Participants: Carlton P. Byrd
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000515A
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00:02 BREATH OF LIFE MINISTRIES PRESENTS: B515 I Dare You to Ask
00:20 PB: Matthew 7:7-8. The Word of God says to us today, “Ask, 00:25 and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, 00:32 and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; 00:37 and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” 00:44 “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; 00:48 knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that 00:52 asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him 00:56 that knocketh it shall be opened.” 01:00 Dare, I dare you to ask. Father in Heaven, Lord, 01:06 bless us now, as we open your Word and we expound on it, 01:10 we pray that your Spirit would speak to our hearts today. 01:13 Forgive us for our sins and, Lord, do what you do at the 01:17 appeal time we pray. It's in Jesus' name I pray and 01:20 ask these things. And everyone say Amen. And Amen. 01:24 I dare yo to ask. The intent of prayer is not to inform 01:31 God of something. Because if the intent of prayer were to 01:36 inform God of something, it would suggest that God isn't 01:40 all-knowing. But God, the Bible says, knows what you need 01:46 before you even ask. So if God knows, then, what I need 01:52 before I ask, why do I pray in the first place? I love this text, 01:59 but this text poses a dilemma. It poses somewhat of a dilemma 02:03 because God knows what we need before we ask, but yet God still 02:08 tells us to ask for whatever we want in prayer, and that he will 02:12 give us whatever we ask. But don't misinterpret the text. 02:17 God doesn't give us what we want when we ask, but somebody 02:22 knows God gives us what we need when we ask. I'm learning 02:27 that every prayer is heard and answered by God. But if the 02:32 request is wrong, God says no. If the timing is wrong, 02:37 God says slow. If you are wrong, God says, grow. 02:44 But if the request is right, the timing is right and 02:47 you are right, God says, go. 02:50 Jesus said, “Ask, and it shall be given; seek, 02:55 and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” 03:00 Now, notice quickly that in the text, these three verbs, 03:04 all three verbs--ask, seek, and knock--are what we call 03:09 imperative commands. Everybody say imperative. Aud: Imperative. 03:13 PB: Commands. Which means they are the necessary directives. 03:18 Which means Jesus wouldn't have said it if he didn't mean it. 03:22 The Lord expects all of us, every believer, to be active in prayer. 03:28 Prayer is not an option. He knows what we need, but we have to ask. 03:36 But in deeper study of this, not only that, when you study the 03:39 Greek in the New Testament, there are two basic kinds of imperatives. 03:44 The first imperative is the aoris imperative. Everybody say aoris. 03:48 Aud: aoris. PB: The second imperative is the passive imperative. 03:52 Everybody say passive. Aud: Passive. 03:54 PB: Or I should say present tense. Present imperative. 03:56 Say present imperative. Aud: Present imperative. 03:58 PB: All right, so we have aoris and we have present. 04:00 All right. The aoris is a command, the aoris imperative, 04:05 to do a particular thing at one specific time. 04:10 But the present imperative is a command not only to 04:14 do something, but to keep on doing it. Present tense 04:19 implies continuous, persistent action. Aoris tense 04:26 implies one time at a specific time. Somebody's going 04:30 to get this in a minute. The verbs ask, seek and knock 04:35 in the text, these verbs are in the present imperative tense. 04:41 So then what Jesus is saying is not only that we must ask, 04:46 but He says we gotta ask and keep on asking. 04:50 He says we've got to seek and keep on seeking. 04:53 We must knock and keep on knocking. Which is 04:56 why we associate with the acronym prayer PUSH, 05:00 because we've got to pray until something happens. 05:03 But then there's more. The present tense imperative verbs ask, 05:09 seek and knock have a natural progression from action from 05:16 the least aggressive to the most aggressive. In other words, 05:21 there's a reason Jesus put these words in the order that they're in. 05:27 Jesus is not only saying we must engage in persistent, continuous 05:31 action, but Jesus is also saying that the words ask, seek and knock 05:37 suggest an ever-increasing intensity in your prayer. Step one is asking. 05:44 When you ask somebody to do something, you're making a request of them. 05:50 Asking in prayer, then, is to make a request of God. We ask something 05:56 of God when we have a need. We ask something of God because 06:01 God can provide for all of our needs. If we want to receive, 06:04 we must ask. But step two is seeking. Seeking, then, 06:10 is action, asking plus action. We seek when we need 06:16 something of value to us. There are times that we have to 06:20 take an active role in our prayer process. If we must find, 06:24 we must seek. Somebody said we ask and seek when we pray as 06:32 if everything depended on God and work as if everything depended on us. 06:37 You gotta ask but you also have to act. But then step three is knocking. 06:44 Knocking is asking, plus action, plus attitude. This implies our 06:51 petition in asking, our purpose in seeking, and our persistence 06:57 in knocking. When we knock, we shut out from what we need and desire interest. 07:05 When we're trying to get in a door, we knock on that door 07:10 until we gain entrance. If we want entrance in the door, 07:14 we must knock. “Ask, and it shall be given; seek, 07:19 and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened.” 07:23 It's continuous action, it's intensify a present action 07:28 until we get what we need. So Paul said, “Let us not be 07:33 weary in well-doing.” If we feign not, we're going to 07:38 receive our just reward. Which means we've got to ask and 07:43 keep on asking. Seek, and keep on seeking. Knock, 07:48 and keep on knocking. But again, don't misinterpret the text. 07:53 Don't make these verses, Matthew 7:7-8, the bread and butter of 07:58 the health, wealth and prosperity movement. The name it and claim it. 08:04 The blab it and grab it theology. Because too many people use this 08:08 text and see God as some celestial slot machine, where if you pull 08:15 the handle long enough you all don't know anything about 08:17 slot machines you'll get what you want. But God is not a slot machine. 08:24 Don't approach prayer like you do a vending machine. 08:29 What do you do when you go up to a vending machine? 08:32 You put in your money, you make your selection, 08:36 you punch the button, and you wait for the soft drink 08:40 or the chips or the snacks to drop out of the machine. 08:43 The whole transaction takes a few seconds. 08:47 If your item doesn't drop out of the machine, 08:49 however, you get mad. You push the machine. 08:53 You hit the machine. You kick the machine. 08:57 And if that doesn't work, you write a note to the manager 09:00 of where the machine is, saying, “That machine took my money.” 09:05 Some people approach prayer like that. Some people think 09:10 that God is always going to answer their prayers the way 09:12 they want them answered, and at the time they want them answered. 09:15 And when God doesn't perform in the way they think God ought 09:17 to perform, they feel cheated. But I heard somebody say, 09:21 it may not come when you want it. But it's always right on time. 09:25 But too many people think that God is not a good God, 09:29 that God is not a loving God, that God is not a prayer-answering God, 09:33 that God is not a burden-answering and burden-bearing God. 09:37 I've had people tell me that they no longer believe in God 09:39 because their prayers weren't answered. It's like they were saying, 09:43 God, if you don't do what I want, then I won't believe in you. 09:47 But prayer's not given to us as a way to present our demands to God. 09:51 Prayer is not like presenting our Christmas wish list to Santa Claus. 09:55 Prayer is more than asking God to run errands for us. God is the Creator. 10:01 We are the creation. Prayer is the prelude to peace, the prologue to power, 10:07 the preface to purpose, and the pathway to perfection. 10:10 [Aud. reaction] Prayer is not about getting what we want. 10:14 Prayer is about getting what we need. The story is told of 10:19 a woman who was at this slot machine, vending machine understanding of prayer. 10:25 She wanted a swimming pool in her backyard. Her husband, however, 10:31 didn't want a swimming pool. He said, we can't afford a swimming 10:37 pool and we don't need a swimming pool. So no way, no how, 10:44 were they going to have a swimming pool in their backyard. 10:48 But this woman, his wife, believed that if she prayed for 10:54 a swimming pool that God would make it happen. 10:58 So she prayed for a swimming pool in her backyard. 11:02 Then she helped her prayer you know how some of us 11:05 help our prayers she helped her prayer by calling 11:09 the swimming pool company and ordering a pool. 11:14 And when the pool was delivered to their home, 11:17 she charged the swimming pool to her husband's credit card. 11:21 All the while she was proclaiming and testifying that 11:25 God gave her the swimming pool. The woman said, 11:29 look at God, won't He do it? [Aud: laughter] 11:33 But prayer is not about swimming pools, new cars, 11:40 houses or clothes. Prayer is all about our relationship 11:43 with our God. Ellen White says prayer is the opening of 11:46 the heart to God as a friend. Ellen White goes on, 11:49 I love this ___ from the Mount of Blessings, she says, 11:52 “Whatever spiritual blessing we need, it is our privilege 11:54 to claim through Jesus.” She said, it's through the name 11:58 of Jesus that every favor is received. That's why we 12:03 pray in the name of Jesus. She says God will honor that name, 12:07 and will supply your necessities from the riches of His liberality. 12:11 All we have to do is ask. But God isn't going to give us 12:15 what we necessarily want, but He's going to give us what we need. 12:18 And what we need may not be what we want. 12:21 [Aud. reaction] Next point. When you pray, when you ask 12:27 because we ___ ask today, I've learned that you've got to ask 12:30 in the spirit of sacrifice. You must learn to say, not my will, 12:36 but Thy will be done. Now let me just pause right now. 12:40 Yes, we have to ask, and ask, and ask continually. 12:46 But asking in prayer is also about sacrifice. 12:50 Asking isn't about being selfish. Asking isn't about being arrogant. 12:55 Asking is about sacrifice. That's why when we talk about 12:59 fasting and prayer, when we fast we're sacrificing something 13:03 physically so that we might gain something spiritually; 13:07 I wish I had a witness in this place. But I'm learning in 2016, 13:10 it's not popular to talk about sacrifice anymore. 13:14 It's more popular to talk about success. 13:18 Nobody wants to talk about sacrifice, 13:21 but you can't have success without sacrifice. 13:24 But people don't want to sacrifice today. 13:27 They want to hobo in on what you've got. 13:30 They want to hobo in on your anointing. 13:33 They want to hobo in on what somebody else has. 13:36 Their name is Jimmy, and they want you to gimme, 13:39 but it doesn't work that way. You've got to have 13:42 some sacrifice. You've got to give up something. 13:45 You can't snatch what God has for you while you're 13:48 still holding on what you did for yourself. 13:51 You gotta let go of some things so you can lay hold 13:53 on some things. If there's anything in your life that 13:56 you're holding onto that's greater than God, baby, 13:59 you gotta get rid of it. [Aud. reaction] 14:01 Let me bowl down this alley a little longer. 14:04 We're raising a generation of kids, of young 14:07 people who know nothing about sacrifice. 14:10 And that's why we're failing, because no sacrifice 14:14 means no success. Pastor Byrd, I need help with my tuition. 14:18 Do you have a job? Are you hearing what I'm saying? 14:21 Sometimes little Johnny needs to go to school: 14:25 But I stubbed my toe. Get a Band-Aid. Put it on, 14:32 go to school. See you at three o'clock. 14:36 I wish I had a witness in this place. 14:38 [Aud. reaction] Back in the day, they raised you to be tough. 14:42 My daddy said sick, as long as you don't give anything to 14:45 anybody, you're going to school. You didn't wimp out on everything. 14:49 But now we're raising young people to fail. I don't feel good. 14:54 Something is just on my mind, I don't feel good. 14:58 Well, just stay home ‘til you get over it. No! 15:02 Get up, get dressed. You're going to school today. 15:08 Here's some fruit, here's some toast, and there's a 15:11 water fountain at the school. I wish I had a witness in this place. 15:15 [Aud. reaction] Sometimes you gotta sacrifice. 15:19 In life there are good days. In life there are bad days. 15:25 And sometimes you have to endure some things and sacrifice. 15:28 You give up something to get something. You fast and pray. 15:32 But some folk don't want to make sacrifices. 15:35 Can't compromise anything today. I left her because 15:37 she can't cook. Well, go get some microwave meals. 15:42 [Aud. reaction] I left her because her hair is coming out. 15:45 Go get her some wigs and keep it going. Come on, say Amen. 15:49 I left him because his hair is coming out. Go buy some 15:54 Rogaine and keep it moving! [Aud. reaction] 15:58 I believe in it. He's lost his job. Well, 16:02 take him on a job search. Learn how to say, 16:05 come on, baby, I know you've been knocked down, 16:08 but you're going to get up again. I got your back. 16:12 I believe in God for you. “The Earth is the Lord's, 16:15 and the fullness thereof.” I pressed your shirt, 16:19 here's your tie, let's get outta here, we're gonna 16:22 get this job in the name of Jesus! Sacrifice! 16:27 [Aud. reaction] You've got to learn how to be 16:29 with somebody who's going to be with you through 16:31 the good and the bad. The ups and the downs. 16:34 Rights and your wrongs. Sacrifice. You've got 16:38 to give up something to get something. Through the ___. 16:41 Through the rain. Through sickness. Through pain. 16:47 Somebody knows you gotta push, you gotta pray until 16:51 something happens. I dare you to pray until something happens. 16:56 Pray your children off those drugs. Pray those children 16:59 out of the street. Pray them out, don't fuss them out, 17:03 don't cuss them out. Pray them out! [Aud. reaction] 17:08 I dare you. I dare you to ask God for your children back. 17:14 I dare you to ask God for your marriage back. 17:17 I tell you to ask God for your health back, 17:20 your job back, your finances back. You better 17:23 get back what the devil has stolen. 17:26 “Ask, and it shall be given; seek, and ye shall find; 17:30 knock, and the door shall be opened.” You gotta 17:35 learn how to pray. I'm talking about pray. 17:38 I'm so glad Momma prayed for me. I'm so glad Grandmomma 17:42 prayed for me. I don't know what you're going through, 17:45 but some things come by prayer and fasting. 17:47 You've got to sacrifice and pray. People don't 17:50 want to sacrifice, running up to me, talking about, 17:52 I want your anointing, Pastor. Lay your hands on me. 17:57 Let me tell you something: I can lay my hands on you 17:59 until my handprint is fully in your forehead. 18:02 [Aud. reaction] And you still wouldn't get any 18:05 anointing until you're willing to sacrifice, 18:07 until you learn to go through what I've gone through. 18:10 Suffer like I've suffered. Cry like I've cried. 18:14 Endure what I endure. The Bible says after you've 18:18 suffered a while, then God says, “I will establish you, 18:21 I will ___ you, I will make you perfect.” 18:24 I can't give you what it's taken me 44 years to get, 18:27 and you give me 44 minutes. [Aud. reaction] 18:30 The devil is a lie. You've got to learn how to sacrifice. 18:34 I've learned, coming up on 20 years now, I've learned, 18:40 more than 20 years, 22 years, Lord have mercy. 18:44 I've learned you've got to preach with your feelings hurt, 18:48 you've gotta preach sometimes with your heart broken, 18:51 you've gotta preach sometimes when you're being talked about, 18:54 you've gotta preach when you've lost a loved one. 18:56 And after you've proven yourself to be faithful, 19:00 God will allow his anointing ____ on you. 19:03 Do I have a witness in this place? 19:06 [Aud. reaction] Somebody knows what I'm talking about. 19:08 Somebody had to go through something to get where they are right now. 19:11 That's how you got the house: you sacrificed. 19:14 That's how you got the car: you sacrificed. 19:16 That's how you got the degree: you sacrificed. 19:19 That's how we got this church: we sacrificed. 19:23 We need to fight back and take a lickin' and 19:26 keep on tickin'. Am I preaching to anybody up 19:28 in this place today? [Aud. reaction] 19:30 Let me tell you something. I'm learning. 19:32 Quit your pity party. You don't get to be happy 19:34 every day. There are some things you learn by being miserable. 19:39 You can't learn it being happy. You've got to learn 19:42 it while somebody's lying on you, while you're being 19:45 talked about, while somebody's stabbing you in the back. 19:49 That's how you know, if God be for you, who can be against you? 19:53 Sacrifice. Is there anybody who knows anything about sacrifice? 19:58 You prayed and you cried. You did without. And God blessed you. 20:02 That's why you can't worry about your haters. They're your elevators. 20:06 [Aud. reaction] I tell folk, you don't know what I've been through. 20:11 You don't know my story. You don't know the things I've been through. 20:15 I've been through too much not to worship Him. Work 14-hour days. 20:20 No vacation. Preach for years with two suits, a black one and a blue one. 20:26 All I did was change shirts and ties. Hallelujah. 20:28 Prejudice against because I was a preacher's child. 20:32 Talked about because I had good morals and ethics. 20:35 Criticized because I had vision and was passionate 20:38 about that vision. Lost a daughter in a car accident. 20:41 You don't know me. You better ask somebody. 20:45 Anybody been through some sacrifice up in this place? 20:49 [Aud. reaction] If you sacrifice, you suffer with Him, 20:52 God will open up the windows of Heaven, pour you out 20:55 a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive 20:58 hey, hey, hey, I feel like preaching today 21:01 you'll never [organ music] have success without sacrifice. 21:07 [Aud. reaction] So when you pray, you've got to come 21:11 in a spirit of sacrifice. Not a spirit of selfishness. 21:15 You've got to ask and keep on asking. 21:18 Seek, and keep on seeking. Knock, and keep on knocking. 21:25 And then ask, seek and knock in a spirit of sacrifice. 21:32 But there's one more thing before I catch my flight. 21:34 When you finish asking, don't forget to say thank you. 21:40 [Aud. reaction] Because the only prayer you'll ever oh, 21:44 I feel like preachin' in this place [organ] the only prayer 21:48 that you'll pray in your life is thank you. And that'll be enough. 21:55 The story is told of a woman who showed up at church. 21:58 She prayed the same simple prayer every week at church. 22:02 Oh Lord, thank you, Jesus. Oh Lord, thank you, Jesus. 22:08 Week after week she prayed that same prayer. Oh Lord, thank you, Jesus. 22:15 The children at church started mocking her. 22:17 They started laughing, [mocking] Oh Lord, thank you, 22:19 Jesus, Oh Lord, thank you, Jesus, every time she opened her mouth, 22:22 because they knew it'd be the same prayer. Oh Lord, 22:25 thank you, Jesus. Somebody finally had the nerve to ask her, 22:29 why do you keep praying the same old prayer? She said, well, 22:35 I'm just combining the two prayers that I know. You see, 22:40 I live, she said, in a bad neighborhood, and some nights 22:44 there are bullets flying, and I have to grab my daughter 22:49 and hide her on the floor. And in that desperate state, 22:53 all I know how to do is cry out, Oh Lord! But when I 22:58 wake up in the morning and see that we're okay, 23:02 all I know how to do is say, Thank you, Jesus! [organ music] 23:08 [Aud. reaction] She said, those are the only two prayers I know. 23:12 She said, when I go to take my baby to the bus stop and 23:15 she gets on that bus, I don't know what's going to happen 23:18 to her while she's away, so I cry, Oh Lord! 23:22 [organ] But she said, at 3 p.m. [Aud. reaction] 23:25 At 3 p.m., when the bus arrives at the bus stop in 23:31 front of my house and my baby is safe, all I know how to say is, 23:37 Thank you, Jesus! She said, those are the only two prayers I know. 23:44 And when I get to church, because God has been so good, 23:49 and when I think of the goodness of Jesus and of all 23:53 He's done for me, I just put my two prayers together 23:57 [organ music], Oh Lord, thank you, Jesus! Oh Lord, 24:04 thank you, Jesus! Oh Lord, thank you, Jesus! [organ music] 24:10 So when you finish asking, don't forget to say thank you. 24:22 Thank you for keeping me. Thank you for protecting me, 24:27 thank you for saving me, thank you for delivering me, 24:31 thank you for waking me, thank you for feeding me, 24:35 thank you for providing for me. Can anybody just say, thank you! 24:41 [organ music] Paul said the promises of God are a yes and Amen. 24:47 That's why when you get through prayer, 24:50 it's impossible to say Amen without thanking Him. 24:54 Because when you say Amen, you're saying it's finished. 24:59 It's done. And that's what prayer is. When you get 25:07 through praying, just go on and start saying, Lord, I'm expecting it. 25:12 [Aud. reaction] Lord, I'm believing it. Lord, 25:15 I'm thanking you for it. Let them call me crazy all they want, 25:21 but I know help is on the way. Amen. It's done. Amen. 25:28 It's finished. Amen. It's sealed. 25:33 Let me close. As a rain drought continued for what seemed 25:40 an eternity, a small community of farmers was in a quandary 25:48 as to what to do. Rain was important to keep their crops 25:52 healthy and sustain the town people's way of life. 25:56 As the problem of a rain drought became more pronounced, 26:01 a local pastor called a prayer meeting of all the people 26:06 in the town to come to prayer meeting to ask for rain. 26:11 Some things only come by prayer and fasting; I wish I 26:13 had a witness in this place. So at this prayer meeting 26:16 many people in the little town came. The pastor greeted 26:20 them as they filed in, and as they walked to the front of 26:24 the church to officially begin the prayer meeting, 26:26 he noticed most people were chatting across the aisles 26:29 and socializing with their friends. When he reached the front, 26:33 grabbed the mike, his thoughts were on quieting and hushing 26:38 the people and starting the prayer meeting. But as he 26:42 asked for quiet, he scanned the audience and he scanned the crowd, 26:51 and he noticed a little 11-year-old girl sitting on the front row. 26:56 Her face was beaming with excitement. She was excited. 27:02 And he looked next to her, and poised and ready for use 27:07 was a bright red umbrella. The little girl's beauty and 27:14 innocence made the pastor smile as he realized how much 27:17 faith she possessed. No one else in the audience brought 27:24 an umbrella. All the people came to prayer for rain, 27:30 but the little girl had come expecting God to answer. 27:40 [Aud. reaction] Ask, and keep on asking. 27:44 Seek, and keep on seeking. Knock, and keep on knocking. 27:50 This is the confidence we have in approaching God, 27:53 that whatever we ask, we know we have. 27:58 We have not because we ask not. But if my people abide in me, 28:06 and my words abide you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done. 28:13 >: Thank you for joining us for another exciting 28:16 Breath of Life television broadcast. 28:18 Tune in next week at the same time, 28:20 as Dr. Byrd will deliver another dynamic message 28:23 from the Lord, just for you. 28:25 Until next time, may God bless you. 28:27 END |
Revised 2016-05-26