(Breath of Life Theme Music)
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Sermon #S010 - (Don't
Give God A Deadline - Part 1)
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Pastor Snell: This is the word
that's going to cause somebody
to breakthrough in their faith
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today. This is the principle
that needs to be absorbed.
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This is going to be the
difference between where you
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have been and where God is
taking you. Luke chapter 18 and
verse 1. When you get there,
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just say, "Amen."
[Congregation: Amen.]
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Bible says, "Then he spoke a
parable to them. That men always
ought to pray and not..."
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Do what? And not lose heart.
Look at me real quick. This is
the word for somebody.
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I need you to hear me on this.
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God is saying that you got
to learn the difference between
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where you've been and where
you're going is learning how to
pray and not faint.
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How many of us know that there's
a blessing when you persevere
before the throne of God?
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Bible says here in verse number
2 saying there was, in a certain
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city, a judge who did not fear
God nor regard men. Now, there
was a widow in that city and she
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came to him saying, "Get justice
for me from my adversary."
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And he would not for a while but
afterward, he said within
himself, ‘Though I do not fear
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God nor regard man, yet because
this widow troubles me, I will
avenge her, lest by her
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continual coming she weary me."
Then the Lord said, “Hear what
the unjust judge said.
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And shall God not avenge His own
elect who cry out day and night
to Him though He bears long with
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them? I tell you that He
will avenge them speedily.
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Nevertheless, when the Son of
Man comes, will He really find
faith on the earth?"
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I want to emphasize verse number
4. The Bible says, "And he would
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not for a while but afterward he
said within himself, "Though I
do not fear God nor regard man,
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yet because this widow troubles
me I will avenge her, lest by
her continual coming she weary
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me.' ” Today saints, I want to
talk to you on the subject,
"Don't give God a deadline."
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Don't give God a deadline. Let's
pray together. Father, I pray
that in this little while that
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you would say much. Father, I'm
asking that you would make your
spirit so dense that it would
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suffocate any other type
of principality that might be
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present. And so, father, I'm
praying, Dear God, that faith
will be multiplied exponentially
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in the hearing of the word. And
so, father, I'm praying that you
would remove the lid, the cap,
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the plateau from somebody's
faith. That we would be able to
move into a new dimension of
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belief. So, Lord, help us not
to just hear the word but may we
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act on the word. Lord, would you
hide me in itself of the cross.
That Jesus alone might be seen,
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that Christ Alone might be
heard? And at the end of our
time together, may Jesus alone
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be praised. We ask this in the
name of him who is all together,
lovely. It is in the name of
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Jesus that we pray. Let God's
people say together, "Amen."
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[Congregation: Amen.]
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And amen. You may be seated in
the house of the Lord. Again,
we're talking under the subject,
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"Don't give God a
deadline." You know, church.
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I've come to accept that the
hardest part of faith is not
believing. The hardest part of
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faith is waiting. It is in the
waiting process that our faith
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begins to expire. In fact, there
are some tricky elements to life
that really revolve around the
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idea of waiting. Isn't it funny
how adversity moves in a hurry
but good things seem to take
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their time? Trouble moves with
the speed of lightning while
blessing moves with the speed of
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molasses. Sickness comes as
quick as a text message but
healing is as slow as the
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mailman. Bills come with the
speed of an airplane but the
provision seems like it's moving
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on foot. Disagreements come with
the swiftness of a microwave but
reconciliation is cooked in the
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crockpot. Your enemies are as
fast as Google Fiber but your
allies are as slow as dial-up
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internet. Which is why the
righteous are counseled to learn
how to wait on the Lord. And the
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truth is, friends, that
unrealistic faith waits without
a calendar. It waits without a
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timer. It waits without a
deadline. In fact, unrealistic
faith does not wait until real
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faith waits indefinitely. And I
want to caution us church
against giving God these
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artificial deadlines. Because
when we create a deadline,
essentially what we're doing is
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creating a time frame for faith
to prevail. And we make a
decision that says, that if
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faith does not prevail in this
deadline, we're going to then
relent to our own human devices.
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And even though we will never
say to God that you have until
July or October to move,
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we all have this threshold of
belief in our head that says if
it doesn't happen by then,
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then we're going to
invoke our contingency plan.
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And the thing I need somebody to
get as hard as waiting can be,
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acting ahead of schedule
can make a bad thing even worse.
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You see, the truth is that Sarah
had a deadline. And because she
wasn't pregnant by a specific
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time, she met Abraham with her
handmaid Hagar and impatience
made a bad thing get worse.
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You realize that Jacob had a
deadline for the birthright
because his father was about to
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die. He procured it through
trickery. And as a result, he
lived the rest of his life
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living over his shoulder because
impatience can make a bad thing
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worse. You realize that Judas
gave Jesus a deadline. You
realize the betrayal of Jesus
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was not about money. It was his
attempt to make him use his
divinity ahead of schedule.
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And the fact is that impatience
made his bad thing get worse.
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And the thing I need somebody to
know is that sometimes, through
impatience or giving God a
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deadline, you can make a bad
thing turn into a catastrophe.
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You see the truth is that some
of us have made it up in our
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minds that if God doesn't pay
the bill by a certain time, I'm
going to use my tithes and
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offering to make up the
difference. Some have made it up
in our minds that if we don't
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find a spouse in the church by a
certain age, we're going to
begin dating outside of the
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church. Some have decided
that if things at home don't get
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better by July, then we're going
to see a divorced attorney.
There are some student that has
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said, if I don't get the
financial aid by the end of the
semester, I'm not going to come
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back next year. And what I'm
saying today is that sometimes
when you give God a deadline,
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you actually
short-circuit your own miracle.
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And isn't it amazing, church,
that we give God a deadline to
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move but we don't give ourselves
a deadline to obey? The crazy
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thing is we say, God has to move
by this time but we don't say,
"I've got to obey by a certain
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time." And can I
just praise God this way?
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I just want to thank God that
he's never giving me a deadline
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to get right. In other words,
what if God gave you a deadline
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to stop sinning? What if God
gave you a deadline to stop
gossiping? What if God gave you
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a deadline to stop doubting? And
is there anybody that's thankful
that God has never waited,
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we've never waited longer on God
than God has had to wait upon
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us? Is there anybody that can
just praise God that he didn't
cut us off at a certain point?
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That he didn't shut us off when
we went too far? I'm thankful
that he doesn't deal with us as
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we deserve but he deals with us
according to the multitude of
his tender mercies. And the
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reason, friends, I can wait on
God, it's because God never
stops waiting on us.
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Is there anybody that's thankful
that God never cut us off?
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He didn't give us a lid but he
is long-suffering to his
children. Can the church say,
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Amen? [Congregation: Amen]
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And so, as we begin to unpack
this word today, there are some
things that I want us to be able
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to see. But before we get
into the details of the parable,
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I want us to first be able to
see the purpose of the parable.
You see, Jesus in this parable,
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saints, is emphasizing the need
for us to learn how to persevere
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in prayer. In other words, Jesus
is teaching us on the front end
of discipleship that things are
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not always going to happen
instantly. And unrealistic
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faith, friends, is going to
require that you learn how to
never give up your petition to
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God. In other words, saints,
your calendar does not dictate
the frequency of your coming to
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him. And so Jesus says that
I want men to learn how to pray
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and not faint. Now, I want to
give you one key to learning how
to persevere in prayer
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but it deals with the currency
that you seek when you come
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before God. In other words,
you'll never learn how to
persevere in prayer, number one,
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until prayer becomes relational
and not transactional. Let me
say it again. That you'll never
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learn how to pray if prayer is
transactional. You'll never
learn how to pray until it
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becomes relational. Are you with
me today, church? You see, the
reason that some of us never
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persevere in prayer, the reason
that some of us always give up
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our petition, the reason we
yield as soon as it doesn't go
our way is that for too many of
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us, prayer is a transactional
activity and not a relational
activity. In other words,
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for too many of us,
when we go to God in prayer,
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our prayer closet is about what
we receive not who we receive.
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In other words, the difference
between someone with consistent
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prayer life, and someone with a
crisis prayer life is seen in
the reason they approached God.
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You see, how many of us know,
that crisis-based prayer life is
someone that is forced to God's
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throne because of the
presence of circumstance.
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But when I have a consistent
prayer life, it is not
circumstance that drives me
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there. It is the relationship
that pushes me into the presence
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of God. You see, for too many of
us, Jesus is a means to another
end. But when you have a
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relationship, Jesus is not a
means to an end. Jesus is the
end or sum total of everything
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that you need. Are
you with me today, church?
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[Congregation: Yes.]
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And so I need you to get this,
beloved, that when your prayer
life is transactional,
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you lose the incentive to pray
when you are denied what you ask
or even if you receive what you
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came for. In other words, if I
only come to God because I want
something, if it's denied,
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then I'll no longer come to God.
But understand that the inverse
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is also true. If I only come to
God when I want something, guess
what, when I receive it, I also
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stopped coming. In other words,
I lose my incentive to pray as
soon as my need is met.
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And how many of us know that
even consistent receiving won't
create a consistent prayer life?
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In other words, I need somebody
to understand that the
consistency of my coming will
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only reflect the consistency of
my need. But what I need you to
know is that when you're coming
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to God in order to foster a
relationship, when your purpose
for coming is to heighten your
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intimacy with him, I need you to
know that you're being denied or
you receiving doesn't dictate
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the consistency of your coming.
Is there anybody that can
testify that the best part of
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meeting with God is not what you
get from him? It's just having
intimacy with him. Are you with
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me? In other words, the best
time of my prayer closet is when
I can just get lost in his
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presence. Where is the church at
today? When you just get lost in
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his presence, what happens is
you find so much joy in his
presence, receiving becomes a
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bonus. [Congregation: Amen]
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In other words, when his
presence is what you seek,
getting the bills paid is a
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bonus. Getting the healing
becomes a bonus. That the
primary reason I come for Jesus
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and anything extra is icing on
top of the cake. Are you hearing
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me today, saints? And see some
of us, friends of mine, I need
us to get is that we've never
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really prayed. We've only made
wishes. And so I want to
admonish somebody in this way,
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today. I want to admonish you to
learn how to get to a place
where you learn how to just
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enjoy the presence of God. Is
there anybody that knows that
his presence is better than his
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presents? You all didn't get
that. In other words, the
presence of who he is greater
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than the presents that he
presents. And see, I need
somebody to know that if you're
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missing out on the presents,
then you're missing out on the
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best thing. What do you mean,
Pastor? Remember Psalms 16:11
says that in His presence is
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fullness of joy. At his right
hand are pleasures forevermore.
The Bible says that where the
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spirit of the Lord is, there is
liberty. See, how many of us
know that even his presence then
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brings peace but his presence is
peace? See, the problem is
somebody's praying for peace.
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When all you got to do is get in
his presence. And if you get in
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his presence, then the peace is
going to be the automatic
by-product of living in the
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presence of God. And what I'm
saying, saints, is that when you
seek the relationship with the
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son, you will be strengthened in
His presence. You will be
revived in His presence.
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Everything you need is found
in the presence of Jehovah.
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[Congregation: Amen]
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Okay. You're all not with me
today. Is anybody in this room
old enough to remember the old
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Superman movies? And you
remember the only thing that
could cause Superman to become
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weakened was kryptonite.
But whenever he got weakened by
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kryptonite, one of the things
that Superman would do is he
would leave this atmosphere
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and what he would do is he would
just go bask in the presence of
00:17:11.69\00:17:17.77
the sun. And that's amazing
because he would be revived in
the sun. He will get
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re-strengthened in the sun. He
would get replenished by the
sun. His lack would be filled in
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the presence of the sun. And I
guess, what I'm saying is if he
could be strengthened by the
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S-U-N, how many of us know that
we can be revived by the S-O-N?
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And when you get to a place
where you just dwell in the
presence of the Son
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and bask in the presence of the
Son that you get the strength
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that you need because everything
we lack is found in his
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presence.
[Congregation: Applause]
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Are you hearing the word
today, saints? The second thing,
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friends of mine, that
unrealistic faith teaches us,
that this story teaches us is
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that unrealistic faith doesn't
need a whole lot of companions.
Now, church, there are some
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details that Jesus puts in this
parable for a reason. There are
some things that he lays out
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because there are some
particular tensions that he
wants us to be able to grasp.
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So what he does is he tells the
story of this widow who goes
before this unjust judge.
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And understand that she is
described as a widow. We don't
know if she is an older woman
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but we know that she is someone
who is without a husband.
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And what he does is he contrasts
her helplessness against the
sovereignty of this judge who
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does not fear God. And he has
no regard for people. Are you
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hearing me today? And what he is
trying to picture or create is
the idea of helplessness.
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Are you with me? Now
one of the things I learned,
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Louis, is that in a city or
a village that had at least 120
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men, what would happen is you
would have a number of justices.
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So that if you couldn't get
justice from one judge, what
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would happen is, you could
appeal to another judge who
would actually allow things to
00:19:29.50\00:19:35.40
work in your favor. But what I
learned is that in a small
village, a rural town, where
00:19:35.44\00:19:42.74
there were less than 120
men, you didn't have a series of
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justices. You would have one
circuit judge that would go
around to different areas and
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dispatch justice. And because
there was only one judge, he had
no appeal that was authority,
00:19:52.89\00:20:01.20
that was higher than him, which
would make him that much more
arrogant and his disregard for
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people and even against God
because he is the sum total of
justice. Are you with me today,
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church? And notice now, the word
says that she is a widow. And
the connotation is, friends of
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mine, is that understand that a
widow at this time was one of
the most vulnerable members of
00:20:19.38\00:20:26.62
the society. In other words,
a widow with no husband to
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advocate for her. A widow, at
least in this text, does not
have adult children to stand
00:20:31.29\00:20:36.43
with her. This widow has no
kinsman-redeemer to stand with
00:20:36.46\00:20:41.10
her. In other words, there is no
human aid to stand with her.
She's got to before the presence
00:20:41.14\00:20:48.58
of the judge, all by herself.
And even though she has no
husband to advocate,
00:20:48.61\00:20:53.55
and even though she's got
no community to stand with her,
00:20:53.58\00:20:56.69
even though she doesn't have a
bunch of folks that have sway or
pull with the judge,
00:20:56.72\00:21:01.66
the one thing I like about this
lady is that even though she
ain't got no posse or folk
00:21:01.69\00:21:08.83
interceding on her behalf, she's
got enough faith to say, "If
ain't nobody going to go with
00:21:08.86\00:21:16.04
me, I'm going to go before and
present my case even if I've got
to go all by myself."
00:21:16.07\00:21:22.21
[Congregation: Amen]
00:21:22.24\00:21:23.88
And can I just say this, friends
of mine, and I want to be
mindful on how to say this
00:21:23.91\00:21:27.22
because I believe very much in
the need or the importance of
having a community of faith
00:21:27.25\00:21:34.32
around you. In fact, I advocate
in the book to make sure you
have a believing community
00:21:34.36\00:21:40.06
around you. But one of the
things I've come to learn in my
own experience is that even
00:21:40.10\00:21:46.67
though it's good to have folk
praying with you, how many of us
know that there's going to come
00:21:46.70\00:21:52.11
a time when you going to have to
go before God all by yourself?
00:21:52.14\00:21:55.74
[Congregation: Amen]
00:21:55.78\00:21:57.58
And see the unrealistic believer
knows that I can go before God
even if I have to go by myself.
00:21:57.61\00:22:04.25
Are you with me today, saints?
See, let me say it this way.
00:22:04.29\00:22:07.66
It's good to have folks say
that they're praying with you.
00:22:07.69\00:22:14.66
But how many of us know that
most of the folks that have said
they're praying for you have
00:22:14.73\00:22:21.44
never lifted a single petition
with your name on it before God?
See, when folks say they're
00:22:21.47\00:22:28.21
praying for you, it's just how
religious folk have sympathy for
the thing that you're going
00:22:28.24\00:22:33.01
through. And what I'm saying is,
I tell the truth, how many times
have you said I'm praying for
00:22:33.05\00:22:39.12
you? Oh, you are all
brand-new in here today.
00:22:39.15\00:22:40.22
[Congregation: Laughing]
00:22:40.26\00:22:41.89
What you said, I'm praying for
you but you forgot to follow
through on the prayer.
00:22:41.92\00:22:44.36
Am I telling the truth today?
But the larger point is this,
00:22:44.39\00:22:48.63
is that unrealistic faith does
not attach itself to someone
that you perceive as having
00:22:48.66\00:22:58.21
greater faith than you.
Unrealistic faith says I'm going
to stand before the throne even
00:22:58.24\00:23:05.51
if I have to stand there by
myself. Now again, I believe in
recruiting an army of prayer
00:23:05.55\00:23:09.75
warriors but I have come to this
conclusion that there are
certain prayers that have to
00:23:09.78\00:23:16.69
come from your lips and they
have to arise out of your heart.
Am I preaching to anybody today?
00:23:16.73\00:23:21.06
Remember the story when Hezekiah
got sick and was about to die.
When the prophet Isaiah came,
00:23:21.10\00:23:27.90
he didn't ask Isaiah to pray for
him. The Bible says that he
turned his face to the wall
00:23:27.94\00:23:34.28
and he began to ask God
for an extension of his life.
00:23:34.31\00:23:38.85
Do you remember when Hannah
was barren and had no kids?
00:23:38.88\00:23:42.75
She prayed so hard at the temple
that the prophet Eli thought she
was drunk and out of her mind.
00:23:42.78\00:23:49.66
Do you remember when Daniel
found out that the decree had
been signed, he didn't call
00:23:49.69\00:23:56.36
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego?
He went up to the open window
and prayed towards Jerusalem
00:23:56.40\00:24:04.01
like he always had done.
Are you all hearing me today?
00:24:04.04\00:24:05.44
[Congregation: Amen]
00:24:05.47\00:24:07.08
And my point is that nobody
could pray for Hezekiah's
illness like Hezekiah.
00:24:07.11\00:24:12.25
There is no one that could pray
for Hannah's barren womb like
00:24:12.28\00:24:16.52
Hannah. There is nobody that
could pray for Daniel's
deliverance like Daniel.
00:24:16.55\00:24:20.82
And there is nobody that can
pray for the urgencies of life
00:24:20.86\00:24:26.16
like you can. Am I telling the
truth? That nobody can pray for
your children like you can pray
00:24:26.19\00:24:32.27
for your children. There is
nobody that can pray for your
health like you can.
00:24:32.30\00:24:36.37
There is nobody that can
pray for your job like you can.
00:24:36.40\00:24:40.11
Why? Because they're not feeling
the burden in the same way you
00:24:40.14\00:24:45.18
feel the burden. When you pray,
it has a different weight. When
you pray, it has a different
00:24:45.21\00:24:50.95
urgency. When you pray out of
the mists of the despair of your
00:24:50.99\00:24:54.82
own soul, it hits the heart of
God with a greater weight
because nobody can pray for you
00:24:54.86\00:25:03.13
like you can. Are you
all hearing what I'm saying?
00:25:03.16\00:25:05.10
And I guess what I need somebody
to know is that even when you
ain't got nobody to advocate
00:25:05.13\00:25:10.41
with you, you've got a standing
with God that allows you to go
before God even if you've got to
00:25:10.44\00:25:17.61
go all by yourself.
[Congregation: Applause]
00:25:17.65\00:25:21.38
And see what I want to say is
stop outsourcing your spiritual
connection with Jesus.
00:25:21.42\00:25:28.62
And see, there's somebody and I
want to say this with as much
compassion as I can.
00:25:28.66\00:25:34.73
That's somebody who's saying,
"Well, Pastor, you don't know
what I'm going through.
00:25:34.76\00:25:37.97
You don't know how hard it is
right now. I just don't have the
00:25:38.00\00:25:42.40
strength to pray." The devil is
a liar. Guess what you may not
have the mind to pray but guess
00:25:42.44\00:25:48.54
what? You do have the strength
to pray. What do you mean? If
you can tell your best friend,
00:25:48.58\00:25:53.62
if you can tell your homey,
if you can tell the pastor,
00:25:53.65\00:25:58.12
that means you got enough
strength to tell it to Jesus.
00:25:58.15\00:26:03.06
[Congregation: Applause]
00:26:03.09\00:26:05.13
The one who is able to turn the
situation upside down. Are you
all hearing what I'm saying
00:26:05.16\00:26:09.96
today, saints? In fact, put this
quote up on the screen. I want
you to look and see. What Ellen
00:26:10.00\00:26:14.97
White says here, Prophets
and Kings 270. Put this up real
00:26:15.00\00:26:18.01
quick. I need you to know that
one thing the enemy wants to do
is keep you from calling on the
00:26:18.04\00:26:26.15
name of the Lord. In fact, she
says this, that Satan trembles
at the sound of prayer.
00:26:26.18\00:26:32.55
[Congregation: Amen]
00:26:32.59\00:26:34.29
Are you sure to lose your mouth
right there? So, this is how to
know we are not praying.
00:26:34.32\00:26:37.36
Oh, God. Satan trembles at the
sound of prayer. Like when he
hears you say, "Our Father",
00:26:37.39\00:26:49.30
he starts getting PTSD.
00:26:49.34\00:26:53.41
[Congregation: Applause]
00:26:53.44\00:26:54.94
Because he knows that if you
just start praying, God is going
00:26:54.98\00:27:01.25
to start moving and his
power is going to be broken.
00:27:01.28\00:27:03.79
She says our great adversary is
constantly seeking to keep the
troubled soul away from God
00:27:03.82\00:27:12.43
and appeal to Heaven by the
humblest Saint is more dreaded
by Satan than the decrees of
00:27:12.46\00:27:22.74
cabinets and the
mandates of Kings.
00:27:22.77\00:27:26.24
In other words, I need you to
know that even in your weakest
moments, Satan is afraid when
00:27:26.27\00:27:33.45
you pray. That's why when you're
weak, he wants to keep you away
00:27:33.48\00:27:38.12
from the throne because if you
just get down on your face and
00:27:38.15\00:27:43.16
say, "Our Father", is there
anybody that believes that
prayer still changes things?
00:27:43.19\00:27:48.13
That prayer opens doors that no
man can shut. That prayer still
raises the afflicted.
00:27:48.16\00:27:57.97
That prayer still reconciles the
broken. That prayer still
revives the church.
00:27:58.01\00:28:04.68
That God does exceedingly and
abundantly above all you can ask
00:28:04.71\00:28:11.05
or think. When we come together
and pray. Are you hearing me
00:28:11.09\00:28:15.09
today, saints? Thank you so much
for joining us for the Breath of
Life Television Ministries
00:28:15.12\00:28:21.13
broadcast with Pastor Debleaire
Snell!  We hope that you have
been blessed through today's
00:28:21.16\00:28:25.87
message and that you trust God
through the situation you might
face in your life -
00:28:25.90\00:28:32.81
unrealistically. Join us next
week for Part Two of “Don't Give
God a Deadline” You don't want
00:28:32.84\00:28:40.32
to miss it! (Breath
of Life Theme Music)
00:28:40.35\00:29:01.47
[END]
00:29:01.50\00:29:16.52