Participants: John Lomacang
Series Code: ASHF
Program Code: ASHF000031
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00:19 Hello, friends, and welcome
00:20 to another Wednesday night live here 00:22 at A Sharper Focus in Thompsonville, Illinois 00:25 at 3ABN Worship Center. 00:27 Thank you for tuning in again. 00:28 As we continue our topic on prayer, 00:30 something that tonight we are painfully aware 00:33 that our nation really is in need of. 00:35 Since this is a live program 00:37 we are praying incessantly for those on the East Coast 00:40 that have lost their homes, 00:42 their lives have been ripped from the Moore's 00:44 and their day-to-day's have been disturbed 00:47 for quite a long time. 00:48 And even with the loss of life, 00:50 we continue to pray for there to be a recovery effort 00:54 to go forth successfully 00:56 and that those who have been painfully aware 00:59 of what nature does and can do 01:01 will take the time to turn to God 01:03 at this very critical hour in our earth's history. 01:06 And so tonight as we welcome you, 01:08 we also welcome you with a prayerful attitude 01:09 that we not just talk about prayer, 01:11 but we do pray 01:13 in a very real way for those lives 01:15 to be reorganized 01:17 and for people to turn to the Lord before worst things 01:20 transpire in our world 01:22 which we know if we read our Bible. 01:24 This is just the beginning of sorrows 01:26 but the end is not yet. 01:27 So tonight, 01:28 as we begin our study before we tell you 01:30 where to find a copy of the lesson, 01:32 bow your heads with me tonight 01:33 as we pray and ask for the Lord's presence 01:35 to be with us. 01:37 Our Father in heaven we thank You so much 01:38 for Your goodness and Your mercy. 01:41 When we talk about mercy, 01:42 we think of the anticipation 01:45 of so many hunkering a bunkering down 01:47 and boarding up their homes not realizing 01:50 that within just a mere period of 24 hours or less 01:54 that many lives will be taken, 01:56 homes will be destroyed, 01:58 property washed away 02:00 and those things that we thought were constant 02:03 were no longer in existence. 02:05 And so heavenly Father tonight 02:07 as we talk about the very important topic 02:10 of prayer, 02:12 we know that right now, 02:13 there are millions praying, 02:15 praying for their lives 02:17 to be put back together, 02:18 praying for answers in the midst of this world 02:20 that is in mental anguish and perplexity. 02:24 And so Lord tonight come near to us, 02:26 not just in the rebuilding of physical houses 02:29 but the rebuilding of our lives, 02:31 our homes, 02:32 our relationships, 02:34 and our walk with You. 02:35 So come near to us, Lord, speak to our hearts 02:37 that we may draw 02:39 closer to You through prayer. 02:41 In Jesus name we pray, 02:44 amen. 02:46 Now before I tell you... 02:47 Well, let me just tell you right now, 02:48 before we have our song tonight, 02:50 you can go to this website, 02:51 asf.3abn.org 02:54 and download a copy of lesson number 10. 02:56 We're continuing, we're gonna begin on question number 10 03:00 from lesson number 10. 03:02 But keep your Bibles nearby 03:03 because a lot of times we make reference to the Bible 03:06 that is not necessarily encompassed 03:08 in one of the scriptures 03:10 that are covered in the lesson itself. 03:11 So keep that with you 03:13 and follow us along 03:16 in our lesson tonight about prayer. 03:19 But invite your friends and family too, 03:20 you may want to call them and say hey, 03:22 tune into 3ABN right now. 03:24 This is a vitally important topic. 03:26 So let's begin by singing our song, 03:28 "Victory in Jesus," 03:29 which is what every one of us needs 03:31 and we can find that as we turn to Christ. 03:33 Let's sing tonight. 03:42 I heard an old, old story 03:46 How the Savior came from glory 03:50 How He gave His life on Calvary 03:53 To save a wretch like me 03:57 I heard about His groaning 04:01 Of His precious blood's atoning 04:05 Then I repented of my sin 04:09 And won the victory 04:12 O victory in Jesus 04:16 My Savior forever 04:20 He sought me and bought me 04:24 With His redeeming blood 04:28 He loved me ere I knew Him 04:31 And all my love is due Him 04:35 He plunged me to victory 04:39 Beneath the cleansing flood 04:43 I heard about a mansion 04:46 He has built for me in glory 04:50 And I heard about the streets of gold 04:54 Beyond the crystal sea 04:58 About the angels singing 05:02 And the old redemption story 05:05 And some sweet day 05:07 I'll sing up there 05:09 The song of victory 05:13 O victory in Jesus 05:17 My Savior forever 05:21 He sought me and bought me 05:24 With His redeeming blood 05:28 He loved me ere I knew Him 05:32 And all my love is due Him 05:36 He plunged me to victory 05:39 Beneath the cleansing flood 05:43 He plunged me to victory 05:47 Beneath the cleansing flood 05:54 Amen? Amen. 05:56 You know, when I think about the topic tonight, 05:58 and I'm singing the words, 05:59 the cleansing flood, 06:02 right now I'm thinking about a flood 06:03 in a completely different way. 06:06 I'm a native New Yorker 06:07 and I look at what has happened 06:10 in the city of New York City 06:11 and the floods that have, 06:13 the waters that have 06:15 crossed over their boundaries 06:16 there in downtown 06:18 Manhattan flooded the subway stations 06:21 and homes have been swept away 06:22 and sand has been brought way into the streets of New Jersey. 06:27 They said in one particular instance, 06:28 100 feet of shoreline have been washed away 06:31 where there was 125 feet, there's only 25 feet now. 06:35 And in some cases, the ocean is right there 06:37 in front of people's homes 06:39 and so continue to pray tonight 06:41 that this would... 06:43 And it's said, 06:45 I want to put this in the right context 06:46 that I don't want to sound insensitive. 06:48 But we hope that before it gets worse, 06:50 people will turn to the Lord. 06:53 This is one of those indications 06:54 that we're living in the last days 06:55 and things that would never have occurred 06:58 in 108 years of the establishment 07:01 of mass transit in New York City, 07:02 this has never happened. 07:04 And so this tells us 07:05 we are at very critical times in history, 07:08 very fragile moments. 07:10 And we're gonna see a lot more things happening 07:11 in the future that have not yet occurred. 07:14 One news reporter said, 07:16 we're seeing a lot of things 07:17 that should only occur once every 100 years. 07:20 Well, the last three years, 07:21 we've seen three events that are major, 07:23 that should not occur 07:25 but once in every 100 years. 07:26 So that tells us where we are 07:28 in the course of human history 07:29 and how close it is to the time of the end. 07:33 Which says to me all the more 07:35 we do need to pray and talk to God. 07:37 Can you say amen to that? 07:39 Prayer is something that people often do 07:42 after a crisis comes 07:44 and not necessarily before the crisis comes. 07:47 Prayer is something that people do when they have, 07:50 sometimes they're at their wits ends 07:51 and they know not what else to do. 07:53 They say, well, let me pray. 07:55 And it is a sad reality 07:57 that sometimes people only think 07:59 about communicating with God 08:00 only when they really have no other avenue. 08:03 Now speaking about communication, 08:05 I have a couple of devices, 08:06 I'm not gonna turn them on 08:07 because they may interrupt some of the signals 08:09 and I'm using a wireless microphone 08:11 and I have a try square. 08:15 We could use that old Layman's term walkie-talkie. 08:18 That's the old way 08:19 but it's a communication device. 08:23 Which when I first bought it, 08:24 I thought 08:25 a whole lot of buttons, 08:27 which means a whole lot of buttons to press. 08:29 And I'm a button presser, I like a lot of buttons. 08:33 I had a communication device before, 08:35 a very simple one. 08:36 And I thought, man, 08:38 I'm more complicated than that. 08:39 I need me a serious communication device. 08:42 So let me go back to the term of serious walkie-talkie. 08:45 So I had a Motorola in this hand 08:47 and a try square in this hand 08:50 and we took these to Africa with us 08:53 a few years ago, 08:54 I couldn't get the things to work for nothing. 08:56 Because I didn't know how to set it up. 08:59 And I read through the 34 page manual 09:03 and, you know, how to squelch 09:05 and make sure that if you call waiting, 09:08 how many of us know that there's call waiting 09:10 and texting and all this. 09:12 And I'm thinking all I want to do is call my wife. 09:15 She's in one portion of Zimbabwe, 09:17 I'm in the other, I just want to say, 09:19 Honey, are you okay? 09:20 And I was pressing the button 09:22 and it acted like a normal communications device 09:26 and but I didn't hear anything. 09:27 And she said, "How come you didn't call me today." 09:29 I said, "I was calling and I was yelling 09:31 but how come you didn't hear me," 09:32 and we had our signals locked in 09:34 and I thought it seems so simple. 09:36 Then I went back 09:37 to my old trusty single button Motorola. 09:40 And I pressed the button 09:42 and she got the message 09:43 and I got her message. 09:45 You know, sometimes we make prayer 09:47 more complicated than it needs to be. 09:50 If we think about prayer, in some sense, 09:51 prayer to some people is like 09:53 this multi-button communication device 09:56 that could kind of secondarily act 09:59 as a short wave radio to some degree. 10:01 And so we look at this and we say, 10:03 do I really want that, that looks too communicated. 10:05 And sometimes we buy it 10:07 and don't know how to get through. 10:09 But then God says, 10:11 prayer is not that difficult. 10:12 Sometimes all you need to do is bend your knees 10:14 or bow your head and hit the button 10:16 and I'll be on the other end. 10:18 And so tonight, we want to begin 10:19 by talking about ways to communicate 10:21 because right now, in this day and age, 10:23 we have so many kinds of communication devices. 10:26 Everybody has a cell phone, 10:28 children have cell phones, 10:30 our trucker still have CB radios, 10:33 walkie-talkies, we call them. 10:35 Police and emergency personnel 10:38 all use these communication devices. 10:41 But we're gonna begin tonight with a question 10:43 that really begs to be answered. 10:47 And I want to go right now 10:48 to question number 10 10:50 and lay the foundation 10:51 on a very significant question. 10:52 In light of the fact that people are right now 10:54 praying more on the East Coast 10:57 than they prayed in the last few days. 11:00 Here's the question we begin with tonight. 11:02 Where and how are we instructed to pray? 11:06 Where and how are we instructed to pray? 11:10 I want to say as we go to the Book of 1 Timothy 11:13 and we're gonna look at Chapter 2 and verse 8. 11:15 I want to say tonight, 11:16 you know, whenever you see that prayer is needed, 11:19 you need to pray. 11:22 And sometimes it's good to communicate 11:24 before you have to communicate in a dire 11:26 and difficult circumstance. 11:27 For example, if I didn't have somebody's phone number, 11:30 and I needed to call them at a crisis moment, 11:33 what's my biggest challenge? 11:35 What's their phone number, 11:36 how do I call them, 11:38 how do I get in touch with them? 11:39 That's the biggest challenge. 11:41 And so tonight as we talk about that, 11:42 how to communicate. 11:43 I want to go with you to 1 Timothy 2:8 11:46 and we'll see the answer there. 11:48 It's gonna be on the screen. 11:49 And for those of you tuning in, 11:50 the answer will be on the screen 11:52 as we turn to that, okay? 11:53 Here's the answer. 11:55 1 Timothy 2:8 reads as follows. 11:57 "I desire therefore that men pray," 12:01 how many places? 12:03 "Everywhere, 12:04 lifting up holy hands, 12:06 without wrath, and doubting." 12:09 Without two things. Without what? 12:11 Wrath and without doubting. 12:13 Now let me tell you what that means 12:14 when it says lift up holy hands. 12:16 I'll look into that because a lot of times, 12:17 you know, we have this exercise 12:19 where people raise their hands today. 12:20 And some people pray that way, 12:21 nothing wrong with that. 12:23 But when they prayed, and this is truly an exercise, 12:27 when you read the Book of 1 Timothy Chapter 2, 12:29 you'll see that verses before 12:32 Timothy or Paul is addressing issues 12:35 that were common among men 12:38 and an issue that was common among women. 12:41 The issue that was common among women 12:43 is that they were adorning themselves 12:45 in gold and pearls and costly array, 12:49 but men weren't praying. 12:51 And so Paul is literally saying to Timothy, 12:54 his younger understudy 12:56 that you need to let men know that they need to pray. 12:59 Men need to pray more than they do. 13:02 I've discovered that women pray more than men. 13:05 It's a sad reality 13:07 because men sometimes appear to be very self-sufficient. 13:10 Men sometimes appear to be, 13:11 well, I got this, so I don't need to pray. 13:13 The Lord is saying here that when you pray, 13:15 you lift up, what kind of hands? 13:18 Holy hands, not just hands. 13:20 See, lifting the hand doesn't mean anything to God. 13:23 But if that hand is holy, 13:24 if that hand is holy, 13:26 then that's all the difference between 13:27 whether not your prayer gets through. 13:29 So let's go ahead and answer the question. 13:31 How and where are we instructed to pray? 13:34 How are we instructed to pray? 13:37 Huh? 13:38 Or where are we instructed to pray? 13:40 Every way. 13:41 How are we instructed to pray? 13:43 Okay, with holy hands, that's the key. 13:46 He that has clean hands and a pure heart. 13:50 So when the Bible talks about holy hands, 13:52 it's simply saying, 13:53 make sure that when you come before God, 13:55 your life is where God wants that life to be. 13:57 Now let me put this in the proper context. 13:59 If a sinner comes before God, 14:01 a man struggling, a woman struggling 14:03 never, never expected, 14:06 never even turned to God before. 14:08 Living a life that's down to the level of the gutter, 14:11 just from one sin, 14:13 one transgression to the other 14:15 and that person turns to God in prayer, 14:16 God will hear, 14:18 God will deliver. 14:19 Matter of fact, we read that last week in Psalms 50:15, 14:22 "Call upon me in the day of trouble, 14:24 I will deliver you." 14:25 We discover that, right? 14:26 So God isn't saying, 14:28 well, you got to be a perfect person to pray to me. 14:29 That's not what He's saying. 14:31 But He's saying for those who know, 14:33 those who call themselves holy men and holy women, 14:36 make sure that when you come before Me, 14:38 you come before Me acknowledging 14:40 that I am holy. 14:42 So don't come to Me. 14:43 And we'll talk about some prayer blockers tonight. 14:47 Don't come to me any old way, 14:50 and expect for your prayers 14:51 to not only be heard 14:53 but on the other side to be answered 14:55 because the Bible talks about things 14:57 that block our prayers from being heard. 14:59 Like if a child comes to a parent 15:02 and they asked for a request 15:04 and the parent know the child has not been obedient, 15:06 will they respond to their request? 15:08 They will but with what? 15:10 No, with what? 15:12 Wait, till you get your life together 15:15 and then I'll see whether or not 15:16 I could trust you with that or this. 15:19 But what I want to do tonight 15:20 is talk about these types of prayers in the Bible. 15:23 There are examples in Scripture 15:24 that talks about different kinds of prayer. 15:27 Go with me to the Book of Luke. 15:29 Luke Chapter 18. I want you to see this. 15:32 Luke Chapter 18, 15:34 I want to show you from verse 9 to verse 14. 15:38 This is not on your syllabus, but it's very important. 15:41 Talk about different kinds of prayers. 15:45 The kind of prayer not to pray, 15:48 in the way not to pray 15:49 because we talked about how to pray, 15:51 but then there's a way not to pray. 15:53 All right, Luke 18, 15:56 you'll find this. 15:58 I was just gonna give the page number, 16:00 I'm so used to doing that 16:01 in our Sabbath School class. 16:03 But 16:06 starting with verse 9, starting with verse 9, 16:10 this is the parable of the Pharisee 16:12 and the tax collector. 16:15 The Pharisee and the tax collector, 16:16 two kinds of individuals, 16:19 one very religious, 16:21 and one labeled as not religious at all. 16:24 But let's start with verse 9. 16:28 Also, he spoke this parable to some 16:32 who did what? 16:34 Trusted in themselves 16:36 that they were righteous and despised others. 16:40 One of the first things you have to do 16:42 when you come to God in prayer 16:44 is not despise people 16:46 and think that you are more righteous than they. 16:49 And that was one of the examples 16:51 that Christ put forth here 16:52 because the Pharisees, 16:54 you'll see as the prayer unfolds, 16:55 the Pharisees had that righteous over others attitude. 17:00 That's why it's also to tap on our back. 17:03 We look at people that are living in the world 17:05 and the Lord in essence in this particular parable 17:07 is saying to us, wait a minute, wait a minute, 17:09 if you think you're better than them, 17:10 be very, very careful 17:12 because that's the caution in this verse. 17:15 Look at verse 10. 17:17 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, 17:20 one a Pharisee 17:22 and the other a tax collector. 17:26 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 17:31 'God, I thank You 17:33 that I am not like other men,'" 17:36 and here's how he labeled the other men, 17:38 "extortioners," 17:40 that means stealing people money 17:42 under pretense, 17:43 "unjust, adulterers, 17:45 or even as this tax collector." 17:48 And the tax collector evidently had to be in his visible range 17:51 because even as this tax collector, 17:54 tax collectors will look down upon 17:56 because many tax collectors 17:58 like Matthew before his conversion, 17:59 would rob the individuals, 18:01 would raise the taxes, 18:03 would get some for themselves. 18:05 Would put some money in their pockets, 18:07 as well as in the pocket of the government, 18:09 stealing under the table. 18:11 And so the Pharisee thinking himself 18:12 to be above that tax collector, 18:14 no longer a sinner and extortioner. 18:18 He's thinking, God, I'm not like him. 18:20 So that's the reason 18:21 why you should listen to my prayer. 18:23 And now he goes on, 18:24 the first thing you'll discover 18:25 is he felt that prayer was exclusive. 18:28 What words did I use? 18:30 Exclusive. 18:31 He felt well, I'm a Pharisee, 18:34 you listening to me, God, 18:36 I'm in an exclusive category, 18:38 I am not like other men. 18:42 So that's why my prayer should be heard. 18:43 I'm not like the extortioner, I'm not like the adulterer, 18:46 I'm not like the tax collector, I'm not like the sinners, 18:49 I am not like them. 18:50 So God, here's a reason, I'm exclusive, 18:52 we have an exclusive relationship. 18:54 Never think of your relationship 18:55 between you and God as exclusive. 18:57 Think of it as privileged. Amen? 19:00 To have that connection with God is a privilege, 19:02 not an exclusitive and exclusivity. 19:05 Let's go on. 19:07 He begins to now goes from exclusive prayer 19:10 to self righteous prayer. 19:12 I fast twice a week, 19:14 I give tithes of all that I possess. 19:19 In other words, 19:21 the two reasons why you should listen to me 19:23 Lord, as I'm right, 19:24 I do what's right 19:25 and I'm not a sinner, 19:27 that's why you should listen to me. 19:29 But now our transitions, 19:31 and the tax collector standing, 19:35 how? 19:36 A far off as translation say, 19:38 at a distance 19:40 would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven. 19:44 Now notice, I want you to get 19:45 because when we read in 1 Timothy 2:8, 19:47 what did they do? They lifted their hands. 19:49 And in which direction they lifted their hands up? 19:52 But not only do they lift their hands, 19:54 they lifted their hands and their eyes to heaven. 19:56 They didn't do this. 19:58 Hey guys, I'm praying. 20:00 They lifted their hands and their eyes to heaven, 20:02 they look to God. 20:04 That's why when you find, 20:05 look to Me and be ye saved, 20:07 that's the context of that. 20:08 Look unto Me and be safer, 20:10 I'm God and there is no other. 20:11 Like a child looks to the parent, 20:14 we look to our Heavenly Father, 20:15 so the eyes and the hand looking toward heaven. 20:18 That's how Daniel prayed with his hands 20:20 and his eyes towards heaven. 20:23 I looked in the light, now I'm blind. 20:25 And it says and tax collector standing afar off 20:28 with not so much as raised his eyes to heaven, 20:31 but beat his breaths saying, 20:32 God, let's read that together. 20:35 Be merciful to me a, what? 20:39 A sinner. 20:40 So when we come before God, 20:42 what are one of the ways 20:44 that we should 20:48 package our prayer? 20:50 What should we ask God for? 20:54 Forgiveness, and what did he asked for God here? 20:57 Mercy, it's better to fall in the hands 21:00 of a loving God 21:03 than to fall in the hands of angry man. 21:06 So he said, God, if I fall into Your hands, 21:08 at least You are loving and merciful 21:10 and kind, be merciful to me a sinner. 21:13 We've got to acknowledge when we come before God 21:15 that we are sinners. 21:16 He humbled himself and he was dependent. 21:19 He looked to God, be merciful to me. 21:22 He knew that he needed God. 21:24 The difference between the two is in verse 14. 21:26 I tell you, this man, that is the tax collector, 21:29 went down to his house, how? 21:31 Justified, 21:33 rather than the other. 21:35 For everyone who exalts himself 21:37 will be humbled 21:39 and he who humbles himself will be, what? 21:42 Exalted. 21:43 The Pharisee, you will go further 21:44 in this particular book, 21:46 as well as Matthew, Mark, and John, 21:48 where the Lord said, 21:50 beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. 21:53 And He also says, except your righteousness 21:55 exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees. 21:58 These were men that had this idea 22:00 that they were exclusive. 22:01 So for us who are Christians, 22:04 we should still come before God 22:05 with a humble attitude, 22:07 seeking God's mercy, 22:09 understanding that in the sight of God, 22:10 every one of us is a sinner. 22:13 Where should we pray? Where should we pray? 22:16 Where should we pray? Everywhere. 22:18 How should we pray? 22:19 Humbly before God. 22:22 Now let's look at another kind of prayer. 22:24 Matthew 6:7, 22:27 Matthew 6:7, right. 22:32 This one, I've seen this displayed, 22:33 I've traveled and I've been in a lot of churches. 22:36 Frankly, this one, I always wonder, 22:39 at what point 22:41 will God get it? 22:42 And you see exactly 22:44 what I'm talking about right here. 22:47 Matthew 6:7. 22:53 Right. 22:58 I want to start with verse 5 down to verse 7. 23:03 And when you pray, 23:07 you shall not be like the what? 23:09 The hypocrite. 23:11 For they love to pray standing 23:13 in the synagogues 23:14 and on the corners of the streets, 23:16 that they may be seen by men. 23:19 Assuredly, I say to you, 23:21 they have their reward. 23:23 In other words, men say, ah. 23:24 Now let me just make some points 23:26 on this because sometime I was growing up 23:27 and sometimes, before people get to the prayer, 23:30 they started like this, 23:32 before the mountains were brought forth 23:34 wherever thou art form 23:35 the world and the earth, 23:37 even from everlasting to everlasting, thou our God, 23:40 and they get into the soliloquy of repetition 23:42 and wonderful things, that's wonderful. 23:44 Those are things that we sometimes must say, 23:47 as we come before our exalted God, 23:49 as you've seen, David has done, 23:51 Isaiah have done, 23:52 and a lot of the prophets come before God 23:54 and they acknowledge his ability to create. 23:56 But sometimes you just need a three word prayer, 23:59 like Peter, Lord, save me. 24:02 And so there's sometimes people come to the Lord 24:05 and say, 24:06 well, sometimes people come to me and say, 24:07 well, I'm having a hard time praying. 24:10 I mean, I don't know how to pray. 24:12 Well, Peter learned really quickly. 24:14 What did he say, 24:16 Lord, the one to whom we pray, 24:18 say the very thing we need me, 24:21 the one who needs it. 24:23 I call that my three point plan for national security. 24:27 Lord, the one to whom we pray, 24:29 save the thing we need, me, 24:32 the one who needed. 24:34 That three point plan 24:35 for national security or spiritual security. 24:38 But it continues in verse 6. 24:40 And it talks about a kind of prayer 24:41 that is exercised today. 24:42 And I've seen this among many churches, 24:44 unfortunately. 24:46 And it says, when you pray. 24:49 I'm in verse 6. 24:50 Let me start with verse 6 because I went to verse 7. 24:53 "But when you pray, 24:54 go into your room," 24:56 some translations, say closet, " 24:58 and when you have shut the door, 25:00 pray to your Father who is in the," what? 25:04 "In heaven or the secret place. 25:06 And your Father who sees in secret 25:08 will reward you," how? 25:10 "Openly." 25:11 So what's being said here, 25:13 let prayer between you and your father at times. 25:17 Because not always do people need to know 25:20 what you're praying about. 25:21 But here's how they'll know. 25:23 Your father will answer publicly, 25:25 your father will reward you publicly. 25:28 Now if you notice the comparison, 25:29 those who pray to be seen 25:30 already got their public reward. 25:32 Right? 25:34 Those who prayed for visible... 25:35 Oh, what a... 25:37 Oh, that was a dynamic prayer. 25:38 Oh, really good prayer. 25:40 Let's not pray for man's accolade 25:42 but for God's approval, 25:43 that's what's actually being said. 25:45 And then he points out exactly what they do 25:48 with this entire public display. 25:50 Verse 7, "And when you pray, 25:52 do not use vain repetitions as the heathens do. 25:55 For they think that they will be heard for their," what? 25:58 Many words or for their much speaking. 26:01 That's the way I think the King James Version says, 26:03 for their much speaking. 26:05 And here's the reason why, 26:07 verse 8, 26:09 "Therefore do not be like them. 26:10 For your Father knows 26:13 the things you have need of," how? 26:16 "Before you ask him." 26:17 Now let's just put this into a practical exercise here. 26:21 I'm gonna use Yannick. Yannick, could you help me? 26:23 Yannick, please help me, help me Yannick. 26:25 Yannick, please give me a hand. 26:26 Help me, Yannick. 26:28 After a while, he's gonna say, okay, I got it. 26:30 I got it. All right. 26:32 I got it. 26:34 What do you need? I got it. 26:35 It's like writing a letter. 26:37 Dear John, I want you John to do this, 26:38 John and John, you know, by the way, John, 26:40 things have been happening, John. 26:42 What happens is the name of God is so holy 26:44 when the Jews prayed. 26:46 Matter of fact, even when they wrote His name, 26:48 they will put down one pen 26:49 and pick up a different scribe 26:51 and begin to write His name 26:52 because His name was so holy. 26:53 And so when the Bible says, 26:55 don't take the name of the Lord in vain, 26:57 they use vain repetition. 27:00 And sometimes it was the repetitive 27:01 nature of God's name. 27:04 God, God, God, God, God. 27:07 And he's almost, 27:10 I hear you, 27:12 I got it, 27:14 see. 27:15 And so to understand fully 27:17 what this is actually talking about, 27:18 I want to nail this thing. 27:20 To understand fully what this is talking about. 27:21 Let's go to 1 Kings Chapter 18 now, 27:23 because I'm gonna show you an example. 27:25 Because sometimes people say, 27:26 okay, that's what they said but actually, 27:28 what is vain repetition? 27:29 I see verse 6 to verse 9, 27:30 or verse 6 to verse 8 27:32 and then the Lord teaches them 27:33 how to pray in this manner. 27:36 Pray and then he talks about our father, 27:38 which art in heaven. 27:39 By the way, when he repeated that prayer, 27:42 he didn't say, use this prayer, 27:44 he said, this is an example of how you should pray. 27:47 Lot of times you say, repeat after me, 27:49 our Father, which art in heaven 27:51 hallowed be thy name. 27:52 That was an example. 27:54 So God is saying, here's the pattern, 27:55 notice how many times His name is mentioned, 27:58 that's what He's in essence saying. 27:59 Don't over repeat my name. 28:01 Okay, 28:02 but now 1 Kings 18:25-29 28:06 is where we're gonna first start. 28:08 We're gonna first look at the heathen prayer. 28:10 This is the showdown on Mount Carmel. 28:14 And you have one man there representing God, 28:16 His name is who? 28:18 Elijah. 28:19 And he's at a place 28:21 where God wants to recover His people 28:23 that had been stolen by spiritual extortioners 28:28 and those that have joined sides 28:30 with Jezebel and Ahab 28:33 and the false prophet Ba'al or Baal, 28:35 however you say that name. 28:37 And so now, 28:38 Elijah is giving them an opportunity 28:41 to prove that their God really is God. 28:44 And he's going to use prayer 28:45 to determine that. 28:47 You'll even see that in the life of Jonah. 28:49 When the boat was rocking, 28:52 they found Jonah sleeping in the bottom of the ship, 28:54 and they said, could you pray to your God? 28:57 Because they knew their God wasn't doing them any good. 29:00 They evidently was calling their God 29:01 and their God wasn't responding, 29:02 so they wake up a man that they knew. 29:04 Once he said, I am a Hebrew, 29:06 I believe in the God. 29:08 He's okay now, could you pray to him? 29:09 Maybe he'll help us out 29:11 and that's a big significance. 29:13 And what I want to say before I read the story is, 29:14 when you live a life before the world, 29:16 and people know that you are connected to the true God, 29:18 they know who to ask to pray for them. 29:21 They know when difficulty comes, 29:23 sometimes we get together 29:25 with the guys on the flying field 29:27 and I remember on one particular instance, 29:29 everybody knows that I'm a pastor, 29:31 and one of the guys that I don't know 29:32 if he's a Christian or not but he had a particular issue 29:35 and he said, hey, I got this thing coming up, 29:36 could you pray about it for me? 29:38 And he told me what it was. 29:39 And I said, "Well, let's pray right now." 29:41 And I didn't think he was, that I'm praying right now. 29:44 Because we're at the flying field, 29:45 flying helicopters and airplanes 29:46 but he mentioned it to me 29:48 and sometimes in the busyness of my life, 29:50 I'll get home and not remember that. 29:51 So I said, "Let's pray right now." 29:53 And you want to pray at 90. 29:56 Okay. 29:57 And we prayed right there. 29:58 But now let's look at the example. 30:00 Elijah is proving through prayer 30:03 that is not heathen based. 30:05 That God does respond to honest, 30:07 simple prayers. 30:09 Verse 25, 30:10 "Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, 30:13 'Choose one bull for yourself and prepare it first, 30:16 for you are many, 30:18 and call on the name of your God, 30:21 but put no fire under it." 30:23 When it says call on, 30:25 that's prayer. 30:26 When you call on God, 30:27 you call on God, that's prayer. 30:29 You're calling on the Lord. 30:30 Whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 30:33 Call upon me in the day of trouble, 30:35 and I will deliver you. 30:36 Calling on God is another way of praying. 30:38 And it says in verse 26, 30:40 "For they took the bull which was given them, 30:42 they prepared it, 30:44 and called on the name of Baal 30:45 from," how long? 30:47 "Morning until," what? 30:49 "Noon," and look at the vain repetition, 30:51 saying, "O Baal, hear us! 30:54 But there was no voice, 30:56 no one answered." 30:58 Look at the heathen prayer, 30:59 "Then they leaped about the altar 31:01 which they had made. 31:02 And so it was, at noon, 31:04 that Elijah mocked them and said, 31:06 'Cry aloud, for he is a god, 31:09 either he is meditating, or he is busy, 31:12 or he is on a journey, 31:14 or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.' 31:16 So they cried," How? "Aloud, 31:19 and cut themselves, as was their custom," 31:22 this was normal to them, 31:25 "with knives and lances, 31:28 until the blood gushed out on them.'" 31:30 God doesn't require that, 31:32 God has not asked us to do that. 31:34 And by the way, 31:35 some people interpret this is as the afflicting of your souls 31:38 and some still do to this very day. 31:40 Some cultures still, 31:41 you know, they, 31:43 when the time of Easter comes around, some people, 31:46 I've seen this done in some foreign countries, 31:47 I don't want to label any of them now 31:48 but some of them literally nail through their hands, 31:51 literally have in their culture. 31:53 And it's an honor in some cultures 31:55 to literally have a nail driven 31:56 through your hand during Easter 31:58 to prove that you are somehow worthy 32:00 of God's attention. 32:01 There's some people that 32:03 literally I've seen the picture of people, 32:04 in some cultures, they put like 30 or 40 hooks 32:07 through their back, fish hooks 32:08 and hang a person just in midair, 32:10 thinking that somehow by cutting 32:12 and afflicting themselves, 32:13 they get the attention of God. 32:14 But he said, this is not what you need to do. 32:17 Let's go on, verse 29. 32:20 "And when midday was passed, 32:22 they prophesied 32:24 until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice." 32:28 Now do you get it? 32:29 "When the Lord will say, 32:31 many will say to Me in that day, 32:32 have I not prophesied in Thy name? 32:36 Cast out devils, done many wonder," 32:39 they prophesied. 32:40 But it says, "But there was no voice, 32:43 no one answered," 32:44 and look what it said. 32:46 "No one paid attention." 32:48 Because who were they praying to? 32:49 A God who had eyes can't see, ears can't hear, 32:52 fingers can't touch. 32:53 They were praying to idols. 32:55 They were praying to someone 32:56 who evidently was not on the other end. 33:00 But now, that's the heathen prayer. 33:02 But now look at the true worshiper. 33:03 Verse 36 to verse 38. 33:08 And you can look at all the other things 33:10 that Elijah did after he realized, 33:12 after he made them realize 33:13 that their God is not responding. 33:16 Elijah set up the altar, 33:17 double the water, stone, 33:19 made sure that there was nothing there 33:20 that could be ignited, flooded the altar twice, 33:23 flooded again, 33:25 making sure that nobody could say, 33:28 hey, he's not gonna match and lit the water, 33:29 you can't light water. 33:31 But he was showing the power of his God. 33:34 And it says in verse 36, 33:35 "And it came to pass, 33:37 at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice." 33:39 In other words, when they were done, 33:41 God took over. 33:43 "That Elijah the prophet came near and said, 33:46 'Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, 33:50 let it be known this day that You are God 33:54 in Israel and I am Your servant, 33:57 and that I have done all these things at," what? 34:02 "At Your word." 34:03 When you're praying and you're doing things at God's word, 34:06 you're in the right pattern. 34:07 Then it says in verse 37, 34:09 "Hear me, O Lord, hear me, 34:11 that this people may know 34:13 that You are the Lord God, 34:15 and that You have turned their hearts 34:18 back to You again." 34:21 And the result. 34:23 "Then the fire of the Lord 34:24 fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, 34:26 and the wood and the stones 34:28 and the dust, and it licked up the water 34:30 that was in the trench." 34:32 Did God respond? 34:34 What did Elijah do? 34:35 He just simply knelt down and pray. 34:37 So you don't need to have some kind of lesson 34:40 or some kind of instruction on how to pray. 34:43 Here it is, 34:44 bend your knees, 34:46 or bow your heads, 34:48 or simply as you're driving call 34:50 on the name of the Lord out of a pure heart. 34:54 Even if you're in trouble 34:56 and your heart is not pure and God understands 34:57 that you're being sincere, 34:58 call on the name of the Lord. 35:00 He said, 35:02 "You will call me and I will deliver you 35:04 out of your trouble." 35:06 That's how God is. Amen for that? 35:07 That's why question number 11 is so significant. 35:10 When you look at this, 35:11 it set the groundwork 35:13 of what Elijah did 35:15 and why he did it and why God responded? 35:17 Look at question number 11. 35:19 Right? 35:20 Don't use vain repetition. 35:22 And here it is. 35:24 What is one of the reasons 35:26 that John tells us 35:27 prayers are not answered? 35:31 What is one reason 35:33 that John tells us prayers are not answered? 35:35 John 16:24. 35:38 Not all prayers are answered. 35:39 And he tells us why. 35:42 Okay. 35:48 And I'll give you a hint after this. 35:53 John 16:24. Here's the answer. 35:55 "Until now you have asked nothing," how? 36:00 "In my name. 36:02 Ask, and you will receive, 36:03 that your joy may be full." 36:05 Sometimes when you, if you wrote a letter... 36:09 I have this thing about people sending me notes 36:11 without a name on it, 36:13 I don't read it. 36:15 When a person sends me a letter, 36:17 when a person puts a note under my door and no name, 36:19 I don't read it 36:20 because I don't know who's it for. 36:24 The Lord is saying, 36:26 are you talking to me? 36:28 Well then ask in whose name? 36:30 My name. 36:31 That's what He's saying. 36:33 I know what you want but who you're asking. 36:37 When you are vague, 36:39 God is saying make sure that your prayers are specific. 36:42 That's why whenever you end your prayer, 36:44 you should always say in Jesus' name, I pray. 36:50 Because no one comes to the Father 36:51 except through Christ. 36:53 There is no other name, 36:54 there's no other salvation connection. 36:56 You can't come to God like, 36:59 hey, God, I got a request, I need a car, 37:02 send me a car, and I need a Buick by the way. 37:06 Who you are talking to? 37:08 Come in my Son's name, 37:10 come ask in My name. 37:13 Up until now you haven't gotten anything 37:14 because you haven't asked in My name. 37:16 So here's the answer. 37:17 What is the one reason 37:18 why John tells us our prayers are not answered 37:20 because we don't ask in whose name? 37:22 We don't come to the Father in the name of Jesus. 37:26 Heathens didn't say, Lord, 37:29 they didn't acknowledge the true God, 37:30 they came in the attitude of prayer 37:34 but they came in the attitude of speaking to a false God. 37:39 He says, "Acknowledge Me, 37:41 acknowledge Me, 37:42 and your prayers will be heard." 37:47 And then sometimes you think that, 37:48 well, man, I don't want to pray 37:50 'cause, I don't know if God could do this. 37:52 I've had people say why, 37:53 you know, this is really difficult situation 37:55 I'm in but, 37:58 I've been working it out. 38:00 And I say to them, "Did you pray?" 38:04 "Yeah, I'm working on it." 38:07 "Did you pray?" 38:09 "Well, I'm getting there." They're not saying this. 38:11 But I could sense 38:12 that there's some kind of hesitance to pray. 38:16 Because somehow, Lorraine, they feel that, 38:18 well, you know, I know God has a lot to do 38:22 and I need to work on this one, 38:24 maybe because I'm afraid that 38:26 this may be too difficult for God. 38:29 Okay, so let's go to the next one. 38:32 Number 12. 38:33 So if you want to answer number 11, 38:35 you put down that under, don't forget, 38:36 pray in Jesus' name. 38:37 Number 12. Here it is. 38:39 What are we told about prayers that seem impossible to answer? 38:48 To understand how capable God is, 38:51 you got to ask Him difficult things. 38:55 You got to ask God for things. 38:57 I've always said, 38:58 "Don't ask a billionaire for $5, 39:02 when you can ask a poor man for $5." 39:05 When you realize that God has no... 39:08 He has no limit, 39:11 He has no credit limit, 39:13 He has no ceiling on His ability. 39:16 He has no place that God can be harnessed. 39:19 So when you bring before Lord, 39:20 the prayers that you have, 39:21 when you say God deal with this situation. 39:25 He's not saying, 39:27 "I don't know about this one? 39:28 This is a tough one." 39:31 But Jeremiah brings us 39:32 before the God that never fails. 39:34 Look at the answer. Jeremiah 32:27. 39:39 I want us to read this one together. 39:41 This one's doesn't sink in all the time 39:43 because people find themselves in difficult situations. 39:46 And yes, we should call on each other 39:47 to pray and bear one of those burdens. 39:49 But sometimes it's just got to be between us and God, 39:53 and don't ever think 39:54 that just because it's between you and God 39:56 that somehow something's missing. 39:58 Look at what He says when we come to Him. 40:00 Are you ready, let's read this together. 40:02 Here we go, "Behold, I am the Lord, 40:05 the God of all flesh." 40:07 Now together. 40:09 "Is there anything too hard for Me?" 40:15 I don't know about any man 40:17 that has ever asked me that question. 40:19 So, you know, we have some people say, 40:21 you think I can't do that. 40:22 Okay, okay, do that. Good. Do it, I'm standing back. 40:24 We give people room 40:26 to make an idiot of themselves 40:27 because we know that there's some things 40:29 that man can't do. 40:30 I once said Shaquille O'Neal, 40:32 as good a basketball player as he is, 40:34 he'll never be a successful jockey. 40:37 He's just too heavy. 40:39 You can't put 300 pounds of man on the horse 40:42 and expect to win a race. 40:43 It's just not gonna happen. 40:46 And Charles Barkley is not gonna be 40:47 a successful ballerina. 40:49 He just doesn't have it like that. 40:51 That's the whole point. 40:53 So there are certain things for men that are not possible, 40:54 but with God, is there anything impossible for God? 40:57 Is there anything hard for God? 40:59 No, absolutely not. 41:01 So one of the reasons why... 41:03 One of the reasons why we come up to our walls 41:09 is because we try to resolve matters ourselves. 41:12 And God is saying, "Give me the shot. 41:14 There's nothing too difficult for me." 41:16 So here's the answer. 41:18 What are we told about prayers that seem impossible to answer? 41:20 Are they impossible? 41:22 No, there are no impossible requests of God, 41:26 no impossible requests. 41:29 Put Him to the test. 41:30 He says, Malachi prove me, 41:33 check me out, try Me. 41:35 And I know my wife and I had instances where we have. 41:39 We get so excited when the prayer comes through. 41:41 Not that we didn't think God could do it 41:44 but sometimes He does it 41:45 far above the way we ask. 41:49 And that's what makes the prayer so beautiful 41:51 when He responds far above our expectation. 41:53 And He said, He's able to do that 41:55 far beyond our expectation. 41:58 All Right. 41:59 Now let's go to number 13. 42:01 Number 13. 42:02 Moving right along. 42:04 Number 13. 42:06 Okay. 42:08 What is the time lapse 42:09 between our prayers and God's response? 42:24 One thing I'll say before we go to Isaiah 65:24, 42:28 is God's timetable is way better than our timetable. 42:33 We will pray for a job 42:35 and we want a job like when, 42:36 when do we want a job? 42:39 I like that. Yesterday, okay. 42:41 We want that phone call to come in yesterday, 42:43 we want that first application 42:44 that we submit to be answered like right now. 42:47 But I need a job, I need some money now. 42:53 But if the company that God wants you to work for 42:55 doesn't have the opening yet, 42:57 he'll say I got you, I got you. 42:59 There's a place I want you to work. 43:01 And the position is not open yet, 43:03 but it'll be open in about a month, 43:05 I'll cover you till then. 43:07 And there are some jobs 43:08 that God does not want us to have. 43:10 Some people... 43:12 We had a person that once prayed for a job 43:14 and she got the job 43:15 and required her to work on Sabbath 43:16 and she said, "God answered my prayer." 43:20 God will never answer your prayer 43:22 to violate His requirements. 43:25 He'll never send you anything 43:26 that is out of harmony with His will. 43:28 But let's look at the timetable. 43:30 Isaiah 65:24. 43:31 What kind of timetable does God have? 43:34 He says, "It shall come to pass that," what? 43:39 "Before they call, I will," do what? 43:44 "Answer and while they are still," what? 43:47 "Speaking, I will do," what? 43:48 "Hear." 43:50 Do you have any examples in the Bible? 43:51 When Daniel was praying, 43:56 Daniel, stop, I'm praying. 43:58 Daniel, hold on, I'm not done yet. 44:01 Daniel. 44:04 At the beginning of your prayer, 44:05 God sent me to talk to you 44:07 and since you're not done yet, 44:09 I got something to say. 44:10 Is that a response? 44:11 Then what about Rhoda? 44:13 What about Rhoda praying 44:15 for Peter to be set free from prison? 44:17 All these young people are, older people, 44:19 church members at a house 44:22 praying for Peter to be set free from prison. 44:26 They have a prayer meeting. 44:27 There's nothing wrong with prayer. 44:28 But here's the point. 44:30 You got to pray, 44:31 you got to believe less in the prayer 44:34 and more in the God to whom you pray. 44:37 Let's keep going. 44:39 Little light out of shape but we can keep going. 44:42 You have to believe less in the prayer, 44:45 the exercise of prayer 44:46 and more in the one to whom you pray. 44:48 Am I right? That's the key. 44:50 Sometimes people believe in the act of prayer, 44:53 but it's the one to whom you pray 44:55 that makes the difference. 44:57 See, pray. There you go. 44:58 Prayer gets answered real fast. 45:00 See, sometimes you got, God gives us examples. 45:03 Wonderful. Thank you, Lord. 45:06 How quick was that answered? 45:07 Praise the Lord. 45:09 So you got to keep on going 45:10 through the circumstances 45:11 and that's a great example. 45:13 Thank you, God for that. 45:14 In the midst of darkness, 45:16 keep on communicating, 45:17 keep on going forward. 45:18 God responds to those prayers 45:20 that come from a heart of sincerity. 45:22 Before you call, 45:24 there was Peter standing at the door knocking 45:26 and they said, "Shh! 45:29 We're praying. We're praying. 45:33 We're praying for you 45:36 to be set free for... 45:37 Well, hold on, I will be right back. 45:39 And Rhoda goes and tells people, ah, 45:41 Peter, Peter is at the door. 45:44 Shh! 45:45 We're praying for him. 45:47 Tell him we're praying for him. 45:49 They were more locked into the act of prayer 45:52 than the one to whom they prayed. 45:54 God was working that thing out 45:56 before they got the prayer meeting together. 45:57 Amen for that? 45:59 We got to see that, 46:00 we read these stories in the Bible 46:02 and we think, oh, 46:03 what a wonderful story, man, 46:04 I would have loved to have been there. 46:06 But God was working that thing out 46:08 before they got on their knees, 46:10 before they even began to call. 46:13 Peter was on his way to the house 46:15 because God led him out. 46:16 That's the kind of God we serve. 46:18 Before we call, He will answer. 46:20 And while we're yet speaking, 46:22 He says, "I will hear." 46:25 And by the way, this is so wonderful, 46:27 Peter wasn't even praying. 46:29 And this is an example. 46:30 Sometimes you've got to pray for people that are bound. 46:33 You've got to agree together to pray, 46:36 to set people free that are bound, 46:38 and God will go ahead and go to work. 46:40 Now who would you like us to pray for tonight? 46:42 We're praying for Peter. 46:44 Oh, I got that, I'm on my way. 46:46 Peter, wake up. 46:49 Wake up, Peter. 46:50 And he doesn't know until he passed the gates 46:53 into the city and all of a sudden, 46:56 this is real. 46:57 That's how wonderful prayer is. 46:59 You sometimes at the place, pray on Him. 47:01 This is real. 47:02 God actually answered my prayer. 47:04 So what's the answer? 47:06 What's the answer in Isaiah 65:24, 47:08 is that where we were? 47:10 What's the time lapse 47:11 between our prayers and God's response? 47:13 Before you call, 47:15 He's getting ready to answer that prayer. 47:16 And you got to wait on the Lord. 47:18 That's the thing about prayer. 47:19 You got to understand that God's timetable 47:22 is more of a priority than our timetable. 47:26 Right? 47:28 Each of our timetables are different. 47:29 God has, this is what I'm gonna do it. 47:32 This is how I'm gonna do it. 47:33 I don't need to tell you about it. 47:34 You just need to trust me. 47:36 Right? 47:37 So somebody says, 47:39 if you say to somebody, could you buy this for me? 47:43 And you know, they got money? 47:44 I mean, you know they got, they walk, 47:45 they got pockets. 47:47 I mean, those pockets are never empty. 47:49 I mean you know for a fact that they are deep pocketed. 47:52 And you say, could you bring me back a soda? 47:54 I got it. 47:56 Do they have it? 47:58 You don't say, "Oh, I wonder if they can afford it. 48:00 I wonder if it's gonna happen." 48:02 In the very same way God's capabilities 48:03 never should take us to the place 48:05 where we wonder whether or not God can perform 48:07 what we asked Him to perform or answer 48:10 what we send Him in the form of a request. 48:12 God never knows failure. 48:14 Matter of fact, 48:15 that leads us right to question number 14. 48:18 Okay, here it is. Number 14. 48:20 When we seek God in prayer, 48:23 what assurance has He given? 48:26 When we seek Him in prayer, 48:27 what assurance has He given? 48:29 Let's look to Psalms verse 34. 48:34 Psalms 34:4. 48:39 When we seek God in prayer, 48:40 what assurance are we given? 48:42 Got to have that assurance? 48:43 You know, if you're trying to, like me, 48:45 if you're messing around with the radio, 48:46 and you can't get through, 48:48 these radios don't come with insurance. 48:49 They don't come with insurance 48:52 and they don't come with assurance. 48:53 They come with instructions. 48:55 If you can't follow the instructions, 48:56 then you're not gonna get through. 48:58 But simply God says, 48:59 "Call on Me, that's the instruction." 49:01 Here's the answer. Here's the answer. 49:03 Psalms 34:4, 49:06 David said, I did what? 49:08 "I sought the Lord, and He did," what? 49:12 "Heard me and delivered me 49:14 from most of my fears." 49:17 How many of your fears, Lorraine? 49:19 How many of your fears? 49:21 How many of your fears? How many of your fears? 49:23 How many of your fears? 49:26 No need to fear, 49:28 God is here. 49:30 He doesn't just deliver us from all of our troubles, 49:34 which is Psalms 50:15, 49:35 "He delivers us from our," what? 49:37 "Fears." 49:39 That's so vitally important. 49:41 He doesn't just answer prayer by giving something, 49:43 sometime he has to deliver us 49:44 from something that's binding us. 49:46 Trouble binds us and fear often binds us. 49:50 He delivers us from our fear 49:52 and from our trouble, 49:54 not just from our circumstances. 49:56 He doesn't just want to give us things. 49:58 So often, our prayers are in the basis of Lord, 50:00 I need, Lord, I need, Lord, I need, now, Lord, 50:03 deliver me from my trouble. 50:05 Deliver me from my fear. 50:10 He says, "You asked me, I'll do it." 50:12 But now verse... 50:13 Question 15 gives us the next condition. 50:16 Question 15. So the answer to number 14. 50:18 When we see God in prayer, what assurance are we given? 50:21 He delivers, from how many of our fears? 50:23 All our fears, 50:25 He delivers from all fear. 50:28 He takes it away. 50:30 Now this is the condition to it. 50:32 Everything has a condition. 50:36 And by the way, when you seek the Lord, 50:38 when you seek the Lord, 50:41 seeking is like the word there is diligently searching. 50:47 When you sought the Lord, another word, 50:49 I turned to the Lord. 50:50 That's what that actually means. 50:52 Question number 15. 50:54 What key reason does the Bible give for reluctance in prayer? 50:58 For reluctance him in prayer. 51:03 All right. 51:04 Hebrews 11:6, 51:06 you theologians know this one by heart. 51:09 Okay, we're gonna go with it. 51:11 We're gonna go to this right now 51:12 in the interest of time. 51:13 Are you ready? Here we go. 51:16 "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, 51:22 for he who comes to God must believe that He is, 51:27 and that He is a rewarder of those who," do what? 51:31 "Diligently seek Him." 51:33 So when the Word says, 51:35 I sought the Lord, 51:37 when we read in Psalms 34:4, 51:39 I saw the Lord. 51:41 How did you think David sought him? 51:43 Diligently. 51:45 He diligently, but here's the key. 51:46 One of the reasons why prayers are not often... 51:49 One of the reasons why we're reluctant to pray. 51:52 And I want you not to run past this very important point. 51:56 For he who comes to God must believe that, what? 51:59 That He is. 52:01 We got to believe that God exists. 52:04 Would you go to somebody's house 52:05 if they don't live there? 52:07 Would you call them if they don't exist? 52:11 You couldn't call them if they did not exist. 52:14 Sometimes we... 52:17 I got to spill the beans once. 52:18 When we were growing up, 52:20 I used to play call anybody on our phone, 52:22 dial phones, kitty game. 52:24 And seven numbers, 52:26 I just pick any seven numbers, 52:27 and dialed and see who answers. 52:29 Hello, 52:30 and we giggle on the phone or laughing, 52:32 don't even know who it is. 52:33 Kitty game, that's back in the dial day. 52:35 Don't let your kids hear this. 52:37 Okay? 52:38 And we didn't know who was on the phone, 52:40 we will giggle and laugh 52:41 and then hang up the phone, 52:42 and there were no caller ID back there. 52:44 But nowadays they call you back, who is it? 52:45 Who just called me? 52:47 So don't do that, you get in trouble. 52:49 And, but 52:52 the key is, 52:54 you wouldn't call them 52:55 if you didn't think they really existed. 52:58 But sometimes you go to the phone book. 52:59 We used to go along and just stop your finger, 53:02 okay, who's that? 53:03 Okay, call that person, who's it? 53:05 I don't know, just call the number. 53:07 My sister and I used to play a game 53:08 when we were little children, little kids. 53:10 It didn't last very long, 53:12 because papa found out about and put a lock on the phone. 53:15 And then we couldn't make any phone calls at all. 53:17 But the point of the matter 53:19 is that I want to make very carefully here 53:20 and this is something that I don't want to run past. 53:22 When you call God, 53:24 you must believe that He is. 53:26 If you got trouble believing that God is, 53:29 get out of your living room on a very dark night 53:33 and make sure the skies are clear. 53:35 If it's cold, put on a very warm coat. 53:39 Go outside and stand in very dark place. 53:41 If you're in the country, you have nothing to fear 53:43 except maybe a deer may run into you. 53:45 That's it. 53:47 Stand up and look toward the heavens, 53:48 and ask yourself the question. 53:50 If God can hold all that together, 53:53 can He not hold your life together? 53:56 If God can do all that, 53:58 then there must be somebody out there 54:01 that's willing to hear my prayer. 54:03 And then you call on that one 54:04 that is the God that holds the world together, 54:08 that make sure the stars follow the same course 54:10 as they started following ever since 54:13 the days He created the earth. 54:15 See, earth is in trouble, 54:16 but the heavens are not in trouble. 54:18 The heavens declare the glory of God. 54:20 And the firmament shows His handiwork. 54:22 Day after day, night after night, 54:24 they pour forth speech. 54:26 There is no place where their voice is not heard, 54:29 the Bible says. 54:31 Creation knows that God exists. 54:34 Demons know that God exists. 54:36 They know it so well, they tremble. 54:38 But the barrier to having our prayers 54:41 even offered is sometimes we are praying 54:44 to someone but we don't believe that He is. 54:48 Because if you believe that He is, 54:50 you wouldn't feel that you have to beg. 54:52 You know what? 54:53 Let me just make this point right here. 54:57 You don't have to beg God, 55:00 you got to simply pray to God. 55:02 Here's what I mean by that. 55:04 Some people say, 55:05 "Lord, please, Lord, please help me. 55:08 Lord, please deliver." 55:11 God is saying, "I'll do it. 55:12 I promise, I'm gonna do it." 55:14 We don't have to beg God. 55:16 Please have mercy on me. 55:18 When we come to God and believe 55:20 that God is the one who wants to give us mercy, 55:23 wants to respond to our needs, 55:25 wants to bring us out of trouble, 55:26 wants to take away our fears. 55:28 We don't have to come before God 55:29 as though we have to convince Him. 55:31 This is really something you should answer 55:33 because God wants to. 55:35 He says, "Before you call, 55:36 I will answer, while you're yet speaking, 55:38 I will hear. 55:39 Call on Me and I'll respond." 55:41 So here's the key tonight. 55:45 We must believe that God exists 55:47 in order for God to hear. 55:49 So if you write the answer down 55:50 to question 15. 55:52 What key reason does the Bible give for reluctance in prayer? 55:54 We don't believe that God exists. 55:56 We believe but not really. 55:59 It's a huge difference 56:00 between just believing and having complete confidence 56:04 that He's listening to you, 56:05 He wants to hear you, 56:07 He'll respond to your request. 56:09 Now I'm gonna end with a very quick one tonight. 56:12 Because I'm gonna spend some time 56:13 on this one 56:14 when we begin on next Wednesday 56:16 we have our week of prayer. 56:17 So if you're gonna tune in next Wednesday, 56:18 it's gonna be the beginning of our week of prayer. 56:21 Seven different preachers are gonna be speaking 56:23 so not next Wednesday. 56:25 It's not gonna be prayer meeting, 56:26 but it's gonna be a week of prayer, 56:28 tune into the very same channel 56:29 and you'll be able to enjoy that with us. 56:31 But the last one, question number 16. 56:35 Question number 16. 56:37 What must we do to assure 56:39 that our prayers are being heard? 56:41 What must we do to assure 56:43 that our prayers are being heard? 56:45 The answer is very simple, but very quick. 56:47 And this is where soul searching comes in. 56:50 Psalm 66:18. 56:52 Let's read that together. 56:53 The Bible says, what? 56:55 "If I regard iniquity in my heart, 56:58 the Lord will not hear." 57:00 Do your homework to see the difference 57:02 between sin and iniquity. 57:04 Sin, we struggle 57:07 but when you become a habitual person 57:09 that's locked into practicing iniquity, 57:11 practicing something that's not acceptable to God and you, 57:14 you hunker down and hold on to that 57:17 more than you hold on to the Lord, 57:18 then the difficulty will come. 57:20 So here it is, 57:21 trust God, believe God, 57:25 know that He's there when you pray. 57:28 Come before Him in faith, 57:29 knowing He'll take away your fears 57:31 and take away your trouble. 57:32 And, friends, you'll understand 57:34 that prayer is not that difficult. 57:36 I told you tonight, 57:37 don't get one of these kinds of prayer lives, 57:39 trying to figure out how it's gonna work. 57:41 Get one of these, just simply press the button, 57:43 get on your knees, 57:44 call on God and He will hear you 57:46 and then you'll discover how powerful 57:49 and how ready God is to bring you 57:51 out of your troubles. 57:53 Here at Sharper Focus, 57:54 sometimes we think it's difficult to pray, 57:57 but I tell you when you pray whatever is cloudy 57:59 will come into A Sharper Focus. 58:02 God bless you. |
Revised 2019-06-20