Participants:
Series Code: BTLP
Program Code: BTLP000112A
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00:38 Hello and welcome to Behold the Lamb Presents.
00:41 I'm Chris Shelton, your host, and I want to thank you 00:43 for joining us. 00:44 Prayers That Are Answered is today's sermon title, 00:47 and it is less than 20 out of 25 Bible studies 00:51 that we have been presenting from this Bible study guide 00:54 that is entitled 00:56 "Sharing God's Love Makes You Happier, 00:58 What The Bible Says" 01:00 as prayerfully compiled by Brother Richard Bland 01:02 of United Prison Ministries. 01:04 This has been a wonderful series 01:07 that has answered in detail 25 frequently asked questions 01:11 about handling daily stress, 01:14 living with loss, parenting, smoking, depression, 01:17 life after death, 01:19 how we can be saved, and so on. 01:22 And I'm certain that today's message is one 01:24 that, as Christians, we often struggle with as well. 01:28 Again, the title is Prayers That Are Answered. 01:32 I'm excited about this topic for so many reasons. 01:36 You know, in the past, there's been times 01:38 that it seemed as though my prayers went no further 01:41 than the height of the ceiling. 01:42 Then there were other times that after praying, 01:45 absolute miraculous events occurred 01:49 that totally, absolutely humbled me to tears 01:53 and knowing that the mighty God of heaven 01:55 loved me enough to answer as He did. 01:59 What may have made the difference, 02:01 I believe we may find some of the probable causes 02:06 during the study of the message today. 02:09 We will read from God's Word 02:10 how Jesus taught His disciples to pray. 02:13 We will examine how we should offer up our prayers to God 02:17 and what petitions we may expect Him to answer 02:21 or not answer for that manner. 02:24 We will study how often a Christian should pray 02:27 as well as what conditions will make it possible 02:31 for our Lord to answer our prayers. 02:33 I truly believe that 02:35 you will experience the Holy Spirit 02:37 speak to your heart during this study. 02:39 But before we join Pastor Kenny Shelton 02:41 for this important topic on prayer, 02:44 let's visit 3ABN 02:45 and listen to Pastor Shelton's sister Tammy Chance 02:49 as she sings "More Than Ever Before." 03:04 You know it's true 03:06 I love You 03:08 More than words could ever show 03:13 But forgive me, Lord For all the times 03:18 I haven't told You so 03:23 'Cause You mean everything to me 03:28 Your pleasure I adore 03:32 I want to live each day 03:35 In such a way 03:37 You'll know I love You more and more 03:42 More than ever before 03:47 Lord, I love You 03:52 More than ever before 03:57 Lord, I need You 04:01 More than ever 04:04 Before I've got to tell You 04:11 I love You now 04:14 More than ever before 04:26 I loved You then 04:29 I love You now 04:31 But much more now than then 04:36 And in the end between I find 04:41 You became my dearest friend 04:46 And with each day 04:49 You bring my way joy I've never know before 04:55 I want to live each day In such a way 05:00 You'll know I love You More and more 05:05 More than ever before 05:11 Lord, I love You 05:15 More than ever before 05:20 Lord, I need You 05:25 More than ever before 05:30 I've got to tell You 05:35 I love You now 05:37 More than ever 05:40 Before 05:44 More than ever before 05:49 I've got to tell You 05:55 I love you now 05:57 More than ever before 06:15 Thanks for joining us here at Behold the Lamb, 06:17 we so appreciate each and every one of you. 06:19 God bless you. 06:20 We appreciate your cards, your letters, 06:22 your support at Behold the Lamb Ministry. 06:24 Going around the world with the good news 06:26 of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 06:28 And again, you make it possible for us. 06:31 And so we want to let you know 06:32 how much we love you and appreciate you. 06:34 And we're going to be studying just a fantastic subject today. 06:38 Maybe one of you say, "Oh, it's very, very simple." 06:39 But, you know, we need to be careful with that 06:41 because God's Word is broad and deep and wide, isn't it? 06:45 And we need to get down to the bottom 06:46 because prayer is our lifeline to heaven. 06:49 We need to know how to pray in the name of Jesus. 06:53 I'm gonna be talking about "Prayers That Are Answered." 06:56 My wife has already brought that to you, 06:57 so you understand it well, 06:59 you understand we're going through a lot of subjects here. 07:01 We pray each one has been a blessing to you. 07:03 Before we pray, we always kneel up here 07:05 and we have prayer. 07:07 I want to bring a couple of thoughts to you 07:09 right quick before we have our prayer. 07:11 You know, I wonder if ever in your life, 07:14 and it starts with a question, 07:15 I wonder if ever in your life you've ever felt like this, 07:19 what I'm getting ready to read. 07:21 Have you ever felt like this, 07:23 you know, that there's no use going on? 07:25 "I'm never going to make it. Life is just too tough." 07:30 Maybe if that goes through your mind, we do what? 07:33 We need to take time and pray because the devil is working. 07:36 Let me give you an illustration with that. 07:38 The enemy tries to convince you 07:41 and tries to convince me every day 07:44 that we are no good. 07:47 He tries to convince us every day of our life, again, 07:51 that we can't do any good. 07:54 What good really are we in this world? 07:56 And then he goes on a little farther 07:57 and he'll say, "You will never be any good." 08:00 Maybe someone's told you that. 08:02 How did that make you feel? 08:04 Well, I've got some good news for you 08:06 as we look at our subject for today 08:08 because we'll look at a few men and a few women in the Bible 08:11 quickly before we have our prayer. 08:14 And we're gonna see that God can work the impossible 08:17 with man 08:18 because that's the God that we serve. 08:20 You remember Noah? 08:21 I'll say this nicely. Noah was a drunk. 08:24 Oh, be careful with that, I know. 08:26 Isaac was old. 08:30 Oh boy, Leah was ugly. 08:36 Moses stuttered. 08:39 Gideon was afraid. 08:42 Samson was a womanizer. 08:45 Rahab was a prostitute. 08:49 Jonah was a runner. 08:52 David was an adulterer. 08:55 Jacob was a deceiver. 08:58 Abraham lied. 09:01 And Lazarus was dead. 09:06 God used these men and women in the Bible 09:11 to do great things. 09:12 And I count that 09:14 if He can use them to do great things, 09:16 He can use you and He can use me 09:18 because after all, we're not dead. 09:21 Think about that. Prayer changes things. 09:26 And we're gonna pray right now. Pray along with me, please. 09:30 Merciful Father in heaven, 09:32 thank You for the privilege of prayer. 09:33 Thank You we can come to You boldly to the throne of grace 09:36 and find help in our time of need, 09:39 O Lord, we're in need, we need You. 09:41 Open our ears, our hearts, our minds, 09:43 help us to see Jesus. 09:44 Help us to understand this subject 09:46 like maybe we never had before. 09:48 We're going to thank You in advance in Jesus name, amen. 09:50 Amen. 09:51 Again, having your Bible, pencil, and papers 09:53 is a good idea because we move rather quickly 09:55 because of our time. 09:57 Prayer, does prayer really change things? 10:01 Is it really the lifeline that we have with heaven? 10:05 A little story about prayer, 10:07 I want you to pay special attention 10:09 to Mrs. Billy Graham, 10:11 Mrs. Billy Graham was giving... 10:15 Gathered a bunch of ladies and then she was speaking, 10:18 so she wanted to talk a little bit about prayer. 10:20 It's interesting 10:22 what she had to say about prayer. 10:24 She said, "First of all, 10:25 God has not always answered my prayers." 10:29 Think about it. 10:30 "God has not always answered my prayers. 10:33 If He had, I would have noticed this, 10:37 I would have married the wrong man 10:40 several times." 10:42 Some of you didn't get that. I'll do it again then. 10:45 What did she say? She said right here. 10:47 "God has not always answered my prayers. 10:50 If He had, I would have married the wrong man several times." 10:55 Now we're going to get it. 10:58 Jeremiah 33:3, the Bible says, "Call unto Me and I will..." 11:02 what? 11:04 "Call unto Me and I will answer." 11:06 This is a promise that God has given us in His Word, 11:09 title of our subject "Prayers That Are Answered." 11:13 What the disciples asked Jesus to do? 11:15 Here is the model prayer. 11:17 If you're looking for you wanting to know 11:19 how Jesus prayed, 11:21 how He talked to His Father, here's the model prayer. 11:24 Disciple said, "Jesus, what about prayer? 11:27 Teach us to pray." 11:28 Luke 11:1, Luke 11, you have your Bible, 11:32 I'm sure you'll want to turn there. 11:34 Matthew, Mark, Luke, there we are. 11:35 Luke 11:1. 11:38 So it said, "And it came to pass, 11:40 that as He was praying in a certain place, 11:43 when He ceased" notice this 11:45 "One of the disciples said unto Him, Lord," do what? 11:49 "Teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." 11:55 Think about that. 11:56 I wonder if we should ask that question today, 11:57 "Lord, teach us to pray." 12:00 Every day of our lives, "Lord, teach me to pray. 12:03 I don't even know how to pray. 12:05 How should I pray? 12:07 How can I pray that I know that God will hear me? 12:09 And that you can answer my prayers. 12:11 I know we can get down, we can form words, 12:14 we can say things. 12:16 But I want you to teach me to pray." 12:17 And of course, we'll talk a little bit more about it. 12:20 Then Jesus goes on in Luke 11:2, 12:23 down with two or three verses. 12:25 And we could spend the whole time 12:27 that we have on that, 12:28 we're not going to do it. 12:30 But Jesus taught them, what do we call it, 12:31 the Lord's what? 12:32 The Lord's Prayer, and we all know it by memory, 12:36 but if I go, we will do one, 12:38 we'll find out in I think it's Matthew 6:9-13, 12:43 the wording is just a little bit different 12:45 than found in Luke, 12:46 but the meaning is the same. 12:48 It's how each man heard it with his ears 12:50 and he recorded it, 12:51 and it's simply a very wonderful, good prayer. 12:54 Prayer is something that we need, it starts out, 12:56 "Our Father which art in heaven." 12:59 That's who we're talking to, 13:00 somebody that can do something about the needs that I have, 13:03 that you have, 13:05 and God wants to do nice things for us. 13:08 If you're a churchgoer, 13:10 we have any churchgoers here today? 13:12 "Well, yeah, we're churchgoers," 13:13 and the whole world practically raised their hand 13:16 and says what "I'm a churchgoer." 13:18 Well, that's not gonna get you to heaven necessarily. 13:20 But it'd be nice if you go to church, 13:21 you have a better opportunity 13:23 than the one who's not going to church. 13:26 And so as churchgoers, you might, 13:28 and especially in Adventism, 13:30 we understand some of these things 13:32 that I'll mention to you and surely the world does too. 13:35 When we talk about there's prayer times, 13:37 how often have you heard, "We're gonna have prayer time." 13:41 Many times when the pastor was gone, and they would... 13:44 My uncle maybe would have the services 13:45 every time he'd say, 13:47 "Well, I've been busy this week. 13:48 I haven't had time to study anything. 13:50 We're gonna have some prayer time and praise." 13:52 Well, you know, that wasn't so bad. 13:54 We thought right then, we hung our heads 13:56 because we knew it's gonna happen every time, 13:58 prayer and praise. 13:59 But then, you know, that's good prayer and pray. 14:02 We didn't understand it as young people. 14:04 I understand that now. 14:06 And we might have called it prayer and testimony service. 14:09 So how many of you heard that? 14:11 Also, we used to say, 14:12 "Well, we're gonna have a prayer band." 14:14 We're gonna get together and we're gonna just pray. 14:17 We're gonna band together, and we're gonna pray, 14:19 and God's going to do great things. 14:21 And I've heard it said, my mom said, 14:23 "You know, we ought to take this situation here 14:25 under prayerful consideration." 14:28 You ever heard that one? 14:29 Yes. 14:30 And somebody, preacher might ask you 14:33 "How is your prayer life?" 14:35 And then we have prayer meeting, don't we? 14:37 I've heard they say, "Watch and pray." 14:39 You've read that in Bible so many times. 14:41 I've heard work and pray, and the prayer of faith. 14:46 Talk about maybe the answer prayer to the sick. 14:49 I've heard this comes without fasting and prayer. 14:52 We heard of the prayer together. 14:53 I've heard of private prayer, I've heard of public prayer, 14:56 of secret prayer, of healing prayer, 15:00 and pray before you open the Bible. 15:03 How many times... 15:05 And the list could go on and on and on. 15:06 But see, prayer plays a significant part 15:09 in our experience, 15:11 in even understanding the Word of God. 15:13 Lord, today, teach us to pray. 15:17 Lord, teach me to pray. 15:19 Prayer is simply communing with God, is it not? 15:24 How about prayer? Prayer is like it's... 15:26 Prayer is communing with God and that means talking to God. 15:32 But, you know, if we talk to God, 15:33 we need to have something to say. 15:36 And usually with something to say would be about our self 15:39 or maybe a need or need of a family member. 15:42 You know why? Because God is interested. 15:46 He's interested in what you have to say, 15:48 that blows my mind that He would be interested, 15:51 the King of the universe, 15:53 interested in some little piddly thing 15:54 I'm going through down here. 15:56 You know, but it's... 15:58 I know it's heavy duty sometimes 15:59 what we go through in this life. 16:00 So what is prayer again? What is prayer? 16:04 Christ tells us 16:05 and prayer is the opening of the heart to God 16:09 as a friend. 16:10 So in prayer, what do we do? 16:12 We pray to Him as He was a what? 16:13 A friend. 16:15 How many of you are sitting down 16:16 with just friends? 16:17 And you just kind of poured your heart out 16:19 and you talk to them as a friend, 16:20 you weren't nervous, you wouldn't all think... 16:22 You had to, you know, phrase your words 16:23 and say certain things, you just talk to them. 16:26 That's what God wants you to do. 16:28 Just to talk to him as a friend. 16:31 Sure, God knows all about you, He knows all about me. 16:35 But think about it. 16:37 Prayer never brings God down to us, 16:41 prayer takes us up to God. 16:43 You see why He wants us to pray? 16:45 He doesn't want to stay right here ask of the low life. 16:48 Are you still with me? 16:49 He wants us to be raised 16:50 to the elevation of heavenly things 16:53 and do heavenly things for us. 16:55 You know, if you think about Jesus 16:57 while He was on this earth, 17:00 what an illustration, while He was on this earth, 17:02 what did He do? 17:03 There was times, 17:05 the Bible tells us in Luke 6:12, 17:08 that Jesus went into a mountain to pray and He prayed..." 17:11 How long? 17:12 "All night." 17:14 You know, as song says, "How long has it been 17:17 since you knelt by your bed," right? 17:20 And talk to the Lord and seek. 17:21 You know that song, that real old? 17:23 "How long has it been 17:25 since you called Him your friend?" 17:27 And how long has it been since we prayed all night? 17:31 How long has it been 17:32 that we've had a burden like that 17:34 that we needed to pray to God? 17:35 Jesus prayed all night. And well, think about this. 17:39 Isn't He our example in all things? 17:42 Jesus is our example, so I can trust His example. 17:47 There's times that we need to pray all night. 17:50 I'm not talking about just having praying. 17:51 I'm talking about praying all night long 17:53 because we couldn't sleep, 17:54 because we're torn up about something. 17:56 We needed some peace about something, 17:58 and that peace didn't come 17:59 as quickly as we'd like for it to have come, 18:01 and we had to stay on our knees until it came. 18:04 Jesus is our help. He is our strength. 18:08 See, Jesus prayed all night. Why? 18:10 Because he needed strength. 18:12 Fully human, fully divine, but as humanity, 18:15 he needed some strength. 18:18 You need strength and I need strength 18:20 because the enemy is fighting us tooth and nail. 18:23 Every day of our life 18:25 and everything that you encounter, 18:27 the enemy is there 18:28 posting some kind of a counterfeit 18:30 before you, 18:31 before we ever get to the truth. 18:33 He's trying to lead you astray. 18:35 He's trying to take you in the wrong place. 18:37 He's trying to get you situated 18:38 into maybe a place you shouldn't be. 18:41 But, you know, we have to be open enough 18:42 to say like, "God is leading in my heart and in my life." 18:47 We know from scripture in John 13:15, 18:50 it says, for Jesus said here 18:52 "For I have given you an example." 18:55 So Jesus gave us what? 18:57 An example that we should do like he's done, 18:59 we need to pray more than we do, for sure. 19:02 We need strength. He needed strength. 19:06 He needed strength to prepare him 19:07 for the test and what? 19:09 And the trials that was to come upon Him. 19:11 And if He needed it, 19:12 how much more do I need it today, right? 19:15 If He needed it, don't you need it more? 19:17 I need it more. 19:19 But yet sometime we neglect it 19:21 'cause we think it's just between Him and us. 19:22 And we can just say a little something 19:24 and move our way, 19:25 you know, go on about our business. 19:29 Prayers That Are Answered is pretty heavy duty subject. 19:32 But, you know, when you thinking about prayer 19:34 and the answer to prayer, 19:36 let me just say a point, 19:37 very heavy duty point here in our study is, 19:40 notice this, that answer to prayer 19:43 comes as a result of meeting conditions. 19:48 Did we get it? 19:49 Answer to prayer comes about 19:52 if we're willing to meet the conditions 19:54 that God has set up for us. 19:56 Does that make sense? 19:58 That should kind of make sense to us. 20:00 Another couple things, 20:02 we need to feel our need of help. 20:05 See, too many are too prideful, they don't feel a need. 20:09 But we need to feel our need of a Savior, feel our need, 20:11 we need some outside help. 20:14 We need something that's bigger than we are. 20:16 That's the situation we can't handle in life, 20:18 we need heavenly help. 20:20 And so I'm feeling a need, "And, Lord, I need some help." 20:23 He loves to hear that. 20:25 And then when I pray that, 20:26 I know this, my heart has to be open. 20:29 So you don't have a closed heart. 20:31 The heart has to be open. I'm praying for something. 20:33 Let it be open because God may see fit 20:35 to answer it the way He wants to answer it. 20:38 Not just how you would like for it to be. 20:40 But how many prayers if you had answered, 20:42 just think about it. 20:43 They've been answered entirely the different way 20:45 than what you prayed about it. 20:46 But it was answered in the right way 20:47 because God did it. 20:49 He takes into consideration all things. 20:52 He says, you know, our love is... 20:53 Psalms 34:15, 20:55 He talks about his ears are open to their cry 20:59 or our cry. 21:01 Isn't that exciting? 21:03 It makes you want to jump up and just shout, 21:05 it said the King of the universe 21:06 when we pray, 21:07 His ears are open to our cries, Psalm 34:15. 21:12 Keep that heart open, keep that need, "I need prayer. 21:16 I need to spend time with God." 21:18 You know, sometime prayers are answered 21:20 right underneath our nose 21:21 and we don't even know they've been answered. 21:23 Why? Because it didn't fit into our agenda. 21:26 It didn't fit in the way we wanted it to be. 21:28 We're telling God how we want it done 21:30 and when we want it done. 21:35 The ship was in distress. 21:38 They sent out SOS. 21:39 And you know when they send out SOS, 21:41 they're in trouble. 21:42 "We're in immediate danger, we need some help. 21:44 We've run out of fresh water. 21:46 We have no water on the ship to drink anymore. 21:49 Emergency. Emergency. 21:51 SOS, SOS. Help us. 21:54 We have to have a reply quick. We're about to die." 21:58 A reply came back quickly, almost immediately. 22:01 Here reply said, "Let your buckets down. 22:05 You are on freshwater now. 22:07 You're on the river of St. Lawrence." 22:09 Somebody's not getting what I'm talking about here. 22:14 They're thinking it's out there in salt water. 22:16 They said, "Man, you don't wish that they're gonna die 22:18 and there's the water right there, 22:20 let your buckets down." 22:22 Jesus talked about let the nets down. 22:23 Do you remember that? And fish, we need to... 22:25 Sometimes the blessing is right there. 22:28 It's right underneath us, right there, and we're... 22:29 "I'm dying. I can't take it anymore. 22:31 We need some water." 22:33 And there it is right there. God knew it all along. 22:36 Do you believe that He knew it all along? 22:38 What does the Bible say? 22:39 We're not dreaming these things up 22:42 'cause the Bible says right here in Isaiah 65:24, 22:46 Isaiah 65:24, 22:49 now it starts out with the word before, 22:51 somebody help me. 22:53 Jesus says, notice this, "Before you," 22:56 somebody say call, I'm going to get happy. 22:58 I'm starting to get happy now. 23:00 Somebody said call, 23:01 before you call what's going to happen? 23:03 "I will answer and while they are speaking, 23:07 I will hear." 23:08 See, these are promises that He gave. 23:10 Now think about Brother Jacob, before you call, 23:13 He knows what you're in need of. 23:16 He knows you need to call, 23:17 but He's not gonna make you call. 23:19 He's gonna hand you the phone, 23:20 but He's not gonna dial the number for you. 23:23 Did you get that one? It's not going to get it. 23:25 Yeah, you're going to get it, 23:27 but it's divinity and humanity doing what? 23:29 Working together for the cause of Christ. 23:32 Jesus said it real simple in the book of Matthew 7:7, 23:36 most familiar passage of scripture, yeah. 23:39 It says, "Ask, and it shall..." what? 23:42 "Be given to you." We're doing Bible studies. 23:44 Okay, do Bible study. 23:46 This is what we should be doing. 23:47 This is where we're to learn. 23:49 We're not saying well, the pastor said 23:51 or somebody else said, the Bible said, God said. 23:54 This is the way that it is that doesn't change. 23:57 He said "Ask, and you shall receive." 24:00 That sounds almost too simple. 24:03 How come it's not working that way? 24:04 Some of them, some people will say. 24:07 You know what, it works exactly the way God says that it works. 24:11 He said ask, but notice this, 24:13 "Ask and it shall be given you." 24:16 And then if we compare that with a passage of scripture, 24:19 Romans 8:35, man, this is powerful. 24:23 Romans 8:32, I'm sorry, Romans 8:32, 24:28 this seals it up beyond question 24:30 when it says, 24:31 "He spared not His own son" notice, 24:34 "but delivered him up for us all. 24:37 How shall He not with Him also freely give us" how many? 24:42 "All things." 24:44 He gave us all things in Jesus Christ, didn't He? 24:46 He said if I gave Jesus Christ 24:48 to this pathetic pitiful sinner, right, 24:50 this earth is a mess, 24:52 and knowing what a mess it was going to be 24:53 before He came, all the messes in the world, 24:56 I still gave my son right here, 24:57 don't you think I can give you all things 24:59 that you have need of? 25:00 Absolutely we can. 25:02 Little book called Manuscript 14, 1901. 25:05 This was written down "All who come to Christ today." 25:08 Okay, anybody gonna come to Christ? 25:10 Here I go, here I go, 25:11 I don't have any place else to go. 25:14 I don't have any place else to go. 25:16 There's nothing in the world that's luring me. 25:18 Are you still with me? So I need to go to Christ. 25:21 I have an issue. I need to go to Christ. 25:23 I don't need to listen to this one 25:24 or listen to that one. 25:26 I need to go to Christ first. 25:27 Don't go to everybody in the book 25:29 and ask them what they think about it first, 25:31 and then you go back to the Word, 25:32 you're gonna get yourself in trouble. 25:34 Does that make sense? 25:36 I might be talking fast, I'm sorry. 25:38 That's the way it is. 25:41 Now somebody keep up now. 25:42 If you can't keep up, Brother Jacob, you tell me, 25:44 and I'll still go fast anyway. 25:47 I'll be praying for you, right, 25:48 that your ears will tingle a little bit more. 25:50 All right, now this is good. 25:51 "All that come to Christ today are to remember 25:55 that his merit is the incense." 25:58 We're praying, right? We're praying, weren't we? 26:01 We need some incense. 26:03 What is the incense, in the earthly sanctuary, 26:06 what was it? 26:07 It represented Christ what? 26:09 Prayer. His incense, right? 26:12 Mingle, His righteousness, mingle, 26:14 God won't even hear your prayer, 26:15 Brother John, unless Jesus is involved. 26:18 Does that make sense? But it gets simple. 26:20 We come to Jesus, right, 26:22 we come to God in the name of Jesus. 26:25 Man, that's the beautiful thing to think about here. 26:27 But notice, incense that mingles 26:29 with the prayers of those, notice this, 26:32 He puts His righteousness, 26:33 He puts His incense and so He's okay, 26:37 His stamp on it so that God will hear, 26:39 but He can only do it, notice this what it says, 26:42 to those who repent of their sins 26:45 and receive pardon and mercy and grace. 26:49 Whoo! 26:51 God said I'll put my stamp, my seal of approval on it. 26:55 Hebrews 13:15-16, 26:59 Hebrews 13:15-16, 27:03 I wish we could go up to three times 27:04 and give everybody a chance to do it. 27:06 Hebrews 13:15-16, the Bible says, 27:10 "By Him therefore let us 27:14 offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually." 27:18 That is what? 27:20 "The fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name." 27:22 Verse 16, Here comes some real power, notice, 27:25 "But to do good and to communicate, 27:29 forget not" 27:30 that means to share, 27:32 to communicate needs to participate. 27:34 Got to talk about it a little bit here. 27:36 "Forget not for such sacrifices, 27:39 God is well pleased." 27:42 Do we want to please God? 27:44 Come on, somebody help me. Do we want to please God? 27:46 If that mean we please God this way, right? 27:48 That means we can displease God, 27:50 does it make sense? 27:51 So we've got a choice, to displease Him 27:53 and do it the way we want to do it 27:55 and how we want to do it 27:56 and you're not going to get the blessings of God 27:57 and I'm not either. 27:59 We've got to do it God's way. That's what is so simple. 28:03 Why not? 28:04 He's our Creator and our Redeemer, right, 28:06 He rules this universe. He can move the arm, right? 28:09 He can move man out of the way. 28:11 He can move mountains out of the way. 28:12 Whoo! 28:14 Boy, it's that kind of God that we serve, we need Him. 28:16 Again, I go back to Luke 11:1, you don't have to go there. 28:20 But I'm gonna say, "Lord, teach us to pray." 28:23 Lord, teach us to do what? To pray. 28:26 And again, Jesus responds and gives us the model prayer 28:29 that we talked about awhile ago, 28:31 to encourage us, 28:33 and to strengthen our faith in praying, 28:35 and He's our father, which art in heaven. 28:38 How powerful that is. 28:41 When Jesus was praying that, 28:42 you realize when He was praying, 28:43 the disciples were in awe. 28:46 How in awe might you be today 28:48 if Jesus were here that you could see Him, 28:50 and oh, I'm getting goosebumps, 28:51 and He began to pray? 28:53 I almost guarantee I couldn't pray along 28:55 'cause we first of all be praying together, 28:57 but I think my ear would be to what He's saying. 29:00 Well, I want to hear 29:01 what He has to say to the Father 29:03 'cause I know the Father hears. 29:04 I know the Father's gonna answer Him. 29:06 How is He praying? I want to pray like this. 29:09 See His disciples were so impressed 29:11 by the way that Jesus prayed. 29:14 And here's what it said, by the way He talked. 29:18 His disciple, are you a disciple of Christ? 29:20 I want to feel like I may be 1 of the 12. 29:22 I'm 1 of the 50 millionth or billion, whatever, 29:26 but I'm one of His disciples today, 29:28 and I want to know how to pray right. 29:30 Jesus prayed, he talked. Notice this. 29:32 He talked as one who was talking to a friend, 29:35 that's how He was talking to His Father. 29:37 Wow. 29:38 His prayers were so different 29:41 from those formal prayers of the leaders 29:44 that He grew up in church with. 29:46 Sometimes they're so formal, so lifeless, 29:49 and so coldhearted, 29:50 they might as well sit down and be quite. 29:53 Is that all right to say or should I sit down? 29:57 You know what I'm talking about? 30:00 This is what Jesus heard 30:01 while he was growing up in the temple 30:03 of the priest and the rulers, 30:05 they had their little set prayer... 30:07 They're saying whatever they want. 30:08 Okay, God knows if they're sincere or not. 30:10 I'm not trying to judge that. 30:12 That's what He heard as He was growing up. 30:14 But notice that wasn't the way He prayed. 30:17 These formal prayers sometime of the leaders, 30:20 these set phrases, 30:22 oh, 30:24 it's kind of like that God had no interest in them. 30:28 They're cold and lifeless. 30:30 I think that it's in 2 Timothy 3:5, 30:33 it talks about we have a form of godliness 30:35 but we're denying, what, 30:37 we're denying power thereof, even in our prayer life. 30:41 Oh, we shouldn't do that. Oh, God, have mercy on us. 30:44 Now why did the disciples, 30:45 why were they so excited about hearing Jesus pray? 30:50 Think about it with me. 30:52 I think they were honest in heart, in this, 30:54 they wanted to be more effective disciples 30:57 and witnesses for Christ. 30:59 You want to be more effective, 31:01 you want to be what you should be, 31:02 which is Christ representative 31:04 rather than a devil's representative. 31:05 I tell you, be one or the other today. 31:07 You're gonna be devil's representative 31:09 or you're gonna be Christ representative, 31:11 you know? 31:13 And I've tasted both, I don't know about any of you. 31:16 You might not going to admit it. 31:17 It's all right. It doesn't matter to me. 31:18 God knows. 31:20 But we don't want that, 31:21 we want to be the representatives 31:23 of Jesus Christ. 31:24 They wanted to be the kind of disciples 31:25 that Jesus say, "Amen. 31:27 Praise God." 31:28 But you know what, so they listened. 31:30 They wanted their work to be... 31:31 They had understood the necessity 31:33 of having a rich powerful prayer life, 31:37 personal prayer life. 31:39 With God who answers 31:41 and with a God 31:42 who can take care of their needs, 31:44 and so the simple comes back, the simple answer is ask. 31:47 One word, ask. 31:49 Ask God about things that's going on in your life. 31:52 He knows. But you talk to Him about it. 31:55 Talk about the problems, talk about the joy, 31:58 talk about the sorrow, 32:00 talk about the issues that's going on. 32:02 You might say today, "Okay, we've lost. 32:04 We've lost a loved one. We had a choice. 32:05 We could stay home and we can cry 32:07 or we can come by the grace of God 32:09 and sing praises 32:10 and be in His presence and be restored, 32:12 to be strengthened, to be able to move forward, 32:15 to be able to do what God wants us to do. 32:16 See, this is what it's all about 32:18 rather than sit at home in the recliner, 32:20 feeling sorry for yourself. 32:21 That's not what God would have us to do. 32:23 He's wanting to give you strength, 32:24 but He says you have to come. 32:25 That makes sense? 32:27 You've got to come, you've got to get out. 32:29 You got to break out of this thing. 32:30 You got to come where God can bless you. 32:32 He just simply says, 32:33 "You do your part and I'll do Mine." 32:36 You believe that? He will. He will. 32:38 And there's a time to mourn, there's a time to cry. 32:40 I'm not saying anything that's wrong with that. 32:42 But I'm saying, when you need, 32:43 when you're going through a mess, 32:45 I think you need God's people around you. 32:47 I think you need God's people to be praying. 32:49 You're not getting around them 32:50 so you can bellyache and cry about, 32:52 but you can simply say, 32:53 "This is the need, this happened. 32:54 This is what's happened in my life, 32:56 would you pray for me?" 32:57 Yes. For strength. 32:59 That's why I get so excited about when people say, 33:01 I've said many times in front up here. 33:03 When I haven't seen people for 10 or 15, 20 years, 33:06 and they say, "Pastor, I hope you're not... 33:08 Don't get aggravated at me. 33:10 But you know what, 33:11 I've prayed for you every day of my life 33:12 for the past 20 years." 33:14 Chris will tell you. She's heard them. 33:15 Over 20 years, one of them was last General Conference Session 33:19 or ASI or something. 33:20 He said, "I hope you don't get angry at me. 33:22 But the Holy Spirit's impressed my every day of my life, 33:25 I take you to the throne room." 33:27 I said, "Oh, thank you." I get tears in my eyes. 33:29 I say, "Oh, God, thank You. 33:31 Thank You that somebody cares enough. 33:32 Thank You." 33:33 And I said, you know, the only reason 33:35 I'm sure that I'm here, 33:36 we know it's because of Jesus, but it's the praying saints, 33:39 isn't it? 33:40 The only reason you're here, Jacob, is the praying saints. 33:43 You should've been dead long time ago. 33:46 Your life was miserable before when you left Jesus. 33:48 Now it's filling your heart, and you're a different person. 33:50 Praise God. 33:52 That's what it's about, Sister Mary, 33:53 filling your heart with the love of Jesus Christ. 33:55 This is what it's all about, and watch things change. 33:58 It's talking to Him, it's having communion with Him. 34:02 Ask, the Bible says. 34:05 Now I think about it. Remember, by asking God... 34:07 Keep this one. There's another point. 34:09 By asking God, 34:10 it's not trying to get Him to accept our will. 34:14 Say with me, folks. 34:16 It's not trying to get God to accept our will. 34:20 But it's us being prepared to accept His will. 34:23 Does that make sense? 34:26 Our will, we had no idea what we pray for. 34:27 Jesus said that before. 34:29 "You don't even know what you need to pray for, 34:30 what you ought to." 34:32 And I said is that, youngsters, 34:33 eight, nine years old, I said, "Well, good. 34:35 Then I don't have to pray." 34:37 I didn't know what I was talking about. 34:38 But you understand. 34:40 Well, if I don't know 34:41 what I'm supposed to pray for, why pray? 34:43 That's the way I reasoned it out. 34:44 But then as I explained to him, "No, we need to." 34:46 It's not to change God but it's to change me. 34:49 It's that perseverance. Let me tell you. 34:52 What was his name? 34:53 Martin Luther was one of them, I think, and another fellow 34:55 I was reading about the other day. 34:57 He was a man of prayer. And he made out a list. 35:01 And I think we need to already making out a list 35:02 and put people's names on it. 35:03 This is not saved, this left the church, left God. 35:06 Put them on there. 35:07 And the last one that came to Jesus. 35:09 Everyone of them on that list came to Jesus, 35:12 gave their life to Him, 35:14 but the last one that did was two months after this died. 35:17 But it's 52 years he prayed, 35:20 52 straight years he prayed for four people 35:23 was on the list. 35:25 Everyone of them came to Him, all four, 35:27 but the last one was too months after the man was dead. 35:30 But still answered the prayer. 35:31 Fifty-two years. 35:34 And we think 52 minutes is too long. 35:38 God knows what we have need of, it keeps us humble, 35:42 it keeps us teachable, 35:43 it keeps us back to the throne room of God 35:45 spending more time on there. 35:46 Then we do spending time and it's... 35:48 Ooh! 35:50 You know we're in the world 35:53 and all this other junk that's going on, 35:54 as you will know. 35:56 Ask, the Bible said. 35:59 Prayer brings our life into harmony with God. 36:02 Isn't that wonderful? 36:04 Oh, Philippians talks about that, 36:06 Philippians 2:13. 36:08 Philippians 2:13, the Bible says, 36:11 "To will and to do of His good," what, "pleasure." 36:16 See how it all adds up? You say, "Well, we're talking." 36:18 Scripture is backing everything up here. 36:20 We know that. Who told us? 36:23 Who told us that we can approach God 36:25 in His name? 36:26 Does somebody tell us in the Word? 36:29 Well, look up at John 14:9 through 14. 36:32 John chapter 14. 36:34 Now I'm only going to try to focus on verses 13 and 14 36:37 because of our time. 36:39 John 14, are we still there? Verses 9 through 14. 36:44 Focus on 13 and 14 with me. 36:47 The Bible says, John 14:13 and 14, 36:50 "For whatsoever ye shall ask in My," what, 36:53 "name, that will I do," that's big, 36:56 "that the Father may be glorified in the Son." 36:58 But notice that, people say, 36:59 "Well, whatever I ask in the name, it's gonna be so." 37:00 But notice how it follows up. What follows up after that? 37:04 "That the Father may be glorified in the Son." 37:08 Whatever you ask in My name, what, 37:10 that the Father is glorified, not you, not me. 37:13 But notice 14, "Ye shall ask," I circled this, 37:17 "anything in My name, I will do it." 37:21 I love it. I said, "This is great. 37:23 If we ask anything," that's big. 37:25 What, it must mean something. 37:27 There must be more to it than anything 37:28 because sometime we ask foolish things. 37:32 What does it mean anything? Let's just go... 37:34 Since we're there, we've got to read verse 15. 37:37 Right, Jesus was talking right there, 37:38 verse 15 as you well know in John 14:15. 37:41 Jesus said, "If you," what? 37:44 "If you love Me, keep My commandments." 37:46 Notice this. 37:48 "If you love Me," notice this, 37:49 "you will keep My commandments," 37:52 because that is the result of love. 37:54 Does that make sense? 37:56 Keep My commandments, the commandments of Jesus, 37:58 the commandments of God the Father. 38:01 If you love Me, as disciples would cooperate 38:03 then with heaven. 38:05 If you and I will cooperate with heaven, 38:08 this is big, God's going to do great things. 38:11 As we give the gospel to the world, 38:13 which is our commission, 38:15 giving the three angels' message, what, to the world. 38:18 This is what God said to do, right? 38:20 Go and teach it, preach it to the world, 38:22 and then the end's going to come. 38:25 God said He would supply our every need. 38:28 So in these passages, it's more than selfish 38:30 that He's talking about. 38:31 It's not about self at all. 38:33 He's telling disciples, 38:34 "You're getting ready to go into a hornet's nest." 38:37 Somebody not with me. 38:38 Is this really sad? Think about it. 38:40 Going into a hornet's nest, 38:41 when you're a disciple of Christ 38:43 and you want to accept Jesus, and you want the truth, 38:45 and you want to love the truth, you want to live the truth, 38:48 you want to walk the truth, 38:49 you want to make heaven your home. 38:51 You're going to step into a hornet's nest 38:52 that you can't get out of 38:54 unless by the power of the Spirit of God. 38:56 This is what it's all about. 38:59 And so Jesus was telling the disciples, 39:01 "You're getting right to step in this mess here 39:03 you can't get out of on your own. 39:05 But let Me tell you, 39:06 go in to get the gospel to the world. 39:08 Your motives are right, your heart is right. 39:10 I will supply your every need." 39:12 Praise God for that. 39:14 Man, should petition the Father in the name of Jesus. 39:20 Of course, there's several instances in the Bible, 39:21 you know, where they didn't always 39:23 address the Father first 39:24 that came in the name of Jesus. 39:27 Acts 7:59 talks about it, 39:29 and Revelation 22:20 talks about it. 39:31 We don't have time to go into it. 39:33 This one was at the stoning of Steven, you remember? 39:37 Steven went to Jesus right quick, 39:39 he went right quick, you can do that. 39:41 The Bible says, "If we ask anything in His name," what, 39:44 John 14:14, "I will do it." 39:48 So what petitions might we expect God, 39:51 then, to answer 39:52 'cause it said, "Come to Him and He's gonna do it." 39:56 The Bible gave some answers in 1 John chapter 5, 39:59 1 John chapter 5, notice with me here, 40:01 verses 14 and 15. 40:04 1 John 5:14 and 15, 40:08 and notice what the Bible says, 40:10 "This is the confidence," I like that word. 40:13 Anybody getting confidence now, not in man, not on the flesh, 40:17 but I got confidence in God now. 40:18 Notice, that we have... 40:21 You know what, confidence here 40:22 has an interesting word here in the Greek. 40:26 It means bluntness. 40:30 It means with publicity, confidence. 40:34 It means assurance. 40:37 It means pouring forth something. 40:39 We can have confidence and assurance in God, 40:42 isn't that right, "That we have... 40:44 Notice, "We have in Him that 40:46 if we ask anything according to His will," 40:49 here you go, we've got to ask according to, what, 40:51 "His will." 40:53 He does what, "He hears us," verse 15, 40:56 "And if we know that He hears us..." 40:58 Do you notice the obedience? You notice the question? 41:01 "And if you know He hears," 41:03 so He hears, do you believe He hears? 41:05 Yes, I believe He hears. 41:06 Well, then we're gonna have it, "Whatsoever we ask. 41:09 We know we have the petitions that we desired of Him." 41:13 What is God assuring us here? 41:16 To me, He's assuring us something here, 41:18 that we may come to Him in full confidence, 41:21 full assurance, 41:22 He's pouring out good things for us in faith, 41:26 knowing that we will have everything 41:28 that we need in this life and for our eternal good. 41:32 Isn't that wonderful? 41:33 For, what, for our eternal good, 41:35 He's going to give us. 41:37 Why? Does God know to begin with? 41:40 Sure, Matthew 6:18... 41:43 Matthew 6:8 says, 41:45 "For your Father knoweth what things you have need of," 41:49 good, "before you ask Him." 41:53 See, this is the good news. 41:55 You're not telling, you're not surprising Him. 41:57 He already knows what you have need of, 41:59 and He's willing to hear and to answer. 42:01 And you know what, this includes... 42:03 Come on, let's open it up just a little bit. 42:06 Let's open, let's get down to the nitty-gritty. 42:08 This is more than just getting down to, well, we have needs, 42:11 you know, physical needs and so on needs. 42:15 This right here is talking about spiritual needs. 42:17 Somebody with me? 42:19 Well, certainly spiritual needs here 42:21 that He's talking about, 42:23 which is what, 42:24 you can confidence and assurance 42:26 that you will have forgiveness of sin. 42:29 Isn't that beautiful? 42:31 The conditions are simple here. 42:33 The conditions here are reasonable. 42:36 He just says, "Ask and come to Him." 42:39 We don't have to do any penance. 42:41 Somebody with me? 42:42 I don't have to crawl up a bunch of steps 42:44 and beat my head on every step. 42:45 I don't have to have something like whip 42:47 and beat my back until I've laid it open 42:48 till the blood flows down. 42:50 I don't have to go to any man 42:51 to do this or do that or anything. 42:53 I go directly to Jesus, right, to God through Jesus Christ, 42:56 my Lord and my Savior. 42:58 Oh boy! 43:00 I don't have to do all these things to say, 43:03 "Can I have forgiveness now if I do all these things?" 43:06 You know what the Bible said? 43:08 Proverbs 28:13, Proverbs 28:13, 43:11 the Bible says, "He that confesses," and what, 43:15 "forsaketh his sins..." 43:17 It didn't say just confess and get up and go? 43:19 It said, "Confess and forsake," Proverbs 28:13, 43:22 "his sin, he shall have," what, "mercy." 43:25 God said, "I'm going to give you mercy. 43:27 If you confess and you forsake, I will have mercy." 43:29 That settles it, doors shut, there's a comma, 43:32 let's just end it up, let's put it in the closet, 43:33 it's over with. 43:35 I have that forgiveness. 43:36 We've confessed, He's faithful, and He's what? 43:38 He's just, 1 John 1:9, 43:40 "To forgive me of my sins 43:41 and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness." 43:44 Not a little dab, not a whole bunch left in there 43:46 but to cleanse me from all unrighteousness, 43:49 man, to set me new, set me on a different plan, 43:52 my minds higher than it ever has been, right? 43:55 I'm feeling higher, I'm floating almost 43:57 as it were in this power of the spirit of the living God 44:00 because He's taken this heavy-duty weight 44:02 off of my shoulders. 44:04 We need to understand 44:05 what God is saying to us in His Word. 44:08 Why? 44:10 Because I know this for sure, 44:11 because the Bible is talking to me, 44:12 "There's nothing that can separate us 44:14 from the love of God." 44:15 There's nobody. You know what, you can... 44:16 Whoo! 44:18 You can let someone separate you from God, 44:19 you can let someone to rob you of your Christian experience, 44:22 you can let somebody come in and rob you. 44:25 Well, you don't want to go to church anymore. 44:27 You can let somebody steal your salvation. 44:29 Don't let them do it. 44:31 You're in the hand of God, you stay in there. 44:33 If somebody's gonna have to go, 44:34 it's gonna have to be the other bird. 44:36 You know what I'm talking about? 44:38 God said, "I'm gonna have mercy." 44:39 Nothing can separate us, what is that, Romans 8:35, 44:43 "Nothing can separate us from the love of," what, 44:45 "of God." 44:46 I thank and praise Him for that. 44:47 Oh, hallelujah, praise God. 44:49 Question four, how should our prayers be offered? 44:51 We just have 10 minutes. Somebody stay with me. 44:53 If you get sleepy, stand up. 44:55 If you don't want to stand up, you may want to shout. 44:56 You get us all going. 44:58 How should our prayers be offered? 45:01 Philippians 4:6. 45:04 This is what the Bible says about it, 45:05 not words making up something. 45:06 This is what God has said. 45:08 It said, "Be careful for," what, 45:10 "for nothing, but in everything 45:12 by prayer and supplication with some," what, 45:15 "thanksgiving," oh, do what, 45:18 "let your request good be made known to God." 45:21 That's what the Bible said right here. 45:24 Interesting. "Be careful for nothing. 45:26 Prayer and supplication and thanksgiving." 45:30 You can come boldly to the throne 45:31 because of who He is. 45:33 I've done nothing. 45:34 I can't come boldly to the throne. 45:37 I can only come because of Jesus Christ, right, 45:39 I come boldly to the throne of God 45:43 knowing that He's going to hear 45:44 and He's going to make my request known. 45:46 Do you realize this? 45:47 We talk a lot of about President Lincoln. 45:49 You know, there's a lot of history 45:50 about President Lincoln. 45:52 And just a few words on that, 45:53 this was just before the Battle of Gettysburg. 45:58 Now this was a great battle. We know that. 46:00 It was a decisive battle that was going to take place 46:03 the next day in the Civil War. 46:05 There was a lot leaning on this battle. 46:09 And it's very, very interesting because the generals came up 46:11 and the leaders came up 46:13 and the platoon sergeants came up. 46:14 And here is Lincoln 46:15 just sitting there in his little tent, 46:17 as it were, there 46:18 and he had a clam look on his face. 46:21 He had some peace and serenity, 46:23 peace that passes all understanding. 46:25 And the generals couldn't understand it, 46:27 thought of war and death 46:28 and what would happen 46:29 if they lost the war on the moral, 46:32 and they look to him and said, "What is it, 46:34 what is it that you have? 46:36 What has happened?" 46:39 He said, Lincoln's reply, 46:40 he just looked at each one of the leaders 46:42 and he said, "You know, I spent the night in prayer." 46:47 Somebody, listen up. 46:49 "I spent the night in prayer, 46:51 and the Lord gave me an assurance 46:54 that our cause would triumph 46:56 and the nation would be preserved." 46:59 Whoo! 47:01 That's history in the history books. 47:04 God cares about individuals, He cares about nations, 47:07 He cares about the outcome 47:09 of what's going on in this world. 47:11 And if we had praying leaders in the church 47:15 instead of talkers and windbags, 47:19 whatever they are, 47:22 and that's all that a preacher is 47:23 or an evangelist is unless he can back it up 47:25 with the Word of God, just an air bag. 47:27 You know what I'm talking. 47:28 I'm not trying to break anybody down. 47:29 I'm just trying to tell you. 47:31 We just need to spend all night in prayer, 47:32 and when you do that and God's will, 47:34 you are going to hear, and you're going to answer, 47:35 and God said, "You will triumph." 47:38 Praise God for that. 47:39 I tell you, to me, that's just exciting 47:41 to know how much God cares. 47:43 He does care for us as His people, 47:45 knowing that we serve, 47:48 you know, hearing God that hears our prayers 47:51 and a God that answers our prayers. 47:53 That means there's nothing, 47:55 nothing is too hard for our God. 47:58 So this is what we say over and over. 47:59 There's nothing, remember, too hard, 48:01 no matter what you've been through, 48:02 what you're about to go through, 48:04 or you think there's... 48:05 That's all she wrote, it's not. It can be only the beginning. 48:08 Think about it. 48:09 Instead of coming to the end of life, 48:11 it could be only the beginning 48:12 how God can work in a marvelous, wonderful way. 48:15 You remember the one who fed the great multitude? 48:18 He had five loaves, and what, two little fishes. 48:22 Tell me our God's not able. He can do what He wants to do. 48:26 And sometime we ask things like, you know... 48:30 He's asked, "Kenny, let down your net." 48:32 Your answer is right there. Let it down. 48:35 And by faith, we let our net down, 48:36 then what, the net breaks. 48:38 You remember all the fishes that came in there. 48:39 "There are no fish, we fished all night. 48:41 We'll starve to death. Can't you hear? 48:43 Can't go home. 48:44 The wife is gonna give me decants." 48:46 Somebody's not with me. 48:48 Go home with empty nets, not gonna get the job done, 48:50 not gonna feed the kids. 48:51 Jeez, all you got to do is let the net down. 48:53 As they're talking over, 48:54 there's gonna be food, broke the net. 48:56 The blessings are right there just for our... 48:59 By reaching out in faith and grabbing those answers. 49:03 Nothing's too hard for our God. 49:08 God who fed Israel, 49:11 you remember, in the wilderness! 49:13 He fed them with that wonderful angel food. 49:15 He fed them with that manna from heaven. 49:18 The same one that fed them 49:19 over and over and over and over and over 49:21 still lives and reigns today. 49:23 The same God that you read these miracles 49:26 and you praise His name and say, "Oh, how wonderful. 49:29 How can He just feed all these millions? 49:31 How can He water them every day? 49:33 How can He take care of them every day?" 49:35 But you serve the same God today. 49:37 Remember that, He still sits on the throne. 49:40 He guides and He helps to bless His children. 49:44 So quickly, why are some of our prayers 49:45 not answered then? 49:47 James 4:3 said, 49:49 "You ask and receive not because you ask amiss 49:52 that you may consume it upon your lust." 49:55 We ask for things selfishly sometimes, 49:57 amiss, for our own pleasure. 50:00 Prayer implies that we're willing to seek God, 50:02 listen, for what God is willing to give us. 50:05 Did you get it? 50:08 Sometimes we receive not answer to prayer 50:10 because, notice, there's two major points here 50:12 we don't want to miss here, 50:14 because, what, 50:16 because of the nature of the request. 50:20 Remember, we don't get them, answer, 50:21 because of the nature of request. 50:23 It could be, what, selfish, self-centered, 50:25 not God's will at all, and the Spirit of the prayer. 50:29 That means if prayer that is accompanied 50:31 by the Holy Spirit of the living God 50:33 where there's power 50:35 that reaches to the very throne room of God. 50:37 We're careful that we don't we ask amiss. 50:41 What is that word amiss? It simply means wrongly. 50:44 Be sure that we don't ask wrongly. 50:46 That's kind of interesting. 50:51 We need to be willing to live, what, 50:54 with God's will, not our will. 50:56 Remember, Jesus prayed it, Matthew chapter 26? 50:59 Three different times. 51:00 You remember, verse 39, 42, and 44. 51:04 Matthew 26:39, 42, and 44, 51:08 when Jesus prayed, Jesus prayed, 51:10 "Not My will," but what, "but Thine be done." 51:13 Not on our own lust, not praying about our personal, 51:18 you know, gratification. 51:20 Number seven, under what condition 51:21 is the Lord unable to answer prayer? 51:24 We want to get this in the last three minutes 51:25 or so we have. 51:27 God can't answer our prayer. 51:29 Let's get it through our heads today. 51:30 You may think God's answering your prayer. 51:32 But the Bible says differently. God cannot answer our prayer. 51:35 In Psalms 66:18, "If I regard," what, 51:40 "iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." 51:43 If I do, what, 51:45 if I regard iniquity in my heart, 51:47 God will not hear me. 51:48 The only way prayer can be acceptable to God 51:51 is if we are willing to forsake all known sin. 51:55 We must be holy and acceptable to God, 51:59 Romans 12:1. 52:00 Isn't that what it says? 52:01 Holy and acceptable to God, which is a reasonable service. 52:03 Then he says on condition, 52:05 "If you're willing to do this and forsake your sins, 52:07 I'm willing to meet that need, 52:08 I'm willing to answer that prayer." 52:10 Praise God! Proverbs 28:9. 52:13 Notice this. 52:15 And there's many millions in the world today, 52:17 it says this Proverbs 28:9, 52:19 "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, 52:22 even his prayer is an abomination." 52:26 Turn away your ear from hearing the law. 52:27 In other words, "I don't want to hear 52:28 what's right and wrong. 52:30 I don't want to hear 52:31 because then I'll be required to do it." 52:32 No, no. 52:34 God said, "Your prayer is gonna be abomination." 52:36 This verse simply addresses a person 52:38 who's not willing to make the divine law of God, 52:42 notice this, law of God, His example. 52:46 He's not willing to. 52:48 Well, some will say, "I'm willing to do part of it. 52:50 I think maybe I'm willing to serve God, 52:53 but I want to do it my own way. 52:55 I'm willing to serve God, but I'm only going to serve, 52:58 you know, just a few of the commandments, 52:59 whatever it might be." 53:01 No, he can't do that. 53:02 Then there's others, 53:04 whole bunch of them that says no. 53:05 There's a group that says, "No, 53:06 we had to believe that the moral law of God 53:08 is the expressed will of God for His people." 53:13 I could read Romans 8:3 and 4, and John 15:10, and John 14:15. 53:18 What does it mean 53:20 his prayer shall be an abomination? 53:21 Quickly, what it says first? Sin separates us from God. 53:24 We got to get this in before we close. 53:25 Sin does what? Separates us from God. 53:28 Isaiah 59:1 and 2 said, verse 2, 53:30 "Your iniquities have separated between you and your God, 53:34 your sins," notice this, 53:35 "God has hid His face that He will not hear." 53:40 God cannot accept the service of any person 53:43 who deliberately turns away from His law. 53:46 Well, on the other hand, God has mercy 53:48 on those who do not know, right? 53:51 Remember, in times of what? 53:52 Acts 17: 30, 53:53 "In times of ignorance, He winks at..." 53:55 what is He talking about? 53:56 "In times of not knowing is what ignorance is," 53:57 says here. 53:59 He winked at means 54:00 He does not put it to our account 54:01 because we did not know. 54:03 Read Romans 5:13, Romans 4:15, 54:06 "Where no law is, there is no transgression." 54:09 Man, we need to be ready for the coming of Jesus, 54:11 there's no doubt about it. 54:13 Our last few seconds, 54:14 and we just really need to be ready 54:15 'cause Jesus is coming. 54:17 He wants to answer the prayers 54:18 of the mothers for the children. 54:20 He wants to answer the prayer for your life and my life. 54:21 This sin will go and that we can be like Him. 54:24 I want to be ready for that. 54:26 I want to understand this experience 54:27 that Psalms 119:164 simply says, 54:31 "Seven times a day do I praise Thee 54:33 because of Thy righteous judgment." 54:35 Oh, my brothers and sisters, 54:37 God is about to answer a prayer for you. 54:40 Stay in there. 54:42 God's going to do great things, stay in there. 54:44 We have a quick prayer, and then we'll close. 54:45 Let's pray. 54:47 Father in heaven, thank You for Your Word, 54:48 thank You for Your love and Your mercy 54:50 and longsuffering. 54:51 Grant us that peace and that love of Jesus. 54:52 In His name we pray and for His sake, amen. 54:55 We look forward to seeing you next time. 54:58 Hello, friends, and welcome back. 55:01 Who knew that the Bible is so full of guidance 55:03 on the topic of prayer? 55:05 Prayers That Are Answered 55:07 was the title of our study today. 55:09 And I don't know about you. 55:11 But I know that I want to live in such a way 55:14 that God will be able to answer my prayers. 55:18 I don't feel that I have the ability 55:20 not the desire to live in this world 55:22 without His watch and care over my life. 55:26 And knowing that He delights in our being thankful 55:28 for all that He has done 55:30 and that He is about to do in our lives 55:33 is such an important part 55:35 of a vital prayer life with Him. 55:38 Many of us fail 55:39 when it comes to having faith in our prayers. 55:42 Scriptures such as Mark 11:24 55:45 reminds us that what things so ever you desire, 55:49 when you pray, believe that you receive them 55:52 and ye shall have them. 55:54 Amen. 55:56 Belief or faith in what we have petitioned 55:59 in the will of God 56:00 is a necessary ingredient in our hearts 56:03 as we lift up our petitions to the throne room of heaven. 56:07 And wouldn't you agree 56:09 that we need to allow the Holy Spirit 56:12 to dwell in our hearts, 56:14 thus giving us the mind of God, the mind of Christ, 56:18 having His mind, His thoughts, and His teachings 56:22 will give us directions as we pray. 56:25 I'm certain that you may wish to order this message 56:28 for your study library 56:30 or to use to help others learn more about prayer. 56:33 So as always, 56:34 we are going to make prayers that are answered 56:37 available to you 56:38 for a love gift of just $8 or more. 56:41 And when you order this message, 56:43 we will gladly send you one of these Bible study guides 56:47 entitled "Sharing God's Love Makes You Happier, 56:50 What the Bible Says" for free. 56:53 And should you decide that you would like all 25 messages 56:57 that are in this series, 56:59 we will include such topics such as Your day in court, 57:03 How you can become a new person, 57:05 What happens to man after death and so on, 57:08 many others, 57:10 all 25 studies can be yours 57:12 for a love gift of just $175 or more. 57:16 And then we will include 57:18 five of these Bible study guides 57:20 as your gift for free. 57:22 Simply call us here, 57:23 Behold the Lamb Ministries in the United States, 57:26 central time at 618-942-5044 57:31 or you may write to Behold the Lamb Ministries, 57:34 PO Box 2030, Herrin, Illinois, 62948. 57:38 You may email your order to 57:40 BeholdTheLambMinistries @yahoo.com. 57:44 Visit us on our website at BeholdTheLambMinistries.com. 57:49 My dear friends, until next time, 57:51 may our precious Lord 57:53 continue to richly bless you and yours. |
Revised 2019-05-10