Participants: Jill Morikone (Host), Mollie Steenson, Ps John Lomacang, Shelley Quinn, Brian Hamilton
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP000010A
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00:01 The Bible tells us, "In the beginning was the Word,
00:03 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." 00:07 It says, "To receive with meekness 00:09 the implanted Word, 00:11 which is able to save your souls. 00:13 And to be diligent 00:15 to present yourself approved to God 00:17 rightly dividing the Word of truth." 00:20 Join us now for the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:24 Our study today is 00:26 The Holy Spirit and Spirituality. 00:32 Hello and welcome to the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:36 My name is Jill Morikone, 00:37 and we're so glad that you've taken this hour, 00:40 set it apart to open God's word and study with us 00:43 as we study The Holy Spirit and Spirituality. 00:46 With me, with our Sabbath School Panel 00:48 is my sister Mollie Steenson, Pastor John Lomacang, 00:52 Shelley Quinn and Brian Hamilton. 00:54 And it's just a privilege and a joy 00:56 to have each one of you here. 00:57 Thank you for being here. Thank you, Jill. 00:59 What I like the most about this panel 01:02 is that they have a heart for God. 01:03 They're students of the Word 01:05 but they're friends and they're mentors. 01:07 And it's a blessing to open up God's Word together, 01:09 and we are so glad that you are here, 01:12 part of our 3ABN family. 01:14 We are studying 01:15 this quarter's Sabbath School lesson 01:16 put out by the Seventh-day Adventist Church 01:18 which is The Holy Spirit and Spirituality. 01:21 If you go to your local church, 01:23 you're welcome to pick up a copy 01:24 of the Sabbath School Quarterly there. 01:26 However, if you want a downloadable copy 01:29 or if you don't have access to a copy, 01:31 you can always go to the website. 01:34 It's absg, 01:36 that stands for Adult 01:38 Bible Study Guide. adventist.org. 01:43 That's absg.adventist.org. 01:48 And you can follow along 01:49 with what we're doing during the day. 01:52 It's such a blessing to open up God's Word. 01:55 To share and to study 01:57 about The Holy Spirit and Spirituality. 01:59 This is lesson number 10. 02:00 I can't believe we're already in lesson number 10, 02:03 The Holy Spirit, the Word and Prayer. 02:07 We started out talking about 02:08 the Holy Spirit at the beginning 02:09 of the quarter. 02:11 The Holy Spirit inspired the Word of God. 02:13 The Holy Spirit works behind the scenes in creation, 02:17 salvation, pointing us to the Lord Jesus Christ. 02:20 The Holy Spirit is divine, part of the Godhead, 02:23 the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit. 02:26 He is a person not a force. 02:29 We talked about baptism, 02:30 the infilling of the Holy Spirit, 02:32 the transformation of the Holy Spirit, 02:34 the spiritual fruit, the fruit of the Spirit 02:37 that we get as a result of abiding in Christ. 02:41 We talked about the spiritual gifts 02:43 given to the church, the mission of the church, 02:46 and now we're on the Word and prayer. 02:47 And we want to do our memory text for today. 02:50 It's Romans 8:26-27. 02:55 Well, we'll recite it together 02:56 but you can read along with us at home. 02:59 "The Spirit also helps us in our weaknesses, 03:03 for we do not know 03:05 what we should pray for as we ought, 03:08 but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us 03:13 with groanings which cannot be uttered. 03:16 Now He who searches the heart knows 03:20 what the mind of the Spirit is 03:22 because He makes intercession 03:25 for the saints according to the will of God." 03:29 True prayer and authentic spirituality 03:33 always have God as the center. 03:35 And both are rooted in the written Word. 03:38 Today as we discuss, we'll be looking at the ABCs 03:42 you can say of prayer, Ask, Believe and Claim. 03:45 Before we open up the Word of God though, 03:48 let's go to the Lord in prayer. 03:49 And, Shelley, would you open up in prayer for us? 03:51 I'd love to. 03:52 Heavenly Father, once again we come before You 03:54 in the name of Jesus, 03:56 thanking You for all of Your gifts of grace 04:00 for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ 04:02 through whom we have received the gift of salvation, 04:06 for your Holy Spirit Lord and for Your Word. 04:10 And Father, we are asking today that Your Spirit will come. 04:15 We're asking in the name of Jesus 04:17 that You'll empty us, help us to be emptied of self, 04:20 fill us afresh with Your Spirit, 04:22 anoint us and Father 04:24 we pray for everyone who is watching, 04:27 that You will pour out Your Holy Spirit 04:29 on all who call upon Your name 04:31 and lead us, guide us, direct us, teach us 04:35 how to pray, in Jesus' name. 04:37 Amen. Amen. 04:39 On Sunday's lesson we look at prayer 04:41 that is pleasing to God. 04:43 And if you think about a biblical example 04:46 of who in the Bible gives us an example of prayer 04:50 that is pleasing to God, who would come to your mind? 04:54 Moses. Moses, good. 04:56 Anything else? Jesus. 05:00 Yes. Daniel. 05:02 Daniel prayed three times a day. 05:04 What we're gonna look at today is actually Jesus 05:06 because He's our perfect example of divinity 05:11 but yet combined with humanity. 05:13 And Him kneeling down and praying 05:16 and then we're gonna look at six different aspects 05:18 of His prayer life. 05:20 And if I had a chalkboard here, 05:22 I would put on this side 'Prayer Is'. 05:25 These are the positives, this is what prayer is. 05:28 Prayer is and we're gonna look at Jesus' example. 05:31 On this side we'd put 'Prayer Is Not'. 05:35 What prayer is not 05:36 and it's kind of the flip side of what prayer is. 05:39 We have Prayer Is, Jesus' example. 05:41 Prayer Is Not and often times it's our own experience. 05:45 But we want to come over here. 05:47 We want to move our prayer life to pattern 05:50 after the Lord Jesus Christ. 05:52 So we're gonna look at these six aspects. 05:55 Let's look at Luke 5 first of all, 05:57 and I'll ask each one of you to see 05:59 if we can identify together as a panel what the aspect 06:02 is we're talking about in the Scripture. 06:04 Luke 5:16. 06:10 You have that pastor? You want to read it? 06:11 Sure. 06:12 Luke 5:16. 06:14 The Bible says, 06:15 "So He himself often withdrew 06:19 into the wilderness and prayed." 06:22 So this is Prayer Is. 06:26 What aspect do you see in this verse? 06:29 Prayer Is what? 06:31 From Jesus' example we see on this side? 06:34 Prayer is an individual communion with God 06:37 where you get away in your communing with God. 06:39 I like that. Any other thoughts? 06:42 Prayer Is, from this verse? 06:45 Sometimes you have to get away 06:47 from the things that distract you 06:48 in order to pray. 06:50 Okay, being alone? Being alone. 06:52 Okay, I had that. 06:53 We're coming back to this verse for point number five. 06:57 So we're going to, I agree with you, 06:59 we're going to say prayer is solitary. 07:01 Being alone, alone with God, being individual with God. 07:04 That is coming as number five. 07:06 But what I said first for number one, 07:08 prayer is essential. 07:10 Did you notice he said, often He came apart and prayed. 07:15 Prayer is, so He himself often withdrew 07:17 into the wilderness and prayed. 07:19 So point number one in these six aspects of prayer 07:22 for what Jesus did. 07:23 Prayer is essential. Amen. 07:27 Jesus often withdrew and prayed. 07:28 Now, if we look 07:30 at the human perspective prayer is often, 07:34 we think it's non-essential, 07:35 would you say that on the opposite, 07:36 instead of being essential we say it's non essential. 07:40 Maybe I only pray when I want something, 07:45 when I'm in trouble. 07:46 I need something and God says, 07:47 I want to move you in your prayer experience, 07:50 in your walk with me, so it becomes essential. 07:53 Often spending time in prayer. 07:56 Next, we're gonna look at Mark 1:35. 08:00 The second aspect of prayer. 08:02 Mark 1:35. 08:11 Shelley, you have that? You want to read that? 08:13 Yes. 08:14 "Now in the morning having risen a long 08:16 while before daylight, 08:18 He went out and departed to a solitary place, 08:20 and there He prayed." 08:22 What I see here is prayer 08:24 should be the first activity of the day. 08:27 Yes, absolutely. First activity. 08:30 Prayer should be consistent, 08:32 something we do on a daily basis, something early. 08:36 Rising up early and spending that time. 08:38 Prayer is specific. Prayer is consistent. 08:40 Prayer is spending early time with the Lord Jesus Christ. 08:44 The opposite if we look at now 08:46 what Prayer Is, what Prayer Is Not, 08:48 we can say sporadic, non-essential, 08:52 not taking that time. 08:55 Maybe praying when we feel like it. 08:57 Intermittent. Intermittent. 09:00 That's a good word, intermittent, 09:01 praying when we feel like it. Number three. 09:04 We're not gonna look up Scriptures 09:05 because there are so many dealing with this. 09:07 I think of Matthew 19:13. 09:09 Remember when the disciples, when the children came, 09:13 the mothers and the children came 09:15 and the disciples said, 09:16 "Go away, Jesus is busy, and He is important 09:19 and He needs to meet with important people, 09:21 with adults with whomever." 09:22 Jesus says, 09:24 "No, suffer the little children to come to me." 09:26 And what did He do? 09:28 He prayed over them and He blessed them. 09:32 Pastor, this past Sabbath you preached a sermon 09:36 dealing with prayer. 09:37 And I remember one of the verses, Luke 22:31, 09:40 Jesus talking to Simon Peter saying, 09:43 "Simon, Simon, Satan has desired 09:45 to sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you." 09:50 And when you're converted strengthen your brethren. 09:53 Another verse I think of is John 17. 09:55 The entire chapter is a prayer of Jesus 09:58 for unity for the disciples. 10:01 And He said, neither do I pray for these alone 10:04 but for all them 10:05 also who are gonna hear my word down 10:07 through the ages. 10:08 For you and for me, for you at home. 10:10 So the third aspect of prayer, we're looking Prayer Is. 10:13 The third aspect is prayer is for others. 10:17 For the salvation of others, for the... 10:20 We call it intercession. 10:21 But praying for other people, lifting up other people. 10:25 Often on the flip side we pray for ourselves. 10:29 Now that's not a bad thing. 10:30 We're supposed to come boldly before the throne of grace 10:33 because we need grace and mercy and help. 10:36 We need forgiveness of sins 10:37 but oftentimes 10:39 if it's only for myself and not interceding 10:42 for the needs of other people. 10:44 Jesus' example shows us 10:45 that we are to intercede for the needs of others. 10:49 I think of Watchman Nee, 10:51 he was, maybe theologically not everything 10:54 that we would ascribe to, but he was a great man of God. 11:01 And he authored, you think about 11:04 when he started the church, this is in 1923 in China, 11:07 there was just a handful of believers. 11:09 And in less than 20 years they say the church 11:11 there grew to over 700 churches and 70,000 members. 11:15 But when he first came to Jesus, 11:17 when he was converted, he was 17 years old, 11:21 and he made a list of his friends 11:23 who didn't know Jesus. 11:25 Those who had never accepted, 11:28 made Jesus Christ the Lord of their life, 11:29 as Mollie would say. 11:31 And it's not 10 or 20 or 30 or 50, 11:35 he made a list of 70. 11:38 Seventy friends that he wanted to pray for. 11:41 And if you study it, 11:43 he prayed for them every hour in class, 11:46 outside of class. 11:47 He's a student, he's 17 years old. 11:49 Some nights he stayed up all night interceding, 11:52 following Jesus' example of praying for other people. 11:54 Interceding for other people 11:56 and you know how many of those people 11:59 accepted Christ? 12:01 Not all, almost all. And I think I heard this, 69? 12:04 You got it. 12:06 And maybe one did after he passed. 12:08 I'm not sure about that. 12:09 But that seems like what I have heard. 12:11 Yeah, yeah 69. 12:12 Now I had not heard about the one after he passed, 12:13 I don't know. 12:15 But 69 of the 70. 12:16 So prayer for other people is powerful. 12:19 Number four, 12:22 Luke 9:28. 12:26 Luke 9:28. Okay. 12:30 You have that? Go ahead. Sure. 12:32 "Now it came to pass about eight days 12:36 after these things 12:38 that He took Peter, John and James 12:41 and went up on the mountain to pray." 12:44 So we talked about Jesus, Prayer is essential, 12:48 prayer is specific, consistent, early, prayer is for others. 12:52 What about this aspect? Prayer is what? 12:57 There is power in unity of two or three praying together. 13:03 Prayer is with other people, right? 13:05 We are called to united prayer. 13:07 Not necessarily the opposite of that, 13:09 of course, would be isolated prayer. 13:11 And God calls us to solitary prayer. 13:13 Jesus gives us that example, but not all the time. 13:16 We are not to forsake 13:17 the assembling of ourselves together 13:19 and to gather together, there's power in united prayer. 13:22 You think about the early Christian church, 13:24 the church in Acts that gathered together 13:27 for that prayer life, for that prayer time. 13:29 Number five. 13:31 We already read this Scripture, 13:32 this is Luke 5:16 and you mentioned it, Pastor, 13:34 He withdrew, He was alone, 13:36 we could say prayer is solitary. 13:38 So prayer is with other people, 13:40 but prayer is also times in secret, 13:42 our own prayer closet with the Lord Jesus Christ, 13:45 just having it out between me and Him. 13:47 It's not just with each other which we need that. 13:51 We don't want one with the exclusion of the other 13:53 but it's not just solitary. 13:56 To me the opposite of that 13:58 would be maybe someone who prays for show. 14:01 Think of the publican and the Pharisee. 14:04 And the Pharisee when he came in to pray, 14:06 he just prayed for show, right? 14:10 That's right. 14:12 Belike the lesson brought this out, 14:14 how sometimes people pray with questionable motives 14:19 and, Mollie, it would be like, 14:20 if I came to you and I said, Sister Mollie, 14:22 we really need to pray for Sister Shelley 14:25 'cause she's having a hard time getting along with so and so. 14:29 So in the beginning you think, oh, prayer is good, 14:31 we should be praying for Shelley 14:32 but the truth of the matter is, 14:34 and Shelley gets along with people 14:35 so we're not picking you out. 14:37 But the truth of the matter is 14:38 that it's gossip about somebody else. 14:42 That's a questionable motive. 14:44 It's the way of camouflaging your gossip. 14:46 It is to even come in prayer. 14:48 And the final aspect of prayer in the six aspects of prayer, 14:53 we won't look up the verse but it is Matthew 26, 14:56 if you want to write it down, Matthew 26:39. 15:00 And it's Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane 15:02 when He did not want to endure 15:04 that separation from His Father and the agony of the cross. 15:08 And He said, "If it be Your will, 15:10 let this cup pass from me 15:11 but not My will but Yours be done". 15:14 So the sixth aspect 15:15 we see in Jesus' prayer life is surrender. 15:18 Praying in surrender to what God's will is. 15:21 Being willing to give up my will, 15:23 my way in praying surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ. 15:26 The opposite of that, 15:28 of course, would be unwilling to surrender. 15:31 I just call it plain old stubbornness 15:33 Unwillingness to give that to Jesus. 15:34 I like that, plain old stubbornness. 15:36 That's right. 15:37 So the prerequisite to prayer 15:40 being pleasing to God is really abiding in Christ. 15:43 John 15:7. 15:45 It talks about that abiding in Christ. 15:48 And now as we jump into Mollie and Monday, 15:52 we're talking about the ABCs of prayer, 15:54 and I think you have the A of prayer. 15:56 Is that correct, Ask? I have the Ask, yes. 15:59 I appreciated those six steps 16:03 and I wrote them all down and that's something 16:07 that I wanted to encourage you to do 16:09 to take notes, get your Bible, take notes 16:13 because go back then and study the notes 16:18 and you'll find it will help you so much. 16:20 Well, I'm looking at the A of the ABCs of prayer 16:25 which is Ask, 16:26 we're gonna really emphasize that word. 16:30 I heard someone say once that, now this is encouraging, 16:35 Satan can't stop God from hearing your prayer 16:40 or from answering your prayer. 16:42 But you know what Satan can do? 16:44 He can discourage you from asking in prayer. 16:48 He can discourage you from prayer. 16:50 Now, if you don't pray, 16:52 does God have anything to answer? 16:55 So prayer is vital, it is essential. 16:58 It's good. 16:59 Before we receive anything from God, 17:02 we have to ask Him, isn't that right? 17:06 And let's look at Matthew7:7. 17:08 The Scripture says Ask 17:10 and I just highlighted that word. 17:13 Ask and it will be given to you. 17:16 Seek and you will find. 17:19 Knock and it will be opened to you, 17:20 but it starts with that asking. 17:23 We may ask the question, if God knows everything, 17:29 why do we have to ask? He already knows. 17:32 Have you ever heard people ask that question? 17:35 He already knows so why do we need to ask? 17:37 Well, first and foremost, 17:39 this is the method that God has laid down 17:44 for His children to approach Him. 17:47 We approach Him in prayer. We approach Him in asking. 17:51 And when we are obedient to His method, 17:55 again that's putting 17:57 a biblical principle into operation. 18:00 When you put a biblical principle into play, 18:04 you know what you're going to do? 18:05 You're going to reap a biblical result. 18:08 You're going to reap the benefits. 18:10 If you put an un-biblical principle 18:12 into operation, 18:13 you're going to suffer the consequences. 18:15 So which would you rather do? 18:17 Suffer the consequences, reap the benefits. 18:20 Put this biblical principle into operation, 18:23 be obedient to God. 18:25 Shows that we trust God 18:26 when we're obedient to what He tells us to do 18:29 and the result is, 18:31 this is Luke 11:10, talking about asking, 18:35 seeking and knocking. 18:36 "For every one who asks receives, 18:40 he who seeks finds, 18:42 and he who knocks it will be opened." 18:44 Asking is so very important, and asking is verbalizing, 18:49 is it not? 18:50 It's being vocal. 18:52 Now, I don't know about you 18:53 but I pray sometimes just in my heart. 18:57 Do you do that? 18:58 Or driving down the road, driving down the road, 19:01 I sometimes I think, 19:03 if people are watching me from the other cars, 19:06 they're thinking that's a crazy woman 19:07 because I'm praying but that's the time 19:10 when I am alone with God and I don't have interruptions 19:15 and I can just pray my heart out. 19:16 You're communing with Him. Communing with God. 19:19 But let's look at this. 19:20 I want you to go to Mark 11, 19:23 we're going to look at verses 22-24. 19:27 That's Mark 11:22-24. 19:30 Jesus is talking to His disciples, 19:33 but Peter had just asked Jesus a question, 19:37 and here is how Jesus responds. 19:39 So Jesus answered and said to them, 19:42 have faith in God. 19:44 Now I've also seen this translated, 19:47 heard sermons where it's have the faith of God. 19:50 Have faith in God, for assuredly I say to you, 19:54 this is Jesus talking, 19:57 whoever says to this mountain. 19:59 Now what is it that they do? 20:01 They say to this mountain, 20:04 whoever says so is it important to say, 20:07 whoever says to this mountain be removed 20:09 and be cast in the sea and does not doubt in his heart 20:13 but believes those things 20:15 which he, what's that next word, 20:17 which he says the importance of asking, 20:19 the importance of verbalizing, 20:21 the importance of saying who believes those things 20:25 he says will be done. 20:27 He will have whatsoever things he thinks about. 20:30 No, never. 20:32 Whatsoever things he writes down, 20:34 whatsoever things he tells his brother about, 20:36 what does it say? 20:38 He will have whatsoever things he says, 20:41 therefore I say to you, whatever thing you ask, 20:46 there is that word, whatsoever things you ask, 20:49 when you pray believe 20:52 that you receive them, then what? 20:54 Them things 20:55 which you have asked God for in prayer 20:57 and you will have them. 21:00 And we wanted to look at maybe some things 21:06 that would interfere with God hearing 21:09 and answering your prayers. 21:11 We've already determined have we not 21:13 that God has laid down a biblical principle 21:15 in His Word. 21:17 He told us how to come before Him 21:20 and make our petitions known so we come before God asking, 21:24 but there are things 21:25 that can interfere with God hearing 21:28 and answering our prayer. 21:30 And I go to James 4:2, 21:35 we're just going to read the B part of the second verse 21:38 and then all of verse 3 in James 4. 21:42 "Yet you do not have because you do not ask." 21:46 Why don't you have? 21:47 What's the word that we're looking at today? 21:50 In Monday's lesson we're looking at asking. 21:53 This says, James says, 21:55 you don't have because you don't ask. 21:57 Remember the enemy can't stop God 22:00 from hearing your prayers 22:02 and from answering your prayers. 22:04 He can discourage you from asking. 22:06 What I want to do today 22:08 and what this group of people want to do, 22:11 are these teachers and these people 22:13 that love you so much, 22:15 what we want to do is encourage you to pray. 22:18 Encourage you to ask. 22:21 Again, the Scripture says, 22:23 "Yet you do not have because you do not ask." 22:26 It goes on to say, 22:27 "You ask and you do not receive 22:30 because you ask amiss 22:33 that you may spend it upon your own pleasures." 22:36 I believe as the King James says 22:38 that you can consume it upon your own lusts. 22:40 You ask amiss. 22:42 So we want to make sure that when we are asking, 22:46 when we are praying 22:47 we're praying according to the will of God. 22:49 And that we are praying not for something 22:53 that would do us harm 22:55 or that we would consume upon our own lust 22:57 but praying the will to God. 22:58 You know we can have the mind of Christ, 23:00 the Holy Spirit will help our infirmities. 23:04 The Holy Spirit will direct us in prayer 23:07 and give us those desires in our heart 23:10 that we will pray right. 23:12 Another reason that God may not answer our prayers, 23:17 that Psalm 66:18. 23:20 The Scripture says, 23:22 "If I regard iniquity in my heart," 23:26 the Psalmist says, 23:27 "the Lord will not hear." 23:29 What separates us from God? What separates us? 23:33 It's sin. What is sin? 23:35 Pardon me, what is iniquity? We're looking at iniquity. 23:38 Iniquity is lawlessness. Lawlessness is sin. 23:42 If I regard iniquity in my heart, 23:45 the Lord will not hear, 23:47 and another Scripture is Isaiah 59:1, 2, 23:52 "Behold the Lord's hand is not shortened 23:55 that it cannot save nor is His ear heavy," 23:58 isn't this encouraging? 24:00 "God hears that it cannot hear 24:02 but your iniquities have separated you 24:05 from your God 24:07 and your sins have hidden His face from you 24:09 so that He will not hear." 24:11 So if there is known sin in your life, 24:14 what do we do with sin in our life? 24:16 What is the biblical principle? I confess it. 24:20 Yeah, 1 John 1:9. Thank God for 1 John 1:9. 24:24 "If we confess our sin, 24:26 He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins," 24:29 and he goes one step further, 24:31 I always say this, 24:32 then He cleanses you from all unrighteousness. 24:37 If you're cleansed from all unrighteousness, 24:40 you know you're standing before God with clean hands 24:43 and a pure heart, 24:44 and I've got that in Psalms 24:3 and 4, 24:47 "Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord, 24:50 or who may stand in His holy place. 24:53 He who has clean hands and a pure heart 24:56 who has not lifted up his soul 24:58 to an idol nor sworn deceitfully." 25:01 You want to stand before God 25:02 with clean hands and a pure heart, 25:04 then ask the Lord to give you that spirit of repentance 25:08 that by the power of His spirit 25:10 He will show you those areas of iniquity 25:12 that are in your heart, 25:14 that are separating you from Him 25:16 and He will bring that convicting power 25:18 upon your heart, 25:19 you will confess your sins, Pastor Lomacang. 25:22 He will cleanse you of your sins. 25:24 He will forgive you of your sins, 25:27 cleanse you from unrighteousness, 25:28 then you're standing before Him pure and clean 25:31 and you can ask 25:32 what you will and He will hear your prayer 25:35 and He will answer your prayer. 25:37 Let us therefore come boldly before the throne of grace 25:40 that we may obtain mercy 25:43 and grace to help in our time of need. 25:45 That's right. Thank you, Mollie. 25:47 You know this has been a very... 25:49 I love this lesson for its breaking down 25:51 the simplicities of Christianity. 25:54 A lot of times we get into lessons 25:55 that are heavily theological, 25:57 settling arguments 25:59 but this is going back to the basics 26:00 of Christianity saying... 26:01 It's practical. 26:03 Very practical saying, if you want to get to God, 26:05 here's how you do it. 26:06 If you've been attempting to get to God and have not, 26:09 this is why you haven't been able to. 26:11 And I like this Mark 11:24, 26:12 I'm talking about 26:14 the foundation of biblical prayer. 26:16 I'm now with the B. Believe B. 26:18 That's right. Believe. 26:20 Mark 11:24, 26:21 which Mollie just read a moment ago 26:22 but I'll reiterate it. 26:24 "Therefore I say to you 26:25 whatever things you ask 26:28 when you pray believe that you receive them 26:32 and you will have them." 26:34 The question put forth in the lesson is, 26:36 besides asking what other aspects 26:38 does Jesus mention in connection with prayer. 26:41 So besides the A, we'll also put the B. 26:45 Ask and Believe. 26:47 Belief though 26:49 and this is some thing I want to bring out. 26:51 Belief is not unconditional. 26:55 You know we could believe anything 26:57 but belief doesn't make it so. 26:59 It's very important. 27:00 Belief doesn't make something so. 27:02 You could believe, let me just... 27:05 You could fly. Right, I can believe... 27:08 I believe I can fly. Someday you will. 27:11 He hurt himself pretty bad. 27:13 Right, we could believe that we can fly but we won't. 27:16 I said many years ago, Shaquille O'Neil, 27:18 you may be from another country and not know who that is. 27:20 He was a very, very tall basketball player 27:22 about 7'3" 340 27:25 when he was in basketball close to about 360 now. 27:28 I said, no matter how much he believes 27:30 he will never be a successful jockey. 27:33 He'll kill the horse. 27:36 So belief is not unconditional. Belief comes with conditions. 27:39 James 1:6-8. 27:42 One of the connections to belief 27:44 which was leading us to the very next question is, 27:47 there's a simplicity that comes with belief 27:51 but the simplicity also brings with it some conditions. 27:56 You know like a child might say. 27:58 When I was in school, 27:59 we took up something called Sequence of Events. 28:02 So the instructor would ask us when I was taking electronics, 28:05 he says, "What would you do to start your car?" 28:09 I'd say, "You turn the key." 28:11 He said, "Are you going to turn the key in your living room?" 28:13 I said, "No the car is outside." 28:15 He says, "What would you do?" 28:16 He said, "Describe it in events. 28:18 Get up, walk across the floor, reach down, turn the knob, 28:21 you get the point, 28:23 open the door close the door behind you," 28:24 he said get very specific. 28:26 Because he says dealing with electricity 28:28 you could die if you forget one step, 28:30 if you forget one step you could die. 28:34 Many electricians 28:35 they make sure they're grounded, 28:37 or they make sure 28:38 that the power is off before they touch the wire. 28:40 These sequence of events are so important in particular, 28:43 so there's a sequence in our prayer life. 28:46 If any of these are out of the sequence, 28:48 it's not going to work. 28:50 James 1:6. 28:52 But let him ask in faith with no doubting, 28:57 for he who doubts is like 28:58 the wave of a sea driven and tossed by the wind. 29:02 For let not that man suppose 29:03 that he will receive anything from the Lord, 29:05 he is a double minded man unstable in all his ways" 29:08 or as the King James Version says, 29:10 "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways." 29:14 Why is faith important? Faith removes doubt. 29:17 Faith is a doubt killer. 29:20 You know when we have faith, we can't have doubt. 29:22 When we have doubt, we can't have faith. 29:26 So are we having faith in faith or are we having faith in God? 29:30 You have to have faith in God, Hebrews 11:6. 29:32 You must believe that He is. 29:33 When you come to Him, believe that He is 29:35 and then he goes a step further. 29:37 He rewards those who diligently seek Him. 29:40 You know the lesson they pointed out in, 29:42 my wife and I were studying this together, 29:44 praise the Lord for a godly wife. 29:46 We studied this together and they said, 29:48 "He rewards those who seek Him." 29:50 I said, "No, He rewards those who diligently seek Him." 29:54 You could look for your keys 29:55 but if you don't look diligently, 29:56 you won't find them. 29:58 My wife and I recently bought something 29:59 called the Tile 30:01 which we connect to our phones, and we put one in our wallet, 30:03 and one on our car keys, 30:05 the two most common things we lose. 30:10 Where's my wallet? Where's my keys? 30:12 So the other day my wife was running around the house 30:13 without her, can't find her keys. 30:15 I said, Honey do you have your phone? 30:17 Hit the tile and hit find my keys 30:19 and it plays music 30:21 and you follow the music and it finds your keys. 30:23 That's great. 30:24 We were in Dallas, Texas 30:26 and we parked our car in St. Louis at the airport. 30:28 I said, "Does this thing really work?" 30:31 Find your keys. 30:32 It says, "Your keys are located" 30:33 and it showed right in front of the hotel 30:35 right in our vehicle. 30:36 It finds this thing wherever it is on the globe. 30:38 So now it's becoming exponential. 30:40 This is not a commercial. 30:41 The point of the matter is, if it's there it will be found. 30:45 If the Lord has it in store and we follow the sequences, 30:48 we'll find exactly what God is promising for us. 30:51 But you have to believe that He is 30:53 and that He does reward. 30:55 There's also another prerequisite. 30:59 Jesus said this to Martha when He came to her 31:01 because she was 31:03 so concerned about the death of her brother Lazarus. 31:05 And in John 11:40, this belief prerequisite. 31:10 See there's belief 31:12 but there are prerequisites to belief. 31:15 Say that five times, Shelley. 31:16 Prerequisite 31:17 I don't even want to say it once. 31:20 It's a tongue twister, it's like millennium. 31:23 Jesus said to her in John 11:40, 31:26 "Did I not say to you that if you would what?" 31:29 Believe. 31:31 "If you would believe you would see 31:32 the glory of God." 31:34 I believe that the reason why many people don't see 31:38 the glory of God revealed, 31:40 the blessings of God flow into their lives 31:43 is they don't believe. 31:45 They ask God but let me make a couple of points about God. 31:48 God is reliable. God is not shady. 31:51 God never lies. God always tells the truth. 31:55 As one lady in one of my former churches, 31:58 God can do everything but lie, die, fail and change. 32:02 So when He makes a promise, it's sure. 32:04 It's a good promise. 32:05 So belief is not a standalone prerequisite either. 32:09 Even when you believe there's something else 32:12 that must happen. 32:15 1 John 5:14. 32:18 We read this earlier. 32:20 We ask anything according to His will, right? 32:22 According to His will. 32:24 I won't quote the entire text, 32:25 but it says, this is the confidence we have. 32:27 That's right. 32:28 You know when you go to a restaurant, 32:30 the first thing they do is they take you to your seat 32:33 and then they give you a menu. 32:35 Now if you go to I Hop and ask for pancakes, 32:38 you're gonna get it. 32:40 Right, Brian? Yeah I have. 32:41 But if you go to I Hop, I love I Hop, 32:45 but if you go to I Hop and ask for... 32:48 Let me try to go to another restaurant, 32:49 pull a different thing in the menu. 32:51 If you go and ask for enchilada, 32:55 I don't know if they have it 32:56 or not but if it's not on the menu, 32:58 you're not gonna get it. 32:59 It doesn't seem like it. Doesn't sound. 33:01 Oh, if you ask for chop suey, you're not gonna get it. 33:03 Yes, it's not gonna happen. 33:05 The point of the matter is it has to be according 33:07 to His will. 33:09 If His word says it, 33:12 the assurance is we're gonna get 33:13 what His word has revealed to us. 33:15 We ask according to His will, that's why it says, 33:17 this is the confidence, if we know He hears us, 33:20 because He hears us, 33:21 we're gonna get the petition that we ask. 33:24 But there's another condition. 33:26 1 John 3:22. 33:28 This, I mean it gets deeper and deeper 33:30 and I'm not trying to make it difficult 33:31 but I'm trying to take all the artichoke leaves 33:34 out of the way 33:35 to get to the heart of the issue 33:36 about answered prayer. 33:38 1 John 3:22. Do you have that, Jill? 33:40 Read that for us. 33:41 "And whatever we ask 33:42 we receive from Him 33:44 because we keep His commandments, 33:45 and do those things 33:46 that are pleasing in His sight." 33:48 When you live in public the way you live in private, 33:54 when you live in private the way you live in public, 33:57 you do those things that are pleasing in His sight. 34:00 He says, we do the same as parents. 34:03 Are you gonna give your children anything 34:05 if they don't do what's pleasing in your sight. 34:07 Amen. 34:09 Children are very good. 34:10 They do things that are pleasing in your sight 34:12 but the difference with God is, 34:13 there's no place that's not in God's sight. 34:16 I like what he said about, about... 34:19 in 1 Kings 15:5. 34:24 This is beautiful. 34:25 You see none of us is exempt from sin. 34:29 But what I love about the Lord is 34:31 He doesn't hold our sin against us always. 34:34 Yes. Amen. 34:35 So even though sin is a blocker to answered prayer, 34:38 when we confess and ask for forgiveness, 34:39 He forgives us, 34:41 He doesn't keep holding it against us. 34:42 That's right. 34:43 And this is so beautiful because you talk about 34:45 how you can prevent yourself from being blessed, 34:48 here's what the Lord said about David. 34:50 1 Kings 15:5. 34:52 Because David did 34:54 what was right in the eyes of the Lord, 34:55 remember, doing what's right in His sight 34:58 is one of the prerequisites to blessings. 35:01 Because David did 35:02 what was right in the eyes of the Lord 35:04 and had not turned aside from anything 35:07 that He commanded him all the days of his life. 35:11 Is that true? 35:12 We know that's not true, 35:13 but and look at the rest of the text, 35:15 except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. 35:18 So the Lord said, David did a lot of good things, 35:20 he messed up royally in one area 35:23 but he did confess 35:25 and I'm gonna not hold it against him. 35:26 He confessed and he repented and the promise is, 35:29 here's the promise as we transition. 35:32 Psalm 84:11, 35:34 "No good thing will He withhold from those 35:38 who walk uprightly." 35:40 Amen. 35:41 So if you want God to answer your prayer, walk uprightly. 35:44 And you'll believe, 35:45 you'll ask and God will move in your behalf. 35:48 Amen. Shelley. 35:49 I just want to pick up on that 35:51 because what you were reading was 1 Kings, 35:53 what verse was that? 35:54 15:5. 35:55 And that is when the author is writing this 35:58 under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 36:00 but when he quotes the Lord is in 1 Kings 14:8, 36:05 he's talking, telling, giving, 36:07 God's giving him a message to Jeroboam and with the Lord, 36:11 the quote is that he tore the kingdom away 36:14 from the house of David 36:16 and gave it to you and yet, this is what God says, 36:20 you have not been as my servant David 36:22 who kept my commandments 36:23 and who followed me with all his heart to do 36:27 only what was right in my eyes. 36:29 So actually then later 36:32 the author of the book brings up 36:35 the other matter just so that we all understand, 36:38 but this just proves to me that God forgets 36:42 what we ask Him to forgive. 36:44 This is you know, He's cast them into the sea. 36:47 Well we've had the ask, the believe and the claim 36:51 And the point is made in the lesson 36:55 that all faith is useless 36:58 if we do not claim the things for which we have prayed. 37:02 So our first scripture 37:03 and you've touched on it 37:04 is 1 John 5:14. 37:09 We're gonna go to that. 37:11 But I just want to say 37:12 that the true purpose of prayer is to commune with God. 37:16 Prayer is not just to give a laundry list 37:19 of what you want, 37:20 it's to have true communion with God. 37:23 And so it's important though that when you are asking 37:28 that you're asking according to His will. 37:30 So let's look at this 37:32 because all of God's promises are ours in Christ Jesus. 37:36 They are your birthright. 37:38 If you're Christian, 37:40 God's promises are your birth right. 37:42 And our faith is not blind 37:44 because it is based upon God's character 37:49 and God's infallible Word. 37:51 So let's look at 1 John 5:14 and 15 again. 37:55 It says "Now this is the confidence, 37:57 we want to pray with confidence, 38:00 that we have, notice this, in Him, 38:04 in Christ Jesus 38:06 who is the only perfect and righteous person 38:10 that has the right to stand before God." 38:13 He says, "If we ask anything according to His will, 38:19 He hears us." 38:20 So we're approaching the throne of grace in Christ, 38:24 positioned in Christ, 38:25 we're asking in Him and he says, 38:29 and if we know 38:31 that He hears us whatever we ask, 38:35 we know that we have the petitions 38:38 that we have asked of Him. 38:41 So what you're saying is when you pray 38:43 according to God's will as revealed in the Bible 38:47 and God has promised something, 38:50 you can say, Lord, thank you. 38:53 I claim that promise, I know that it is true. 38:57 You promised it, 38:58 you're not, you're not a man that you can lie. 39:01 Thank you so much, Father. 39:03 So, the point is we've got to align our will 39:06 with God's will 39:08 and when we do His answer is always yes. 39:10 Now, I do want to point out. 39:12 You know sometimes people say, 39:13 "God is not answering my prayers." 39:16 Well, you know, God always answers prayers. 39:19 His answer is yes, no, or sometimes it's wait. 39:23 It's not His timing. 39:25 But when we're praying according to our own will, 39:27 we may be praying for our heart's desire. 39:29 Let's say that, 39:31 if you had a child that came to you, 39:32 your son came to you and he was 13 years old 39:35 and wanted a motorcycle, 39:36 what is your answer gonna be to him? 39:38 No! No! 39:40 So sometimes God knows what we're praying for 39:42 is not good for us 39:44 and it could be that He's gonna say, wait, 39:46 but when you have a spiritual request, 39:50 the answer is always yes. 39:52 We have all these promises. 39:55 is one of my favorite verses. 40:00 Is anybody already there, Hebrews 11:1? 40:05 I'll go ahead and do it then. 40:06 Now faith is the assurance 40:10 and that word in the Greek is the hupostasis. 40:13 It means, faith is the title deed. 40:16 It is the basis of, guarantee of the transaction. 40:21 So faith is the assurance, the confirmation. 40:24 The title deed to the things that we hope for, 40:26 being the proof of the things 40:29 we do not see in the conviction of the reality. 40:33 What I love in the Amplified, and, Mollie, 40:35 I know you love the Amplified as well, 40:37 it has parenthetical, in the Amplified 40:40 when something is, excuse me in parenthesis, 40:43 that is just the continuation of the Greek, 40:47 they're growing on the Greek. 40:49 But when they put it in brackets 40:50 and this is bracket, then it is a... 40:54 Whoever is doing the commentary, 40:57 it's a commentary, 40:59 so in the brackets though it says, 41:01 faith perceiving as real fact 41:04 what is not revealed to the senses. 41:07 So I've used this description before. 41:10 Jill, if a wealthy European sends you 41:14 the title deed to his estate in Europe 41:18 and it's got beautiful acreage and everything, 41:21 you may never have even seen it 41:23 but are you now the rightful owner? 41:29 Yes, I'd tell Greg we're moving to Europe. 41:30 Absolutely but why are you the rightful owner? 41:33 Because of the title. You've got the title deed. 41:35 So that's what claiming God's promises are all about 41:39 is we've got the title, faith is the title deed. 41:42 And as we pray we're like Abraham 41:45 who ignored all the physical facts. 41:47 He had the promise of God 41:49 that he was gonna be the father of many nations 41:51 and he did not waver in his faith. 41:54 He claimed that promise and he received the promise. 41:59 To move forward 42:00 we are compelled in our Christian life, 42:04 we're compelled to claim God's promises. 42:07 I always say 42:08 that faith largely depends on the knowledge of the Word. 42:14 Little Word, if we don't have much Word, 42:17 faith expects little 42:19 when we haven't got the Word of God in us. 42:21 Little Word, little faith. 42:23 But you know Jesus compared 42:26 the Word as the seed of God. 42:30 And the lesson brings out 42:32 that in that one little apple seed, 42:35 the whole apple tree exists. 42:37 But I always say, 42:39 if I've got a handful of corn and a handful of wheat 42:42 and I plant wheat over here and plant corn over here, 42:45 what am I gonna get here, Brian? 42:47 You're gonna get wheat. Why? 42:49 Because it's not corn. That's what I planted. 42:51 It's because the potential of the harvest 42:57 is wrapped inside the seed. 43:00 So all of your potential is wrapped 43:04 inside the seed of God, 43:06 that's why it's' so important 43:08 that you claim these things. 43:10 Now... 43:13 When we're claiming, one way to claim 43:16 is when you've prayed for something 43:17 that you know it's according to God's will, 43:19 and as you said 43:21 we know we're walking in obedience 43:23 to the commandments, there's other conditions, 43:25 you can claim that promise by saying, Lord, thank You. 43:29 We've prayed for this, Lord, I thank You 43:32 that I'm a new creation in Christ Jesus. 43:35 The old is gone and the new is come. 43:37 You don't have to feel like a new creation. 43:40 You're basing 43:41 your thanksgiving on God's promise. 43:43 You're claiming that promise and you are thanking God. 43:48 And this is the way Jesus, remember when Jesus was, 43:52 when Lazarus was dead and Jesus waited. 43:55 He went to the, this is in John 11. 43:59 He went to the tomb and He's going to Martha, 44:05 you know, He's talking with him, 44:06 He's gonna roll away the stone and she says what? 44:10 Oh, he stinketh by now. 44:12 He's been there for four days, don't dig it. 44:15 But when Jesus is praying 44:19 in John 11:41, 44:23 they take away the stone, 44:24 Jesus lifts up His eyes to heaven 44:27 and He says, Father, 44:28 I thank You that You have heard me. 44:31 And you know the interesting thing 44:33 that He goes on to say, I know you always hear me. 44:35 I'm always praying according to Your will, 44:37 so You always hear Me. 44:39 But He's claiming, He knew what God's will was, 44:42 He was being obedient, 44:44 He's claiming that and He thanked God in advance 44:47 while Lazarus was still in the grave, 44:49 He's thanking God for resurrecting Lazarus. 44:52 So as God's children 44:54 we are to live on God's promises, 44:57 not on His explanations. 44:59 Some people spend a lot of time living 45:01 on the explanations of God. 45:03 And even though we can't see everything, 45:07 we can claim that promise 45:09 that it is God's will we can trust His promises. 45:13 Amen, Amen. 45:14 I like that, Shelley, that was very good. 45:18 I appreciated your using say something 45:21 like the Amplified Bible. 45:25 I did a little study on my own 45:27 in the whole process of translation, 45:30 taking Scripture and translating 45:32 from Greek and Hebrew into English. 45:36 And one of the things 45:38 that I discovered was that any given Hebrew 45:42 or Greek Word 45:44 has a whole range of English words. 45:47 Yeah. That's right. 45:48 And so part of the struggle of translation is picking 45:52 which English word is best in that particular setting, 45:56 that particular verse to use. 45:58 Well, the Amplified Bible gives you a bit of the range. 46:02 It gives you a number of different English words 46:05 that would be very appropriate in translating the Hebrew word 46:09 or the Greek word into English, 46:11 and so you get that whole range. 46:13 It gives you some insight you wouldn't have otherwise. 46:16 Can I give just one example of that? 46:18 The Scripture that says believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, 46:20 well, the Amplified takes the word believe and says, 46:22 trust and rely on Him, 46:24 being conformed to the image of. 46:26 So that's what belief is. 46:28 Not just mental assent, 46:29 it's being conformed to His image. 46:31 Amen. Yeah, very good. 46:32 Now this was no extra charge. 46:36 Now We'll move back here to Thursday's lesson. 46:40 It has praying for the Holy Spirit. 46:43 Amen. 46:45 And our Thursday's lesson 46:47 had basically three major points 46:49 of the lesson. 46:51 One is, why should we pray for the Holy Spirit? 46:54 It sought to answer that question, 46:57 why is it so important to pray for the Holy Spirit? 47:00 Number two, what's the obstacle? 47:04 It would be at least one obstacle 47:06 that would be in the way 47:07 of us receiving the Holy Spirit. 47:10 And then the third point I felt the author was, 47:14 major point the author made was that receiving 47:18 or asking for the Holy Spirit is not an end in itself. 47:23 Those were three points. Now let's go back to first. 47:26 Why in the world should we pray for the Holy Spirit? 47:29 Okay. 47:31 And in the very first sentence at the very end it says, 47:34 because of our great need. 47:36 Amen. Yes. 47:37 We have this great need. 47:40 Let's look at the primary verse that they wanted us to read 47:44 and it's Ephesians 4, Ephesians 4, 47:49 let me see if it's still in my Bible. 47:52 Yes, it is. Ephesians 4:16. 47:56 But really to get the sense of verse 16, 47:59 we need to back up to verse 14. 48:00 So I'm gonna start reading in verse 14 of Ephesians 4. 48:05 "For this reason, and this is Paul writing, 48:08 he's writing to the believers in Ephesus, 48:13 that's why it's the Book of Ephesians. 48:15 "For this reason I bow my knees 48:18 to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." 48:20 So now he's talking about... 48:21 Are you in Ephesians 3? 48:23 Where are you, Ephesians 4 or Ephesians 3? 48:24 You're in Ephesians 3, right? 48:26 Three, I'm sorry. Did I say four? 48:27 Yes. Yes. 48:29 Oh, boy, now where did that come from. 48:30 Okay. I was in fourth. 48:32 I'm glad you guys are here. 48:34 Boy, our audience would be totally confused. 48:36 Wouldn't that be? 48:37 Okay, so back in Ephesians 3:14. 48:43 For this reason, Paul says, 48:46 I bow my knees, that's prayer, 48:49 to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ..." 48:52 And then he has this little parentheal thought. 48:56 "From whom the whole family in heaven 48:58 and on earth is named." 49:01 Now that's an interesting little tidbit 49:04 he throws in there. 49:05 Mollie, that means you didn't come 49:08 from some cesspool of chemicals that went bang all of a sudden. 49:12 That's right. 49:14 In other words, and Pastor Lomacang 49:17 your great, great, great, great grandma 49:21 and grandpa weren't some apes running around 49:23 in the woods 49:25 that got together and eventually 49:26 you know you or us came out of it. 49:29 I know that's right. 49:30 We gain our heritage, we gain our lineage 49:34 from the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ 49:38 of whom all heaven and on earth are named. 49:43 And then he goes on, starts back in, 49:45 "That He, that is God would grant you 49:48 according to the riches of His glory 49:52 to be strengthened with might 49:56 through the Holy Spirit in the inner man." 50:01 We think it also applies to ladies, 50:03 I think that will apply to the ladies. 50:06 Okay, it's the inner person, our inner being. 50:09 Okay, right? 50:11 So where does that strengthening 50:14 within our inner being come from? 50:16 It comes through the Holy Spirit, 50:20 our greatest need. 50:23 When I was just a child, 50:26 my folks went as missionaries to Pakistan. 50:29 And they took us along. My older brother and myself. 50:32 I think that was a very good idea 50:34 that they did that. 50:36 And I don't remember much of the trip going over. 50:39 I now know that it was on a Norwegian freighter. 50:43 That's what back in the mid, 50:46 well, early to mid '50s 50:48 all the missionaries went overseas, 50:50 they went overseas went on freighters. 50:52 That was the cheapest economical. 50:54 It took us a month 50:55 or month and a half to get there, so what? 50:58 You know it was cheaper. 51:00 When we came back, 51:01 now I remember the trip coming back. 51:03 When we came back, we came back on an ocean liner, 51:05 not a freighter. 51:08 And when that ocean liner came 51:11 within sight of the harbor, it stopped. 51:16 And they had a door on the side of this thing 51:19 and it's a number of stories high. 51:20 They had a door that they opened 51:23 and pretty soon we saw a little 51:25 what seemed like a tiny little speck 51:28 of a boat, comes out. 51:29 It was a launch, it came out 51:32 and a person dressed in white with his cap, 51:36 he climbed the ladder and climbed 51:38 through the opening 51:39 that they had in the side of the ship 51:42 and he made his way up 51:43 into the captain's where they... 51:48 Control tower. 51:49 Yeah, of the ship 51:50 and he took over command of the ship. 51:53 This was a harbor master. 51:56 Now the captain of the ship 51:58 could sail that ship in the open seas, 52:01 he could chart the course. 52:02 There was lots of room, 52:04 but as soon as he got to the harbor, 52:07 there were lot more obstacles The quarters were close, 52:11 the dangers were high, and so a specialist, 52:16 the harbor master came and the captain of that ship 52:20 gave over his ship to the harbor master. 52:23 That's great. 52:25 Well, the Holy Spirit in effect is our harbor master. 52:27 I like that. 52:29 As we come into the close of earth's history, 52:32 the dangers are great, 52:35 the perils are great, 52:39 and our enemy is like a roaring lion. 52:43 He's out to get us. 52:45 And so we need someone 52:48 to take control of our ship to guide us 52:52 through those dangers and that is the Holy Spirit. 52:57 So what is our greatest obstacle? 53:00 It's ourself. I'm gonna ask the panel here. 53:04 We got a couple of minutes. 53:05 What in your mind would be an obstacle 53:09 within ourself 53:10 that would keep the Holy Spirit from being access to us? 53:14 You know, Jill mentioned this earlier, 53:17 it's stubbornness and unwillingness to yield 53:22 to the Holy Spirit's direction. 53:24 I think selfishness, pride. Selfish, pride, yeah. 53:28 We read about sin. 53:31 If we're harboring sin in our heart cannot hear us. 53:34 And sometimes I think a feeling of worthlessness. 53:38 I think that there are people 53:40 who don't feel worthy of God's blessings 53:42 or they don't feel like it's really for them 53:46 and they put up an intimacy barrier, 53:49 and they won't let God come in 53:50 because they kind of close themselves off from everybody. 53:53 That's one of Satan's temptations 53:56 to try to destroy our esteem, our value in God's eyes. 54:00 At least in our own eyes for our value. 54:03 Yeah. Another one is preferences. 54:05 Sometimes the Spirit of God is saying 54:07 "This is the way, walk in it." 54:08 We're saying, "No, I want to walk this way." 54:11 And preference is sometimes an obstacle 54:13 because we don't want to go. 54:14 I was reading yesterday and we're doing Week of Prayer 54:17 reading how people have a predetermined destiny 54:23 and they're not gonna allow the Spirit to get on their ship 54:25 and guide it. 54:27 It's not God's destiny, it's that they predetermine it. 54:30 This is the way I want to go. 54:32 But there is a way that seems right 54:34 and because it seems right to them, 54:35 they don't want the Spirit of God 54:36 to give them any other directions. 54:38 The final point 54:39 and I'll just do this in passing is that 54:41 the Holy Spirit isn't given to us 54:43 as an end in itself. 54:45 In other words, it's for the gift of service. 54:47 It's for the edifying of the church. 54:50 It's for the building of ourselves up 54:52 in Christ Jesus. 54:54 It's never an end in itself. 54:55 Anyway, I'll throw this back to you, Jill, 54:58 to bring our Sabbath School time to a close. 55:01 What a blessing. 55:02 I've been so blessed hearing the insights 55:04 from each one of you, I took a page of notes. 55:07 The ask, the conditions for that asking God, 55:10 so we want to appeal to you at home, 55:12 ask God, is search me, is there any sin 55:14 and He'll forgive and cleanse, believe, conditions. 55:18 Walk in His will. 55:20 No doubting, Walk in that obedience. 55:22 Shelley, you've talked about 55:24 the claim and walking in His will, 55:25 aligning our will when we pray 55:27 with His claiming those Bible promises. 55:29 We want to encourage you to claim those promises. 55:32 And, Brian, that harbor master was fabulous. 55:34 I loved that. That was a wonderful story. 55:36 What a wonderful illustration of the Holy Spirit 55:39 especially at the end of time, drawing us close to Jesus. 55:42 I already took it, Brian, I want you to know 55:43 it's gonna be in one of my sermons. 55:45 So as we close out here, 55:46 we have just a couple of moments. 55:48 So I'd like to ask our panel if you have, 55:50 maybe we'll go down the line, we'll start with Mollie. 55:51 And a closing thought from each one of you 55:54 regarding the Holy Spirit and prayer 55:56 and maybe even an appeal to our friends at home. 55:58 Well, I want to reiterate what Shelley said.. 56:02 That is powerful, Shelley. 56:04 The potential of the harvest is wrapped up in the seed. 56:07 So plant that seed in your heart. 56:09 Seed produces after its own kind. 56:12 The very image and likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ 56:15 will be reproduced 56:16 because the potential of the harvest 56:18 is wrapped up in that seed. 56:20 It's good. Pastor John? 56:22 The other thing is, 56:24 ask the Lord to put self to death. 56:28 You know, Paul said he died daily. 56:30 If Paul died daily, he saw the necessity of it. 56:33 If we die to self, then God will open up to us. 56:36 I used the illustration of the peephole. 56:38 We live our lives looking 56:39 through the peephole of God's promises 56:41 when He wants to open the door. 56:42 Ask God to keep us dead to self. 56:44 Amen. Dead to self. Shelley? 56:46 My thought would be Luke 11:9 when Jesus said to ask, 56:52 seek and knock and it will be given to you. 56:54 Then He says in verse 13, 56:56 "How much more will the Heavenly Father 56:59 give you the Holy Spirit if you ask." 57:03 But in the Greek these are linear verbs. 57:05 So what He's saying is ask and keep on asking, 57:08 seek and keep on seeking, 57:09 knock and keep on knocking and how much more. 57:12 So we know that Romans 8:14 tells us 57:15 that only those who are led 57:16 by the Spirit are the children of God. 57:20 So I think it's important 57:21 that we recognize our great need. 57:23 I also think it's important 57:25 when we're praying that we recognize, 57:27 we're dependent upon the Holy Spirit 57:28 even for prayer 57:30 which was what our memory text to us 57:31 in Romans 8:26 and 27. 57:34 Brian, can you give me five seconds? 57:35 Yeah. 57:37 In proportion to our desire of the Holy Spirit 57:40 we'll receive Him. 57:41 Amen. Thank you all so much. 57:43 We want to thank you for joining us at home. 57:45 We want to encourage you to get into the Word of God, 57:48 spend time with Him, spend time in prayer. 57:51 Find a prayer partner in your church, 57:53 someone that you can seek the Lord Jesus Christ with. 57:57 Know that we love you 57:58 and that we are praying for you. 58:00 Amen. God bless you. 58:01 Thank you. Amen. |
Revised 2018-04-26