Participants: John & Angela Lomacang (Host), Luis & Xenia Capote, Donald Owen, Katrina Lubinski
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW017006A
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Removing pain 00:23 Lord, let my words 00:29 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:45 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:07 Hello, and welcome to Friday night family worship. 01:10 I am on board and my co-pilot is with me. 01:13 Angela, good to have you here, honey. 01:14 Yeah, it's always good to be here on Friday nights with you 01:17 and to have family worship. 01:19 And you know, everywhere we go, people say what? 01:22 They love family worship. 01:23 That's right. 01:24 It's a blessing, isn't it, honey? 01:26 And it's good for us too, 01:27 because it's not only a program that 3ABN is providing, 01:30 but it is a time for us to also remember 01:33 that the family is only as strong 01:36 as its component of worship. 01:38 The family that worships together stays together. 01:41 And we've got a family here today. 01:42 Yes, we do. We got a family over here. 01:44 We're going to start by introducing... 01:45 Well, are we going to say happy Sabbath? 01:47 Hey, happy Sabbath. Happy Sabbath. 01:50 Happy sabado. 01:51 Yeah, he's getting Latino on me... 01:53 Yeah, yeah. 01:55 This person over here, but that's okay. 01:57 Honey, why don't you go ahead and start by... 01:58 Well, let's start over to our far left and introduce... 02:02 He's not a stranger, he's been on our Friday worship. 02:05 I'm glad, I'm not a stranger. 02:07 Actually, I'm Donald Owen 02:08 and I actually work in a production department, 02:10 I'm kind of what they call on call. 02:12 But I also work at the church on personal ministries. 02:14 We go in a community. 02:16 We do lots of things, giving out books, distributing books, 02:18 and we also work with addiction recovery group 02:22 in the community. 02:23 And we've been doing that for three years, 02:24 and it's been very successful 02:26 so, helping people in the community 02:27 overcome a lot of addictions. 02:29 Well, good to have you, Donald. 02:31 And... 02:32 Katrina Lubinski. Yes. 02:35 Tell us what you do now? 02:36 Who you are for those of us who may not have known you before? 02:40 Well, I'm originally from the Chicago area 02:43 and I moved to Southern Illinois. 02:47 And I originally graduated from Andrews University 02:51 with my masters in youth and young adult ministry. 02:53 Okay. 02:55 But currently, I am doing literature evangelism 02:57 and Bible work for the surrounding area. 02:59 Okay, well, good to have you here. 03:01 And also she's a singer. 03:03 Very good singer. Beautiful singer. 03:04 She sings at our church, she sings at many churches. 03:08 Beautiful voice and she's a blessing to our church. 03:10 Good to have you here, Katrina. 03:12 Good to be here. 03:13 And two other people that are not strangers. 03:15 No. 03:16 First of all, my bodyguard, Luis. 03:19 I do rant him out in English and Spanish. 03:23 Good to have you here, Luis. 03:24 It's good to be here, pastor. 03:25 Yes, tell the audience that may not know you, what you do? 03:28 And where are you from? Well, I'm originally from Cuba. 03:32 Currently doing the program manager 03:36 and that entails all nine of our programs 03:41 or nine of our channels 03:42 even though the ninth one is not up and running yet 03:44 which is the Praise channel. 03:48 But we're excited that God through all the challenges, 03:54 He manifests Himself in an amazing way. 03:56 That's right. And it's good to be here. 04:00 It's good to be able to worship on Sabbath 04:04 and to be able to let our viewers know 04:07 that we are their family. 04:09 That's right. 04:10 You know, they are an extended family of ourselves 04:12 and we love spending this time with them. 04:14 Okay, good to have you. 04:15 And to your right is somebody I know you know very well. 04:19 My lovely wife, Xenia. 04:21 Yes, I'm Xenia Capote 04:23 and I work here at the finance department 04:26 and I've been enjoying people's calls 04:31 and talking about the worship service 04:34 and how they like to join us 04:38 and they feel part of our family 04:40 when we sit around the table and sing songs and talk, 04:44 and they really enjoy that. 04:46 Yes, they do. Are you Cuban also? 04:48 No, ma'am. 04:51 I'm from El Salvador. 04:52 El Salvador. El Salvador. 04:54 El Salvador. 04:56 And you're supposed to say happy Sabbath 04:57 in a different way. 04:58 Feliz Sabado. Yes. 05:01 Wow. 05:02 As you know, we also enjoy music. 05:05 And I'm going to give Sister Xenia a chance 05:08 to make a way to the piano 05:09 because today our topic is about intercessory prayer. 05:13 Now, we talked earlier and we said, 05:14 "If we do a topic on love, that's like the whole Bible." 05:18 If we say the love of God, that's the whole Bible. 05:21 But we narrowed down to love the Lord, your God 05:23 with all your heart, that's the first four commandments, 05:25 love your neighbor as yourself. 05:27 But today, instead of saying, 05:28 we're going to do a topic on prayer. 05:30 We're going to do one on what, honey? 05:31 Intercessory prayers. 05:33 Wow, and that is... Which is... 05:35 Standing in the gap in so many different ways. 05:40 Who are you praying for? 05:42 Who's praying for you? 05:44 Are you praying for someone? 05:46 Is someone praying for you? 05:48 Is the church praying for you? 05:49 Are you praying for the church? 05:51 Who should you pray for? 05:52 And why should you pray for them? 05:54 Are you praying for the pastor? 05:55 Thank you. 05:57 That's right, we need prayer. Yes. Amen. 05:59 And, so we're going to talk about that today, 06:01 because I know that many of you watching, 06:03 I would say, all you watching can right away think of someone 06:06 that you need to pray for. 06:08 And this program, we're going to walk through the Bible 06:09 and see the many examples. 06:11 And even in experiences and testimonies 06:13 of what it means to pray 06:15 and how God really honors those who remember others in prayer. 06:20 You know, it's easy to say, 06:21 "Lord, I need, Lord, I need, Lord, I need," 06:24 but it's something altogether different. 06:26 And you'll find out from scripture, 06:27 how God wants to bless us 06:29 when we think outside of ourselves for someone else. 06:32 But we're going to begin with a song 06:34 that I know that you all know. 06:35 If you have a hymnal at home, it's 478, 06:38 "Sweet Hour of Prayer", 06:40 but it's such a familiar hymn, honey. 06:42 Very, many people know it. 06:43 Let's sing this song together, 06:44 and we'll sing all three stanzas, 06:46 Sweet Hour of Prayer. 06:56 Sweet hour of prayer Sweet hour of prayer 07:02 That calls me from a world of care 07:08 And bids me at my Father's throne 07:14 Make all my wants and wishes known! 07:21 In seasons of distress and grief 07:26 My soul has often found relief 07:33 And of escaped the tempters snare 07:39 By thy return sweet hour of prayer 07:46 Sweet hour of prayer Sweet hour of prayer 07:53 Thy wings shall my petition bear 08:00 To Him whose truth and faithfulness 08:07 Engage the waiting soul to bless 08:14 And since He bids me seek His face 08:20 Believe His word 08:24 And trust His grace 08:28 I'll cast on Him my every care 08:35 And wait for thee 08:38 Sweet hour of prayer 08:44 Sweet hour of prayer Sweet hour of prayer 08:50 May I thy consolation share 08:57 Till from Mount Pisgah's lofty height 09:04 I view my home 09:07 And take my flight 09:11 In my immortal flesh I'll rise 09:18 To seize the everlasting prize 09:24 I love this. 09:26 And shout while passing through the air 09:32 Fare-well, fare-well 09:36 Sweet hour of prayer! 09:41 Beautiful. 09:43 Isn't that wonderful? Yeah. 09:45 I picture that verse, 09:46 "And shout while passing through the air." 09:48 Farewell... Farewell. 09:50 Sin, trials, tribulations, farewell. 09:52 Praise God. Praise the Lord. 09:53 All the heartaches. Over sickness. 09:55 Oh, wow, how long? 09:56 Over sickness, over death, over suffering. 10:00 And next song... Is... 10:02 "As we come to you and pray," page 671. 10:06 And the words are, "Now dear Lord, as we pray, 10:09 take our hearts and minds far away 10:13 from the press of the world all around 10:17 to your throne where grace does abound. 10:21 May our lives..." 10:23 "Be transformed by Your love. 10:25 May our souls be refreshed from above. 10:27 At this moment, let people everywhere including you. 10:31 Join us now as we come to your prayer." 10:33 It's a single chorus, we'll repeat it twice. 10:36 What a wonderful song. 10:38 I've heard this in churches many times. 10:42 Now dear Lord, as we pray 10:47 Take our hearts and minds far away 10:54 From the press of the world all around 11:00 To Your throne where grace does abound 11:06 May our lives be transform'd by Your love 11:12 May our souls be refreshed from above 11:19 At this moment let people everywhere 11:26 Join us now as we come to You in prayer. 11:32 One more time. 11:34 Now dear Lord, as we pray 11:40 Take our hearts and minds far away 11:47 From the press of the world all around 11:54 To Your throne where grace does abound 12:01 May our lives be transform'd 12:05 By Your love 12:08 May our souls be refreshed 12:12 From above 12:16 At this moment 12:19 Let people everywhere 12:24 Join us now 12:26 As we come to You in prayer 12:33 Honey, would you pray for me? Sure, let's bow our heads. 12:36 Our kind and gracious heavenly Father, 12:39 we come to You in the name of Jesus, 12:41 no other name. 12:43 And we thank You and praise You 12:45 for this blessed Sabbath evening 12:47 that is upon us. 12:49 Lord, take our minds, our hearts far away. 12:52 Let us not think of the things and worries of this world, 12:56 the pressures of this world 12:59 and the struggles of this world. 13:01 Help our minds be transformed by Your love. 13:05 So, Lord, we ask that You will come into this place, 13:08 go through the television waves and speak to each heart 13:11 as they are watching and listening 13:14 to these wonderful words of life, 13:16 intercessory prayer. 13:18 So, Lord, we thank You for this opportunity. 13:22 Open our hearts 13:23 and, Lord, please accept our praise to You. 13:26 Now we thank You in the worthy and most precious name 13:30 of our Jesus, amen. 13:32 Amen. Amen. 13:33 Thank you, honey, for that heartfelt prayer. 13:36 Thank you so much. 13:37 You know, prayer, how can you talk about prayer and not pray? 13:39 Yeah. Yeah. 13:41 And all of our programs are wrapped in prayer 13:45 from the beginning to the end. 13:47 I am glad to have this panel with us. 13:49 I am too. 13:50 Katrina, it's the first time with us. 13:52 Glad to have you here, I'm glad you can make that. 13:53 But Donald and Xenia, or Xenia, which one? 13:57 Xenia. Xenia, the right accent. 13:59 And Luis, he is very much involved in prison ministry. 14:04 And he goes and speaks 14:05 to the Spanish population in prison. 14:08 And he has wonderful audience. 14:10 Praise God for that ministry. 14:11 And your wife also, you both reach out in a beautiful way. 14:13 He preaches, he sings. Yeah. 14:15 He doesn't need a microphone when we sing at church. 14:18 I made a mistake of giving him a microphone one day. 14:19 Yeah. 14:22 I said, "The microphone is for amplification 14:24 which you do not need." 14:26 Nope. 14:27 I love this guy, great gentleman. 14:28 And Donald and his wife are so on the battlefield for the Lord 14:32 in so many ways, witnessing and reaching out into... 14:34 It's a lot of fun and passion. It's a lot of fun. 14:36 And it's a passion that you both had. 14:37 Yes... 14:38 Oh, it's awesome, it's just... Reaching out. 14:40 What you see, you know, the results of the fruit, 14:42 it's just been incredible story. 14:44 If God gives you a door, you've got to step through it, 14:45 just before it's not too late for yourself. 14:47 And do it on all your might. 14:48 Exactly. Amen. 14:50 And, Katrina, we've seen Katrina through the years grow 14:53 and moving to different areas of ministry 14:55 and we thank the Lord for your dedication 14:57 to get that degree. 14:59 And now, you're putting it to use to build God's kingdom. 15:01 Yes, right. Praise the Lord for that. 15:03 And, honey, boy, 15:04 it's been a long time we've grown together. 15:06 And that's why I decided not to color my hair. 15:08 I want people to see I've been around a while. 15:12 You used to be jet black. 15:14 Used to be jet black with help of just for men. 15:17 Not anymore. 15:18 Now, I'm going to glow just for God. 15:20 Amen. 15:21 Let's just go ahead and launch into the topic. 15:22 Now intercessory prayer, once we were in Zimbabwe, 15:26 and then the next year, we went to Zambia. 15:29 And what was interesting about that we were with Maranatha, 15:33 and we had a chance to cross in from one country to the other. 15:38 And although they were just not so far apart, 15:41 just a bridge's length on the Victoria... 15:44 I think it's Victoria Bridge? 15:45 Yeah, I think so. 15:47 Just a bridge's length from one country to the other. 15:51 And so when you leave one country, 15:52 you go through the border and then you're on the bridge, 15:54 they call it, "No man's land." 15:56 Meaning you're not anywhere, you're not in any country 15:59 till you get to the other border. 16:01 And I thought, "Wow! 16:02 You could be on earth in the middle of two countries 16:05 and you are in no man's land. 16:06 Wow, that's incredible. 16:08 And I thought, "How many people 16:09 are in no man's land in their lives 16:12 because we are not becoming the bridge 16:14 between their trial and their blessing. 16:17 And so today, we're going to look at 16:19 how we can become the bridge between where they are 16:23 in their difficulties of life and where they could be, 16:26 if somebody would just pause and pray for them. 16:29 Because I'm sure, we could share some stories. 16:31 I mean there are times that we don't even feel like praying. 16:34 And sometimes when I feel that way, my wife will pray, 16:36 when she doesn't feel like it, I would pray, 16:38 and we don't just have this 16:39 general don't feel like praying... 16:41 No, no, no. 16:42 But trails and challenges do come. 16:44 And sometimes you say, "Oh! 16:47 Honey, would you pray for us." 16:49 And she says the same thing, "Would you pray," 16:50 and we hold each other's hands 16:52 and we bridge the gap for each other. 16:54 I'm sure you've done that as husband and wife. 16:56 Oh, yes, many times. 16:57 You know, when you chose this topic, 17:00 I go back to the prison ministry 17:02 and that's all and just started prayer. 17:04 Oh, that's right. 17:05 You know, they're not with their families, 17:07 they're constantly praying. 17:08 And it's beautiful to see when the miracle starts coming back 17:12 and when we pray for a particular child 17:15 or a family member, 17:17 and their prayers are answered and that encourages the group. 17:21 That's beautiful. 17:22 And when we talk about prayer, it's so amazing, 17:28 because it's the way that we can communicate with God. 17:30 It's our direct connection to Him. 17:32 And sometimes, when you are first starting 17:35 to have a relationship with God, 17:37 when you're first starting, 17:39 you open the Bible for the first time, 17:41 and some people when they tell you, 17:42 "I don't know what to say, I don't know what to do." 17:45 And when you see them just talking like a friend. 17:50 You know, and it's so beautiful 17:51 because in that particular setting, 17:56 they need to rely on each other, 17:58 they need to form friendships real quickly. 18:01 And then, they realize 18:03 how magnificent the friendships are, 18:07 like we are with Christ. 18:09 And when they see us coming in, 18:12 you know, Bryan, and Dan, and myself, we go on Sunday. 18:17 When they see us coming in 18:18 and they see the love that we have of God, 18:21 then they want, they thirst for that. 18:25 And it's beautiful because as they see the power of God, 18:30 then more and more requests are coming in. 18:32 And that's what word encourages me. 18:35 Amen. 18:36 And let us go out. 18:39 You know, we always have an outline with us 18:41 whenever we do this topic. 18:42 It just kind of keeps us on track. 18:44 But there is an example in Ezekiel 22. 18:49 Ezekiel 22:30-31. 18:51 And as I talked about the gap, you know, 18:53 the bridge between where we are and where we can be 18:57 between our trials and tribulations, 18:58 between our dark moments and our bright moments 19:01 where God breaks in. 19:03 I like to have my wife, honey, read this first one for us. 19:07 Ezekiel 22:30 and 31, 19:12 because this is saying how God... 19:14 Well, read and we'll explain it afterwards. 19:16 "So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, 19:22 and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, 19:26 that I should not destroy it, but I found no one. 19:31 Therefore, I have poured out My indignation on them. 19:35 I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath, 19:40 and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads, 19:45 says the Lord God." 19:47 So if somebody... it's kind of amazing. 19:50 How did I pick this scripture? 19:51 I know. You might build wall. 19:56 Build a wall. 19:57 It's such a political pun now in our community. 19:58 Yeah. 20:00 But the point that I want to make it, 20:01 somebody to stand in the gap. 20:03 If someone were willing to stand in the gap, 20:06 then the Lord would, as I read it, 20:09 He would have withheld His indignation, 20:11 but He said, "There's no one standing in the gap. 20:15 There's no one really standing in the gap." 20:18 And can you think of examples 20:20 and I always like to open it up for us to share stories. 20:22 Some of you might think of examples 20:24 where somebody said, "You know, last week, 20:27 I just was wishing that somebody was there for me." 20:32 I didn't get a phone call, 20:34 I was at the lowest point of my life. 20:37 I felt like my world was going to fall apart 20:38 and there was no one there for me. 20:41 And so when we think about this text, 20:43 in what ways can we be, can we stand in the gap? 20:47 Let's start with our family. 20:49 Yeah, everyone. 20:50 There's someone in their family that doesn't know the Lord, 20:54 or have a very weak relationship with the Lord. 20:57 Can you think of any in my family? 20:59 Oh, yeah, and mine. 21:01 Yeah, I have siblings I pray for all the time 21:04 and, you know, everyday we pray for your sister, 21:07 and her family, 21:08 and your brother, and their families. 21:11 And it's constant, you've been praying for your sister 21:14 all our married life. 21:16 Since she was 16. Yeah. 21:17 And we didn't see the impact of that 21:19 until one day she called and said, 21:21 "God has been so good to me." 21:23 Xenia? Well, we think of the Bible. 21:25 Job, he says that he prayed for his family, 21:29 each of his children by name, you know. 21:32 You know for me, my parents have been my interceders. 21:38 And they have prayed for me 21:40 and if it wasn't for them praying for me, 21:43 I wouldn't be the person that I am today, 21:46 and where I am today. 21:48 I know that there were many times where I've been in... 21:53 My parents would pray for me while I'm driving on the road 21:55 that the Lord would protect me. 21:56 And I remember an incident in 2010, 22:00 I was driving home from church, 22:03 and I had just accepted the call, 22:06 the pastor has spoken on the prodigal son, 22:08 I had just rededicated my life to Christ. 22:11 And I was driving home from church, 22:13 and it was icy and very slippery. 22:18 And all I remember is waking up in the hospital bed. 22:24 And my pastor at the time was there at the bed, 22:27 and the nurses came to the room and said, 22:30 "Young lady, you were very lucky. 22:32 You were in a car accident with a bus." 22:35 And the school bus had actually rolled, 22:39 it was on top of me, I'm on driver side. 22:42 They had to use the Jaws of Life to get me out of the car. 22:45 And I walked out of the accident 22:49 with no broken bones, no scratches, nothing. 22:52 And I remember, we went to the scene of the car, 22:56 and afterwards we looked at the car and the seat, 22:59 the driver's seat where I had been driving had broken 23:03 and that was reclined back. 23:04 And I believe the Lord broke my seat. 23:07 If it hadn't been broken, 23:08 the bus would have hit me head on... 23:10 Wow! 23:11 And my life would have been taken out. 23:13 Oh! Wow! 23:14 So the devil is as roaring lion, 23:15 seeking who he may devour 23:17 and all of us who are on God side are a target 23:20 and the devil knows that. 23:21 And so, if it's not for us interceding and praying 23:24 for those around us, then, you know, 23:26 we would not be where we are today. 23:28 That's right. That's right. 23:30 Amen, Amen. 23:31 Boy, that's... 23:32 What a story! 23:34 Yeah, when you think back, you think, 23:35 wow, my life was spared because, as you said, 23:37 when you leave the house, your parents pray for you. 23:40 I remember years ago, I won't mention his name, 23:42 but there was a couple that we know very well 23:44 in Fairfield, California, 23:46 and the husband who had not yet become a member of our church, 23:50 you know, we tried to speak. 23:51 He said... 23:53 he woke up one night and the bed was empty. 23:57 And he wondered where his wife was, 23:59 and he peeked into living room, and he saw her there praying. 24:02 And he knew that she was praying for him, 24:05 and she had said to us, 24:08 "Don't leave this church until you baptize my husband." 24:11 That was amazing, remember that? 24:13 Should I say the name? 24:14 They have unusual first... 24:16 I'll just say the first name, Lewis and Clark. 24:18 Who do you think of? Superman, right? 24:22 Yeah, we call him Clark. 24:23 And it was amazing, so... 24:25 and praise the Lord. 24:27 Before we left, he was baptized. 24:29 Yes. Yes, he was. 24:30 But he called me into his home one day 24:32 and he said, "I want to tell you something 24:33 that my wife doesn't even know." 24:35 He told me his struggle. 24:37 He said, "When you came to visit us once, 24:39 behind that portable bar was a whole lot of alcohol. 24:42 She doesn't even know, there's none there anymore. 24:44 I got rid of all of it. 24:45 He told me, how there're many nights he woke up 24:47 and she was praying for him, interceding for him. 24:50 And she was on her knees, he saw her and he said... 24:53 he couldn't understand it until one day, 24:55 he could not find his keys to his vehicle, 24:58 and he was going to be late, lived, worked 25:00 all in San Francisco and he lived a good ways away. 25:03 Finally found his keys, rushed out of the door, 25:06 and he said, had he left earlier, 25:09 there was a multiple car pile out there. 25:11 And he said, "I would have been at that spot at that time." 25:15 And he says, "From then on, 25:17 I never questioned God when difficulty arose. 25:20 He wants me to leave late for a reason." 25:23 But his wife was praying for him. 25:25 And the Lord does something on our behalf 25:27 when we pray for people. 25:28 Now this is a huge scripture, let's go to the next one. 25:30 I'm going to have... 25:32 I'm going to have Donald read Job 42:10, 25:35 because who can you think of that had more trials than Job. 25:39 Now, you might say, "Well, I do." 25:42 And you could very well be in that category to some degree. 25:46 But how did Job's trials become resolved? 25:53 I'm going to have Donald read Job 42:10. 25:57 Verse 10. 25:58 It says there, "And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, 26:02 when he prayed for his friends: 26:06 also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before." 26:09 That's incredible to me that, 26:11 here's Job through all these trials and tests, you know, 26:14 and it comes to his mind that all he does is 26:16 pray for these friends who were actually 26:18 trying to turn him away from God. 26:19 And here he is, he's pleading and praying on their behalf 26:22 and look what God does for him. 26:24 His heart was with his friends, you know, 26:25 you could tell he loved his friends. 26:27 I mean, you're going through all this 26:28 and they're trying to condemn you and come at you 26:29 and here you're praying for those people. 26:31 It's good to pray for those that hurt you, yes. 26:32 Sing for your enemies. 26:34 Now that you've mention that, 26:36 in the Ellen G White's writings, 26:39 she has a book about prayer. 26:41 Yes. 26:43 In the chapter of intercessory prayer, 26:46 there is a quote that says, 26:48 "Let us pray not only for ourselves 26:52 but for those who have hurt us and are continuing to hurt us." 26:58 So right now, we're mentioning, you know, 27:00 that it's not only for the people 27:03 we love that we pray, 27:05 but we have to pray for our enemies 27:08 or people that hurt us, because that, in a sense 27:11 Job's friends were hurting him, you know. 27:14 And he could tell, he didn't know how to tell them, 27:18 but he could pray for them because they were his friends. 27:22 But there's other people that might not be our friends 27:25 and are hurting us. 27:26 And it's better to leave them in the hands of the Lord 27:28 than take it into your own hands. 27:30 Yes. Oh, man. 27:31 Exactly. That's very true. 27:33 You know, this past week, two weeks ago, 27:35 when I was at the prison ministry, 27:38 one of the guys said, "Hey, I want to be baptized. 27:40 I want to become an Adventist." 27:42 And he says, "What do I do on the Sabbath?" 27:46 And I said, they said, "What is that you do?" 27:48 Well, I go to church. I spend time with God. 27:51 And as we look at this, when we start praying for others, 27:55 when we make a list of individuals that are in need, 27:58 when we look at the need that is in the community, 28:01 in our home, in our country, and we write all that down, 28:07 you can be praying for hours. 28:08 It's like that story you told us in the sermon, 28:11 that gentleman that told his servant, 28:13 "Please, wake me up, you know, 28:15 get me out of my prayer in about 15 minutes." 28:18 And then two hours went by 28:19 and she saw that he was still fervent in his prayer 28:23 and then she said, "Oh, no. 28:25 I have to tell him." 28:27 And she touches him and says, "Master, it's up." 28:29 And he says, "Oh, how quickly 15 minutes go 28:32 in the presence of God." 28:34 When you start understanding the power, 28:38 A, the power of prayer 28:39 and you start understanding what God expects from you, 28:42 and you start praying for others 28:44 and you start seeing result, 28:46 you don't have enough time to pray. 28:47 No, you don't. That's true. 28:49 Does it go by fast? 28:51 When you start praying, 28:52 especially when you have a prayer book, 28:54 I have names too, but the Lord will put, 28:56 bring to mind those people that you need to pray for. 29:00 Some people you don't want to pray for. 29:02 As you says, you know, you have to pray for them. 29:06 It's actually good for you too 29:08 to actually pray for those that hurt you. 29:12 That's good and despitefully use you, the Bible says. 29:15 Yeah, there was a quote that I actually read out 29:17 of Steps to Christ, and you're hitting right on it. 29:20 It's important why we get out and do work. 29:23 It says, "When men take themselves out of social life, 29:26 away from the sphere of Christian duty 29:28 and cross bearing, 29:30 when they cease to work earnestly for the Master, 29:32 who worked earnestly for them, 29:33 they lose the subject matter of prayer 29:35 and have no incentive to devotion. 29:38 Their prayers become personal and selfish. 29:42 They cannot pray in regard to the wants of humanity 29:44 or the up-building of Christ's kingdom, 29:46 pleading for strength wherewith to work." 29:49 So they start becoming internally focused 29:52 on their prayer. 29:53 If you're not interceding on people's behalf 29:55 or getting involved in the community and... 29:57 very important. 29:58 There's a quote. 29:59 I want to ask Katrina. 30:02 On the syllabus here, there's a couple of quotes here. 30:04 I want you to share it with our audience. 30:06 It's about some wonderful quotes. 30:07 We did a week of prayer on prayer. 30:10 That was a blessing. Oh, it was powerful. 30:12 Was it powerful? Amen. 30:13 Don't want to stop. 30:14 It was so good, you know. 30:16 And this wasn't the general one 30:18 that was being done on the general conference level 30:21 but, well, the suggestion came at our board meeting. 30:24 And we said, "You know, for our church to understand 30:25 where we're going to be moving in the New Year, 30:27 we need to come before the Lord in prayer, 30:29 intercessory prayer, even counterfeit prayer. 30:32 Things that will counteract... 30:35 so many different avenues of prayer 30:36 and these are some of the quotations 30:38 that came out of the chapter. 30:40 In the book, "Prayer", about intercessory prayer. 30:43 I'm going to have Katrina read those for us. 30:44 Sure. 30:46 "There are those all around you who have woes, 30:49 who need words of sympathy, love, and tenderness, 30:53 and our humble, pitying prayers." 30:55 Now, there are those of us around us that... 30:58 Mocked by everyday. 31:00 Even in our families. 31:01 Yeah. 31:04 That's why sometimes it's good when people put on Facebook... 31:08 What? Pray for me. 31:09 Yes. 31:11 And Angie is mentioning, "Oh, do you know 31:12 who had put on Facebook that they need prayer?" 31:14 Let's use Facebook in the right way. 31:17 Not putting on your junk and your gossip 31:20 and say, "Is there anyone..." 31:23 I will challenge you, if you are Facebook user, 31:25 chances are somebody watching ears, 31:27 or somebody listening ears, just put on there, 31:30 "Are there any of you that have prayer requests?" 31:32 Yes, we've done that. Please put it. 31:34 We did that apparently, didn't we? 31:36 And as we were taking our local prayers, what were you doing? 31:39 I was on Facebook getting prayer requests from people 31:42 and I was putting it in my prayer book. 31:44 Lots of people. Lot of people need prayer. 31:46 Yeah. 31:47 But when we become self-me-focus, 31:49 we forget about praying for people. 31:51 Continue that quotation. 31:53 "There are souls who have lost their courage; 31:55 speak to them, pray for them. 31:58 There are those who need the bread of life. 32:00 Read to them from the Word of God. 32:02 There is a soul sickness no balm can reach, 32:06 no medicine can heal. 32:08 Pray for those, and bring them to Jesus Christ. 32:11 And in all your work, Christ will be present 32:13 to make impressions upon human hearts." 32:16 So when we pray for them 32:18 and bring them into the presence of God, 32:19 all of a sudden, he could now press upon. 32:21 It's like taking a sick man to the doctor. 32:24 Doctor can't do anything from the distance, 32:27 but we bring them to God in prayer. 32:28 So he can work actively. 32:30 You know, pastor, about two or three months ago, 32:33 Xenia was impressed to send Step to Christ 32:35 to all of our town. 32:38 And we received three cards from them back. 32:41 One of those card said, "well, we want prayer." 32:45 And we went this past weekend and we visited them. 32:48 The first lady, Holly is her name, 32:51 she has diabetes. 32:54 And we prayed for her. 32:57 She gave us the opportunity to pray with her. 33:00 The second home, the one that asked for prayer, 33:02 there was nobody there anymore. 33:04 You know, so there must have been 33:06 something serious that happened 33:07 and we were so distraught 33:09 that we weren't able to get to her on time. 33:13 The third family that we went to visit, they were telling us, 33:17 "Oh, our parents passed away, this is their home, 33:20 we're only here on the weekends." 33:23 And we said, "Can we pray for you?" 33:25 And they says, "Oh, don't bother. 33:27 We already prayed with our meal." 33:29 And it's just, it's amazing when you look at, 33:33 when you're trying to work for God, 33:35 when you're trying to do even within your community, 33:38 there's always going to be different response. 33:41 There's going to be individuals that have the need, 33:44 and you are able to help them 33:45 and give them assurance right away. 33:47 There are some that just are not present, you know, 33:51 and there are some that just reject, you know, 33:54 that communication with God altogether. 33:57 And this passages here pretty much tell us, 34:00 we need not forget about the individuals around us, 34:05 because even those who are not present, we can pray for them, 34:09 because God knows where they are. 34:12 God is aware of their situation. 34:15 And if we truly believe, 34:18 and this is the part that I liked with Matthew 8:8. 34:22 And it's about the centurion, and it says, 34:26 "The centurion answered and said, "Lord, 34:29 I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. 34:33 But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed." 34:37 Wow. Wow. 34:38 What power! 34:40 You know, if we can come to God with this assurance, 34:43 imagine the things we are able to do. 34:45 In that simplicity of faith, 34:48 not asking God to do something great like Naaman. 34:52 He had all these gifts to give to those 34:55 who would come to contingency. 34:56 Let me give you all these things. 34:58 And it was amazing when the servant said, 35:02 "So what does he want me to do?" 35:04 He said, "Go, wash. 35:06 Go, take a bath." 35:08 He's like, "I am... 35:10 Do you know who I am? I'm Naaman." 35:12 But on the other side, we know the story how it ended, 35:14 he finally humbled himself. 35:16 But here's the centurion... 35:17 It's like telling Donald Trump, "Go, wash." 35:20 You know, a president, any president 35:23 since he's our president. 35:24 Right. "Go, wash in this dirty river." 35:27 "What? Me?" And it's a humbling thing. 35:29 "Excuse me, who do you think you are?" 35:33 She said that we're grand. 35:37 But it's amazing. 35:39 We are in the midst of a nation 35:41 that needs a lot of intercessory prayer. 35:44 But look at another example, let's look at Moses. 35:47 Who didn't read yet? 35:48 I'm going to have my brother Luis read that for us, 35:51 the second example about Moses and intercessory prayer. 35:55 Yeah, it's Exodus 32:11 to 12. 35:59 It says, "Then Moses pleaded with the Lord his God, 36:03 and said: "Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot 36:07 against Your people 36:09 whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt 36:12 with great power and with a mighty hand?" 36:16 Keep going. Just further, one more. 36:18 "Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, 36:21 'He brought them out to harm them, 36:25 to kill them in the mountains, 36:27 and to consume them from the face of the earth'? 36:32 Turn from Your fierce wrath, 36:35 and relent from the harm of Your people." 36:40 And so Moses is interceding. 36:42 Moses, in this example is like Christ. 36:45 He's an advocate. He's an advocate. 36:46 He said, "Lord, I know there are bunch of misfits 36:51 and this is a horrible journey. 36:53 They've been pleading to get out, 36:55 now they're out, but look how they're acting. 36:57 Lord, if you get rid of them now, 37:00 all the surrounding nations are going to say, 37:02 "Hmm, He just brought them out to kill them."" 37:05 The power of intercessory prayer, 37:06 and I had the privilege of working in pastoral 37:09 for a few weeks. 37:10 And I had a lady frantically who had called in, 37:13 and sure is concerned about her daughter. 37:14 Actually, she told me that 37:16 her daughter was demonically possessed. 37:18 Wouldn't let her mother see the three grandchildren 37:22 so that afternoon I pray with her on the phone. 37:25 The very next day, I believe was Mitch, 37:27 we got a very exciting woman on the phone. 37:29 She said, "She want to speak to me." 37:30 She says, "You'll not believe what happened 37:33 after you prayed with me, 37:34 my daughter instantly gave me a phone call. 37:37 And she said, "Come on over, you can see the grandchildren." 37:40 She wants to take her kids to Christian school. 37:42 She's going back to church." 37:43 Amen. This is incredible. 37:46 She said, "I just thank you so much." 37:47 And I'm like, "I didn't do a thing." 37:48 "Fervent prayer of a righteous man or woman availeth much." 37:51 The power of intercessory prayer, 37:54 we are kind of foolish if we don't use that. 37:56 You know, God has given us that tool. 37:57 And this example that Luis just read, 38:00 but, honey, read the next passage 38:01 right below that Psalms 106:23, 38:04 because this is exactly what happened. 38:06 Look at how David, the Psalmist reflex back 38:09 on what happened here. 38:11 "Therefore He said that He would destroy them, 38:14 had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach, 38:20 to turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them." 38:24 What did Moses do? 38:25 Stand in the breach. Stand in the breach. 38:26 Another word for the gap. 38:28 In the gap, yeah. Moses said. 38:30 And have you ever had anybody stand in the gap for you? 38:33 You know, one of my favorite example of this is when, 38:36 I believe Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7:14 38:39 prayed, if my people who are called by... 38:41 When the Lord said, 38:43 "If My people who are called by My name 38:45 will humble themselves and turn from the wicked ways." 38:48 Then He would hear from heaven and heal their land. 38:51 That's right. 38:52 That's a tremendous example of intercessory prayer, 38:55 but it has two major words. 38:56 What's the first word? If and then. 38:58 Then. 39:00 If My people, then. 39:01 So the intercessory act is not just something 39:03 that somebody does in you r behalf, 39:05 but it's something that you have to participate with. 39:08 Solomon, the prayer, 39:10 but then there's something you need to do, 39:12 turn and then I'll hear, forgive and heal. 39:17 And there are so many people that want to pray, 39:19 and I want to add this, there are so many people that say, 39:21 "Pray for me." 39:23 But I remember, I won't mention his name 39:25 but one of your family members called 39:26 and said, "I need prayer." 39:29 And I said, "What you need to also do 39:30 is make right decisions." 39:33 Right? 39:34 I mean, you keep getting your hand bitten, 39:36 because you keep putting it through the fence of the dog. 39:38 Don't pray that your dog bite will heal, 39:41 stop putting your hand through the fence as an illustration. 39:44 And that's what happens often times. 39:46 But there are other times that people abound. 39:49 Who didn't read the scripture yet? 39:51 Sister, Xenia, look at the third scripture 39:53 here in Acts 12:5. 39:56 It says, "Peter was therefore kept in prison, 40:00 but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church." 40:05 Who's praying for Peter when he was in prison? 40:07 The church. The church. 40:09 And what kind of prayer was it? 40:10 Constant. Constant. 40:12 Constant. 40:13 Can't give up. 40:14 I heard one person once say, 40:16 "Why do we have to keep mentioning, 40:18 praying over and over? 40:20 God already knows what we need." 40:23 What kind of prayer did they have? 40:24 Importunate prayer. Uh, say that word. 40:26 Importunate prayer. 40:28 We learned that and that is not letting go, 40:31 persistent with God, persevering with God. 40:35 Importunate prayer. 40:36 Importunate prayer, we learned that. 40:38 That's not a word we use today, 40:39 but now I'm going to start using it. 40:40 Yeah. 40:42 But when you looked it up, 40:43 it said praying almost to the point of... 40:46 Nagging. 40:48 Yeah. 40:50 It's almost like nagging the Lord. 40:52 And what example, remember the example, the unjust judge. 40:56 Remember the story in the Bible where the widow... 40:58 She's praying and the unjust judge finally breaks down 41:01 and hears her prayer. 41:03 Well, let me make a comparison. 41:05 God is not an unjust judge. No, no. 41:07 When we wondered why do we have to pray in an importunate way. 41:11 What we discovered is importunate prayer 41:14 brings us to the point where we start changing. 41:18 Our first prayer may have been, 41:20 "Lord, I really need a job in Jesus' name. 41:24 Lord, I really need a job." 41:28 Third prayer, "Father in heaven, 41:29 tell me what I'm doing wrong that I'm not getting this job." 41:32 Fourth prayer, "Lord, is this the job 41:34 that I'm really knocking against the wall 41:36 that You don't want me to have." 41:38 Fifth prayer, "Father, lead me to some place else." 41:40 I mean, we're changing because we are saying, "Lord, help me. 41:44 Speak to me." 41:46 And you don't have to have a prayer warrior. 41:47 Do you have with you, honey? 41:49 Yeah, it says importunate means, 41:51 urgent or persistent in solicitation, 41:56 sometimes annoyingly so. 41:58 Annoyingly. Wow! 42:00 So for those of you may listen to this program 42:01 and watch the program, somebody might say, 42:03 "Well, my prayer hadn't been answered." 42:04 "When did you pray?" "I prayed last week." 42:06 Yeah. 42:07 How many times did you pray? 42:09 Let's repeat together. 42:10 Ask and it shall be... Given. 42:12 Seek and you will... Find. 42:14 Knock and the door will be... Opened. 42:15 That's importunate. 42:17 Don't just ask but seek in... 42:19 Don't let go of the arm of God. 42:21 Seek and you'll find. 42:23 But you can't let go of the arm of God, right? 42:25 Too soon. Too soon. 42:27 You remember that devotion? Yes. 42:29 We had this devotion that blew us away. 42:31 Yeah. 42:33 Which said, the reason why God hadn't blessed them, 42:35 they let go of the arm of the Lord too soon. 42:39 You know what, it reminds me 42:40 of the upper room experience with the disciples, 42:43 how long were they're there praying and praying 42:45 and they prayed and they said, "Lord," 42:47 and it wasn't until they were in what, unison. 42:50 It wasn't until, 42:51 and sometimes that's what happens in our lives. 42:55 We were so accustomed to asking God 42:58 for things that we constantly, that's all we do. 43:01 All day long, "God, please. God, please." 43:03 But we truly do not get to the point 43:06 in which we understand what our prayer truly means. 43:10 And God has to dig down to the point 43:14 where we truly understand, "Okay, yes. 43:16 You have already prayed. 43:18 Yes, I understand that... your need. 43:21 Yes, now I understand there's desperation." 43:23 And then, "Yes, now I know you surrendered yourself." 43:27 And it's not until you fully surrender yourself 43:31 that God can answer the prayer you're asking for. 43:32 There you go. Perfect. 43:34 You know, the Lord just gave me an illustration 43:37 I've never used before, so you know this is true. 43:40 Where do you find diamonds? 43:42 Are they on the surface? No. 43:43 Deep down. 43:44 Where do you find them? 43:46 Bottom, bottom of the ocean. 43:48 And where else? Under the mountains. 43:50 Under the mountains. 43:52 You had do to what? You got to dig. 43:54 You got to dig deep. 43:56 Sometimes, we might be saying, 43:57 "Lord, bring out the beauty in my life." 44:00 And he say, "I am, 44:01 but there's so much coal and rust I got to get through. 44:04 Give me sometime." 44:06 And there're some of us in situations 44:07 where the Lord is breaking off all the hard surface, 44:11 dig away the dirt, breaking through the coal, 44:13 is this is it yet? 44:14 No, I'm not there yet. 44:16 And he's trying to refine us so that one day, 44:17 our glory will be seen for His glory. 44:20 Amen. Exactly. 44:21 And so, yes. 44:22 I feel that a lot of times, 44:24 we just concentrate in one aspect of prayer. 44:28 Ask, ask, ask, ask. 44:30 But in the other side, 44:32 there has to be somebody we're asking for. 44:35 So we don't always have to be the one praying, 44:38 there could be other people praying for us. 44:41 So there needs to be two sides where we can always be asking, 44:45 "Pray for me, pray for me, pray for me." 44:47 I also need to go and pray for others, 44:50 and intercede for other. 44:52 So it goes both ways. 44:54 In order for my spiritual life to grow. 44:58 Yes. 44:59 Wow. 45:00 Katrina, there's a Job 16:21. 45:03 It's on our syllabus under number four, 45:05 you can go there or you can turn to the text. 45:07 You let right into it, 45:09 that's why I jumped over the next reference 45:10 because you led into it so wonderful, Sister Xenia, there. 45:13 This is an amazing text. 45:14 Look at Job 16:21. 45:17 How the Lord brings that very point out, what it means to. 45:21 Just stop praying for ourselves but look at what it says. 45:23 It says, "Oh, that one might plead for a man with God, 45:26 as a man pleads for his neighbor!" 45:29 Wow! 45:30 So all that one might plead for a man with God. 45:37 Have you ever done that for somebody? 45:38 Yes. 45:40 We have been praying that prayer, 45:43 it's give me souls or I die. 45:48 Wow. 45:49 It's a quote. That's right. 45:51 It is a quote, but it's a heartfelt quote 45:53 that many missionaries and many people 45:56 on the battlefield I pray for. 45:57 Some have even modified that, 45:59 "Lord, give me this city or I die." 46:02 And... 46:03 Like you told the story, during the week of prayer of the man, 46:07 somebody prayed for the people in the phonebook. 46:09 Oh, what an illustration. 46:11 We heard that stories, it's a powerful testimony. 46:12 Yes, this is true story. 46:14 Where one lady thought, when they were talking about 46:16 all the gifts in church, one lady said, 46:18 "Pastor, I don't have any gifts." 46:20 He said, "Everyone has a gift." 46:22 He said, "Can you pray?" 46:24 "I can pray." 46:26 Lord challenged her to open the phonebook 46:28 and she prayed for 100 people. 46:30 She kept praying for them for years. 46:32 I think about three or four years later, 46:34 there was a baptism, a big evangelistic series held, 46:37 and 99... 46:38 She went to this here and she heard these names and thought, 46:41 "Where have I heard these names before?" 46:43 These are the people she was praying for every day. 46:45 And when she found out 99 out of 100 of them were baptized. 46:51 And all she did was intercede for them everyday. 46:54 And this is not an illustration, 46:55 this is an actual event. 46:56 And so we have instances like that 46:58 where people would break through... 47:01 the song "Someone is praying for you," 47:04 written by Lanny Wolfe has that very story behind it. 47:08 A lady who is in the mission field, 47:09 who had been through a tremendous tragedy, 47:11 couldn't pray for herself, someone in the United States 47:13 in the upper northeast was praying that same time, 47:16 that same day when she couldn't pray. 47:18 And it was not until they met. 47:20 And she shared the story at a big church that she said, 47:23 "What time of day was it?" 47:25 She said, "I woke up at 2:30 in the morning 47:26 and pray for you." 47:28 And then he wrote the song, "Someone is praying for you." 47:31 Another example I want to bring out is... 47:34 Wow! Let's go to number six. 47:38 Let's go to number six. 47:40 This is a very interesting one. 47:42 And we're going to look at Lamentations 2:19. 47:46 And, honey, would you read that one for us? 47:47 Sure. Lamentations 2:19. 47:50 "Arise, cry out in the night..." 47:54 Wow. 47:55 "At the beginning of the watches, 47:58 Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. 48:04 Lift your hands toward Him 48:08 for the life of your young children, 48:11 who faint from hunger at the head of every street." 48:16 What kind of prayer is this? 48:19 Isn't that a moving text? Yeah. 48:21 I must confess, I have read the Bible, 48:24 I've never read that text. 48:26 It's when you begin to research these texts out. 48:28 That's a powerful prayer of a parent. 48:31 You know, sometimes we think that 48:32 prayer need to be this elaborate conversation 48:35 and I'm thinking about Hacksaw Ridge 48:37 that one day that he saved all those people. 48:40 His prayer was simple, "Lord, one more. 48:42 Lord, one more." 48:43 That's all he would say. 48:45 He didn't say anything else but, "Lord, give me one more." 48:48 Sometimes our prayers, they don't need to be... 48:52 you don't need to spend hours upon hours, 48:54 you can just say the simple prayer of one word, "Help". 49:00 You know, and those are the part 49:01 that individuals don't understand. 49:04 When you don't know what to pray, 49:07 use the simplest prayer, "Help". 49:11 And that, those are, sometimes, it's a most powerful word 49:15 that you can come to the Lord with. 49:17 Lord, help us. 49:18 Help me. Lord, help me. 49:20 What did Peter prayed? 49:22 Lord, save me. Lord, save me. 49:23 Save me. Wow, wow! 49:24 I also like the fact that... 49:26 I think Ellen White wrote, she said that, 49:27 "prayer is not us bringing God down to us, 49:30 but us being lifted up. 49:32 Amen. 49:33 But I don't want to get past this scripture 49:34 because it specifically mentioned, 49:36 there are those of you praying for your children. 49:38 Yes. 49:39 Your children, how many parents or family members 49:42 watching this program are saying... 49:44 And notice how this text is so... 49:48 this text illustrates a person who is in there with God. 49:53 Arise, cry out in the night, 49:56 at the beginning of the watches. 49:58 You know, in the Hebrew time, 50:00 they were eight watches to the day. 50:01 Each watch was three hours long. 50:04 In the New Testament there were four watches. 50:07 Each one was six hours long. Six fours are twenty four. 50:10 And so when Jesus is crucified, he was at the second watch. 50:13 The first watch of the day was 6:00 am. 50:16 Second watch was at noon. Third watch was at 6:00 pm. 50:19 Fourth watch was at midnight. 50:20 And so here in the Old Testament, 50:22 at the beginning of the watches, 50:24 so when it was beginning, become dark at night. 50:27 It says, "Arise, pour your heart out like water 50:30 before the face of the God. 50:31 Lift up your hands toward Him for the life of your children, 50:33 Lord, please save my children 50:36 who faint from hunger at the head of every street." 50:38 There's a song that you sing about that, it's called, 50:41 "Just be there. 50:42 Cradle in my arms, I held you," in so many funerals, parents... 50:48 Well, many parents say they want that song sung 50:51 at their funeral, because they know 50:53 that their children will be at their funeral. 50:57 Talking about how a parent raise that child, 51:00 cradle in my arms, I held you, 51:02 I loved you with each moment passing by, 51:04 sharing joy, pain. 51:06 I can't believe it's time to say good bye. 51:09 I'm not a parent, but I have friends who are parents 51:12 and I know that, you know, 51:15 sometimes they may get discouraged in their duties, 51:20 but their job, the job of a parent, 51:23 the job of a mother is more important than evangelist, 51:30 public evangelist. 51:31 Yes. 51:33 Pastor. A preacher, pastor, yes. 51:35 Ellen White said that. 51:37 You know, on Fridays, Donald and his family, 51:42 we get together and we're studying the Great Controversy. 51:45 And this past Friday, Donald was talking to us 51:48 about God waking him up at 51:49 around 3 o'clock in the morning. 51:51 Donald, can you share with us, what you shared with us? 51:53 You like me to, okay. 51:55 Yeah, 3 o'clock, he seems to do that sometimes. 51:57 3 o'clock in the morning, 51:58 he showed me a vision of Martin Luther 52:01 which is a 500 year of the Reformation this year. 52:04 But he shared with me, Martin Luther 52:05 tacking the 95 theses on the door in Wittenburg. 52:09 He said, "Now I tack something far greater on a tree. 52:12 And it was my son." Wow. 52:14 It was the declaration of My love to the world. 52:17 It's a declaration as, you know, 52:18 the declaration of what Martin Luther did on the door. 52:21 But something far greater was tacked to tree 52:23 and that was Jesus Christ and that's we can pray too. 52:26 You know, it's obviously, 1 John 2:1, says 52:29 we have Jesus who is the advocate so, 52:31 and the Lord just gave it to me at three in the morning. 52:33 Wow. What a wonderful illustration. 52:34 Wakes me up that time... 52:36 So really you look at this verse, and it says, 52:37 "Arise, cry out in the night." 52:40 And a lot of times that's when God wakes us up 52:42 to be able to let us know sudden, you know, 52:45 those are the moments when it's so quiet. 52:47 There's such a solitude and that's the part of time 52:50 when God can really get to the bottom of our heart 52:53 and change us. 52:55 Speak, Xenia. 52:56 Yeah, in the book of Child Guidance, it says, 53:00 "There is great strength and blessing 53:03 in praying together in our families 53:06 with and for our children." 53:08 With and for our children. 53:10 So that is one of our duties to pray for our children, 53:15 and I remember that when my child was young, 53:19 one of the mothers of the church 53:22 came to me and said to me, 53:25 "Your ministry right now as a mother is your child. 53:31 It's your duty to pray for her. 53:35 And, you know, it's not to be out there with everyone else 53:39 but to be at the home with the kids. 53:41 "Train up the child in the way they should go." 53:44 Boy, you know, I'm just... 53:45 this isn't double program 53:47 but I want to go to point number five on here 53:48 because this is very important one. 53:50 Isaiah 59:1 and Isaiah 59:16. 53:54 The reason why this is really important is because 53:57 sometimes we want the Lord to do something, 53:59 but he says, "But I want you to do something." 54:02 Now I haven't hear you read one in a little while. 54:04 So read this for us, Luis, verse 1 and then verse 16. 54:08 Okay, so Isaiah 59:1. 54:10 It says, "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, 54:14 that it cannot save, nor His ear heavy, 54:17 that it cannot hear." 54:19 Okay, so he said, "Is there anything He can't do? 54:21 Is His arms too short? 54:23 Is His ears heavy?" 54:24 No, there's no problem with Him. 54:25 But what is the issue, look at verse 16. 54:27 Verse 16, "He saw that there was no man, 54:32 and wondered that there was no intercessor. 54:36 Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him, 54:41 and His own righteousness, it sustained Him." 54:45 Now this is a powerful prophecy. 54:47 At the most trying time of the life of Christ, 54:51 no one was interceding for Him. 54:54 And He says, "There's no intercessor." 54:58 Now we know in the story, His father was there 55:00 enshrouded in the darkness of that day of crucifixion. 55:03 But the thing that startled me was in all of it, 55:06 we have just a few minutes here to talk about this 55:08 but what's the greatest thing that God has calling us to do 55:11 is intercede Him behalf of our family. 55:13 Oh, you have a big family. 55:15 And I do intercede. 55:17 We pray, we pray. 55:19 By name. You have a big family. 55:21 Pray for them, how? By name. 55:23 You have a family. 55:25 Pray for them by name. By name. 55:27 But here it is. 55:28 God wondered that there was no intercessors, 55:30 so instead of just saying, "Pray today," in our program, 55:33 we're saying, "Become an intercessor." 55:36 Intercessory prayer at a time when the world, 55:40 and the church, and the pastors, 55:42 and the leaders, and our community, 55:44 and our new administration in the White House, 55:47 we all need to be people that are 55:50 between the person in this gap and the person in that gap. 55:54 Stand in the middle. 55:56 You know, pastor when Jesus needed His friends most, 56:00 His disciples were scattered, you know, and we are saying, 56:05 "God is asking us, 'You need to pray,"' 56:07 but when Jesus needed it the most, 56:11 all of the individuals in Him, He had bestowed so much love 56:16 were all looking backwards, 56:18 were all looking away from Christ. 56:19 Yes. 56:21 And this is what so beautiful about this type of prayer that 56:23 when we're praying for someone else, 56:25 we're no longer focusing on our selves, 56:28 we're focusing on God and His mighty power. 56:31 Yes. Wow. 56:33 And I want to hit this one real quickly before we all are done, 56:35 because we didn't mention Jesus as an intercessor yet. 56:39 I left it for the end of the program. 56:42 It's not on the syllabus, 56:43 so if you turn very quickly to Luke 22, 56:46 and Jesus is speaking on our behalf and listen to this. 56:50 He said to Peter, Luke 22:31, 56:53 "And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon! 56:54 Indeed, Satan has asked for you, 56:57 that he may sift you as wheat. 56:59 But I have prayed for you, 57:00 that your faith should not fail, 57:01 and when you have returned," or when you have converted, 57:04 "Strengthen the brethren." 57:06 You know, today, if can leave a message with you, 57:08 there are many people that need Jesus 57:09 that are not yet converted. 57:11 And you must know that Christ is praying in your behalf. 57:15 Amen. Amen. 57:16 And He's calling us to pray on somebody else's behalf. 57:20 Xenia, Luis, Donald, Katrina, Angie, 57:24 we are all committing ourselves to praying for someone 57:27 and we are praying for you. 57:29 Pray for us until we see you again. 57:32 Amen. |
Revised 2017-02-24