Participants:
Series Code: TDYL
Program Code: TDYL210029A
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00:01 As you're well aware,
00:02 we're living in unprecedented times. 00:05 Join us now for Today special program. 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:17 Mending broken people 00:22 I want to spend my life 00:28 Removing pain 00:33 Lord, let my words 00:39 Heal a heart that hurts 00:44 I want to spend my life 00:49 Mending broken people 00:54 I want to spend my life 01:00 Mending broken people 01:14 Hello, and welcome to 3ABN Today Live. 01:17 We're so glad that you joined us this evening. 01:19 You know, we look forward to spending these two hours 01:21 with you each Thursday evening. 01:23 Why is that? 01:25 Well, it's obvious, you're part of our family. 01:26 So we're so glad that you joined us this evening. 01:28 Yay. Yay is right. Absolutely. 01:31 Maybe you're listening on radio, 01:32 wherever you're listening or watching from, 01:34 from around the world, welcome to tonight's program. 01:37 And we know that you are going to be encouraged. Why? 01:41 Because we're lifting up the Lord Jesus Christ. 01:43 We're going to be talking about prayer. 01:45 We're going to be asking for your prayer requests. 01:47 We're going to be praying over them this evening. 01:49 You know, there's so much that's going on in the world. 01:52 We were just commenting as we were watching 01:54 the open just before we went live here. 01:56 And it's plain 01:58 and showing pictures of like the COVID pandemic, 02:00 and we created that open, 02:02 like a year and a half or so ago. 02:04 And we thought, well, COVID may only last month or two. 02:07 And here we are, all those months later, 02:09 still playing that open because we know that COVID 02:12 unfortunately is still alive and well. 02:15 Jill and I were at a funeral just this past weekend 02:18 for someone that passed away from COVID. 02:20 My mother today sent me a picture there at a funeral. 02:24 Today, we know 02:25 there's a lot of sickness, sadness, 02:26 we know there's wars and rumors of wars. 02:29 We know there's a lot of tragedies, earthquake, 02:31 and fire and flood, so much going on. 02:34 We know, we don't have to worry because 02:36 we know there are storms in this life. 02:38 But God is the one that sees us through the storm. 02:41 So praise the Lord, that we have Him on our side. 02:43 But thank you for your prayers 02:45 and financial support for the Ministry of 3ABN 02:47 because we're able to proclaim 02:49 in the midst of the pandemic, still the gospel is going out. 02:52 So we praise the Lord for technology, don't we? 02:54 We do. 02:56 And we praise the Lord for our guests 02:57 that are with us this evening. 02:58 Amen. 03:00 I was just thinking of Jeremiah 33 03:01 Yes, oh, the scripture... 03:03 "The Word of God just has called me 03:04 and I will answer you and show you great 03:06 and mighty things which you do not know." 03:08 So tonight, if you want to see great and mighty things, 03:11 if you want to see God working in the lives 03:14 of not just the people here, but how God works all over 03:17 the world and how God can work in your life. 03:19 How God can answer prayers 03:21 and how you can reach out to Him. 03:24 Tonight is for you. You're right. 03:26 It's our family here tonight, 03:28 and we're so blessed to introduce them. 03:30 I want to introduce first my brother Gem Castor. 03:33 And Gem is, I got to get this right, 03:35 Prayer Ministries Coordinator for ASAP Ministries, 03:38 but we just... 03:40 We've known you for several years. 03:41 We love your heart, we love your spirit 03:44 of servanthood and prayer. 03:46 And just thank you for coming tonight. 03:48 Thank God. It's all because of Jesus. 03:50 Amen. Amen. 03:53 Why does prayer mean something special to you? 03:55 A prayer saved my life. 03:57 If not for prayer, I would not be here right now, 03:59 I would not be in a ministry 04:00 that somehow gives me so much joy. 04:02 Wow. 04:03 I would not have known Jesus, I would not have been drawn 04:05 so close to Him at the time that I thought that life 04:09 is over, ministry is over. 04:10 So God has been so good. 04:12 So we're going to hear a little bit of that story 04:13 a little bit later on, aren't we? 04:14 Amen. Looking forward to it. 04:16 Sitting next to you is my sister, 04:17 Melody Mason, just love you, sis. 04:19 So grateful for what God is doing in and through you. 04:23 She's an author, she's a speaker, 04:25 and she's an incredible woman of God. 04:27 You work as the united in prayer coordinator 04:30 at the General Conference for Seventh-day Adventist, 04:32 but you're just a woman of God and thanks for being here. 04:34 Amen. 04:35 It's a pleasure to be back with you again. 04:37 Amen. 04:38 I'm gonna ask you the question 04:40 as to why prayer means something special to you? 04:42 A prayer has totally changed my whole relationship with God, 04:45 taken into such a deeper level that I didn't imagine 04:49 was possible in earlier years 04:51 and it's still a growing process. 04:52 So I just praise the Lord. Amen. 04:54 Yes. Amen. 04:55 Praise God. 04:57 Last but not least at the end of the table here, 04:59 we have our brother, Pastor Jonathan Walter, 05:01 and of course you're a pastor. 05:03 But you're pastors' pastor, you could say, 05:05 Communications Manager for the Ministerial Association 05:09 of Seventh-day Adventist. 05:10 And we're just so glad to have you here. 05:12 Thank you so much for having me. 05:14 So I'm gonna ask you the question. 05:15 I saw it coming. 05:17 You know, to continue the trend, right? 05:19 So why does prayer mean something special to you? 05:20 I mean Gem and Melody kind of took all the good answers. 05:22 But I agree with them, of course, but then also, 05:25 I have to say that prayer 05:27 is really the breath of the soul. 05:29 It is where we experience life with God, revival. 05:33 I heard one person once say, we pray our way to heaven. 05:36 And what they meant by 05:38 that is that our journey with Jesus, 05:40 yes, we have the Word of God, 05:41 and we get nourishment from that. 05:43 But through prayer, 05:44 we are enriched in that connection, 05:46 that relationship with Jesus really comes alive 05:49 as the Word of God and prayer connects us in that way. 05:52 So to me that had, that really has become a reality 05:54 over the last 10 years 05:56 and I'm just so thankful to the Lord. 05:57 Amen. 05:58 You know, the thing that I noticed about all three 06:00 of our family members this evening is they all seem 06:02 so happy, don't they? 06:03 They're so joyous, you know what? 06:05 I think it's the love of Jesus coming through them. 06:06 So you know, this evening, I don't know where you are, 06:09 and what's happening in your life. 06:10 But we know that God 06:11 has sent you to tune in this evening, 06:13 because there's something special for you here talking 06:16 about prayer, because all of us can be involved in prayer. 06:18 We've put a little blast ahead of this program, right? 06:21 Like an email blast, we call it. 06:23 And we already received a comment in and it's actually 06:25 kind of sad, may I say, may I say. 06:28 Where they're saying that they don't even know 06:30 if their prayers being answered, 06:32 and like, they pray 06:33 and pray and it's like, 06:34 didn't even hear an answer from God. 06:36 But we know that God hears. 06:37 We're gonna provide answers from the Word 06:39 of God this evening. 06:40 And I just want to remind you too, 06:42 this is a live program, 06:43 we want to take your prayer requests, 06:45 so you can text us right now with the burdens on your heart, 06:48 whatever's on your heart, 06:50 whatever you want us to pray over here, 06:52 and we commit to pray over them 06:53 next week in our pastoral department as well. 06:56 So just text us right now, (618) 228-3975. 07:02 That number again is (618) 228-3975. 07:07 Or perhaps you live overseas, 07:10 and you can't text to that number. 07:11 So you can always email us, that is Live@3abn.tv 07:17 That email address again 07:18 is live Live@3abn.tv 07:23 So my first kickoff question here 07:25 is I know you all are involved in different ministries, 07:28 it's all involved in prayer, but all different ministries. 07:31 So what are all these ministries have in common? 07:36 Well... 07:39 Go ahead. 07:40 I was just gonna say we've all been part 07:41 of working with the revival and reformation 07:44 initiatives in some aspect, of course. 07:49 Yeah, many different ways, 07:51 but we all work together with that 07:52 and that's what kind of draws us together. 07:54 What is the revival and reformation initiative? 07:56 Yeah, the revival and reformation initiative 07:58 is basically to help people personally learn 08:01 how to have a walk with God 08:02 and go deeper in their walk with God through prayer, 08:04 through study of His Word, 08:06 and through witnessing and outreach. 08:08 And it's like, when you taste something really good, 08:12 you could not keep it to yourself. 08:14 You want to share it. 08:15 So and that's, that's my first experience in, 08:18 in a revival as well, in my encounter 08:20 with Jesus in the prayer room. 08:22 The moment that hit me, I could not stay in my seat. 08:26 It's just like, 08:27 I want everyone in this meeting that I'm here right now, 08:31 to experience to go to the prayer room. 08:33 I was even tempted to put my hand like in the door, 08:36 like no one passes this door 08:39 until they go to the prayer room. 08:40 So it's just that joy that you experience 08:44 because you don't want to see your brothers and sisters 08:47 miss out on that experience. 08:50 You know, I noticed in life, as a Christian, 08:53 when we work for God, 08:55 we tend to bump into the same people here 08:57 and there whenever you do something for the Lord, 08:58 especially in this globalized world. 09:00 So I've bumped into Gem, Melody over the years, 09:03 even before we were officially kind 09:05 of working together in a different ways. 09:07 And God does that I think on purpose. 09:10 He wants to connect people. 09:12 And He had a plan to connect us through this topic 09:16 of prayer before we even, long before we knew it, 09:19 very long before we knew, in fact. 09:20 And it's always amazing to look back and to see, 09:23 okay, God has, you know, He has this master plan, 09:27 with which He goes forward and says, 09:30 "I'm gonna connect people because I want them to do 09:32 something special for me." 09:34 I want them to in our case, this was prayer ministries. 09:38 And it's amazing when you walk with the Lord, 09:41 He connects you in wonderful ways 09:43 with people that you would have never met otherwise. 09:46 Amen. Praise the Lord. 09:47 So if you want to learn more about prayer, 09:50 if you want a deeper prayer life, 09:52 this program is for you. 09:53 If you want to hear testimonies of stories 09:56 of changed lives, this program is for you. 10:00 If you want to learn how you can 10:01 become involved in prayer 10:03 ministry from your own home, this program is for you. 10:07 I'm excited about what we're gonna hear. 10:09 I'm excited about their walk with God. 10:11 And what we're going to learn tonight, 10:13 but first we have some music. 10:15 We do, a wonderful song that's done by Stephanie Dawn 10:18 and the title of the song is, "O Glorious Love." 10:40 In my darkness 10:44 Jesus found me 10:49 Touched my eyes 10:52 And made me see 10:57 Broke sin chains that long 11:02 Had bound me 11:06 Gave me life 11:09 And liberty 11:14 O glorious love of Christ my Lord, 11:19 Divine Who gave 11:23 Himself to save a soul like mine 11:30 Through all my days 11:32 And then in heaven above 11:38 My soul will silence never 11:43 I'll worship Him forever 11:47 And praise Him for His glorious love 12:00 Oh, amazing truth 12:04 To ponder 12:08 He whom Angel host 12:12 Attend 12:17 Lord in Heaven 12:19 Got somewhat wonder 12:24 He became 12:27 The sinner's friend 12:32 O glorious love of Christ 12:35 My Lord, Divine 12:39 Who gave Himself 12:41 To save a soul like mine 12:47 Through all my days 12:49 And then in heaven above 12:55 My soul will silence never 12:59 I'll worship Him forever 13:03 And praise Him 13:05 For His glorious love 13:12 And praise Him 13:15 For His glorious love 13:29 Amen. 13:30 Thank you so much, Stephanie and, of course, 13:32 Dann Thornton for playing the piano. 13:33 What a tremendous message and song, "O Glorious Love." 13:38 We think about the love of Jesus Christ is phenomenal. 13:40 And so thank you again for joining us tonight. 13:42 Tonight's a live program like Jill mentioned earlier, 13:45 it's on prayer. 13:47 But if you want to send your prayer request this evening, 13:49 we're asking you to text us. 13:51 The call center is closed tonight, 13:52 but you can text us and that number 13:54 is (618) 228-3975. 13:57 Or you can email us at Live@3abn.tv 14:00 with your prayer request as well 14:01 and we'll stop several times throughout the program 14:03 and have a prayer over your prayer requests. 14:06 What a blessing, you know, we have no power in ourselves, 14:08 the Lord Jesus Christ, 14:09 who we're relying on this evening, 14:11 and He's the one that has all of the answers. 14:14 You know, Melody, I think I'm going to go with you first, 14:16 ladies first. 14:17 So tell us your journey in prayer? 14:21 Well, excuse me... 14:23 And I know you've had a lot of circumstances 14:25 and things and challenges, struggles here recently too, 14:27 in your family and stuff too. 14:28 So tell us about that whole journey? 14:30 Yeah. So God, God has really, really done amazing things. 14:33 He's calling each of us to a deeper closer 14:37 walk with Him and I grew up 14:39 obviously in a wonderful loving Christian home 14:44 and parents that believed in the power of prayer. 14:46 And so I'm very, very grateful for that. 14:48 But I did feel in my younger years, 14:50 especially the challenges like the struggles in the church 14:56 and the reality and it was kind of 14:59 like we're living in lukewarm Laodicea, 15:01 we're living in wilderness Christianity basically. 15:03 And so God began really pressing on my heart like 15:06 I have something more, 15:07 I'm longing for something more for you. 15:09 And He opened my eyes to that through 15:13 a series of challenges and circumstances. 15:15 And I just began crying out more for Him 15:17 and opening my Bible and reading the Word. 15:19 And I'm like, Lord, you say in Your Word this 15:21 and how does that, how does that look today 15:23 and how does that look in my life. 15:25 And, so God was pressing me deeper in my personal journey. 15:29 And as He was doing that, He began to take me across 15:31 the path of people who were mentoring me, 15:35 Jerry and Janet Page were some of those. 15:36 I met them years ago before they became my boss 15:41 and supervisors at the GC. 15:43 I actually met them back in Central California 15:45 when he was the conference president. 15:47 Yeah. 15:48 And she was working, you know, 15:50 with the prayer ministries, and I was, 15:53 I was going to a young adult group 15:54 called Advent Hope. 15:55 They're in Loma Linda, 15:57 and was getting involved in prayer ministry, 15:59 but didn't really know what I was doing 16:00 and so they started mentoring me. 16:02 And I remember, first early experience 16:05 is just feeling like what you know, 16:06 we want to see God work more, and my roommate 16:08 and I would actually go out to the steps 16:11 of Burden Hall at the time was where they had the Advent Hope 16:14 meetings, you know, like, at 4 o'clock in the morning, 16:16 and just pray for the church 16:18 and pray for the people that were coming. 16:19 And I say that to say, 16:22 you know, as God continued leading me in my own 16:25 personal walk, and, 16:27 you know, kind of fast forward a few years 16:29 and ended up with the GC and with prayer ministries, 16:32 and He's really impressing me, 16:34 we need to be praying and lifting up the arms 16:36 of our leaders in our church even more. 16:38 You know, in Exodus 17:12, we see the Battle of Israel, 16:43 and Joshua was down in the valley, 16:45 you know, fighting the battle, and Moses is up on 16:48 the mountain and praying, but his arms are heavy, 16:51 and he can't hold up his arms. 16:52 And so Aaron and Hur come along and hold up his arms. 16:55 And I see them in supportive prayer ministry. 16:59 And as they're doing that, of course, his role is, 17:01 is winning, and we see victory. 17:03 And so God's just 17:05 really impressed me that we need to see a deeper work, 17:08 a deeper revival and reformation in our church. 17:10 And while He's been impressing all of that, you know, 17:14 like I said, I met Jerry and Janet 17:15 and God led them to the GC, 17:18 the same time Elder Wilson became the General Conference 17:20 President back in 2010. 17:23 And they all believe in the power of prayer, 17:24 and that's why they invited us to come and contribute. 17:29 And so ended up coming with a prayer team to the GC, 17:32 and I remember, 17:34 you know, coming and thinking, why are they having us? 17:36 You know, we're just kids, what are we doing here? 17:38 These are church leaders, they know, what are they... 17:40 And I just recognize, we all need more prayer, 17:43 and they need their arms to be upheld, 17:45 because we're all fighting various, very, 17:48 you know, strong spiritual battles. 17:49 And so we went to the GC 17:51 and started lifting them up in prayer. 17:53 And that's when we started coming in the morning 17:55 at 3 o'clock in the morning with our prayer teams, 17:57 to just pray for the leaders. 18:00 And just seeing how God's been working. 18:03 I mean, my whole vision of what God is doing around 18:06 the world has broadened, because initially, it was just, 18:09 you know, I'm just in 18:10 my little circle of friends praying. 18:11 And so it's just been an amazing growing experience. 18:14 And I'm still on the journey, obviously, but I just feel like 18:18 He rescued me kind of from the lukewarm Laodicea 18:21 experience and has began to give me a taste 18:24 of the Promised Land and what is possible. 18:26 I'm not saying I've arrived, 18:28 I don't think any of us can say we've arrived. 18:30 We haven't, we're on the journey. 18:31 That's right. 18:32 But He's given us a taste of the amazing God that He is, 18:36 first and foremost that experience with Him, 18:39 but then what He wants to do in our lives 18:40 and in our church. 18:42 And so it's just been, it's been an exciting journey. 18:46 And, of course, that's how Gem 18:48 and I got involved with prayer ministry together. 18:49 And he started joining the team at the GC 18:52 and Jonathan eventually came as well. 18:56 And it's just been an ongoing journey. 18:59 But yeah, just personally, so that gives an overview. 19:05 Personally, the last, a couple years or so 19:07 He's had me more on a personal journey, 19:11 like with COVID 19:12 and everything happened with that. 19:13 Oh, yeah. That's right. 19:15 It's been more behind the scenes, 19:16 and I've had opportunities to do more personal mentoring, 19:19 more personal Bible studies, which I never really had time, 19:22 I mean, leading people in personal Bible studies 19:25 that I just never really had time for, 19:27 because I was traveling and I was so busy going here 19:29 and there and doing all these different things. 19:31 And it's just been so exciting to see God 19:33 working in the personal ways. 19:35 COVID kind of slowed you down. 19:36 It's slowed things down 19:38 and it's just helped me have more time, 19:43 take more time, see the priority for just more 19:47 personal home ministry. 19:49 And it's been so amazing praying, 19:51 you know, we have a Bible study group at home 19:55 where some women are coming and have become good friends, 19:59 and we've been sharing prayer requests 20:00 and seeing how God is working in our lives, 20:03 praying, you know, for relationships 20:05 and praying for family members that we have 20:08 burdens for and seeing how God has been working, 20:11 even in the midst of, 20:12 you know, some real difficulties 20:14 and tragedies and just challenges. 20:17 So it's just been amazing. Yeah. 20:20 So that's kind of an overview of what He's been doing. 20:24 Amen. That's incredible. 20:26 Can I ask this, jumped out as you were talking, 20:28 but I didn't want to interrupt in the middle of that. 20:30 You mentioned 4 o'clock in the morning praying, 20:32 and then you meant at GC at 3 o'clock, right? 20:35 Praying at 3 o'clock in the morning. 20:37 So, first of all, is it hard to do that early in the morning 20:41 and my second question is, 20:43 is there more power early in the morning or why do you 20:45 choose to make that decision to do it early in the morning? 20:49 Well... 20:53 You know, it was just, 20:55 I remember the first year we went to the GC 20:57 and we started doing this. 20:59 And it was just such an honor and thrilling. 21:02 I mean, like, we were there weeping. 21:05 And just like, Lord, we don't know what we're doing. 21:08 We're just Your children, 21:09 but we're just at the feet here, 21:11 just at Your feet, just pleading that You 21:13 would do a deeper work in our lives 21:16 and a deeper work in the church. 21:17 And so it was just, it really was a joy 21:21 and He gave strength. 21:22 I mean, there were, 21:24 there's testimonies I could share. 21:25 I don't want to go on this too long. 21:28 I've shared the story before here at 3ABN but, 21:31 just how we saw 21:32 God's miraculous sustaining power, 21:34 even though we're doing this day after day after day 21:36 is like for 21 days, and seeing His sustenance. 21:40 But not just that, the miracles, 21:43 how He's changing lives, 21:44 and we saw things happening in different GC departments 21:47 and many different things. 21:50 It's just, yeah. 21:51 You know, if I can just interject real quick, 21:53 I think there's not necessarily more power in getting 21:56 early, up early. 21:57 It's not a thing, you know, like a monk 21:59 and then sacrifice my sleep now, 22:01 and then God's gonna hear me. 22:02 No, no, it's more about taking time. 22:04 Because let's be real, you can say, 22:06 you know, okay, I'm going to pray in the morning. 22:08 But if you get up at three, you have a couple of hours 22:12 that you can spend in prayer, and... 22:14 Undistracted. 22:15 Undistracted, I was just going to get to that. 22:17 So there is no light outside, 22:18 you know, you can't look outside 22:20 and see the birds and the things flying around, 22:21 and the neighbors and whatever, 22:23 you have time to really focus. 22:25 And that's why I think there is power in getting up earlier 22:27 and spending the time, the quiet time with God 22:30 and in intercession and prayer because there's no distraction 22:33 you have and you make extra time for it. 22:35 And God does sustain. That's the beauty of it. 22:38 So I think it's just a very practical reason to do it. 22:41 Amen. 22:42 And when you look at it as well, 22:43 in Mark, Jesus gave us an example. 22:46 While, great while before dawn, He woke up and He prayed, 22:50 He interceded, and that was His daily routine. 22:54 And we have seen the blessing. 22:56 Did we want to do it? No. 22:59 It is a struggle. 23:01 But we know that we needed it. 23:03 And this is one thing that I realized 23:04 it's not that we are a blessing to the church, 23:06 but it blesses us even more. 23:08 Yes. It just gives us so much joy. 23:11 And the joy that you see in our faces, 23:14 we could not own it if it's not for Jesus, 23:17 if it's not for the time that we have spent with Him. 23:19 That will not be there. Gem will not be happy Gem. 23:23 You know, that's interesting what you mentioned, actually, 23:25 you know, because we tend to pray for other people, 23:26 pray for different situations. 23:29 But you said it's for yourself, too. 23:31 Yes. Right? 23:32 That's powerful. Blessings for me. 23:34 Yeah, the blessing is for you, too. 23:35 And you recognize it. Why is it? 23:37 Why does that happen? Yeah. 23:38 And this is one thing as well, 23:39 Greg, because you do not even think 23:41 about that while you're praying because your attention 23:43 is just for God. 23:45 It's just for people. 23:46 And this is, this is the mindset of heaven. 23:48 This is the principle of heaven, 23:49 principle of heaven is give, give, give. 23:52 It's a self-sacrifice. 23:53 And while doing it, you get the benefit. 23:56 And you're not even thinking about the benefit 23:58 while doing it, but it just comes. 24:00 Here's, youknow, the blessing that takes place in prayer 24:03 is you are literally surrounding yourself 24:06 with God's presence. 24:07 You are voluntarily agreeing, 24:10 God come into my life right now, be here, 24:12 Your Holy Spirit, be here, the angels surround me. 24:15 You are in this great controversy 24:17 that is very real. 24:18 Satan has no access to your life 24:20 when you are in prayer. 24:21 And so the more you spend time in prayer, 24:24 the more heavenly it becomes around you. 24:26 And it's not necessarily always conscious and so on, 24:28 but you get this joy because Jesus is there. 24:32 But I got to say, you know, for those who are struggling 24:34 out there, you know, getting into those things. 24:37 The devil is trying to stop us from praying. 24:40 He's trying to steal our time. 24:41 He is trying to just take 24:44 away that experience 24:45 because he knows there's power in it. 24:47 And so, I want to encourage those who are struggling, 24:50 make a commitment and ask God to wake you up. 24:54 Ask God to give you that strength 24:56 and it might take you a couple of attempts. 24:57 I understand human nature. 24:59 We all like that alarm clock in... 25:01 Just hitting the snooze button. 25:03 The snooze button, 25:04 you know, but it's time to kill the snooze button. 25:06 Okay. 25:07 It's time to ask God to help us to take that time. 25:09 Because the more time, 25:10 even if it just starts with five minutes, 25:12 grow it, every day minute more, 25:14 then you will get to the point where you will forget time. 25:17 And suddenly three hours went by and you didn't even 25:19 realize it because you spent it with Jesus. 25:21 Wow. 25:22 We want to get to the rest of your stories too. 25:24 But I want to ask this question, 25:25 whoever wants to answer it. 25:26 Why is there power in prayer? Who? 25:30 Go for it, Gem. All of you can go for it. 25:32 Why is there power in prayer? Because God... 25:34 Because God has the power. 25:36 So when you pray, you come into His presence 25:40 and its power. 25:42 And, Jonathan, while he's talking 25:43 about that a while ago about the joy. 25:46 Psalm 16:11 tells us that 25:48 "In His presence it's fullness of joy, 25:50 in His presence is power, in His presence is peace." 25:54 Everything is there in His presence. 25:56 So when you, when you tap into Him, 25:59 then you tap into everything, 26:02 you tap into the power of the whole universe. 26:05 So that's why, that's why the three 26:06 of us are so excited about this ministry. 26:09 Because it's not your power? 26:10 It's not my power. 26:11 And that's the most amazing thing, Greg, 26:13 because the more you spend time with Him, 26:14 the more you see your powerlessness, 26:16 the more you see your nothingness, 26:18 the more you see that you do not deserve 26:19 even to be in this ministry. 26:22 And God is putting you in this ministry 26:23 for your benefit, for your salvation. 26:26 That's powerful. May I just add something here? 26:28 That's excellent. 26:29 You know, maybe someone's watching and thinking, 26:31 oh my, these people with their, with their smiles, 26:34 and they're so happy and all that. 26:37 That can't be real. It's fake. 26:40 And oh, I can't stand. 26:42 I want to tell those people who are watching. 26:44 I've been one of those. 26:45 I've been like one of those people 26:47 who was like annoyed at other happy Christians. 26:50 Because I was like, this can't be real, 26:52 because I wasn't experiencing it. 26:53 And now, I feel like I'm one, 26:55 now I'm one of those happy people. 26:57 I was like, I'm probably annoying 26:58 some people because I'm smiling and happy. 27:00 But the reality 27:01 is, the more time you spend with Jesus, 27:03 the happier you do get. 27:04 Even when there are struggles, you can learn to rejoice in it. 27:07 And I'm not saying that we're perfect 27:09 or anything like this. 27:11 But it is the joy of the Lord. 27:12 And that's why we are pointing to Him. 27:13 It has nothing to do with us. 27:15 Nothing to do with our personalities. 27:16 It is the joy of the Lord that comes from Him. 27:18 Amen. Excellent. 27:20 Amen. 27:21 Can we read just a couple of these? 27:22 Sure. 27:24 They're already coming in with prayer requests. 27:25 Absolutely. This is from Barbados. 27:27 "I need an immediate breakthrough." 27:29 Oh, wow. "So pray for salvation." 27:31 This one says, "Some people that they know 27:35 and love died from COVID recently." 27:38 This one says, "My marriage is struggling." 27:39 This one says, Bronx New York, "I'm dealing with dementia." 27:43 This one says, "God knows my needs." 27:46 This one needs a job here too. 27:49 This one says, "My son will return to God." 27:52 This one says, "Pray for my son 27:55 who is entrenched to New Age experience." 27:58 This one says, "Pray for my children, 28:00 they'll give their hearts to Jesus." 28:02 This one, another one from the Bronx, 28:04 "Pray for mental health restoration. 28:07 Eleven grandchildren, pray for their spiritual walk." 28:10 Yes. Wow. 28:12 Maybe we can stop a moment and just pray, 28:14 especially it looks like a lot of spiritual healing, 28:17 emotional healing deliverance. 28:21 Melody, please? Sure. 28:25 Dear Heavenly Father, 28:26 we just come before You this evening. 28:28 And we just thank You that we're not 28:30 just talking to empty space, 28:31 we're talking to the King of the universe, 28:34 the one who stretched out the heavens by His great power, 28:37 and there's nothing too difficult for Him. 28:40 Lord, we just call upon You right now on behalf 28:43 of these prayer requests that have come in. 28:45 You see the broken hearts, the bleeding hearts, 28:48 those that are in need of healing, 28:50 those that are in need of salvation. 28:53 Lord, You say in Your Word, that You're longsuffering, 28:56 not willing that any should perish that 28:57 all should come to repentance. 28:59 You tell us 29:01 when we are in need to call 29:03 upon You in the day of trouble 29:04 and You will be with us 29:06 and we will glorify You. 29:07 And You just promise that You will sustain, 29:10 You promise that You are the healer. 29:11 And so, Father, we just lift up 29:14 each one of these requests, each one of these burdens 29:17 and the burdens of those listening 29:19 and just plead, Lord, that You would answer 29:22 and that You would work in the way that only You can. 29:25 And thank You, Lord, 29:26 You promise when we call that You will answer. 29:29 You promise when we seek, 29:31 we will find 29:32 and so when we seek we will find and so, 29:35 Lord, we just praise You for hearing 29:37 and answering these prayers this evening. 29:38 We love You, Lord, 29:40 and in Your precious name, amen. 29:41 Amen. Amen, and amen. 29:42 Thank you so much. 29:44 We want to encourage you again this evening to continue 29:45 sending your prayer requests in. 29:47 You'll see the number come up on the bottom of the screen 29:48 right now as you can text at (618) 228-3975 29:52 or email Live@3abn.tv 29:55 and we'd be happy to pray over them this evening. 29:58 And again, we'll take them like Jill said 29:59 the pastoral department here at 3ABN next week 30:01 and continue to pray for them. 30:03 But Brother Gem, coming to you. 30:04 You said earlier in the program that prayer saved your life. 30:08 So tell us about your journey? Okay. 30:10 So as I shared with you earlier, 30:13 like I went to the prayer room, and I did not want to be there. 30:17 But somehow our friend Melissa. 30:20 Melissa is the one who's very passionate, 30:23 and she was promoting, 30:25 promoting prayer in one of the faith camp, 30:27 Jesus for Asia. 30:28 Yeah. 30:30 So that was, I think, the second they did in 30:31 the Philippines. 30:33 And she was giving testimonies 30:34 of people who spent time in the prayer room, 30:36 like three hours, five hours, eight hours, 30:39 and I'm thinking, that's a torture for me. 30:43 Thinking my prayer life is five minutes total per day, 30:46 I'm thinking after five minutes, 30:47 I'm all prayed out. 30:49 So somehow... 30:50 You're talking three hours? Three hours. 30:53 And some people, eight hours, Greg. 30:55 Eight hours. 30:57 Eight hours, they spend like, they just had a break for lunch 30:59 and all that somehow the Lord brought me there. 31:03 She wanted me to be one of the prayer facilitators 31:05 and I'm thinking, this is going to be a torturous 31:08 three days here, that somehow did not know 31:10 that the Lord really wanted me to be there. 31:12 The first three prayers that I uttered by the way, 31:16 during that time, I had this, this anger, 31:20 this hatred in my heart towards some, some people in my life. 31:24 And I, I had not been praying for the past, like, 31:28 five, six months. 31:31 And in just three sentences of prayer, 31:34 I broke down, Jill, and praise God, 31:36 there's just the three of us, my niece Kirsten, 31:39 and then Melissa and I. 31:41 The moment that happened, 31:42 it somehow dawned on me that there's just this wall 31:45 that I have put between me and God. 31:48 And that time in His presence broke that wall down, 31:52 and like Melody's experience, 31:53 it all started with a lot of crying. 31:56 And although I thought that I was, 31:58 I was ready to be in the ministry to serve Him. 32:01 I wanted to be a missionary, but somehow 32:02 the Lord saw my condition said, no, you need to be broken. 32:06 So like when you read that, when you read that, 32:11 that person's experience about praying to God, 32:13 and seemingly, there's no answer. 32:16 That was my experience, Greg. 32:18 That was my experience, Jill. 32:20 I was pointing my finger to God, 32:21 I was even blaming Him like, "Lord, I gave all to You, 32:25 and You did not defend me. 32:26 I did this, I did that." 32:28 And it seems like God was like, putting His hands on His ears. 32:33 And I did not know that God was trying to take my attention, 32:38 because of these things that I did not give Him. 32:42 There are things in my life that somehow blocked me 32:45 from sensing His presence, 32:46 because God's presence is with us. 32:49 Even though we don't sense it, He promised, 32:52 I will never leave you nor forsake you. 32:54 So even though we don't sense it, 32:56 His Word is still more powerful than our emotions. 32:59 That's right. Amen. 33:00 Then what we feel, 33:02 then what we think that we are experiencing that 33:03 we're going through to that moment. 33:05 And this is one amazing thing, 33:08 how the Lord brought my attention 33:10 and then He wanted me to, to unload my burden to Him. 33:15 The moment I confess that to Him, 33:18 the moment I gave that up, and it was not one day, 33:21 it did not happen in that day. 33:24 But that was the somehow the breaking point. 33:28 The moment that happened gradually, 33:30 somehow the Lord taught me and God is so patient, right? 33:32 Just imagine, Jill, 33:34 He is faster than the speed of light. 33:36 And yet, He walked at my own pace. 33:40 Isn't that beautiful? 33:41 He's so patiently walking, 33:43 and then so when that thing happened, 33:45 I said to Lord, "Okay, Lord, what do You want me to do?" 33:48 And then I realized the moment that breakthrough happened, 33:53 the Lord started opening doors. 33:54 The moment I gave Him 33:56 the things that He wanted me to give Him. 33:59 Now, after that, I've led out like prayer sessions 34:04 and in divisions, in schools, and revivals, 34:07 and seeing what the Lord somehow wanted me to do. 34:11 It was, it was mind blowing, Greg. 34:13 Now the joy was just like overflowing 34:16 and I'm thinking, "Lord, I did not know that, 34:18 that in the times of those darkest moments 34:20 and those difficulties, You were trying to, 34:23 to somehow cook something, brew something." 34:28 Anything and I was just too impatient. 34:30 Yeah. 34:31 See, I wanted to see something being done, 34:33 but I did not see it. 34:36 And eventually, 34:38 I got involved with the local GYC 34:41 in the Philippines called PYC. 34:43 And now, as I've experienced at the time in the prayer... 34:47 What year was that? Do you remember? 34:49 That was 2014. Okay. 34:52 In 2014, and our prayer room was quite small attendees. 34:57 So there's like 40 34:59 and then the next year it went up to like 400. 35:02 Wow. 35:03 And now this is one thing that I, 35:05 that I see that my dream 35:07 is being realized, the experience, 35:09 the first experience that I had in the prayer 35:11 now it is being enjoyed by 400 people the next, 35:14 the next year. 35:16 The next year, it was like 600 people. 35:18 And when Melody came, there was just like 800 people 35:21 who are there at five in the morning, 35:26 at five in the morning. 35:27 And Melody thought, 35:28 and this is funny because Melody said, 35:30 I should be there earlier at 4:45 or 4:40. 35:35 I want to be, I want to be in a peaceful mood. 35:37 And then when you turn around, there's like 20 young people. 35:40 Already at that time in the morning. 35:42 Wow. It was amazing. 35:43 I was blown away after seeing people. 35:46 Yes, so seeing that happen 35:48 and seeing what the Lord is doing because you gave 35:53 what He wanted you to surrender at that moment, 35:56 in the time in His presence. 35:58 You know, Gem, I want to go back 36:00 just a little bit here to what you're just saying. 36:02 You were talking about walls 36:03 and barriers that were in your life. 36:05 For someone right now that says, 36:07 you know, I've got a wall and a barrier. 36:08 Where do I even begin? How do I even start? 36:10 How do we even start to break that down? 36:11 What would you say? 36:13 Like where it began, at the foot of the cross, 36:15 in His presence. 36:17 He could not begin anywhere else except there. 36:19 The moment you see yourself at His feet, 36:22 you see your value, 36:24 you see your value because of what the sacrifice 36:27 that was made for you. 36:28 And when you see that, there's nothing 36:30 is too hard for you then. 36:32 He did not give up His Son for you. 36:35 So what are the biggest 36:36 and hardest things in your life that you think 36:38 could not be solved? 36:40 God did not hold back His best. So... 36:43 So what does one say to God? You go ahead, Melody. 36:46 Yeah, I was just going to interject. 36:48 The enemy is constantly seeking to lie to us 36:51 and to get us to disbelieve things. 36:53 So oftentimes, 36:55 when we're feeling that silence, 36:56 or we're feeling up against a wall, 36:58 the enemy's speaking to us and saying... 37:01 You're not good enough. You're not good enough. 37:04 God doesn't care about you. 37:06 He's really not listening. 37:08 And that's why we have to go back. 37:09 And Gem touched on this earlier to the Word of God, 37:12 and what does God say? 37:14 And He says, one of my favorite verses, 37:15 and I claim it many times 37:17 because I fall short of the glory of God, 37:19 and I will continually go back to God and say, 37:21 "Lord, I'm sorry, 37:23 I have not been living 37:25 as I know that You've called me to live. 37:26 I've dishonored You. I've shamed You." 37:28 But He's saying in John 6:37, "Him that comes to Me, 37:30 I will in no wise cast out." 37:32 Great promise. 37:34 I'm just claiming that promise. 37:37 And so we have to really take the Word 37:39 of God for what it says even when we don't feel it. 37:43 And yeah, don't listen to the lies of the enemy. 37:47 Because he's speaking doubt, discouragement, darkness, 37:49 and God is saying, come, come. 37:52 Praise the Lord. Yeah. 37:54 You know there's a... That's good. 37:55 I mentioned earlier, there is a great 37:56 controversy going on in this world... 37:58 And Christ can save, Christ can save them. 37:59 Absolutely. 38:00 And so sometimes these barriers 38:02 and walls in our lives are there purely because Satan 38:06 is trying to, you know, destroy our lives. 38:08 But sometimes it is a combination 38:10 of our own decisions that we make, 38:12 whether conscious or not, 38:14 we, you know, our sinful nature 38:15 drives sometimes to do things that are not right. 38:17 And it builds up problems. 38:20 And so when it comes to prayer, 38:21 and breaking down those barriers, 38:22 I have noticed that in my life, 38:24 and in the context of the great controversy, 38:25 I've noticed that when I'm totally vulnerable 38:29 and honest with God in prayer, 38:31 when I'm not holding back, 38:32 when I speak about 38:34 the things that I don't want to speak about 38:35 the things that I'm holding on to that I know of wrong. 38:39 And because sometimes you can you can go into prayer 38:41 and just avoid certain topics, 38:43 you know, you along would, you wiggle around... 38:45 And it's funny, because we think God 38:47 doesn't know about us, but He does. 38:48 It's ridiculous. 38:49 That is like Adam and Eve trying and covering up 38:51 and hiding, really, God sees everything. 38:54 But He is dependent on our decision to let 38:59 Him deal with the issue that we want to avoid. 39:01 Amen. Beautiful. 39:02 He will not force it upon us. 39:03 But when we let Him, when we become vulnerable, 39:06 and when we surrender totally to Him, 39:08 He can then start to break down those barriers. 39:11 But in the process, while our emotions 39:13 and the devil is trying to make us think, 39:15 oh, we're not accepted. 39:16 Go to the Word of God. 39:18 Claim the promise, believe what it says even 39:19 when you don't feel like it. 39:21 He will come through. Excellent advice. 39:22 Yeah, thank you so much. 39:24 I'm taking notes here. 39:25 Yeah, I see that. I wrote down surrender. 39:28 Trust the Word of God over feelings 39:32 and be honest with God. 39:33 I like that. That's really good. 39:35 So I don't know if we have more of your journey 39:36 or if we're going to shift to Pastor Jonathan's. 39:38 Let's go to Brother Jonathan. 39:40 I'm ready to listen to more of Gem. 39:43 There's more next time. There's more next time. 39:46 Well, what do you want to know? Tell us your journey in prayer? 39:50 Think of prayer meeting and then all that. 39:51 Yeah, well, I grew up in the church. 39:55 My dad is a pastor. 39:56 And so, you know, you grew up 39:58 and I'm very thankful for the way 39:59 I grown up in the most spiritual surroundings 40:01 and with my family, you know, loving family. 40:04 Where was home? Home was Austria. 40:06 So I'm from Europe originally. 40:07 And I've only lived in the States 40:09 now for last seven years. 40:11 Okay. 40:12 But growing up there in that surrounding, 40:14 even though it was a very, you know, 40:16 a good home, I was yet not having 40:19 that personal connection with Jesus. 40:22 And because of a smaller presence of the church 40:26 over there, I did not have 40:27 very many friends in the church. 40:28 So most of my friends were secular, 40:30 there was really negative influence in my life. 40:32 And that shaped a lot of my teenage years definitely, 40:35 and led me to foolishness and all kinds of things. 40:39 But little did I know that my parents are praying for me, 40:42 other people are praying for me. 40:43 Now when I look back, 40:44 I can see how that made a difference. 40:46 But I didn't know in the moment, 40:47 you know, and this is just a little lesson here. 40:49 Some of the prayer requests were for children, you know? 40:51 Yeah, many of them. Amen. 40:53 When the child is not interested in God, 40:55 when the Word of God is not in their sphere, 40:58 prayer can still do something because when you 41:01 pray for somebody, the Holy Spirit 41:02 can work on that heart, and God can come in 41:05 and that's what I know happened in my life. 41:07 Praise the Lord. Yes. 41:08 Amen. 41:09 And so, when I, when I went to high school, 41:11 I had the privilege to go to an Adventist Academy, 41:14 and there within weeks, all those things, 41:18 all those worldly things that really influenced me 41:20 negatively, I believe, through the prayerful 41:23 influence that took place there were taken away 41:26 and God slowly but surely was, 41:29 you know, tugging to my heart and saying, 41:30 "Jonathan, I'm here. 41:31 What do you think?" 41:33 I didn't know Him personally, but that's when it started. 41:35 And the beautiful thing was that I could tell 41:38 that He wanted me to connect with Him on a deeper level. 41:41 And so I did start praying. 41:42 But I remember it was a struggle, 41:44 this great controversy was really, 41:45 I remember we were starting to read the Bible. 41:47 And within really seconds, I would fall asleep. 41:50 And I'm like, "Why do I always fall asleep 41:52 reading my Bible, I don't understand." 41:53 Wow. 41:55 And I realized Satan does not want to give me up 41:56 because I hadn't fully committed to God 41:58 yet at that point. 41:59 And so slowly, but surely, God was teaching me that, 42:02 as I was praying, you know, to be vulnerable with Him, 42:04 to be open with Him. 42:06 And so, that personal surrender and conversion took place over 42:10 the time in my high school years, 42:11 and I'm so thankful for what happened. 42:14 The next step, and really was that God 42:16 had to teach me to not just pray for myself, 42:19 but to pray for others, and to, to engage in ministry. 42:24 And so I had opportunities to be part of, 42:26 you know, different youth movements, 42:27 similar to GYC in Europe and there as I was, 42:32 as I was asked to, you know, be part of leadership 42:35 and do things. 42:37 I realized, wow, this is way bigger than me, I need, 42:39 I need help because I can't do this. 42:42 And so that's where I learned to go on my knees, 42:44 almost forced, not that God forced me, 42:46 but like the situation forced me. 42:47 It does, right? 42:49 I think that's what the desperation, that's right. 42:50 I think God does that, 42:52 He puts us sometimes in circumstances that seem 42:53 impossible, because He wants us to go on our knees 42:57 because we forget that we need Him. 42:59 And so that was a next step there. 43:01 Then the Lord called me to be missionary, 43:04 after graduation and after some service, 43:07 missionary in the Marshall Islands, 43:09 and far away remote island, 43:11 completely disconnected from the outside world. 43:13 And there I was desperate, because I had no idea 43:16 what I was doing. 43:17 Here I am, there is no, you know, 43:18 Seventh-day Adventists on this island. 43:20 It's just very primitive and I have to somehow survive, 43:24 number one, literally. 43:25 Okay. 43:26 And number two, teach them about Jesus 43:28 not knowing their language. 43:29 It was, it was tough. Wow. 43:30 And you're all by yourself? 43:32 Oh, me and one friend who was with me 43:33 'cause we were, we were both, you know, 43:35 babies in the Lord so to say. 43:38 And so here we are. 43:39 And we are learning to pray for the people 43:42 we were ministering to. 43:43 We learn to pray for rain, 43:45 literally, because it stopped raining. 43:46 And we had no more drinking water. 43:48 We were praying for food, because we're running out 43:50 of food. 43:52 It was some of these basic things 43:54 that I learned, 43:55 you know, that God will provide, 43:57 even when you are in a desperate situation. 44:00 And I think I needed that, 44:02 because it taught me to depend on Him not just with, you know, 44:06 a thing here and there, but for your entire life, 44:09 you know, is dependent on God. 44:11 So, that was something I learned there. 44:13 And then throughout the years, 44:15 I had different experiences that really does prayer rooms, 44:19 Gem mentioned prayer rooms at different conferences, 44:21 and prayer ministry suddenly popped up in my vision. 44:26 And I was like, "What is this?" 44:27 And wherever I go, I bump into this prayer people, 44:30 some of your friends, you know, from all over the world 44:33 and it happened always somehow a divine appointment. 44:37 And so I've got interested 44:38 and I learned about the power of united prayer 44:41 before it was just me but then the power 44:43 of united prayer. 44:44 And the prayer is so much more than just, 44:46 you know, thank you Lord for the food or, 44:48 Lord, please help me with this test. 44:50 It is true ministry. 44:52 You infuse any kind of ministry through prayer. 44:57 And so, yeah, God blessed over the years 44:59 and I have had, all glory goes to Him. 45:01 But I've had experiences with Him that really, 45:04 you know, blew my mind, my spiritual mind. 45:06 And it came always through prayer, through prayer. 45:09 Tell us about something that happened in Portugal? 45:13 Yes, this is, this is one of those crazy experiences 45:17 so to say. 45:18 I was on my way to a leadership retreat for GYC Europe. 45:23 And we had a little bit of time me and a friend, 45:25 and we were, you know, sightseeing. 45:27 I love old buildings. 45:29 So I always like to go to the old cathedrals 45:30 and touch the stone and you know, 45:32 just have a connection with the past, I don't know. 45:34 It's just a weird thing that I do. 45:35 And so I enjoy the architecture and so on. 45:38 So we went to this cathedral and as we walked there, 45:42 there was, by the entrance, 45:44 there was a Catholic priest standing there, 45:47 and then a man holding a very distressed 45:51 looking woman. 45:52 And I thought, this is really weird. 45:53 But you know, we're in Europe, 45:55 you don't mingle with other people's affairs. 45:56 You just go by and let them be. 45:59 Was she crying or how did she... 46:00 She was, she just looked very frightened, but angry. 46:03 I couldn't tell, it was just very brief. 46:05 We walked by and then walked into the church. 46:08 But you know, usually I enjoy looking at things, 46:10 but I had this very uncomfortable 46:12 feeling that something is wrong 46:14 and I just didn't know what to do about it. 46:16 But, you know, we continued walking, 46:18 but then the impression became so heavy on me, 46:21 I have to go back out there. 46:24 And so my friends Samuel and I, we said, okay, 46:26 I said, I told him, "Hey, 46:27 something's wrong with this woman, 46:28 we, let's just go outside." 46:30 So we walk outside. 46:31 And we walk by again, and I look at this woman. 46:33 And I can just see there's something really dark 46:36 in her life. 46:38 And so that's when it hit me. 46:39 I think there is something demonic going on here. 46:42 Demonic oppression, demonic possession 46:44 something of the kind. 46:46 I had never seen it before. 46:47 I've heard and read about it in the Bible, 46:48 heard of stories here and there. 46:50 Not in Europe, but from other countries. 46:52 And so I was just, is this really it. 46:54 But so we continued walking, didn't know 46:55 what we were doing, as it often is in life. 46:58 And I said, well, let's pray for her. 47:02 But then the Holy Spirit made it very clear. 47:05 I don't know how to explain it. 47:06 It wasn't the voice, but it was a strong impression, 47:08 you have to go back. 47:09 So I said, "Samuel, we have to go back. 47:11 I don't know what I'm doing. But let's go back." 47:13 So we walked back. 47:14 And as I walked I said, "Lord, 47:16 I don't know what to do, but You need to help now." 47:19 And so I walked up there 47:20 and I just walked up to these people standing there, 47:22 Catholic priest on his, was on his phone, 47:24 I don't speak a word of Portuguese. 47:25 So I just spoke in English and said, "Is everything okay?" 47:29 I asked. 47:31 And the man who was holding the woman was kind of waving 47:33 hit me away and not just, you know, 47:34 he didn't speak English. 47:36 He just chucked me away. 47:37 And then I looked at her and I was like, 47:39 I'm just gonna ignore what he's doing. 47:40 And I looked at her and I said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, 47:42 and He can set you free." 47:44 That's all I said. Wow. 47:46 And when I started doing that, 47:47 she started screaming and yelling at, 47:50 I mean, just going crazy. 47:52 And he was, she was out of her mind, 47:54 she was not herself. 47:56 And, of course, it caused a scene, 47:58 this was a touristic spot, people stopped 47:59 and started looking and I just continue saying, 48:02 "Believe in Jesus, He can set you free." 48:04 And so this went on, and in the moment, 48:08 you could tell there was a spiritual warfare going on, 48:10 I could physically feel pressure against me. 48:13 And I was like, "Lord, help us." 48:16 And so I started praying out loud, 48:18 you know, I'm like, making a long story short here. 48:19 But I started praying out loud for this person, 48:21 God free this person, please, 48:23 you know, and the demon who was torturing this woman 48:27 spoke through her, like he was saying, you know, 48:30 at one point, he started saying, 48:31 you have no authority over me. 48:33 And I could, all I could say is, 48:35 "Yes, but Jesus, I don't have but Jesus has authority." 48:38 And so we continue praying for her. 48:40 And at one point, a police officer came over, 48:42 and, you know, was saying, you know, 48:44 what are you doing here and wanted to kind of stop me 48:46 because, you know, he thought that whatever 48:49 I'm doing is, is causing her pain. 48:52 And, but then the Catholic priest walked 48:54 over to the police officer and said, 48:55 "No what he's doing is okay, let him be." 48:58 And so people were, you know, it was the crazy situation, 49:00 you know, and I was like, well, 49:03 I don't even know what I'm doing. 49:04 So I was just praying, praying, praying 49:06 out loud for this woman. 49:07 And at one point, suddenly, there was like, 49:12 it was like, the tension was gone in the air, 49:14 I could, the pressure stopped. 49:16 And I could tell visually, 49:18 visibly that this woman was relieved. 49:20 And the thing was, she was very weak. 49:22 They held her. 49:24 But she had a totally different look on her face. 49:27 And so the priests and the other man, 49:30 they start kind of helping her inside the church. 49:32 And as they took her inside, 49:35 she turned around and looked at me and kind 49:36 of nodded thank you to me. 49:38 And I was like, "What just happened?" 49:41 And to this day, I don't know the details, 49:44 but I believe that this warfare is real. 49:46 I've seen it here in first world countries, 49:49 you know, and I saw the power of prayer there. 49:53 Had nothing to do with me because I tell you, 49:54 I'm not worthy of, I don't have any power, nothing. 49:57 This is all Jesus. 49:58 And we saw that His authority came through. 50:00 Amen. 50:01 An intercession, it works. Amen. 50:03 This woman was trapped inside her body, 50:05 you know, having no control of herself, 50:07 whatever led her to this, but the power 50:09 of intercession can make a difference. 50:11 Amen. Amen. 50:13 That's an incredible story. 50:14 Speaking of intercession, let's do some more for these. 50:17 I love that. Yes. 50:18 That's amazing. Thank you for sharing that. 50:19 Absolutely. Wow. 50:22 God is real. Yeah, amen. 50:24 His power is real. 50:25 Prayer makes an incredible difference. 50:28 Amen. 50:29 Thank you for sending in your prayer needs 50:32 so that we can intercede for you at home. 50:35 This is from Washington State. 50:40 And they're struggling with health issues. 50:42 This one is for Michigan, my children's salvation. 50:47 This one does not say where they're from, 50:49 there's a lot of needs. 50:50 "My sister is on oxygen and it's dropping. 50:53 My daughter has breast cancer. 50:55 My son is struggling with same sex attraction. 50:59 My husband has Alzheimer's. 51:02 My sister has problems with her eyes." 51:04 It's incredible. 51:06 It's a lot of challenges in one home, in one life. 51:08 It does not give a name. 51:10 It says, "Pray for my three grandsons 51:11 in college." 51:13 This one's moving from California to Texas 51:15 asking for prayer for that. 51:17 This one is asking for healing from health challenges. 51:21 This is healing for her husband. 51:24 This is Tammy, it doesn't say where. 51:27 "Pray for our family, all 10 of us." 51:30 This one is, "I'm a Christian, 51:32 my sons are pulling away from Christ. 51:34 One is introduced to the Quran. 51:36 Please pray for us." 51:39 This one says, "I struggle with making time to pray. 51:42 Do other people, 51:43 how do you keep your prayer lists in a notebook 51:45 or there apps for prayer lists?" 51:47 That's a really good question. 51:49 So if someone is trying, 51:50 I know we'll pray in just a moment. 51:52 But if someone is trying to pray, 51:54 and do you keep lists, do you keep it in a notebook? 51:57 And how do you, how do you do that? 52:02 I mean, there's lots of things. 52:03 Whatever works best for you, I would say, 52:05 but it is good to keep a memory or journal or something 52:09 of answered prayer because sometimes we forget 52:11 about those answers. 52:13 And then we think, "Oh, God never answers my prayer." 52:15 But if you have a journal, 52:16 and you write those answers down 52:18 where God has answered your prayer, 52:19 and even the ones that you still praying for, 52:21 it's good to keep that in front of your mind. 52:23 Yes, there's apps. 52:24 I mean, just look for and search for prayer apps. 52:26 But I want to recommend one website 52:29 that we actually have that's part of our ministry 52:31 is called WePray.mobi 52:33 So WePray.mobi 52:37 And there it's an online prayer community, 52:38 you can put your prayer requests 52:40 and people can indicate that they're praying for you. 52:43 There's thousands on there, 52:45 and it's a wonderful worldwide network 52:47 of online prayer ministry. 52:49 And that's where you can also keep track 52:51 of your prayers as well. 52:52 Amen. 52:54 I just want to add briefly something 52:55 and we've talked about this in the past 52:56 that I love to do is write 52:58 my prayer requests down on cards, 52:59 and then write a Bible promise with it. 53:02 So as I'm praying the prayer, 53:04 I'm actually claiming God's Word, 53:06 because there's so much power, 53:08 His Word does not return unto Him void. 53:10 So that's what I encourage people, 53:11 put your prayer request with Bible promises. 53:15 And whether it's electronically or in your notebook, 53:17 it's just powerful. 53:18 I love that, it's good. Any thoughts, Gem? 53:21 A God is a personal God and whatever works 53:24 He communicates with us differently. 53:26 And God is just amazing. 53:28 He goes down to our level. 53:30 So let's pray over these. 53:32 Gem, why don't you lead us in prayer? 53:33 Let us pray. 53:35 Our great, our dear loving Heavenly Father, Lord, 53:37 we praise and we thank You that even before we call You 53:40 have already answered, and while we were yet speaking, 53:43 You have heard us. 53:45 Lord, for those brothers and sisters 53:46 of ours who are struggling with their health. 53:49 Lord, we praise and we thank You 53:51 because You are a great physician. 53:53 You are a gentle healer. 53:54 Lord, I pray that You place Your hands on them. 53:57 And, dear Father, I pray as well 53:58 for those parents 54:00 who are wanting for their children 54:02 to have a closer walk with you. 54:04 Dear Father, I pray that may You 54:06 continue to encourage them to intercede for, 54:09 like what Jonathan shared a while ago, 54:11 it is only through prayer that we are brought here. 54:14 It's our parent's prayer that the reason 54:17 why we are here right now. 54:18 So Lord, may our presence 54:19 here be an encouragement to those parents to continually 54:22 bring their kids to the foot of the cross 54:25 because You are the God who says, 54:26 "Suffer the little children to come unto Me." 54:29 So, Lord, I ask in a very special way 54:31 that may continue to give us a desire to come before You 54:34 with all our burdens. 54:36 And, Lord, for those who are seeking for wisdom, 54:38 for those who are seeking for direction. 54:40 Lord, I ask in a very special way 54:42 that may we look to You. 54:44 Dear Father, we praise and we thank You that You 54:46 have promised, I will instruct you 54:47 and teach you in the way that you should go, 54:49 I will guide you with mine eye." 54:51 So dear Father, I pray that may all of us 54:55 will take You at Your word and know that You are the God, 54:57 the God who's all powerful and yet so faithful. 55:01 Thank You so much, Lord, for hearing our prayers 55:03 and thank You, Lord, for hearing the prayers 55:06 of those people who texted, who emailed. 55:09 Lord, I know that You are a personal God. 55:11 Thank You so much for hearing our prayer 55:14 and we ask that You please anoint each one 55:16 with the anointing part of Your Holy Spirit. 55:18 Lord, we pray this in the loving 55:19 and precious name of Your Son Jesus. 55:21 Amen. Amen. 55:23 Well, this first hour has gone by in a hurry almost, 55:25 the first hour is almost gone. 55:27 But, Melody, I want to ask you this question 55:29 maybe in a minute or so. 55:30 And we'll talk more about it in the next hour because next 55:32 hour is really packed full, so stay tuned. 55:35 But, Melody, tell me why there's power in united 55:38 prayer because we're group here praying, 55:40 but we've been talking about united prayer. 55:41 So why is it power in united prayer? 55:44 Well, I just go straight to the Word first, 55:46 because we were told in Matthew 18:19-20, 55:48 "If two of you shall agree as touching 55:49 anything that they ask, it shall be done for them." 55:52 Amen. 55:54 And there's just something beautiful 55:56 about coming together in agreement. 55:58 There is. 55:59 I mean, we see unity between God the Father, 56:01 God the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 56:04 We do. 56:05 And I really believe that God wants us to experience 56:07 that as a body to coming together, 56:09 bearing one another's burdens. 56:10 You know, it's harder. We talked about this a lot. 56:13 It's harder to pick each other or criticize each other 56:15 when we're praying for one another 56:17 or when we're praying together. 56:18 That's excellent, I love that. 56:20 No, you're right. It deepens your relationship. 56:22 Yeah, I love it. It is. 56:24 And you know, Ellen White makes a beautiful statement. 56:27 I don't remember the exact reference to it. 56:30 But the fact that there's more power 56:32 when we come together in unity, in love. 56:36 The power given 56:38 will be proportionate to the unity of the members... 56:40 And their love for God and for one another. 56:42 Yes, thank you. Thank you. 56:45 Do you remember the reference? 56:47 Letter 32, 1903. 56:50 There we go. 56:51 Incredible team. 56:52 We're united. 56:54 It's our favorite quote, I think. 56:57 Yeah, no, just, yeah. 56:59 And that's what God wants to see. 57:00 And it's just beautiful. 57:02 I mean, it has to start 57:03 in our own personal prayer closet. 57:05 We need to have that personal walk with God, 57:06 but then as we do to unite together 57:09 on behalf of the needs 57:11 and it just enlarge your prayer vision. 57:13 This isn't just about me. 57:14 This is about the needs of others. 57:16 Amen. Absolutely. Thank you. 57:17 We have a full second hour coming up for you 57:20 where we're going to find out 57:22 how you can become involved in prayer ministry, 57:24 in the 10 days of prayer and the revival 57:26 and reformation initiative from the General Conference. 57:29 In united prayer, they have prayer groups 57:32 praying all over the world, 57:34 and how you can become involved in prayer ministry at home, 57:37 so don't go away. 57:39 We'll be back in just two moments 57:41 with your prayer requests and more amazing information. |
Revised 2021-09-24