Hebrew words.
• Verse thirteen David said of the Lord, you ‘formed’ my inward parts.
• The inward parts refers to the spirit of man.
• We know that man is spirit, soul, and body from 1 Thessalonians 5:23.
• God formed your spirit.
• This Hebrew word ‘formed’ in verse Psalms 139:13 means to create, erect, or bring into existence.
• God created your spirit — He brought your spirit into existence.
• The next use of the word ‘formed’ is in Psalm 139:16.
• There the Hebrew word ‘formed’ means to be planned.
• “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me or planned for me, when as yet there was none of them.”
• Putting this together — God created your spirit man and then He created the days in which your spirit Man would operate.
• So, God planning your days means that God has a plan for those days.
• It’s in you.
• Whether you walk in it or not — it is in you.
• God has a plan for your days.
• He fashioned you, created you and, turned you loose for this particular season of time.
• And He turned you loose with a plan.
• That plan is a good plan — it’s the best plan.

Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV) — 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

• God was speaking to Israel here but since we read the one-hundred-thirty-ninth Psalm, we know that he is also talking to us.
• Now, move over four chapters from Jeremiah twenty-nine to Jeremiah thirty-three.

Jeremiah 33:2–3 (ESV) — 2 “Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it—the LORD is his name: 3 Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.

• So, you were created and placed within a season of time for a season of time.
• Some of the ‘why’ you were created is ‘hidden’ in you.
• The Hebrew word ‘hidden’ means inaccessible, or not capable of being reached or grasped.
• The plan God for you is ‘hidden’ in you.
• It is inaccessible to your mind.
• God’s vision for your life is inaccessible to the internet.
• Your vision, should you choose to accept it, is to draw out of you what’s been in hidden you.
• Remember, that it is ‘hidden’ in you not from you.
• Why would God put it and then not want you to know — it makes no sense.
• The Holy Spirit is in you to help you draw it out of your spirit so that you can walk in it.
• It takes prayer to do that.
• We’re giving you a vision for your prayer life.
• So, first you know it — second, you must obey it.
• What good is it for you to know it if you won’t do it?
• That’s what Paul said: “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.”

A Prayer Vision for Building Yourself Up

• With that being said, let’s jump back into the book of Jude, specifically verse twenty.

Jude 20–21 (ESV) — 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.

• We are going to lay out a vision for your prayer life.
• We need to ‘see’ or have vision for what’s possible in the prayer life.
• The first thing you should see is that praying in the Holy Spirit is building up yourself.
• Jude said, we are to “build yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit.”
• So let’s talk about what building yourself up means and, with that thought, here is the Definition of the Day.
• The Greek word ‘building’ means to construct.
• It means to make nearer to fullness or completion; conceived of constructing something further.
• Building yourself up is constructing yourself.
• Think of yourself as an edifice too be built.

A Prayer Vision Building Yourself Up Illustration

• And with that thought, here is the Illustration of the Day.

When a building is constructed, the foundation is poured once. You do not re-pour the foundation every year. But here’s what many people don’t realize: buildings are reinforced after the foundation is set. Engineers design shear walls, steel bracing, and reinforced columns and beams to increase load-bearing capacity. Why? Because as a building rises, the weight increases, and the stress multiplies. Wind forces must be accounted for. Ground shifting must be in the plan.

• A structure that was stable at three stories won’t survive at ten stories unless it is built up.
• Jude didn’t say, “Lay another foundation.”
• He said: “Build yourselves up on your most holy faith.”
• Jesus is the foundation, you can’t make the foundation any better.
• What you can make better is building yourself up.

Ephesians 2:19–22 (ESV) — 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Building Yourself by Acing on Your Prayer Vision Is Progressional

• Did you hear the words ‘built’ and ‘grows?’
• The word ‘built’ here in Ephesians two and verse twenty is the same word ‘building’ in Jude twenty.
• The word is a verb in the present and active tense meaning the action of building is in progress.
• It’s building — it’s ongoing.
• In other words, ‘building yourself up’ is a progressional thing as you pray in the Holy Spirit.
• Progress will be made as you pray.
• The Body of Christ will progress as you pray.
• You, as an individual member of the Body of Christ will progress as you pray.
• Can I tell you that many Jesus followers have a concept of spiritual growth that hinges primarily not on them praying but on them just going to church.

Being Built Up Is Not Just Going to Church

• That concept does not work.
• You cannot build yourself up on your Most Holy faith going to church.
• That’s not what the scripture says here.
• Now, I believe in going to church.
• I believe that believers need to be under authority.
• We must remember that church is God’s idea.
• Now some people have abandoned the idea of going to church.
• Just a side note here, that’s not the best thing for your life.
• Every believer should have a pastor.
• Pastors are God’s idea and they are God’s gift to you.

Ephesians 4:11–12 (ESV) — 11 And he [Jesus] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

• Are you devaluing the gift God gave you?
• Everybody needs a pastor — everybody needs the encouragement that comes from the pastoral office.
• You should be in church to get that.
• I’m not taking about online church — I’m talking about being physically in the building with other believers.
• There are several problems with Internet Church.
• One of those problems is distraction.
• There is already plenty of distraction on Planet Earth as it is.
• Now, there are others reasons why online church is not God’s best.
• We won’t go into that here.
• The point we are trying to make here is that just the simple function of going to church that will not build you up on your Most holy faith.
• There are some people who have gone to church for years and are not built up.
• They have a cycle of continuous going without continuous growing.

A Prayer Vision for Building Yourself Up Involves Continuous Doing

• Here’s the truth: we don’t become more like Jesus just by going.
• We become more like Jesus by doing.
• You don’t grow by going — you grow by doing.
• And, the the ‘doing part’ must be a continuous doing.
• Try the concept of ‘everyday.’
• The secret of building yourself up on your most holy faith, is found in your daily routine.
• It’s what a person does consistently that makes for progress.
• So what happens to people who just go to church only, who don’t consistently read their Bibles, who don’t consistently act on the Bible and is that they go but they don’t grow.
• This phenomenon of ‘going but not growing’ occurs in all kinds of church meetings.
• We hear God’s Word in these meetings — in these gatherings — we say ‘Amen’ but we don’t do.
• We getting challenged and motivated in these meetings — but we don’t grow because we don’t do.
• The secret of your success is in your doing the Word.
• It’s not the church event that you attended that produces growth.
• It’s what you do the day after the event and the day after that.
• What you do today and what you do everyday is who you will become tomorrow.
• The secret of your success is in your daily routine.
• Do you have a daily routine for praying?
• Do you have a daily routine for building yourself up?
• Do you have a daily routine for learning about God?
• Successful spiritual people are life-long learners.
• Successful people in the spiritual life are life-long adjusters.
• That is, they see where they detoured off the road and they get back on the highway.
• So, here’s a vision for your prayer life: build yourself up by praying consistently.
• Get a little better at praying everyday.
• Long-term consistency is better than short-term intensity¹
• Steady deliberate praying produces.
• Show up at the Throne everyday and watch what happens to your spiritual development.
• Dedication is devotion.
• Devotion develops.
• Patience and persistence produces.
• Consistency leads to Christlikeness and big things for the Kingdom of God.
• You learn praying by praying — by doing it — and doing it and doing it.
• Not all at one time but over time, your faith will be built up.

Recapping A Prayer Vision for Your Life

• So what do we have so far today?
• False believers exist within the church.
• They have an agenda against Jesus, not allegiance to Him.
• There was a ‘rhema’ word given to believers by the apostles for this.
• And so the concept of Satan trying to infiltrate the Body of Christ and attempting to dilute the dynamic power of God is not new.
• God’s winning counterstrategy is to contend earnestly for the faith and to build yourselves up by praying in the Holy Spirit.
• So, we know God has a plan for our life that was placed for you — inside of you.
• That hidden plan can be drawn up out of your spirit by prayer — by having a conversation with God.
• Once you see and know the plan, you must not be disobedient to it.
• We also understood now that “building yourself up” is an ongoing construction project.

Faith and Prayer’s Connection

• Now one, thing I want to address is this point that I’ve made about faith and prayer, many times in the past.
• And, with that thought, here is the Quote of the Day.
• Here’s the quote.

Faith makes prayer work — prayer does not make faith work.

• Now, the vision scripture that we have homed in on is ‘building yourself up on your most holy faith praying in the Holy Ghost.’
• It almost seems like this negates the quote I just gave you.
• But, it doesn’t.
• Faith makes prayer work — prayer does not make faith work.
• You must have faith to pray in the Holy Ghost.
• How to pray in the Holy Ghost and why it takes faith generated by the Word of God will be part of what we talk about in an upcoming episode.

A Call to Action for Having a Prayer Vision

• So now that we have a bit of insight into having a vision of prayer for your life, how can we put the Word of God into action?
• Develop a routine for prayer.
• Listen to this close — don’t make prayer routine — make a routine FOR prayer.
• That is, give prayer place and space in your life.
• That’s a decision that you make and once you make it, keep your word.
• This will set you on a path to growth and the path will help you become strong to not be swayed by the purveyors of falsehood.
• So, try this on for size.
• First, give conversations with God it’s place in your life.
• Don’t just pray because you have some kind of emergency.
• Treat prayer as a building process and as part of fulfilling God’s plan for your life.
• Pray about the plan for your life.
• Pray about God’s plan for the moment.
• Ask yourself: when was the last time I prayed on purpose and not just in reaction to something?
• Second: Don’t do this once in awhile.
• Make prayer a thing in your life.
• You know one secret of success is to keep the main thing, the main thing.
• This will help you grow and build yourself up.
• Growth comes from day-to-day consistency.
• Decide when you will pray — and protect that time.
• It’s important to start where you are.
• If it’s only ten minutes, fine start with that but stay consistent.
• When you have more space, give more space.
• Third: Be intentional about the God’s plan for your life.
• It is in you and for you.
• Talk to God about it.
• Start praying, “Lord, draw out what You have placed in me.”

Now, Father God, thank you for Jesus, thank for your plan for my life. I so want to get to know you and to work the plan that you have placed in me out of me. Help me to grow. Help me to build myself up by praying in the Holy Ghost.

• So, we’ll talk some more about having a prayer vision for your life and some things you can do to build and function in that life in upcoming podcasts during the month of January.
• If this podcast helped you, share it with someone else.
• This podcast and others are found at emeryhorvath.com.
• Why Ironclad Prayer Is God’s Vision for Terrific Life.
• You guys have a great God week and we will see you next time for another edition of Light on Life.

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