Participants: John Lomacang
Series Code: ASHF
Program Code: ASHF000030
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00:20 Hello, friends, welcome to our another Wednesday Night,
00:23 A Sharper Focus Study. 00:24 We thank you for tuning in tonight 00:26 for a very vitally important topic, 00:28 it's about communicating. 00:30 And we'll make it more specific in just a few moments. 00:33 But if you wanna be stronger in your communication 00:36 with your fellowman and with the Lord 00:38 this program is definitely one you wanna tune in for 00:42 and stay tuned in. 00:44 We're gonna be talking about prayer, 00:45 the importance of prayer, and necessity of prayer, 00:48 the power of prayer, how power, how prayer changes our lives 00:51 and strengthen our lives. 00:52 And if you want a copy of the lesson 00:54 to follow us with, 00:55 go to asf.3abn.org. 00:59 Don't put www. 01:01 And download lesson number 10, the Power of Prayer. 01:06 And so for the next hour, so stay tuned with us 01:09 so that we can walk through the Word of God together. 01:12 But before we do anything, we'd like to invite 01:14 the Lord's presence to continue with us. 01:16 So let's pray. 01:18 Our Father in heaven, we thank You so much, 01:19 Lord, for Your presence here tonight. 01:23 We thank You that You will guide us and direct us 01:25 that Your heart will be pulsating with a desire, Lord, 01:30 to draw us closer to You 01:31 and we know that is the truth. 01:33 But, Lord, may our hearts also join with Yours 01:35 and may Your Holy Spirit tonight be our teacher 01:39 when it comes to communicating and staying in touch with You 01:43 and strengthening our lives through the important daily 01:46 exercise of prayer. 01:48 This is my prayer in Jesus name I pray, amen. 01:52 Now, before we do anything, 01:54 we always like to sing a theme song 01:55 and it'll appear on our screen right here. 01:57 It's "Victory in Jesus." 01:59 So I'd like you to join us. 02:00 And if you hear it, 02:02 and you know the song you'd like to join with us, 02:03 I invite you to do so. 02:05 Let's sing the song together, "Victory in Jesus." 02:15 I heard an old, old story 02:19 How the Savior came from glory 02:22 How He gave His life on Calvary 02:26 To save a wretch like me 02:30 I heard about His groaning 02:34 Of His precious blood's atoning 02:37 Then I repented of my sin 02:41 And won the victory 02:45 O victory in Jesus 02:49 My Savior forever 02:52 He sought me and bought me 02:56 With His redeeming blood 03:00 He loved me ere I knew Him 03:04 And all my love is due Him 03:08 He plunged me to victory 03:11 Beneath the cleansing flood 03:15 I heard about a mansion 03:19 He has built for me in glory 03:23 And I heard about the streets of gold 03:27 Beyond the crystal sea 03:30 About the angels singing 03:34 And the old redemption story 03:38 And some sweet day I'll sing up there 03:42 The song of victory 03:44 Key change. 03:45 O victory in Jesus 03:49 My Savior forever 03:53 He sought me and bought me 03:57 With His redeeming blood 04:00 He loved me ere I knew Him 04:04 And all my love is due Him 04:08 He plunged me to victory 04:12 Beneath the cleansing flood 04:16 He plunged me to victory 04:19 Beneath the cleansing flood 04:26 Can you say amen to that? 04:28 Amen. 04:29 Tonight, the topic is The Power of Prayer. 04:33 Say that with me. What is it? 04:36 The Power of Prayer. 04:39 Dr. Michio Kaku 04:41 a name that you may or may not have heard about before. 04:45 He is a theoretical physicist. 04:48 He's also been on Discovery Channel 04:50 and also how the universe works. 04:53 And he's written a number of books about science 04:55 and plausible theories. 04:57 He's also written a book about things that we can expect 05:00 in the near future, such as virtual shopping malls 05:03 and putting contact lenses in our eyes 05:07 that just on the flip of the contact lens, 05:09 we can look at information that pertains to the person 05:12 that we're looking at. 05:14 And as far and futuristic as that sounds, 05:18 he has been warning over the last two years, 05:22 about a possibility of a sun flare 05:24 that could exist in 2012. 05:26 The year is almost done. 05:27 So hopefully it wouldn't happen this year. 05:30 But he said, "Earth is due for a massive sun flare 05:34 that could knock out 05:36 all communication on this planet as we know it." 05:39 And he said, "It happened once before 05:41 and it happened at a time 05:42 when we were not very developed." 05:43 So the only thing that was fried 05:45 were telegraph poles. 05:47 But how many things do we have nowadays 05:49 that relies on electricity? 05:51 Almost everything. 05:53 Our cell phones, he said would cease to work, 05:55 all satellite communication will be destroyed 05:57 for two to three years. 05:59 And the east coast in particular 06:00 would be heavily damaged 06:02 if a sun flare that they expect to occur 06:05 would occur anytime 06:07 between this year and the next year. 06:11 And I wonder about that, what will our planet do 06:14 if all of a sudden 06:15 every means of communication was destroyed? 06:19 Now think about that for a brief moment, 06:21 no more satellite. 06:22 No more satellite, anything. 06:24 No more GPSs. 06:25 But it gets even worse than that. 06:27 Airplanes rely on satellites to navigate. 06:31 They often use what they call a CAT, 06:33 CAT5 system, or there's some terminology 06:37 that I'm not familiar with totally. 06:38 But they navigate based on five satellites 06:41 continuing to position their plane 06:42 keeping them on track 06:44 to wherever they're headed. 06:45 And as they fly around the planet, 06:47 they go from satellite to satellite 06:49 to keep them on track at least five satellites, 06:51 I understand, that's my layman understanding. 06:54 So if satellites and communication 06:57 was completely destroyed, that would ground permanently, 07:01 at least until satellites were restored 07:03 all commercial airlines, 07:05 they would go back to what's that? 07:08 VHF. 07:09 Visual flight rules? 07:11 Oh, VFR sorry, visual flight rules. 07:14 But you can't fly a jet with visual flight rules 07:16 because you can't see the ground from 30,000 feet. 07:19 So that would ground jets as we know it. 07:23 Let's keep going. 07:24 Satellites, how many things that we have today 07:27 relies on satellites? 07:29 Let's go through the list. 07:30 GPSs, all phone communication, 07:33 all television signals that circle our planet 07:37 will be completely knocked out. 07:38 And they said that it would be at least six months to a year 07:41 before we even begin to build, 07:43 rebuild the infrastructure on earth, 07:45 let alone put satellites back up in the skies. 07:48 And they're saying, this is a real concern 07:50 because the sun has been acting quite erratically, 07:53 and they said we're due for massive sun flare 07:56 that will cripple civilization as we know it. 07:59 But let's go a step further. 08:00 Communication, also televisions, radios, 08:04 anything that requires electricity 08:07 would cease to function 08:08 and all communication on earth 08:10 would be completely cut off. 08:12 Now the reason why I'm not so much concerned 08:14 about that prediction that 08:16 Dr. Michio Kaku is talking about, 08:17 even if it may happen, 08:19 there is no communication on earth 08:21 that can cut off our... 08:22 There's no sun flare 08:23 that can cut off our communication with God. 08:25 Can you say amen to that? 08:27 So tonight while the world is maybe trying to figure out 08:30 how to prepare themselves 08:32 with their underground bungalows or bunkers, 08:36 buying homes 900,000 08:39 to a million dollars to build in old refurbished, 08:42 old missile silos 08:44 that go stories into the ground. 08:46 People are storing food for whenever this event 08:50 could possibly occur. 08:51 People are fearful of what's gonna happen 08:53 in the future, 08:54 and they hope that it does not occur 08:55 and I feel the same. 08:57 But tonight, there is a power that resides in prayer 09:01 that no sun flare can disable. 09:04 And we're gonna talk about that tonight. 09:05 If you've just tuned 09:07 and you want a copy of the lesson, 09:08 go to asf.3abn.org. 09:10 Don't put www. 09:12 And download lesson number 10, The Power of Prayer. 09:16 So tonight, let's open up 09:18 on this vitally important topic, 09:20 the Power of Prayer, with encouragement, 09:24 because I led with a story that maybe, 09:27 may some of you think wow, what about my cell phone? 09:29 We didn't talk about GPSs in cars 09:31 because there'll be no more talking voice telling you 09:33 make a left or right, and all our cell phones. 09:36 All those highly technical cell phones 09:40 will be of no value at all, if satellite communication 09:43 and communication in general was knocked out. 09:46 But question number one tonight is an encouraging one. 09:49 Question number one tonight is an encouraging one 09:51 and here it is. 09:52 What encouragement 09:54 does Isaiah the prophet give us concerning prayer? 10:02 It's so good to know that mankind 10:05 and all of his inventions are totally incapable 10:08 of disabling anything that God has in place 10:10 when it comes to communication. 10:11 And we'll see that by this very first answer. 10:15 By this very first answer. 10:16 Isaiah 55:6 is where we're looking for our answer. 10:21 Okay. 10:23 Let's read this together, since it's our first one. 10:25 And what does it say, together? 10:28 "Seek the Lord while He may be found, 10:32 call upon Him while He is," what? 10:34 "Near" So what's the encouragement 10:36 that Isaiah gives us? 10:38 What is he saying to us? 10:39 What should we do? 10:42 "Seek the Lord while He may be found, 10:44 call on Him while He's near. 10:46 Let me go back to my opening scenario. 10:49 If you plan on making a phone call 10:50 and you waited till satellite communication 10:52 was completely knocked out. 10:53 This text would have fit. 10:55 Call while you can, seek while you can, 10:58 seek the Lord while He may be found. 11:00 So what this is suggesting is, there's coming a time 11:03 when those who look for God 11:04 are not going to be able to find Him. 11:08 But you'll also discover tonight in the study 11:11 that there are reasons that exists today, 11:14 while some people still can't find the Lord, 11:16 it's not that God has changed His address. 11:18 But there's some communication barrier 11:21 between us and God 11:22 that keeps people from getting in touch with God. 11:25 That even keeps God from, 11:27 as I would say, communicating with us. 11:30 But the encouraging word that Isaiah gives to us is, 11:33 seek the Lord while He may be found. 11:35 So if you answer that, what encouragement 11:37 does Isaiah the prophet give us concerning prayer? 11:40 Put those first three words, what is it? 11:42 Seek the Lord. 11:45 Seek the Lord. 11:46 And understand according to this verse, 11:48 there is a time to seek the Lord. 11:50 And there's a time that we may say, 11:52 "I should have asked God about it." 11:54 You know, nowadays, 11:55 a lot of times people make decisions 11:57 and they don't consult God before they do it. 11:59 And then they have something called lament. 12:01 Another word for lament is... 12:04 What's another word for lament? 12:06 Disappointment. 12:08 Or phrases such as I should have, 12:10 or I wish I did. 12:11 I wish I prayed about this before I made this decision. 12:14 And so when we seek the Lord, and when we call on Him, 12:18 while He may be found, 12:19 that is before we make critical decisions, 12:21 we can go into any kind of decision 12:23 knowing that we sought God on it, 12:25 and He responded to us. 12:26 So it's not just seeking the Lord. 12:28 But you'll discover also, in seeking God, 12:31 we also have to be willing to listen to God. 12:34 Because if you make a phone call, 12:36 and you don't get communication back, 12:39 it really wouldn't be a beneficial phone call. 12:42 The Lord speaks to us. 12:43 He wants us also to speak to Him, all right? 12:46 That's number one. Let's go to number two. 12:48 How powerful does 12:50 John the apostle tell us prayer is? 12:59 And we're going to 1 John Chapter 3, 13:02 and we're gonna look together at verse 22. 13:05 1 John 3:22. 13:09 All right, here's the answer. 13:12 Here's the answer. 13:15 And the Bible says, 13:16 "And whatever we ask, we receive from Him," 13:21 and here are the conditions because we do what? 13:23 Say that with me, "Keep His commandments, 13:25 and do those things that are," what? 13:28 "Pleasing in His sight." 13:30 Now, let's get that. 13:31 The Lord said, 13:33 "Whatever we ask Him we will receive." 13:34 Didn't He say that? 13:36 Didn't He say that? 13:37 Yes or no? 13:38 But is that unconditional? 13:41 Ah, the word there. 13:44 Because is the condition. 13:46 Whenever we ask our parents for something, 13:48 or we ask anybody for anything, 13:50 often they would be open to granting it to us 13:52 if the conditions are favorable. 13:55 If somebody says, "Well, now let me think about that. 13:57 Have you done your homework?" 13:59 Okay, well, that's out of the way. 14:00 Have you cleaned up your room? Well, that's out of the way. 14:03 Do you have any missing assignments? 14:04 Well, that's out of the way. 14:05 Parents like to... 14:07 They like to take inventory to find out whether or not 14:10 the child is worthy of receiving the request. 14:12 In the very same way the Lord wants to know 14:14 whether or not we are at the place in our walk 14:17 with Him 14:18 that we are worthy to receive the requests 14:21 that we have made of Him. 14:23 So notice the conditions here. 14:25 So if you answered that, 14:26 how powerful does John the apostle tell us prayer is? 14:30 Whatever we ask, we receive. 14:33 Write that down. Whatever we ask, we receive. 14:35 And put next to that, if we are obedient. 14:39 If we are obedient, you wanna write that down. 14:41 Because God does not give us whatever we ask, 14:45 especially if He doesn't think it's something that we need. 14:48 Secondly, if He knows that 14:49 what we're asking is not in harmony with His will, 14:51 He's not gonna grant it. 14:52 And somebody may say, "Well, that's not fair. 14:54 What if I asked God for Maserati? 14:56 Why don't He answer that question? 14:58 Well, what He knows is you just need a car. 15:00 I remember years ago, 15:02 in 1976 if you were born after 1976, 15:07 bare with me. 15:08 But the Honda Accord came out in 1976. 15:11 Now Honda Accord is still out 15:13 and finally we were able to own one. 15:14 But I remember when Honda Accord 15:16 first came out in 1976, 15:17 I was living in New York City, I was just about to graduate 15:20 from high school. 15:21 And that off green, 15:24 kind of like the green in our background, 15:25 almost the same color as the green that we have here, 15:28 that Honda Accord, four-door Honda Accord, 15:30 they finally came up with an Accord that replaced 15:33 with the very tiny miniature Honda Civic. 15:36 Remember that? 15:37 The Civic was so small, 15:39 I mean, you could put the entire thing 15:40 in an ambulance in case of an accident. 15:43 But they finally came up with a four-door Honda Accord 15:45 and I was so... 15:47 I love Civics, but this Accord just stole my heart. 15:49 And I went to the Honda dealer, I bought some, 15:52 got some brochures, you know, those, 15:54 the thing that gets you excited about 15:55 something you can't afford. 15:57 And this beautiful and I put it right over my bed head. 16:00 Matter of fact, some of the pictures 16:01 I have today in my room where I live in New York, 16:03 you can see right above my bed head 16:05 pictures of this Honda Accord. 16:07 I took all the staples out 16:08 and pasted straight across the wall. 16:10 And I went to my father. 16:12 I said, "Papa." 16:14 Here's what I said, "I need a car." 16:19 I need a car. 16:21 He said, "What kind of car do you need?" 16:23 I said, "I need a Honda Accord." 16:26 And they're not that expensive. 16:28 And at that time, if you think about prices, now, 16:29 they were little under $6,000. 16:33 That was low for cars, $5,700, $5,800 16:36 around that time for four-door Honda Accord. 16:39 And I said, "Papa, wherever you want to go, 16:41 I can take you." 16:45 Now, you know, we don't really want a car 16:48 because we wanna drive our parents around, right? 16:51 So wherever you go, I promise I'll take you. 16:55 So I showed him the brochure. 16:57 He was not as excited about it as I was. 17:01 And the answer was no. 17:04 Because he said to me, he was raised during the time 17:07 when Japanese and Americans were at war with each other. 17:10 So his attitude was anything from Japan is junk 17:13 because he was born in 1910. 17:16 And you can understand the framework of his mindset. 17:19 So I had to flip my script. 17:22 And I had to decide to maybe try again, 17:24 but this time an American car. 17:26 So I said, "Papa, I found a car, an American car, 17:30 a Buick Electra 225." 17:33 And back then they used to call the deuce and a quarter, 17:35 that was the terminology they used because it's 225, 17:37 a deuce two and a quarter. 17:40 And he said, "How much is it?" 17:42 And I told him how much it was, I can't remember right now. 17:45 And the answer was no. 17:49 Okay, so I just decided American car, Japanese car, 17:53 I'm just not gonna get a car. 17:55 While I tried one more time, I got excited about this. 17:57 And I said, I'll let some time go by, 17:58 you know, if you don't get your request. 18:01 Because at that moment your father knows 18:02 is that's not really what you need. 18:04 In New York, I really didn't need a car 18:05 because they have mass transit 18:07 better than almost any city on the earth. 18:09 You can get anywhere by bus or by cab, 18:11 and you're in the city, 18:12 you could pretty much walk anywhere you need to go. 18:14 And we had subways, we had buses, we had trains, 18:17 and they didn't stop running for 24 hours a day. 18:19 So I didn't need a car. 18:21 But all young people want a car. 18:24 Well, I stopped asking him. 18:25 One day I tried again. 18:27 I said, "Papa, I saw this really nice car, 18:30 I want to get." 18:31 "What is it?" I said, "It's a Toyota." 18:33 I went back to the Japanese thing, a Toyota. 18:37 You got to be persistent sometimes. 18:39 And he gave me $1,000 18:42 to put down on my used 1976 Toyota Corona. 18:48 I got that a few years later, 18:50 I let three years lapse before I asked again. 18:53 And he shocked me by giving me $1,000, 18:55 went down and bought that car. 18:57 You see, one of the things about prayer 18:59 is you have to first of all, 19:00 come to the conclusion that 19:02 if your father doesn't grant it to you 19:04 at the moment that you ask, 19:05 maybe you don't need it right away. 19:07 Or maybe the answer is wait, like in my case. 19:10 Or maybe your father's waiting to see if you're responsible. 19:14 And I want to say I was lot more responsible 19:15 in 1979 than I was in 1976 19:18 when I was just getting out of high school. 19:20 Whatever the reason, the request was granted. 19:24 But the Lord says, you have to get to the place 19:28 where you believe that if I ask and I keep on asking, 19:32 then maybe the request will come through. 19:35 So let's go on that note to question number three. 19:38 When you ask about something, if you don't believe you're 19:39 going to get it, then don't even ask. 19:42 Because it's defeating to even ask for something 19:45 that you believe you're not going to get. 19:47 Look at question number three. 19:49 What does Matthew tell us 19:50 is included in having our prayers answered? 20:00 All right. 20:02 What's included? 20:04 Here it is. Go to Matthew 21:22. 20:08 Matthew 21:22. 20:10 And let's read this together. 20:12 It's gonna be on the screen. 20:13 Are you ready? Here we go. Let's read this. 20:15 "And whatever things you ask in prayer," 20:18 what's the next word? 20:19 "Believing, you will receive." 20:23 So the condition, what is Matthew tell us 20:25 is included in having our prayers answered? 20:27 What is it? Believing. 20:30 Say that together with me. 20:31 Believing. 20:32 When children went to their parents 20:34 they have every fiber locked into believing. 20:37 That's why they get excited about it, "I'm gonna ask." 20:41 Some children say, "My parents will give it to me, watch." 20:43 and they believe that would happen until otherwise. 20:47 They come with all the excitement. 20:48 They believe that if they ask they'll get it. 20:50 And nowadays I wanna say, children get a lot more today 20:55 than I got when I was being raised. 20:58 Right? 20:59 Remember that? 21:02 I was raised in the era 21:03 where the phone in the house was a dial phone, 21:06 and it had a lock on the zero. 21:10 Does anyone remember that? 21:12 There is a lock on the zero, 21:14 so the best thing you could do is dial zero for the operator, 21:17 that's as far as it's going to go to zero. 21:19 I was raised in the house 21:21 where there were no cell phones, 21:22 you wanna make a phone call, 21:24 you first have to get the lock off the phone. 21:26 It was back then when they use letters in phones 21:29 instead of 789, it was a ST9. 21:31 Anybody old enough to remember that? 21:34 Am I telling on myself? 21:35 I'm younger than I look. 21:38 But the key is believing. 21:40 What's the key, friends? 21:42 Now we found two conditions so far. 21:43 One is obedience, the second is believing. 21:46 You will receive if you do what's pleasing in my sight, 21:49 and if you believe. 21:52 So if you look at those and put that in perspective, 21:56 I'm living my life and I'm gonna say, 21:57 "Okay, great. 21:58 I'm doing what my parents want me to do. 22:00 So I believe I'm gonna get it." 22:01 If we live in harmony with God's will 22:02 and we know that our lives are pleasing to Him, 22:05 then we can ask Him 22:07 and because we are taking inventory 22:08 that we have removed 22:10 the prayer answering blockers. 22:13 Doing what's pleasing and also believing. 22:15 So if you want to put the answer down 22:17 for number three, 22:18 what's the single word that we include there? 22:20 Believing. Believing. 22:22 That's right. 22:24 You get whatever you can, if you simply believe. 22:27 Okay, number four. 22:30 Question number four. 22:32 What characteristic does the Bible reveal blocks 22:36 the answers to our prayers? 22:47 We're gonna go to the Book of James 1:7-8. 22:53 James 1:7-8. 22:58 Very significant text. 23:00 I was doing a series on James, matter of fact, 23:02 I think we're still in the middle of that series. 23:04 But this one really opens our eyes 23:06 to a very important condition about 23:09 how to eliminate all the prayer blockers. 23:12 Here it is, James 1:7-8. 23:16 Now, 23:17 "For let not that man suppose 23:22 that he will receive anything from the Lord, he is," 23:25 what's the next word? 23:27 "Double-minded, unstable in," what? 23:30 "All his ways." 23:32 So now, what is one of the prayer blockers that 23:34 we just read about right there? 23:38 Double-minded. 23:39 You know, what it means to be double-minded? 23:41 One minute you want this, the next minute you want that. 23:45 One minute you're going, the next minute you're staying. 23:49 One minute you believe, 23:51 the next minute you don't believe. 23:53 One minute you're saying, "Lord, I need this. 23:56 Well, no, no, change that, Lord, Lord." 23:58 And it's like we're sending out emails, 24:01 updated emails to the Lord, 24:02 changing our request in the emails 24:04 from one to the next. 24:05 And so, if you look at a parent, 24:07 a parent would say, 24:08 "When you make up your mind, 24:12 then come and tell me what you need." 24:14 So one of the other prayer blocker is this. 24:16 And by the way, 24:17 if you read the verse before that, 24:19 let me go with you to the Book of James, 24:20 I want you to see the verse right before that. 24:23 Very significant, 24:24 I was thinking of including that, 24:26 and I might have. 24:28 But since we have our Bibles, 24:31 I'll go ahead and read verse 6. 24:36 "But let him ask in faith, with," what? 24:40 "With no doubting, for he who doubts is like 24:43 a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind." 24:49 So if you want to put another word double-minded. 24:51 Another word for double-minded is what? 24:52 Doubt. 24:54 You cannot pray with doubt because doubt makes... 24:57 If you go to a restaurant 24:59 and you don't know what you want, 25:00 how's the waitress or waiter going to know 25:02 what to give you, right? 25:04 Now, let me ask you a question. 25:05 Does God know what we need? 25:07 Does He know what we want? 25:10 So what was His promise, to supply all of our wants? 25:15 Okay, and my God shall supply all of our need, 25:19 according to His riches in glory. 25:21 Sometimes parents say, 25:23 I heard the story of a father with his son. 25:25 And he took the son to the mall, and the son said, 25:27 "I need a pair of sneakers." 25:29 He said, "Which ones?" 25:30 And he says, "Those right there." 25:31 He said, "How much are they?" He said, "$125." 25:33 How much do you... 25:35 He said, "You need $80, I'm only giving you 40. 25:39 You need $85. 25:40 That's what you need. 25:41 If you're gonna wear those sneakers, 25:43 what you really need is $85. 25:44 I'm just giving you 40." 25:47 He needed $85. 25:48 And dad said, "Now, what you need is a job." 25:50 So sometimes what we need and what we want 25:55 are not always on the same page. 25:57 Because children nowadays there's some cities 25:59 where children couldn't afford anything, 26:03 but they want to buy $125 pair of sneakers 26:05 and the best, and the brightest, 26:06 and the most expensive, 26:08 but what they really need is just some sneakers. 26:10 Whereas people say in the West Coast tennis shoes. 26:13 All right? So the answer is, don't doubt. 26:18 Don't be double-minded. 26:20 Don't doubt and don't be double-minded. 26:23 Let's go to the next one. 26:25 Number five. 26:27 Number five. 26:31 What examples do we find in the Bible 26:34 about the frequency of prayer? 26:41 We're gonna go to 26:42 one of the famous ones in the Bible, 26:44 Daniel Chapter 6. 26:48 This is not all the examples we find in the Scripture, 26:51 but this one is very well-known. 26:53 This one is very well-known. 26:57 When you know the story that this is referring to... 27:00 The Medes and the Persians had passed a law 27:02 against praying to anybody except the king, 27:06 or the approved gods of the Medo-Persian Empire. 27:10 They could not pray to the God of their choosing. 27:14 And Daniel, as it was, 27:16 the reason why he was in trouble 27:18 is because they knew that Daniel always pray. 27:22 Now, if you were Daniel, what would you have done? 27:25 Some people would have gone home and said, 27:28 "I don't want to get in trouble so I'm gonna close my windows. 27:31 And I'm going to pray behind closed doors." 27:34 But the most important thing about prayer, 27:36 is prayer has a witnessing aspect to it. 27:39 Let me just tell you about that before we go to the answer. 27:42 When you go out to have dinner, 27:43 and you're in the public restaurant, 27:44 don't be ashamed to pray. 27:46 Amen. 27:47 Don't do this with the menu and pray behind the menu. 27:53 Pray. 27:54 Let people see you, just bow your heads, 27:56 maybe you clasp your hand with your family, let's pray. 27:59 That is so wonderful because there are people 28:01 of the earth that they worship, 28:03 you know, worship is always happening. 28:05 There are those who acknowledge the gods of the earth, 28:07 the gods of materialism, 28:09 the gods of wealth, the gods of fame and fortune, 28:11 and demonic gods to be very candid about it. 28:15 So why would I refuse to acknowledge 28:18 the God that blesses me, 28:20 the God that provides all of my need, 28:23 the God that I know, 28:24 put the nourishment that is in the food 28:26 in front of me so I'm thanking God, 28:28 first of all, for giving me the money to be able to buy it. 28:30 Secondly, I'm thanking Him 28:32 for the ability to be able to eat 28:33 because not everybody can eat. 28:36 Thirdly, I'm thinking into the fact that I'm alive. 28:39 And I'm thanking Him for the strength 28:40 and nourishment that's in the food. 28:42 So when we bow our heads to pray, 28:43 we've got to be like Daniel, don't be ashamed, 28:45 don't be afraid, 28:47 because the world could care less 28:48 at whether or not we look at what they do. 28:51 But notice the answer. 28:53 Talking about the frequency of prayer, Daniel Chapter 6. 28:56 Let's read this together. 28:58 "Now, when Daniel knew that the writing was signed," 29:01 what did he do? 29:02 "He went home, and in his upper room, 29:06 with his windows open toward Jerusalem," 29:09 what did he do? 29:11 "He knelt down on his knees," how often? 29:15 "Three times a day, 29:17 and prayed and gave thanks before his God, 29:21 as was his custom since," what? 29:24 "Early days." 29:26 So what is that saying? 29:27 How frequently shall we pray? 29:30 What example do we find? 29:32 In the example how many times did Daniel pray? 29:34 Three times. 29:35 So which will be naturally what? 29:37 When he woke up, noon, and even tide, 29:42 or evening time. 29:44 He thank God when he woke up, 29:46 he thank God probably during the noon day 29:49 when he paused to have lunch, 29:51 that's if he had lunch during the noon time. 29:53 But if you look at the customs then, 29:54 they had established times of day when they prayed. 29:58 And being in the empire which he was in, 30:02 I would hate to say because of probably 30:04 some of the influence that was there. 30:06 They also had established times of day to pray. 30:10 Evidently, they knew Daniel's pattern. 30:12 They knew that he prayed three times a day. 30:14 So one thing he didn't do, he didn't pray in secret. 30:18 Secondly, when he prayed, 30:20 he always prayed as the Bible points out, 30:22 he looked toward Jerusalem. 30:25 The place he longed to return to. 30:27 And by the way, 30:29 Jerusalem means the city of peace. 30:30 He longed to be back in a place of peace. 30:33 And when you pray, you can have a peace. 30:36 You don't necessarily have to be in the location of peace, 30:38 to have inner peace. 30:40 So Daniel, while he was in bondage, 30:41 a slave in Babylon, sorry, in the Medo-Persian Empire, 30:44 he prayed, although not in his own country, 30:47 he found peace through prayer. 30:49 So what was the answer here? 30:50 What example do we find in the Bible 30:52 about the frequency? 30:53 How many times a day? 30:54 Three times a day. 30:56 Make that a pattern in your life, 30:57 if you pray just once a day, 30:59 you may have heard the saying little prayer, 31:03 little power. 31:06 Some prayer, some power. 31:07 Little prayer, no power. 31:09 Much prayer, much power. 31:10 That's kind of how it goes, I'm not exactly sure, 31:13 but it some way. 31:15 Put it this way, you should pray 31:17 more than you make phone calls. 31:18 Amen. 31:21 The one reason is, 31:23 you're not going to get a bill from God. 31:25 And your communication will be so strong. 31:27 And by the way, let me also add this, 31:29 you don't have to be on your knees to pray. 31:33 Because sometimes you're in traffic 31:34 and you see something developing in front of you, 31:36 and you call it to God like Peter did, "Lord save me." 31:39 And you better not kneel down 31:41 while you're driving. 31:44 But Daniel prayed three times a day. 31:46 The request there is or the suggestion is 31:48 if you can't pray about three times a day, 31:50 establish in your life a time to pray. 31:54 In the morning when you wake up, 31:55 whether do you do that before you brush your teeth, 31:59 doesn't matter, God accepts prayers 32:01 from those who haven't brushed their teeth. 32:03 Doesn't really matter what your condition is. 32:05 If you hair is not done, if you're not showered yet, 32:07 not dressed up, God accepts prayers 32:09 no matter what your condition is. 32:11 Wake up in the morning, say, 32:12 "God, thank You for opening my eyes today. 32:14 Thank You for giving me breath." 32:16 Because you know what? 32:17 Every night, there are people that go to bed 32:19 that don't wake up the next day. 32:22 People that are in hospitals who close their eyes in rest, 32:26 people that are driving home that won't make it home. 32:29 That's the sad reality in our world. 32:31 So just to be alive, 32:32 if somebody say why should I pray? 32:34 Why should you pray? 32:35 Because you're alive. 32:36 Amen. 32:38 Because God is still giving you life. 32:40 All right? 32:42 Let's go to number six. 32:44 Number six. 32:45 How are Christians called to exercise 32:49 the privilege of prayer? 32:52 How are Christians called to exercise 32:55 the privilege of prayer? 32:58 Philippians 4:6-7. 33:01 Turn there with us in your Bible, 33:02 Philippians 4:6-7. 33:04 And most of you know 33:06 that it's gonna be on the screen, 33:07 but just get used to turning in your Bibles. 33:08 Our people here have their Bibles open, 33:10 although they know it's gonna be on the screen. 33:12 Kind of helps you navigate and know where you've been. 33:15 It's like when you go to the mall, 33:17 if you've been to all the stores in the mall, 33:19 and you take a guest, they said, 33:20 "Do you have a certain set?" 33:22 I know exactly where it is, and you run right to it. 33:24 The more you use your Bible, 33:25 the easier it will be to find the books and the text. 33:28 Philippians 4:6-7, here's the answer. 33:32 The Bible says, "Be anxious," for what? 33:35 "For nothing, but," in how many things? 33:38 "Everything by prayer and supplication 33:43 with thanksgiving, 33:46 let your requests be made known to God." 33:49 And look at the promise. 33:51 "And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, 33:55 will guard your hearts and minds 33:58 through Christ Jesus." 34:01 Let me bring out two things that we just talked about. 34:03 The question again is, 34:04 how are Christians called to exercise, 34:07 exercise the privilege of prayer in everything? 34:11 In how many things? 34:13 Say that again. How many things? 34:15 In everything. 34:16 There is nothing too small. 34:17 There's nothing too large to pray about. 34:20 There's nothing too small, 34:22 there's nothing too large to pray about. 34:24 The more we get used to praying, 34:27 sometimes you walk into malls, and they would say, 34:31 "This 75 inch television's on sale, 34:35 we have one left, 34:36 we can get you a great low monthly payment, 34:39 zero interest rate for 30 days. 34:41 And after that the interest is gonna be 19%. 34:43 But if you pay it off in six months, 34:45 it's same as cash." 34:46 And they get you all fired up. 34:50 But the way that you can tone down the salesperson, 34:53 the salesman or saleswoman, you could say, 34:56 "I need to pray about this." 34:58 They don't have any answer to it. 35:00 That will catch them completely off. 35:01 "But there's only one left." 35:03 "If God wants me to have it, 35:06 it'll be there when I come back." 35:07 Amen? 35:08 Try not to be anxious because it says, 35:10 "Be anxious for nothing." 35:14 Don't live your life in anxiety. 35:16 Don't live your life always rushing, 35:18 it's the last one. 35:19 They play that up in America really, really well. 35:22 Tonight at midnight, 35:24 well, we're leasing the new whatever 35:27 and they get so excited. 35:28 People line up from 4:30 the day before, 35:31 and they sleep in tents, 35:32 and they park their car right next to the entrance, 35:34 and they're laying on the ground 35:36 for something that's gonna be outdated in three weeks 35:38 to six weeks to a month. 35:41 I remember being in New York City, 35:42 my wife and I were in Times Square. 35:44 I forgot what year it was. 35:45 It was a while ago, not terribly long ago, 35:48 but I think that's when the Xbox first came out. 35:51 First generation I believe it was. 35:53 And it was a long line on Broadway and it went down 35:57 and it went around the corner 35:58 two blocks down and around the corner, 36:00 and I looked at the end of it, 36:01 it ended right in front of Toys"R"Us, 36:03 but Toys"R"Us was closed. 36:07 And I wondered, so I asked him about it, 36:08 what's that long line at midnight? 36:11 They're opening up to sell the new Xbox. 36:16 You're not talking about pandemonium, 36:19 talking about people getting in. 36:20 You know what happened over here 36:21 in some of our local Walmarts, 36:23 people have been crushed to death 36:24 and trampled to death. 36:26 Why? Because they're anxious. 36:27 They are what? 36:29 They're anxious for material things. 36:31 The Lord is saying, "We've got to be people 36:33 that are not anxious." 36:34 A person that prays before he or she does something 36:37 is a person who has advice and direction from above. 36:41 But if you're anxious, you make all these decisions. 36:44 For example, somebody will say, "So what's the price?" 36:47 "It's $69.95. 36:48 But today, 50% discount, and you can get two 36:54 for the price of one." 36:56 So what happens? 36:57 What's the price now? 36:58 Thirty five dollars, so it's not $69.95, 37:02 because I can't afford 69.95. 37:03 So it's $35. 37:04 Okay, I'll buy two. 37:06 Are you adding it up? 37:08 Seventy dollars, you get two, 37:11 you couldn't afford one for 69, 37:12 but you get two because you thought about it. 37:15 And that's the methods that we use in America. 37:17 They find ways to manipulate you to buy things 37:19 that you really don't need. 37:21 But if you are a people of prayer, 37:23 and you talk to God, you know what supplication is? 37:27 Somebody tell me what supplication is? 37:29 Supplication is more than just a prayer that is continually 37:33 directed toward God. 37:34 Supplication is, when you sup with somebody, 37:37 let's talk about, let's shorten the word 37:39 so I could lead you into definition. 37:41 When the Lord says, 37:42 I will come in and sup with you. 37:45 Okay. 37:47 Have a drink, eat with you. 37:48 Supplication is more than just saying, 37:50 "Would you have dinner with me?" 37:52 Supplication is abiding in the presence of Christ, 37:55 enjoying His presence. 37:56 So when you pray, say, "Okay, Lord, 37:58 thank You for the prayer. 38:00 Thank You for the answer to prayer." 38:02 Now would you go with me? 38:04 So in prayer and supplication, in praying to God, 38:08 and asking God but then also abiding in the answer, 38:11 abiding in the promise, abiding in the presence of God 38:15 is another way of supplication. 38:16 Come in and I'll sup with you and you with me. 38:19 That is staying in the presence of God. 38:21 And sometimes the reason why it's important 38:23 to have supplication is because sometimes we pray, 38:26 but we don't stay in the presence of God. 38:29 We pray and then as soon as our prayer is done, 38:31 I'm out of here. 38:33 I'm guilty of that too. 38:34 I'm a type A, sometimes I gotta learn to supplicate 38:39 because I'm the kind of guy that, "Okay, I gotta go. 38:41 I got so much to do. 38:43 Okay, Father in heaven, thank You. 38:44 Be with me, I ask for that. 38:46 Be with me as I run out the door." 38:47 Hold my foot, because as soon as I'm done, 38:49 I'm gonna fall into the car. 38:51 Have we done that before? 38:53 We've all done that before. 38:54 In a rushing world, in a world that's going by so rapidly, 38:57 we don't supplicate, 38:59 we don't stay in the presence of God. 39:01 But you'll find that 39:02 when you stay in the presence of God, 39:03 it's like going to visit a friend 39:05 you haven't visited in a long time. 39:08 And you say to them, "I am in no hurry to leave. 39:12 I'm just catching up on old times. 39:15 I just enjoy talking, having a good connection, 39:19 having a good friendship." 39:20 When you supplicate with God, 39:21 you are in the presence of somebody 39:23 who sticks closer than a brother. 39:25 He's a friend that will never leave you, 39:27 never forsake you. 39:29 And you will not understand the beauty of that until you 39:31 through prayer and supplication. 39:33 And then the peace of God comes. 39:35 So what's the answer? 39:36 How are Christians called to exercise 39:38 the privilege of prayer? 39:41 Prayer and supplication. 39:43 Prayer and supplication. 39:46 You could also put, "Don't be anxious." 39:49 There's so many answers in those two verses. 39:51 The heart is guarded, 39:53 you have an attitude of peace 39:55 when you spend time in prayer and supplication. 39:58 Sometimes you could be in complete silence. 40:01 Some of us don't know but there are people 40:02 that believe in meditation. 40:04 Now when I say meditation, I don't mean like, hum, hum. 40:08 No, no, we're not looking to empty ours, 40:11 we're not looking to look within ourselves. 40:13 Prayer for the Christian is the searching of ourselves, 40:17 Lord, search me, and try me, 40:19 and see if there be any wicked way in me. 40:22 We're not looking for peace in ourselves, 40:25 we're looking for peace that passes all understanding 40:27 that comes from being in God, not in ourselves. 40:31 But you'll never find that peace 40:34 that surpasses all understanding, 40:36 I think the New International Translation 40:38 or New International Version says it this way, 40:40 "A peace that does not need to be explained." 40:45 "A piece that does not need to be explained." 40:47 Somebody said to me, "How are you so peaceful?" 40:50 "I can't explain it." 40:51 When you have that kind of confidence in God, 40:54 when you have the kind of connection 40:55 between you and God, and you have to remember, 40:57 we're not talking about a guy that just 40:59 is able to hang a few planets. 41:03 We're talking about a God who is not ever at the point 41:06 where He's not able to do something. 41:09 All powerful, all knowing. 41:11 Anyway, that's an entire sermon by itself, 41:13 just those two verses. 41:15 Number seven. Number seven. 41:18 How does the Bible remind us of the power of prayer? 41:22 How does the Bible remind us of the power of prayer? 41:27 The emphasis in this verse particularly 41:29 is the power of prayer. 41:31 In other words, what example does the Bible give us 41:33 of the power of prayer? 41:35 And remember, the overreaching topic is still 41:37 how to live a spiritual life in the natural body. 41:40 One of the things that we do to maintain our spiritual life 41:43 is we have to have a spiritual time with God, 41:46 we have to live in the spirit. 41:47 Can you see God? 41:49 The answer is what, yes or no? 41:50 But you know that God is a Spirit, 41:51 you know that God is there. 41:53 You stay in touch with God, but God manifests His presence. 41:57 And this verse talks about the manifestation 42:00 of the presence and power of God. 42:02 Acts 4:31 42:04 is where you're turning with me. 42:06 And it appears on the screen. 42:08 Acts 4:31, is where we find our answer 42:11 to how does the Bible remind us of the power of prayer. 42:13 Here's what it says, 42:15 "And when they had prayed, 42:17 the place where they were assembled together was," what? 42:21 "Shaken and they were all filled 42:25 with the Holy Spirit, 42:27 and they spoke the word of God with," what? 42:30 "Boldness.' 42:31 Now let's look at this. 42:33 How does the Bible remind us of the power of prayer? 42:37 How did God respond? How did God respond? 42:41 He manifested Himself in this particular instance, 42:44 and this by the way was the outpouring 42:46 of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. 42:48 What's going to happen? 42:49 Let's translate that into our lives today, 42:51 God will shake up your life. 42:54 If your life needs to be shaken up, 42:55 and you supplicate and you pray before God, 42:57 God will shake up your life. 42:59 So be careful. 43:00 Somebody once said, 43:02 "Prayer, they should put a warning on it. 43:03 They should put a warning on the Christian life, 43:05 'Handle with prayer.' 43:07 " You ever seen it before? 43:08 Not handle with care, but handle with prayer. 43:12 You got to be very careful 43:14 because prayer is a powerful thing, 43:15 we cannot take prayer as something that, 43:17 when people say it always troubles me 43:19 when people say, "Oh, 43:21 I can't do much, I'll pray for you." 43:24 You mean you'll talk to God for me, that's a good thing. 43:27 Amen someone? 43:29 When we all agree together, 43:31 when we begin to all pray together, 43:33 my wife just recently, she put on the Facebook page, 43:35 their prayer requests for her sister 43:37 who is going through some health challenges. 43:40 And she put that on the Facebook. 43:42 And the moment she put it on Facebook, 43:45 people started responding. 43:47 I'm praying for, I'm praying for her right now. 43:49 People started typing prayers. 43:51 Now get this, if mankind would respond, 43:54 and you go back on the Facebook page 43:56 a day later, and they said, 43:57 posted three minutes ago, posted two hours ago, 44:00 posted a day and a half ago, you ever noticed that? 44:03 Those of you who are Facebook posters, 44:04 you begin to notice, the longer it's on there, 44:07 posted three days ago, 44:08 that request you made three days earlier, 44:11 people are still responding to it. 44:13 Now get this. 44:16 Do you think that God won't keep responding 44:19 to their prayer? 44:20 Do you think that He won't send His angels 44:22 to respond to our prayers? 44:24 He sends them so quickly. 44:27 That the Bible says in the Book of Daniel, 44:29 when Daniel began to pray 44:30 at the time of the evening of sacrifice, 44:34 the angel was sent to him, he was caused to fly swiftly. 44:38 And before Daniel's prayer was done, the angel said, 44:41 "Daniel, Daniel, 44:43 Daniel. 44:47 I've been sent to tell you that you are. 44:50 God loves you. 44:51 He heard your prayer." 44:53 He's just not going to tell you everything right now 44:55 so don't be concerned. 44:56 Because some of what I'm going to tell you, just shut it up, 44:59 seal it up, and people in the end will understand. 45:01 But you are loved, God favors you, 45:03 don't worry about it. 45:05 That's a beautiful thing. 45:06 We've got to know that when we pray, 45:07 we're talking to a God, 45:09 He doesn't have to send UPS, 45:10 He doesn't have to send Federal Express. 45:12 There is never a disconnect between us and God 45:15 and that's what a prayer line does. 45:17 So there's some people that, 45:18 you know, you turn on television, 45:19 they say, hotline, prayer hotline, call 24 hours, 45:22 there's always someone standing by. 45:24 Well, if mankind is standing by, 45:26 is God not standing by? 45:28 Amen. 45:29 He's an ever present help in time of need, 45:32 ever present help, time of trouble, 45:33 time of need, He's always there. 45:35 And when He comes into your life, 45:36 so let's look at the answers here 45:38 because there's a lot of answers in this verse. 45:39 How does the Bible remind us of the power of prayer? 45:41 First of all, it shakes up your life. 45:43 Secondly, the Lord will fill you 45:45 with the power that you need. 45:47 And thirdly, when you pray, depending on what you ask for, 45:51 you'll be able to go forth in the boldness 45:55 that God is important to you. 45:56 That's why I said when you say to the person, 45:58 the merchant, "I have to pray about it." 45:59 You have to say that in a boldness, 46:02 not in frightfulness. 46:03 Don't back them up and say, "I'll pray about it. 46:05 I'll be back when I'm done praying." 46:07 But you're gonna say, "I need to pray about that." 46:10 And use it and do it 46:11 in such a confidence that they say, 46:15 "I don't remember any customers ever saying to me, 46:16 they have to pray about it." 46:18 You will surely be remembered, if you respond that way. 46:22 Prayer shakes up our lives. 46:24 Prayer fills us with the power that we are in need of. 46:28 The Spirit of God guiding us. 46:31 And then we can go forth in the Word of God 46:33 and live in that Word in boldness. 46:37 All right? 46:38 Number eight. 46:40 We're moving at a good pace tonight. 46:42 Number eight. 46:43 Praise the Lord. 46:44 Here it is. 46:46 What were the results 46:48 of the simple prayers of Elijah? 46:52 Those of you that know the story, 46:54 know exactly where we're headed. 46:57 What were the results 46:58 of the simple prayer of Elijah? 47:01 Turn with me to James 5:17-18. 47:05 What were the results? 47:08 When we read about Bible writers, 47:10 and those men and women that were used by God, 47:13 you have, Deborah, 47:15 the prophetess, you have Miriam, 47:19 you have God speaking through men and women in the Bible, 47:22 you have the penmen of the Bible. 47:25 And we look at them oftentimes 47:26 as these guys that sat on high chairs way up, 47:31 and you walked up to them and say, "Isaiah." 47:35 "Yes, my son." 47:39 We sometimes get this disconnected, 47:40 all hard to approach kind of guy. 47:43 The Bible writers were men and women just like you and me, 47:47 whose lives were under the direction 47:49 and the infilling of the Holy Spirit. 47:51 These were holy men, God didn't just choose men, 47:53 He chose what kind of men? 47:55 Holy men of God. 47:57 But God spoke through these men, 47:59 and one of those that we admire so much 48:02 when we talk about Elijah. 48:04 Elijah was swept away in a chariot of fire. 48:07 What a powerful man. 48:09 That's the kind of guy you don't want to mess with. 48:11 I always thought, I did a sermon. 48:13 If you knew that Elijah just simply prayed 48:17 and things happened instantly, 48:18 you don't want to mess with Elijah. 48:20 You heard about when... 48:21 Anyway I don't want to go into the story too much. 48:23 When the children were mocking him, was mocking. 48:25 They were mocking Elijah, mocking him, 48:27 calling him baldheaded. 48:31 It was Elisha. 48:32 Well, what's nice about that 48:34 Elisha had a double portion of Elijah's spirit. 48:38 And so 48:41 Elisha just 48:44 leaned on the power of God. 48:46 And I don't think 48:48 those children mocked anybody after that. 48:50 You know the story, right? 48:52 They were swept away, not in a chariot of fire, 48:55 but in the claw of a bear. 48:58 Very important. 48:59 Look at the power of Elijah's prayer. 49:03 James 5:17. 49:05 And the Bible says, 49:07 "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours." 49:12 The King James says, 49:14 "Subject to like passions as we are." 49:15 I use the New King James 49:17 because he made it a little clear here. 49:19 "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. 49:22 And he prayed," how did he prayed? 49:25 "Earnestly that it would not rain. 49:28 And it did not rain on the land 49:30 for three years and six months." 49:34 And it goes on. 49:36 "And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, 49:40 and the earth produced," what? 49:43 "Its fruit." 49:45 What were the results 49:46 of the simple prayers of Elijah? 49:48 What were the results? 49:52 I like that fact that says, and he prayed again. 49:55 He prayed, and God stopped 49:57 when Elijah prayed for God to stop. 49:59 He prayed again. 50:01 God poured the rain out 50:03 when Elijah requested for the rain to be poured out. 50:06 And for how long 50:08 did they not have rain on the earth? 50:09 For three and a half years. 50:11 For three and a half years, no rain. 50:15 But the key of this verse is prayer works. 50:19 Prayer works. 50:21 Or more specifically, 50:22 think of prayer as a light bulb. 50:25 I want to give prayer the proper place, 50:27 because it is not the exercise of prayer works 50:30 but it's the power of God that works through prayer. 50:33 Bulbs work, but can a bulb work without electricity? 50:36 So think of your prayer as connecting with a power 50:40 that's far beyond our own human abilities. 50:43 So when you pray, you're connecting to who? God. 50:46 Prayer connects us to God. 50:48 So Elijah, it was not Elijah who made the rain come. 50:50 It was not Elijah who kept the rain back. 50:52 It was Elijah praying to God, and God turned the water off, 50:56 and then God turned the water on. 50:59 So here's the answer. 51:00 What were the results 51:01 of the simple prayers of Elijah? 51:03 God answered. 51:05 That's what you wanna get. 51:07 God answered. 51:09 There's another portion of that 51:10 I don't want to run ahead of it very quickly 51:12 because I'm going to bring this out later on. 51:14 If we get to it tonight, but just go ahead 51:16 for the benefit of seeing this twice. 51:19 Underline if you'd like the word, the phrase, 51:21 "He prayed earnestly." 51:24 Sometimes we don't pray earnestly. 51:27 Sometimes we pray frivolously. 51:32 Please help me, God. 51:35 Sometimes you say, 51:37 "Okay, Lord, I need your help right now. Thank. Amen." 51:40 Earnest prayer is like a guy hanging over a cliff. 51:44 He's not saying, 51:47 "Is there anybody up there?" 51:49 Do you think he's saying it that way? 51:51 How do you think he's saying it? 51:55 Help! 51:56 There's anybody, help! 51:58 Somebody help, help! 52:01 He's calling out. 52:02 He doesn't care what's happening. 52:04 He's breaking it all conversations. 52:06 He's making sure that he gets somebody's attention. 52:08 When you pray earnestly, 52:10 you are knocking on the doors of heaven. 52:13 You are coming boldly before the throne of grace. 52:17 You're not tiptoeing through the tulips, 52:18 you're coming to the presence of God 52:20 who invited you to come. 52:22 He says, "Come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, 52:25 and I will give you rest." 52:26 He's saying, "Come, ask of Me." 52:29 And you know what? 52:30 I believe that God is more willing to give us 52:34 than we are willing to ask. 52:36 He prayed earnestly 52:38 and God answered. 52:41 To the next page. 52:43 We have about little more than five minutes. 52:44 Praise the Lord 52:46 for the consistent pace tonight. 52:50 Shifting into the beautiful dynamics of prayer. 52:53 What promise has the Lord made 52:56 to those who call on Him in prayer? 53:00 What promise has the Lord made 53:02 to those that call on Him in prayer? 53:06 Question number nine. 53:07 Yes, Psalms 50:15. 53:11 Psalms 50:15. 53:13 I pray as you're listening to the program tonight 53:14 that you've taken into real thought 53:17 what we're saying about prayer tonight 53:19 because prayer is one of the least exercised bits 53:24 of equipment in the Christian's survival kit. 53:29 If you think about that, 53:30 it's one of the least used pieces of equipment 53:33 in the Christian survival kit. 53:36 Because so many of us are so self sufficient, 53:38 we have a good study life, 53:40 that is hopefully if you have a good study life, 53:42 we sometimes attend church, 53:44 or maybe we are very regular attendance of church 53:46 and prayer meeting and all those good things. 53:48 We have a lot of activities, we have community services, 53:50 we reach out, we witness. 53:53 But you can't be powerful in your walk with God 53:55 unless there is a constant connection 53:57 to the source of power. 53:58 So if you wanna think about that, 54:00 if you wanna give yourself an example of how weak 54:02 a Christian's life would be when you go home tonight. 54:06 Now be careful what you do this with. 54:08 When you go home tonight, 54:09 unplug as many things as you can in the house. 54:12 Unplug the lights in your room. 54:15 If you did not... 54:17 You don't have to do this, but if you really want to see 54:19 how dark and dismal a Christian's life would be, 54:21 unplug all the lights in your house tonight. 54:24 And try to walk through the house. 54:28 Now some of you may have lived long enough in that house, 54:30 so you can find your way if you're blindfolded. 54:32 But my point is, 54:34 you have to walk very, very carefully. 54:36 And you wouldn't see very, very well. 54:39 And you wouldn't know... 54:40 You wouldn't be able to identify anything 54:42 in the darkness of the room. 54:43 The Christian's life without prayer 54:45 is like a house without light. 54:48 You can't see. 54:49 You have to live your life very cautiously 54:52 because you can be hurt at any moment. 54:55 Your path is not lighted, your direction is not clear. 54:58 That's why this text is so vitally important. 55:00 What promise has the Lord made 55:02 to those who call on Him in prayer? 55:04 Psalms 50:15 reads as follows. 55:08 "Call upon me in the day of trouble," 55:13 what's the promise? 55:14 "I will deliver you and you shall glorify Me." 55:20 Beautiful, I will deliver you and you will glorify Me. 55:24 When God delivers us, 55:25 we have to tell people about it. 55:27 Don't we tell people about that? 55:28 Girl, I have some of the kids come in. 55:30 My sister would say this way, 55:31 "Child, I need to tell you what God did for me." 55:33 She's real New Yorker. 55:35 See some of those city people. 55:37 Child, girl, you know how the girls talk. 55:40 And guys get together. 55:41 Man, I gotta tell you 55:43 what God did for me and He does it. 55:45 It's most exciting when God answers us 55:46 in our time of trouble. 55:48 And He always answers us. 55:49 But sometimes He says, 55:51 "Don't be anxious, I'm working this thing out." 55:52 Sometimes we think that we are in more trouble 55:55 than God knows we are in. 55:58 See, sometimes it looks more troublesome to us 56:00 than it looks to God. 56:02 God said, "You call that trouble. 56:06 Hang on, don't worry about, I got it taken care of." 56:10 And we talked about, you know, our lives gonna be turned off, 56:12 "Lord, I'm in trouble." 56:14 So what do you need, how much do you need? 56:16 And somebody calls, 56:18 "Uh, do you know, Lord just put on my heart 56:19 that your lights are gonna be turned off." 56:23 "Did you do that, God?" 56:25 And you go, "Honey, let me tell you, 56:26 two hours before the man came and disconnected my lights, 56:29 I had to check. 56:30 God answers prayers. 56:32 That car sometimes, you know, 56:34 it breaks down but all of a sudden 56:35 tonight it's just performing flawlessly 56:37 in terribly bad weather. 56:39 And you get home and say, 56:40 "Honey, I don't know what happened. 56:42 But that car didn't even cough tonight 56:44 and look at the weather." 56:45 And you get them thinking that was a car. 56:47 It was God. 56:49 You know what I'm saying? 56:50 It's God, you got to understand that. 56:52 You got to understand that. 56:53 When you speak to God, God responds. 56:56 And that's why He says, 56:57 "Call upon Me in the day of trouble, 56:59 I will deliver you." 57:02 Friend of ours, your husband Dave, 57:04 woke up just in time 57:06 to see this vehicle in front of him 57:09 and didn't even have time to respond. 57:11 And before he knew it he was in the lane 57:13 right next to that vehicle. 57:14 And he knew in his heart, all he could do was call on God 57:17 and God delivered him in the moment of trouble. 57:20 And what happened? 57:21 He was glorifying God through the testimony. 57:23 I need to tell you 57:24 how I almost rear ended the car today. 57:26 But in the split second, God moved that vehicle over. 57:30 I heard it crunching, 57:32 but God saved me in my moment of trouble. 57:36 Well, friends, I wanna encourage you, 57:37 we're going to continue in our study of prayer, 57:39 how vitally important it is, 57:41 and how God works in our lives through the power of prayer. 57:44 But tonight, go over the questions 57:46 that we have gone over and remember, 57:48 your life will be a life filled with power, 57:50 if your life is a life filled with prayer. 57:53 Pray and God answers. 57:55 God knows your need. 57:57 And when you pray, 57:58 those things that are blurry will come into A Sharper Focus. 58:02 God bless you. |
Revised 2019-06-10