Higher Ground

We Give Up Too Soon

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Pr. Andrea Trusty-King

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Series Code: HG

Program Code: HG000007


00:43 I love the Lord
00:52 He heard
00:55 My cries
01:01 And pitied every
01:11 Groan
01:17 Long as I live
01:25 When troubles rise
01:34 Oh, I'll hasten to
01:48 His throne
01:55 Oh
01:58 I love the Lord
02:02 I so do so do you love Lord
02:07 He heard
02:11 Heard My cries
02:15 And He pitied every groan
02:20 Pitied every groan
02:24 Every groan
02:30 Long as I live
02:33 Long as I live
02:40 When troubles rise
02:46 Oh, I'll hasten
02:54 Hasten to
03:04 His throne
03:09 Oh, I'll hasten to His throne
03:16 Oh, I know I can go I know I can go
03:20 I'll hasten to His throne
03:26 Oh, I know I can go I know can go
03:30 I'll hasten to His throne
03:34 His throne
03:36 Oh, yeah I know I can go
03:40 I'll hasten to
03:42 When I know I don't have anybody else
03:45 I'll go to His throne
03:46 Oh
03:49 I'll hasten
03:51 To His throne
03:58 Oh, I know I will
04:04 My name is victory
04:06 What's your name What's your name
04:08 It's victory
04:09 Come on let's do a little better now
04:10 What's your name Victory
04:11 Halleluiah Come on
04:12 Who came to Praising this morning
04:14 Would you put hands together
04:17 Here we go
04:23 I've got evidence
04:24 I've got evidence I've got confidence
04:29 I'm a conquer I'm a conquer
04:32 I know that I'll win I know that I'll win
04:35 I know who I am I know who I am
04:39 God wrote it
04:41 God wrote it in his plan for me
04:48 Ooh, oh oh ohooo my name
04:54 My name is victory
04:57 I think you know it Come on say it again.
04:59 Ooh Oh oh ohooo
05:04 My name My name is victory
05:07 All right Lets it from the top again
05:08 "I've got evidence" let's sing it.
05:10 I've got confidence I've got confidence
05:15 I'm a conquer I'm a conquer
05:18 I know that I'll win I know that I'll win
05:20 I know who I am I know who I am
05:25 What did you do God wrote in his plan
05:27 God wrote in his plan
05:32 Ooh, oh oh ohooo
05:38 What's your name My name is victory
05:41 Nice to meet Come on let's say it again
05:43 Ooh, oh oh ohooo
05:49 My name My name is victory
05:52 Ooh, oh oh ohooo come on
05:55 God gave me authority
05:58 To conquer the enemy
06:00 He wrote it my destiny
06:03 Said my name is victory
06:05 He said that I've overcome
06:08 I know I've already won
06:11 He wrote it in my destiny
06:13 That my name is victory
06:16 I know who I am
06:21 God wrote it in his plan
06:22 God wrote it in his plan for me
06:30 Ooh, oh oh ohooo
06:34 What's your name My name is victory
06:37 There we go come on
06:39 Ooh, oh oh ohooo
06:44 My name My name is victory
06:47 Come and say it again
06:49 Ooh, oh oh ohooo God gave me authority
06:53 To conquer the enemy
06:56 He come on my destiny
06:58 And my name is victory
07:01 He said that I've overcome
07:04 I know I've already won
07:06 He wrote it my destiny
07:09 That my name is victory
07:12 I know who I am
07:16 God wrote it in his plan
07:18 God wrote it in his plan for me
07:25 Ooh, oh oh ohooo
07:30 My name My name is victory
07:33 It goes one more time
07:35 Ooh, oh oh ohooo
07:40 My name My name is victory
07:43 I know my identity
07:47 Come on man
07:48 My name is victory
07:52 Come on Say it again
07:54 I know my identity
07:59 Because my name is victory say it
08:04 I know my identity
08:09 My name My name say it victory
08:13 To the my Lord I know my identity
08:19 Oh, my name My name is say victory
08:24 I know I know my identity
08:30 My name My name is victory
08:34 Victory
08:37 Victory That's my name
08:42 Victory I know I know who I am
08:47 Victory Victory
08:49 Say that's my name
08:51 My name victory Say victory
08:55 I know I know who I am
09:00 I know I know who I am
09:05 I know I know who I am
09:09 I know I know who I am
09:15 Say I know I know who I am
09:21 Halleluiah--
09:22 Halleluiah, Halleluiah
09:25 My name is victory Yeah
09:28 And I know who I am
09:30 I'm a child of the living God
09:32 Halleluiah
09:33 Alpha and omega
09:35 The beginning and the end
09:37 I sense a presence in this place right now.
09:41 And there's a sweet presence because God is here.
09:45 How many of you all believe that
09:46 God is on this place, right now?
09:50 It's a simple song, everybody knows it.
09:52 I want you all to sing along.
09:57 It says, "The God is here,
10:00 He's here in this place and He's here in our hearts."
10:04 Let's give God the glory.
10:08 There is--
10:09 There is a sweet anointing
10:16 In the sanctuary
10:20 There is a stillness
10:25 In the atmosphere
10:32 Oh, Come and lay down
10:36 The burdens you have carried
10:42 For in this sanctuary
10:48 God is here
10:52 Say it again there is a sweet
10:54 There is a sweet
10:57 There is a sweet anointing
11:02 In the sanctuary
11:06 There is a stillness
11:11 In the atmosphere
11:16 Come and lay down
11:22 The burdens you have carried
11:27 For in this sanctuary
11:33 God is here
11:36 Now say it to the top of your voice that
11:38 "He is here."
11:40 He is here, He is here
11:45 He is here, He is here
11:49 To break the yoke
11:52 To break the yoke
11:54 And lift the heavy burden
11:59 Oh, He is here say
12:01 He is here
12:04 I know He is here
12:07 He is here
12:10 To heal the hopeless heart
12:13 To heal the hopeless heart
12:17 And bless the broken
12:21 Oh, Come Oh, Come and lay down
12:27 The burdens you have carried
12:32 For in this sanctuary
12:38 God is here
12:41 I want you to say it one more time,
12:42 say, "God is here," say it
12:45 He is here He is here
12:47 To break the yoke
12:49 He is here, He is here
12:54 To break the yoke To break the yoke
12:59 And lift the heavy burden
13:04 Oh, He is here say He is here
13:09 My Lord is here
13:11 He is here
13:15 To heal the hopeless hearts
13:17 To heal the hopeless heart
13:21 And bless the broken
13:26 Oh, Come and lay down
13:31 The burdens you have carried
13:36 For in this sanctuary
13:43 God is here
13:47 Give Lord and thanks to the Lord
14:02 Oh, oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good
14:05 Oh, oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good
14:08 For His mercy Endureth forever and ever
14:12 Oh, oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good
14:15 Oh, oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good
14:18 Oh, oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good
14:21 For His mercy Endureth forever and ever
14:25 Oh, oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good
14:28 And now we sing Hallelujah, oh, give thanks
14:29 We sing Hallelujah, oh, give thanks
14:31 We sing Hallelujah, oh, give thanks
14:32 Oh, oh give thanks, to the Lord He is good
14:34 And now we sing Hallelujah, oh, give thanks
14:36 We sing Hallelujah, oh, give thanks
14:37 We sing Hallelujah, oh, give thanks
14:39 Oh, oh give thanks, to the Lord He is good
14:41 Oh, oh give thanks
14:42 To the Lord He is good
14:44 Oh, oh give thanks, to the Lord He is good
14:47 His mercy endureth forever and ever
14:50 Oh, oh, give thanks, to the Lord He is good
14:53 And now we sing Hallelujah, oh give thanks
14:55 We sing Hallelujah, oh give thanks
14:57 We sing Hallelujah, oh give thanks
14:58 Oh, oh give thanks, to the Lord For He is good
15:00 And now we sing Hallelujah, oh give thanks
15:02 We sing Hallelujah, oh give thanks
15:03 We sing Hallelujah, oh give thanks
15:04 Oh, oh give thanks, to the Lord He is good
15:06 He is good He is good
15:08 He is good He is good He is good He is good
15:11 He is good He is good He is good He is good
15:14 He is good He is good
15:16 Oh, oh give thanks, to the Lord for He is good
15:19 He is good He is good He is good He is good
15:22 He is good He is good
15:24 He is good He is good He is good He is good
15:27 He is good He is good
15:30 Oh, oh give thanks
15:31 Oh, oh give thanks Oh, oh give thanks
15:34 Oh, oh give thanks
15:35 Oh, oh give thanks
15:37 Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
15:47 Our gracious Heavenly Father,
15:49 Lord we bless You in this place.
15:51 Father we give you glory and we give You honor,
15:54 and Lord we ask that You would give something,
15:57 give us ears that we may hear
15:58 what the spirit is saying to the church.
16:01 Father in the name of Jesus
16:02 we ask all God that You would fill this place
16:05 with Your presence, oh, God.
16:07 It is our plea and desire that we would be free.
16:11 Father I pray that you would
16:13 set our hearts a blaze with passion for You.
16:16 And Father when all is said and done,
16:18 we promise that we will give You
16:20 all the praise, honor and glory,
16:22 in the name of Jesus, we pray.
16:24 Amen. Amen.
16:25 And amen.
16:27 Now I have a question for you, and the question is
16:31 how often does God answer prayer?
16:37 May be even a better person would be
16:39 how often does God answer your prayer?
16:43 5 to 10%? 25%?
16:47 Any 50% out there?
16:50 Or may be there is a cup-- I see a couple hands,
16:53 and there may be I've heard some prayer warriors
16:56 they say that God has answered 100%
16:59 every single one of their prayers.
17:03 And to this I say to God be the glory.
17:07 Now I must admit that God has not answered
17:10 all of my prayers.
17:11 I'm just go put that out there for the beginning,
17:14 god has not answered all of my prayers.
17:17 Now for some of that I say thank you Jesus
17:20 'cause I pray some crazy prayers.
17:24 And I'm so glad that God's answers
17:26 were greater than my prayers,
17:28 He knew that had I been in my right mind,
17:31 I would have put my hand over my mouth like Joe
17:33 and just let it go.
17:35 And so I'm happy that God didn't answer
17:37 all of my prayers, but I pray some good prayers,
17:41 you know, James says that,
17:43 at sometimes we have not because we ask not.
17:46 Because we gonna use them,
17:49 we ask a mess that we may satisfy our own pleasures,
17:52 I'm not talking about those kind of prayers,
17:54 I'm talking about good godly prayers.
17:57 Prayers God I want to You to heal this person
18:00 or God I need You to save this person.
18:03 Good godly prayers.
18:05 That were according to His will and His word.
18:09 And God did not answer those prayers yet.
18:16 Now has anybody ever wondered why?
18:20 Now I'm not gonna profess to know why God does,
18:25 what He does?
18:26 But I do believe
18:28 and there could be lots of answers.
18:30 But I do believe--
18:32 we are gonna talk about at least one of those today.
18:38 We give up too soon,
18:43 I have a little boy and he is five.
18:46 And he like to play around on the piano,
18:48 and so we decided we're gonna put our children
18:51 in piano lessons,
18:53 and my daughter sword with the--
18:55 she played her notes, she learned her theory
18:58 and she is now in her junior handbook.
19:02 But my son not too much.
19:05 I mean we were work with him and work with him
19:07 and he just refused to know the notes.
19:09 He probably got as far as C, D, E that's what it,
19:15 I means, so would I what notice this--
19:17 I don't Q and so we're going and we are trying
19:21 and my husband took him to lesson,
19:24 and he will going too well and he comes back, he is like,
19:26 I think we are wasting our money here.
19:28 And then I tried to-- to work with him a little bit
19:32 because the teacher was getting on him
19:34 and so I tried to work with him
19:37 and after that session I'm like you know what?
19:39 I think you are right, may be we need to just,
19:42 you know, let this thing go.
19:44 And so we talked to my son and we ask him,
19:47 you know, do you want to keep the one Piano lessons?
19:50 and he is like, no, not really.
19:53 And it shows, where he gets to his lessons,
19:55 so he gets to his lesson
19:57 and the teacher is given on him for not knowing his notes.
19:59 He said that okay, I'm taking different lessons
20:02 from now on, and so I'm thinking,
20:04 oh, no, why do he tell the teacher this?
20:07 and so this-- this was on Thursday, Friday,
20:11 we are getting ready for the Sabbath,
20:12 we're doing all this up and my husband plays piano
20:15 the best out of all us,
20:16 he is taken years and years of piano.
20:20 My husband was working on his sermon
20:22 and all of a sudden from the living room
20:23 I hear all of this beautiful harmonious music,
20:27 and I'm like baby you know, you have a sermon right,
20:29 why are playing on the piano?
20:31 He is like, that not me,
20:34 and my daughter was in the kitchen with me,
20:37 and I look and it was little five year old
20:40 who we were pulling out of piano lessons, the--
20:43 just yesterday, just the day before
20:46 and he is just playing and playing
20:48 and brought tears to my eyes, I call out our grandparents,
20:51 I was like, listen to this.
20:54 And the thing that rebuked me so much
20:57 is that we were just about to give up on him at piano.
21:01 We just said we were going to pull him out,
21:05 we were giving up too soon.
21:10 And I wonder how many times do we do that in our own lives.
21:16 Turn with me to 2 Kings 13.
21:20 2 Kings 13.
21:22 And we are gonna look at the story that begins
21:25 in verse 14-21,
21:30 here we find Elisha on his deathbed.
21:35 And King Joash is overtaking with greed
21:39 because this mighty prophet was such a blessing to him.
21:44 He couldn't imagine having to run the country
21:47 without having a prophet
21:49 who would be able to tell him what to do.
21:52 I mean they would go back
21:53 and forth fitting with the Syrians
21:56 and Elisha would tell them
21:58 exactly what the Syrians were planning.
22:01 And so if the Syrians were gonna be over here
22:03 Elisha would give word to the king
22:05 and then they would--
22:07 the Israelites would go over here.
22:08 And then the Syrians plan to ambush over there,
22:11 then some kind of way Elisha would give word to them
22:15 and they would be over there,
22:17 oh, Joash love the fact that he had a man of God
22:21 who could tell him what was going on.
22:23 And now Elisha as on his deathbed,
22:28 Joash is thinking what is going to be come up us?
22:31 What is going to happen?
22:33 And so he comes to Elisha, and he begins weeping,
22:37 and yelling, my father, my father,
22:39 he begins yelling about the army.
22:43 And Elisha gets up...
22:47 and he says, take out a bow and some arrows,
22:52 tells him to open the window and the two of them
22:55 put both of their hands on the arrows,
22:59 and then we find in verse 17
23:03 "And he said, 'Open the east window'
23:05 and he opened it.
23:06 And Elisha said, 'Shoot' and he shot.
23:09 And he said, 'The arrow of the Lord's deliverance
23:11 and the arrow of deliverance from Syria,
23:14 for you must strike the Syrians at Aphek
23:17 till you have destroyed them.'
23:20 Then he said, 'Take the arrows'
23:21 so he took them.
23:22 And he said to the king of Israel, 'Strike the ground'
23:25 so he struck three times, and stopped."
23:34 When he did this Elisha was vexed,
23:38 he was upset with him the next verse it reads
23:42 "And the man of God was angry with him,
23:45 and said, 'You should have struck five or six times,
23:49 then you would have struck Syria
23:51 till you had destroyed it!
23:53 But now you will strike Syria only three times.'"
23:58 He was upset
23:59 because the king gave up too soon.
24:05 Perhaps the king thought well, I'm really want to be fighting
24:08 for more than three battles so I'm hopping that
24:11 God could fit all of His power and deliverance in three hit--
24:14 God the three times,
24:16 whatever it was he gave up too soon.
24:21 What does this have to do with our prayers,
24:23 what does this have to do with me?
24:25 Because a lot of times we pray
24:28 and we give it to God and then we're done with it.
24:33 We go on with our lies,
24:34 we say, heavenly father please be with my husband.
24:38 Lord, help me to get through this, keep me sane
24:42 until the divorce is final, amen.
24:48 And they rely what Pastor are prayed about it.
24:51 Surely if God want to do something,
24:53 He would have done something already.
24:55 We talk about our can't, we talk about sicknesses,
24:59 we have these things going on in our lives,
25:02 and we say a two sentence prayer
25:04 and then we're done with it.
25:06 And there we got peace with God
25:08 because God didn't do the miraculous.
25:14 But the Bible says,
25:15 that we are to pray without ceasing.
25:20 The Bible says that we are to continue to pray,
25:24 and let us not be weary, and well doing for into season
25:29 we shall read, and we don't give up.
25:33 Amen.
25:34 You are not the cheetah,
25:36 the cheetah is a wonderful creature made my God,
25:40 the cheetah can run 70 miles an hour,
25:44 and so if the cheetah wants up it
25:46 all he has to do is run it down.
25:50 He begins to chase it,
25:52 but what the cheetah has in speed it lacks in heart.
25:57 The cheetah has a disproportionately
26:00 small heart-- heart
26:02 and so the cheetah can go fast, but the cheetah can't go long.
26:07 And so if that-- that pray,
26:10 if it can run just a little faster,
26:14 if it has a little more heart
26:16 than cheetah will have to give it up.
26:20 And I'm afraid that many of us in today
26:22 should have a cheetah anointing.
26:27 We want to quick, fast and in a hurry way,
26:30 and we can't get it quick and fast,
26:32 we loose heart
26:34 that we don't want to bother with it anymore, we can,
26:37 we don't understand, why that has a move?
26:39 I did my part, I gave Him a good five minutes.
26:47 And a lot of times, we thing if God is in control,
26:51 why is it He moving in this Situation?
26:54 Can I share something with you all?
26:57 Turn your Bibles to Genesis 1
27:01 because the Bible says that God made man
27:06 in his own image, amen?
27:07 Amen.
27:09 God made man in his own image,
27:11 verse-- chapter 1 verse 27"
27:14 So God created man in His own image,
27:16 and in the image of God He created him,
27:19 male and female He created them.
27:21 Then God blessed them, and God said to them,
27:24 'Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it,
27:28 have dominion over the fish of the sea,
27:30 over the birds of the air,
27:32 over every living thing that moves on the earth.'"
27:35 So from the very first chapter.
27:39 The Bible says that God gave controls to man,
27:43 He gave dominion to man.
27:46 Are you all still there?
27:47 Yeah.
27:50 From the very beginning
27:53 and so now things are starting to make sense
27:55 when where God decided that
27:57 He was going to destroy Shannon,
27:59 He went to talk to Abraham first.
28:01 And Abraham said, well, hold on God,
28:04 what happens if you 550?
28:06 Righteousness vote, you simply tear them up.
28:08 God said, no, no, not if I 550
28:10 well, I mean I hate to keep going back and forth,
28:13 but what about 45?
28:14 What about 30?
28:15 I'm just saying, it might be 25 God.
28:18 What about 20?
28:19 I hate to keep bothering you but may be 15?
28:23 Can you imagine the great God of the universe going back
28:27 and forth with a mare mortal?
28:30 All the way down to 10,
28:33 and the great God almighty said,
28:36 okay, if there is 10 I will not destroy it.
28:41 Now things are beginning to make sense
28:44 when Emma says in chapter 3 verse 7
28:47 surely God will not do anything
28:51 without first revealing it to his prophets.
28:54 God is saying that He wants us
28:58 to release His power in the earth.
29:01 There are lot of time that God's will is not done,
29:06 simply because God's people have not pray for it.
29:11 When Jesus was praying in Luke 11,
29:16 the disciples walked to Him and said,
29:18 Jesus, Lord can you teach us how to pray?
29:21 And he says, sure when you pray,
29:24 pray like this, our father,
29:26 which are in heaven, how would be that name,
29:28 and then he says-- what does he say next?
29:33 Thy kingdom come, thy will be done--
29:37 why would Jesus teach his disciples to pray
29:41 for God's will to be done if it's already gonna be done?
29:47 Hello?
29:49 I mean he already in his sermon on the mount says,
29:51 the father knows that You have Me,
29:53 before you even ask,
29:55 but yet and still the next part of the verse says,
29:58 give us this day, our daily pray.
30:02 James tells us that,
30:03 "God does not want to tempt us into evil
30:06 and it's not His will that we fall and falter."
30:09 As a matter of fact,
30:10 every time a enemy comes with a temptation,
30:14 the building call that the temptation declares
30:17 that it must have a way of escape,
30:20 it must have a way of out.
30:22 But yet and still, God commanded His disciples
30:26 when they pray say, "Lead us not in to temptation,
30:30 deliver us from evil."
30:34 Bibles says that
30:35 "God is not willing that any should parish
30:39 but that all should come to repentance."
30:41 It is not God's will that any should die in a crisis grave.
30:47 Yes, some do.
30:51 And why is that?
30:53 Part of the reason is, instead of going like God told us to.
30:57 We try to get Him to come--
31:00 They just come to the crusade.
31:05 God said, "No."
31:08 Is this thing on, I can't hear nobody, pray?
31:13 And even in 2 Thessalonians 3:1
31:19 a lot of times we think we're just preaching,
31:21 and just tell Him the truth
31:23 and surely that's all they need.
31:27 But in 2 Thessalonians 3:1 he says
31:29 "Finally, brethren, pray for us,
31:32 that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified,
31:37 just as it is was with you."
31:40 A lot of times we preach but don't pray.
31:45 And the Word is saying,
31:47 "We have got to pray these things through,
31:51 we want to see great
31:53 and marvelous things in our lives,
31:55 we want to see great
31:56 and marvelous things in our churches."
31:58 The Bible says, "Call on to me,
32:02 and I will show you great and marvelous things,
32:05 which you do not know."
32:08 Yeah.
32:09 There are things that God is waiting to pour into your life.
32:16 Many times, we think that we're waiting on God,
32:19 and God is waiting on us.
32:25 Now, I must confess, that just because I had a microphone,
32:30 that mean I have the victory.
32:34 I'm just keeping it real,
32:36 I got on the plane on yesterday
32:38 and got a call from one of my members,
32:42 she said "Pastor, they are releasing my son,
32:45 the doctors have thrown up their hands,
32:47 they say, 'That his cancer is inoperable
32:50 and all they can do is give him painkillers.'"
32:53 When I heard this, it hit me deep in my gut
32:57 because I knew I was coming to preach this to you all,
33:00 and I know that we had been here before.
33:04 A couple of months ago, they said the exact same thing,
33:07 except it was much worse.
33:09 He had infections up the wazoo,
33:11 they couldn't figure out what was wrong,
33:13 they refused to operate on the cancer, they said,
33:16 "he had just a short time to live."
33:18 And we prayed and prayed, God knows we prayed,
33:21 we stop service and we prayed, in prayer meeting we prayed,
33:25 in small groups on a conference call,
33:28 we prayed and miraculously the infections were gone,
33:33 the cancer was dissipating.
33:35 They were like, "Oh, you are improving"
33:37 and then they put him into treatments
33:39 and they wanted to move on the scene.
33:43 We got the testimony and we marked it off our list.
33:50 We are like, "Oh, God is on it now.
33:54 He is doing bad thing, He's backing chemo
33:57 and all of these kinds of things
33:59 we marked it up our list and quit praying."
34:05 Now don't look at me like
34:06 we're the only ones in the whole wide world
34:08 that has done that.
34:10 You guys never did that before?
34:14 You hear a little something good and like,
34:16 "Whoa, God got it now, I can stop worrying."
34:20 And you move on to the next scene.
34:24 But often times, we give up to soon
34:31 and sometimes not only do we give up too soon,
34:36 the devil tries to mess with us.
34:39 So that when we start to pray all hell breaks loose,
34:45 and we think-- well, let me stop praying
34:49 because it's just too, it's getting worse.
34:52 I'm doing Bible studies with this lady
34:55 and she said, "Pastor, you know,
34:56 I really want to come to Christ a long time ago.
34:59 I got this Bible and I know its gonna sound crazy.
35:03 But I opened the Bible
35:06 and the canvas started opening and closing,
35:08 the table started shaking,
35:10 everything in that house went crazy."
35:13 She said, "As soon as I closed the Bible, it was peace."
35:19 So she's like "Pastor, you know,
35:21 I wanted to learn about God,
35:23 but I made a peace in my house."
35:32 Y'all better act like y'all know
35:33 what I'm talking about.
35:36 I mean I could talk about her or I could talk about me?
35:39 Because when I first got married,
35:42 bless the Lord, they don't tell you
35:43 but everybody talk honeymoon stage,
35:45 but they're the other stages in the first year of marriage.
35:49 Hello, somebody? Amen.
35:52 And even though we were both in seminary
35:54 and wanted to know, Jesus.
35:57 I will have my devotions, I come, I done my worship,
36:03 and then me and my husband, we get in a fight.
36:06 The next morning, I had my devotions,
36:10 I come out to worship,
36:11 and then me and my husband will get into a fight.
36:15 Now, I was a thinking woman, and I said,
36:20 "Is something funny about this?"
36:23 I wonder, I just wonder,
36:26 if I don't have devotion will we not get into a fight.
36:32 Now I love you God, I just want to see something.
36:39 So then that I'm keeping it real,
36:42 y'all pray for me and don't give up.
36:45 Y'all stay on your knees still I get to where I need to be.
36:50 So I wakeup the next morning,
36:53 skip the devotion, no argument.
36:59 I said, "I just want to try it one more time
37:03 to see this is a coincidence."
37:06 Skip the devotion again,
37:10 skip the prayer, no argument.
37:16 I know, I can't be the only one
37:18 that the Devil tried to pull this on,
37:24 when you-- you already on the edge
37:28 and then you are like, "Okay, I'm pray about this guy,
37:33 I need a big intervention."
37:35 And it seems like when you get on your knees,
37:39 it unleashes the powers of hell.
37:41 So you jump up real and quit like.
37:46 But the Bible says that,
37:50 "We are to pray without ceasing."
37:53 Do you all remember Daniel?
37:55 And Daniel chapter 10, Daniel begins praying,
38:00 he needed a word from the Lord,
38:03 he not only began praying
38:05 but he began praying and fasting,
38:07 and he was weak,
38:08 and he was little confused about why God hadn't moved?
38:13 And then the angel comes, three weeks later and said,
38:20 turn to it, turn to it.
38:21 Daniel 10:21,
38:26 I want you all to think I'm just making stuff up.
38:37 Not 21, 12.
38:41 Daniel 10:12 "Then he said to me,
38:46 'Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day
38:51 that you set your heart to understand,
38:54 and to humble yourself before your God,
38:56 your words were heard,
38:59 and I have come because of your words.'"
39:04 But if you read to next verse, it says
39:06 "But the Prince of the kingdom of Persia
39:08 withstood me for 21 days."
39:10 This is a satanic force.
39:13 Not only did your prayers unleash me
39:17 to bring blessing from heaven
39:20 so other stuff God unleash to,
39:23 to keep the blessing from getting to you.
39:27 But, Daniel didn't give up, he prayed
39:31 but then "Oh, God is not here yet,"
39:34 well, let me-- he began to pray and fast
39:38 and see God's face so much
39:41 so that not only did his answer part
39:45 but as an added bonus the devil got beaten down.
39:50 Hello? Amen.
39:52 And so, it went-- When the devil start acting up,
39:56 that's what I told you pastor.
39:58 Pastor's car broke down yesterday
39:59 coming to get me from the airport, not--
40:03 And he was apologetic, my car broke down too, this week.
40:07 We were about to go out to a cruise
40:08 and we-- in our church we're been praying and fasting.
40:11 All kind of crazy stuff has been happening,
40:13 that's why I said, "I'm not worried,
40:16 I've seen all kind of crazy stuff happened this week.
40:18 But I have also seeing the miracles of God."
40:23 My car won't start and we were late in one night
40:26 and it was a day that was fastened
40:28 and I said, "I know this is none
40:29 but the devil and so in the name of Jesus
40:31 I command this car to start,
40:34 I don't receive any of His foolishness
40:36 that devil is trying to discourage and what not
40:39 and I will go on about my business."
40:41 My husband comes home to try to fix the car,
40:43 to see what's going on.
40:45 He turns around and he's like "I don't understand,
40:47 there is nothing wrong with this car."
40:48 It didn't start, when I tried earlier,
40:51 as an added bonus
40:53 when the devil get in your stuff,
40:55 you get a chance to beat the devil down.
40:57 Yeah.
40:58 So when you see him show up in your stuff
41:03 don't get up, don't step back,
41:06 move forward because the Bible says that
41:09 "Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world."
41:13 The Bible declares that "We are not just conquerors
41:16 but we are more than conquerors."
41:19 The Bible declares
41:20 that "He'll always causes us to try on."
41:24 Yeah, yeah.
41:25 So we cannot give up. Yeah, yeah.
41:30 One day, George Muller decided
41:34 that he was going to pray for his five friends
41:37 and he began praying and praying
41:40 and after a couple of weeks, two of them came to Christ.
41:45 After many months another one came
41:48 and after ten years, two others came.
41:51 But there was one last one
41:54 who had still not giving his life to Christ.
41:59 This is what Gorge Muller saying
42:02 "He is not saved yet, but he will be.
42:07 How can it be otherwise? I'm praying.
42:11 Amen.
42:12 He said, "I have been praying for 63 years and 8 months.
42:19 He will be saved because I'm praying."
42:27 George Muller prayed until he died
42:33 and it was at the graveside service,
42:37 as they lowered Muller's body in that grave,
42:43 that the last friend gave his life to Christ.
42:48 Amen.
42:50 We worried about our kids, are we praying for our kids?
42:55 Even when it seemed like the devil
42:57 getting all up in there, you keep praying.
43:01 Amen.
43:03 We're wondering if we stay another day
43:06 and some of the marriages we've vowed ourselves in,
43:11 you keep praying.
43:15 If the great God Almighty
43:18 with resurrection power in His hand, could resurrect.
43:23 All kind of dance stuff, surely, surely,
43:30 He can resurrect dead love, dead feelings,
43:33 and dead marriage.
43:37 Surely, He can resurrect dead cells,
43:42 dead pots, dead whatever.
43:45 Yeah, yeah. God can do it.
43:50 Ellen White wanted to know why are we seeing
43:57 Power, more faith in power so she has asks.
44:03 Early Writings 73, it says,
44:06 He said, "Ye let go of the arm of the Lord too soon."
44:13 Give up too soon.
44:16 He said, "Press your petitions to the throne,
44:19 and hold on by strong faith.
44:21 The promises are sure.
44:24 Believe ye receive the things you ask for,
44:27 and you shall have them."
44:31 I was then pointed to Elijah,
44:33 he was subject to like passions as we are
44:36 and he prayed earnestly.
44:37 His faith endured the trial.
44:41 Let's go to Elijah,
44:44 turn with me to 1 Kings 18.
44:52 Perhaps some of you have heard this story
44:54 before Israel had lost their plumb-lines,
45:01 they decided that they were going to worship Baal.
45:05 As a matter of fact,
45:07 not only were they involved in demon worship,
45:10 they tried to kill everybody
45:15 who worshiped God
45:18 and so finally Elijah told them,
45:24 "It's not even going to rain"
45:26 because see that the thing about it was,
45:29 Baal was the one, who was the fertility guy
45:33 and they were in hard economic times,
45:37 and so they were thinking "Well, we tried God, God,
45:43 and I still got laid off.
45:45 I tried God, God, and ain't still forecloses on my house."
45:50 I mean "I tried to keep the Sabbath
45:54 but I still got fired from my job.
45:57 So maybe I need to make other arrangements."
46:02 So then they began serving Baal.
46:06 Because Baal was suppose to give fertility
46:08 make all of their crops grow what not, so God said,
46:12 "Oh, you think, Baal running this?
46:16 So I'm eternal of the Flossie, for the rain,
46:21 and I'm gonna let your boy Baal hook you up,
46:23 and let me know how that work out?"
46:29 So there was no rain, for three and half years,
46:33 no crops, they thought there were in bad times
46:37 before when they turn their back on God,
46:43 they had no idea.
46:46 So, God wanted His people back and Elijah comes and he said,
46:53 "Let's settle this once it for all
46:55 and see if God is God,
46:58 then He will show Himself strong."
47:02 So they did all of this
47:05 and God brought fire from heaven
47:09 and Baal did nothing.
47:13 And so now everybody realizes
47:17 that they have been worshiping and focusing on the wrong guy.
47:22 So now God wants to turn back the Flossie of blessing.
47:27 Because now they realized who their source is,
47:29 they realized that their employer was not their source,
47:33 they realized that the unemployment office
47:35 was not their source,
47:36 they realized that the mortgage company was not their source,
47:40 they realized their community service
47:42 at the churches not their source,
47:44 they realized now that God is the only one.
47:48 Amen.
47:51 So now, God tells us in--
47:54 if we are beginning of chapter 18:1 it says,
48:01 "Go, present yourself to Ahab,
48:03 and I will send rain to the earth."
48:07 So God says that "He is about to send rain to the earth."
48:12 Now if we would have gotten that word,
48:13 we would have praise God, brought an umbrella,
48:18 and just been hanging out waiting
48:20 for God to do His thing, right?
48:24 Like I said it that settles it, but what the Elijah do?
48:30 Verse 41,
48:32 we find Elijah telling Ahab
48:39 that "The abundance of rain is coming."
48:42 Verse 42 it says that, "He went to the top of Carmel,
48:46 and he bow down to the ground,
48:48 put his face between his knees."
48:51 The verse that we read in James tells us what he was doing.
48:54 He was praying, he was praying, earnestly for something
48:59 that God already told him was going to happen.
49:03 He praised and He tells the servant,
49:06 verse 43 "Go up, look toward the sea."
49:10 So he went and looked, he said, "There is nothing."
49:14 Now we would've been like "I can't believe that God,
49:19 to answer my prayer."
49:23 But what did Elijah do?
49:26 It says that "He continued to pray."
49:29 He continue to send his servant,
49:31 when he didn't see anything that did not communicate to him
49:34 that God wasn't doing anything,
49:37 that communicated to him that he won't finish praying,
49:41 it communicated to him that it wasn't time to give up yet,
49:44 that communicated to him
49:46 that he was to still pray with out ceasing.
49:50 Even though, he had a word from the Lord,
49:53 even though he had a promise, even though God already said,
49:56 "He was gonna do it."
49:58 He continued to pray seven times,
50:06 it was seven times.
50:08 Verse 43, it says,
50:12 "Seven times he said, 'Go again.'
50:14 Then it came to pass at the seventh time,
50:17 that he said, ''There is a cloud,
50:18 as small as a man's hand, rising out of the sea!'
50:23 So he said, 'Go up, say to Ahab,
50:25 Prepare your chariot, go down before the rain stops you.'"
50:32 There are some promises that God has given us,
50:37 that we have been wondering, where they were coming from.
50:42 We are wondering why is God taking so long?
50:46 And God's word to you today
50:49 is you have got to pray that thing through.
50:54 Let us not be weary and well doing,
50:57 for in due season you shall reap
51:01 if you faint not."
51:07 1 Samuel 12:23, Samuel says this,
51:11 "Moreover, as for me, far be it from me
51:14 that I should sin against the Lord
51:19 in ceasing to pray for you."
51:25 Samuel said, "Let it be far from me
51:28 that I should sin by stop praying for you."
51:36 Mercy, now I know where commandment keeping people,
51:41 God commanded that we pray and not cease.
51:45 God commanded
51:48 so we got to start following those too, hello?
51:51 Amen.
51:53 God wants to unleash magnificent things
51:57 in each of our lives.
51:59 God is going to release
52:02 magnificent things into our lives.
52:05 We are going to see the promises of God fulfill,
52:10 we are going to see our children safe,
52:13 we are going to see our marriages
52:15 coming back together,
52:17 we are going to see
52:18 the blessing of God on our lives,
52:21 we are going to see to the sick heal,
52:24 we are going to see it.
52:27 Amen, amen.
52:30 As we obey, God
52:33 and pray without ceasing.
52:38 As the musicians began to play
52:42 there was a young couple who wanted to find gold,
52:49 and so they were looking everywhere for gold.
52:54 They couldn't find it
52:55 and they needed to sell some more stuff,
52:58 so they sold their farm,
53:00 so that they can continue to find gold.
53:03 This was during the gold rush.
53:09 They gave up on where they were
53:11 and they tried to go somewhere else.
53:13 They ended up bankrupt in England
53:17 and finally they made it back to the States.
53:21 They had nothing,
53:24 they wanted to get back to that old farmhouse
53:28 where they first started out and as they went,
53:34 they noticed there were soldiers
53:36 stationed all around their farm.
53:40 They didn't know what was going on?
53:43 And so they asked, "What is going on here?"
53:51 And they said, "Don't you know?
53:55 This is the second largest gold reserve in the nation"
54:02 Sutter's Mill, they sold it, to find gold,
54:10 and that one of the largest reserves was in their backyard,
54:18 they gave up too soon.
54:23 Oh, God let that not be our portion.
54:26 Amen.
54:28 There are wonderful things that God has for each of us,
54:32 let us not give up too soon.
54:38 Don't just do like I did
54:40 and pray till something happens,
54:44 pray until it is finished.
54:49 Amen.
54:55 God wants to do something miraculous
54:59 in the lives of His children.
55:01 God wants to do something miraculous in Dallas, Texas.
55:05 God is going to do something miraculous in City Temple,
55:12 if we fake not,
55:16 if we fake not.
55:20 I just wonder, if there's anybody
55:23 under the sound of my voice,
55:24 you got some situations going on in your life
55:28 and you thought about giving up,
55:30 and you wonder where God was,
55:33 but you understand that you were not waiting on God,
55:36 God is waiting on you.
55:40 And you are committing for this situation
55:44 or to that the God has brought to your mind right now.
55:47 You are committing that you are gonna pray
55:50 that thing through.
55:53 If you have to use your dying breath,
55:56 if you have to pray for the rest of your life,
56:01 you are committed to praying
56:05 that thing through you are committing--
56:07 you're not gonna give up too soon.
56:10 You're not gonna stop until you see God has moved.
56:17 If that's your desire, I just want you to stand with me.
56:26 There may be somebody under the sound of my voice,
56:30 who has not accepted, Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
56:36 You too know what it's like to want to give up
56:42 and you wonder if this God thing
56:45 is anything that can help you.
56:48 You wonder if God really has the power to change
56:55 and move in your situation.
56:58 Well, I came by to tell you that He does, He is ready,
57:02 and He is willing and able.
57:06 He is willing to save you, He is willing change you,
57:09 and make you new.
57:13 And if you want to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior,
57:16 wherever you are I want you to get out of your seat
57:18 and join me down front.
57:20 I have a very special prayer. I want to pray for you.


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Revised 2015-05-06