Participants: Shelley Quinn
Series Code: PHP
Program Code: PHP000013
00:01 Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn.
00:02 Did you know that intercessory prayer is the key that unlocks 00:08 the blessings of God for those who either won't, 00:12 or can't pray for themselves? 00:14 Please join us on Pressing into His Presence 00:17 today to learn more. 00:40 Hello, welcome to Pressing into His Presence. 00:43 In this series we are using a companion book, this book, 00:47 also titled Pressing into His Presence. 00:50 And this is based on a teaching that the Lord gave me. 00:56 It's actually how He led me into a more intimate 01:01 prayer relationship with Him. 01:03 We are working our way through a pattern I call the praise 01:07 prayer, which is an acronym for various prayer segments. 01:11 The P is for praise, which is a way to start out our prayer 01:15 with increased faith. 01:17 The R is for repentance, so that we may come into 01:22 His presence with clean hands, and a clear conscience. 01:26 The A is for affirmation, which teaches us to pray 01:30 God's promises back to Him, and it releases the transforming 01:35 power of the word in our lives. 01:37 Now last week we began on the I, which stands for 01:42 intercessory prayer. 01:43 And today we will continue on the topic of intercession. 01:47 If you're following along in your book, 01:49 today we're beginning on page 111. 01:52 You know, the apparent paradox of prayer is this: Christ tells 01:59 us that God knows what we needed in advance of our asking, 02:03 yet He still instructs us to ask. 02:06 This is one of those higher thoughts and ways of our Lord. 02:10 It is, on the surface, perplexing. 02:14 Jesus said in Matthew 7:7-11, 02:34 And He goes on and says: 02:57 James 4:2 says, You do not have because you do not ask. 03:03 So if God knows what we need before we ask, 03:08 why should we ask? 03:09 I think this is the answer. 03:13 It is God's will that the work He does on earth, 03:17 through His Holy Spirit, is in direct response to the 03:22 prayers of His people. 03:24 Prayer is part of heaven's plan to bring His blessings to earth. 03:30 God does not force His gifts upon us. 03:34 Infinite wisdom knew that love and loyalty could not be 03:39 coerced, so He created us as agents of free will, 03:43 and He instructs us to choose His gifts through 03:47 the channel of prayer. 03:48 And to prevent the possible interference with the freedom 03:53 of choice that He bestowed upon us, our all loving, all holy, 03:59 all powerful God waits on us to ask. 04:03 It is as if God had placed handcuffs of love upon Himself, 04:09 and He's waiting for our permission to act. 04:14 You may have someone you love who refuses to pray. 04:18 Many are in this mindset. 04:20 But your intercession gives God what you pray for them. 04:27 This gives God permission to act in their life. 04:31 Intercessory prayer is the key that unlocks the restraints that 04:37 God has placed upon His own hands to move. 04:40 Let me share the story of my sister Sunny. 04:43 And I am sharing by her permission. 04:46 She was introduced to Christ as a child, but our home was 04:51 extremely dysfunctional. 04:52 Life was not kind to her. 04:54 And to numb her pain she became a hard-core 04:58 addict for many years. 05:00 I prayed earnestly, begging God for year upon year. 05:07 I would beg that God would put His hand 05:10 of protection over Sunny. 05:12 And I asked Him to send Christian workers 05:15 across her path, even angels unaware, 05:18 as the Bible calls them, if that's what it would take. 05:21 And I pleaded three specific promises over her life. 05:26 And I'd like for us to take a look at those promises now. 05:30 You might want to jot these down because these are powerful 05:35 to pray over your children. 05:36 First is Psalm 129:4 which says: 05:54 Oh, just think about that. 05:56 God will cut the cords that bind us. 05:59 And as you pray that for someone else, 06:02 you're giving God permission. 06:04 The second scripture is Acts 26:18. 06:10 Here Christ was sending Paul. He said: 06:35 And then the third promise I took from 06:37 Romans 8:13, which says: 06:51 So here's how I combined those promises to pray for my sister. 06:59 I said, Oh Lord, cut her free from the cord of the 07:02 wicked that binds her. 07:04 And I prayed, Father, please open her eyes. 07:07 Turn her from darkness to light. 07:10 Turn her from the power of Satan to You, Father, that she might 07:14 receive forgiveness of sins, and an inheritance among those 07:19 who are sanctified by faith in Christ, 07:23 And then I said, Father please pour out Your 07:25 Holy Spirit on her, and by His power, help her to put to death 07:31 the misdeeds of her flesh. 07:33 And, you know, I prayed this for fifteen years. 07:37 I agonized over Sunny in prayer. 07:40 And finally God got her attention. 07:44 And the rest of her story unfolds like the parable of 07:49 the prodigal son that's found in Luke 15:18-23. 07:55 My sister returned to the Lord. 07:59 She buried her head into His bosom in deep repentance. 08:04 She confessed she was undeserving of His love. 08:08 But God was waiting for her. 08:11 He gave her His kiss of love. 08:14 He placed the robe of Christ's righteousness around her. 08:18 He put His signet ring of His promises on her finger. 08:23 And He fitted her feet with sandals, to press forward 08:27 on His path of life. 08:29 And the angels in heaven rejoiced. 08:33 You know, my sister Sunny has been dining from the 08:36 Lord's table ever since. 08:37 Sunny asked to be filled with the Spirit. 08:41 And by His power she was instantly, instantly healed 08:47 of her destructive addiction. 08:49 She has remained free since 1987. 08:54 And she has an intimate relationship with the Lord. 08:57 Now I have to tell you, I prayed for fifteen years, 09:01 but when she finally gave God the opportunity, 09:05 He was working all that time with her, 09:07 and then she turned to Him. 09:09 And now she is a walking memorial to God's promise 09:13 found in John 8:36 that says: Therefore if the Son makes you 09:20 free, you shall be free indeed. Glory to God! 09:25 You know, you may have heard the testimony of someone 09:33 who says something like this: Thank God for a praying mother. 09:42 Her prayers saved me. 09:43 Now I understand the sentiment, but I want to stress our prayers 09:48 don't save anyone. 09:50 That's God's job, and He is very good at it. 09:53 When loved ones are infected by sin, only the love of God, 09:58 and the blood of Jesus can cure their condition. 10:03 The Lord desires for them to receive healing, 10:06 but it is their choice to turn toward Him. 10:10 I say this just simply to relieve you of any burden of 10:14 guilt that you might feel when someone for whom you're praying 10:17 does not turn to the Lord to be healed. 10:20 God doesn't force His will upon them, and neither can we. 10:25 However, our prayers do have a significant impact as they give 10:30 God permission to work in the life of someone who is 10:33 rejecting His goodness. 10:36 After all these years of walking free, Sunny still calls me 10:41 periodically to give thanks for my prayers. 10:44 She knows they made a difference. 10:47 All prayer is a request, including 10:51 affirmations from scriptures. 10:53 We do not put forth demands on God to fulfill His promises. 10:58 Often our human sympathies desire to see immediate temporal 11:03 relief for suffering souls, without consideration 11:07 of the eternal outcome. 11:09 So don't become impatient. 11:11 When the Lord's answer to prayer is delayed, or perhaps it's no, 11:17 standing on the foundation of trust in His perfect love, 11:22 in His infinite wisdom, is where we must take our stand. 11:27 Suffering can sometimes serve as a catalyst that turns people 11:31 to God, or even strengthens their endurance. 11:34 God longs to bless man. 11:37 He sees the end from the beginning; 11:39 we see only partially. 11:42 In 1997 I learned a very valuable lesson about asking 11:49 for God's will when praying. 11:52 What happened; Debbie, a friend from my previous church home, 11:55 called me and she was in a panic. 11:57 And she said, Lisa, who was her sister, she said, Oh, Shelley, 12:01 Lisa's in the hospital. 12:02 She's dying! Please come and pray for her healing. 12:05 Well, Lisa was Debbie's baby sister. 12:08 She was only 32 years old, and she was more like a daughter 12:12 to Debbie than a sister. 12:14 So I dressed hurriedly, and I drove 200 miles to the hospital. 12:19 And, boy, the entire way, for over three hours, I was praying 12:23 affirmations from scripture. The whole way. 12:26 And armed with the sword of the Spirit, I stepped from the 12:30 hospital elevator, and I rushed to her room. 12:34 And I just could sense the presence of God with me. 12:40 But as I walked in Lisa was having difficulty breathing. 12:45 And her mouth formed a slight smile, 12:50 and she tried to mouth a hello when I leaned down 12:53 to kiss her forehead. 12:54 She whispered a greeting. 12:56 And after a few pleasantries I was ready to release the 13:00 power of God's promises in prayer, 13:02 fully expecting a healing. 13:04 Well, God had proven to me in the past that He still is 13:10 in the miracle working business. 13:12 I had seen Him raise the sick from their beds 13:15 in answer to prayer before. 13:16 But unexpectedly, the Lord stopped me. 13:21 And I was impressed that He had a private message that first 13:25 must be delivered to Debbie. 13:27 There was no still small voice. 13:29 I just had that impression. 13:31 So I hesitantly said to my friend Debbie, God has something 13:35 he wants to tell you before we pray for Lisa. 13:38 And we stepped outside the hospital room. 13:41 Well Debbie's tear filled eyes widened with concern as she 13:46 asked, What is it? 13:47 And I thought, Please Lord, what do you want me to say? 13:52 I had no idea. There was no still small voice this time. 13:58 I just opened my mouth, and surprising 14:01 words came flowing out. 14:02 I said, Debbie, God wants you to know that He loves Lisa 14:08 even more than you do. 14:09 And He will do what is best for her eternal benefit. 14:15 If there's any chance that she would turn her back on Him 14:19 again should He heal her, He wants you to understand 14:23 that He loves her too much to heal her now, 14:26 and lose her for eternity. 14:28 Debbie, God wants you to trust His heart. 14:33 You see, Lisa had spent her youth in wild partying, 14:39 and revelry. And when she was first diagnosed with cancer, 14:43 she surrendered to the Lord's love. 14:45 Each time the church doors opened she was there. 14:48 Her angelic voice could be heard from the choir loft, 14:52 and she became active in youth ministries. 14:55 And the whole church celebrated when her cancer 14:58 went into remission. 14:59 And Lisa got married. 15:01 Tragically though, it wasn't long after that that she just 15:06 seemed to completely reject God. 15:08 She quit coming to church. 15:10 She just seemed to... God was crowded out her life. 15:13 But three years later the cancer made a comeback, 15:17 and Lisa returned to the Lord wholeheartedly. 15:21 As I was standing there in the hospital hallway with Debbie, 15:27 the words from Ezekiel 18:21-32 came to my remembrance. 15:32 And there's where God warns that when the righteous turn away 15:36 from Him, they will suffer death, spiritual death. 15:40 But when the wicked forsake their wicked ways, 15:44 and turn toward Him, He says that God will 15:48 preserve their life. 15:50 I believe He's meaning eternal life. 15:52 I was absolutely sure that the Holy Spirit had spoken through 15:57 me to Debbie. And grasping Debbie's hand, I prayed, 16:02 Oh Lord, please, please, we ask that Lisa would not die one day 16:09 sooner than Your perfect will, and we pray Father, 16:12 that she will not live one day longer than Your perfect will. 16:17 I prayed, We trust Your gracious mercy. 16:21 We trust Your plan for her life. 16:24 So then, returning to her bedside, I pleaded all of God's 16:30 promises for healing in prayer. 16:33 My responsibility was to pray according to the Word 16:37 and His will. My faith was in God's power, mercy, goodness, 16:42 and infinite wisdom. 16:44 The outcome was in His hands. 16:47 You know, Psalm 116:15 says this: Precious in the sight 16:57 of the Lord is the death of His saints. 17:00 Several nights later Debbie phoned, actually Lisa phoned 17:08 I should say. Debbie at home. 17:09 It was during the middle of the night, and in a raspy, 17:13 but excited voice... And when I say raspy, I could barely 17:16 understand her. But she shared how God had spoken with her 17:21 assuring her of salvation, and eventual perfect healing. 17:25 She told Debbie to quit worrying about her; 17:28 that she was in God's hands. 17:30 Lisa died that night. 17:32 Debbie took Lisa's death very hard. 17:36 And a year later though, she called to thank me for sharing 17:39 words, what she said, Words straight from the throne of God. 17:45 On that day as we stood outside that hospital room, 17:49 the words the Holy Spirit had prompted me to share kept Debbie 17:53 from sinking too low. 17:55 And according to His promise in Psalm 33, God proved to be 18:01 the lifter of her head. 18:04 He had cupped His loving hand under her chin, 18:08 and kept her looking up to Him. 18:11 You know, years later, in September of 2008, I had an even 18:20 greater test of trusting God. 18:22 While my husband and I were traveling on ministry business, 18:27 my precious J. D., my precious husband, had a recurring episode 18:31 of a mysterious illness which arose. 18:33 Admitted to the hospital through the emergency room, 18:37 he required immediate surgery. 18:39 And in the days following, the infectious disease specialist 18:44 frequently reminded us of the life threatening nature 18:48 of my husband's condition. 18:49 We were perfectly aware because it had nearly taken his life 18:54 twice in the past. 18:55 And one day on the phone I heard J. D. say, he's talking with his 19:01 brother on the phone, and he said, I've never been closer 19:05 to the Lord. If it's my time to go, I'm ready. 19:10 I want you to know his words sent a chill down my spine, 19:16 and I thought, He might be ready, but I'm certainly 19:20 not ready! And I didn't want him to give up. 19:23 But striving to remain strong, I efficiently tended to the tasks 19:28 at hand, in an almost robotic action, 19:33 certainly with numbed emotion. 19:35 For those first eight days I sat next to his hospital bed praying 19:41 constantly, in little spiritual gasps, claiming Bible promises 19:46 for his healing, but I, for some reason I just dare not press 19:52 into God's presence. 19:54 Really it was because each time that I tried, I could feel like 19:59 it was like I had this retaining wall around my emotions. 20:02 And when I started to press into God's presence, it was like the 20:07 retaining wall was about to give way. 20:09 And I had to maintain my composure for J. D.'s benefit. 20:13 One dear friend said to me over the phone, Oh, well J. D. is too 20:18 special, and he's doing too great a work for the Lord. 20:21 Don't you worry about him. 20:23 God's not through with him yet. 20:25 He's not going to let him die, so have faith. 20:28 Don't worry. Well, of course, well meaning Saints chimed 20:34 in with the same refrain. 20:36 It seemed like, day by day, and I wasn't as sure at all 20:39 that they were right. 20:40 Because I had recently been ministering to a Pastor's wife 20:43 whose husband had died, seemingly 20:47 much too early in life. 20:48 He was much younger than J. D., and he had been doing 20:52 a great work for the Lord, but he was gone. 20:55 I couldn't picture life without J. D., 21:00 although I morbidly tried. 21:02 I wanted my husband's perfect healing to take place here and 21:08 now, not later in heaven. 21:10 It's ironic when I think about it, because on the day that 21:14 J. D. became ill I had been delivering a series on faith 21:18 at the church where I was speaking, and now I was 21:22 questioning my own. 21:24 Weighing this in my mind, I concluded that the concern 21:29 over the possible death of a loved one is a natural 21:34 protective instinct. 21:36 It's not a lack of faith. 21:38 And late one night, alone in my hotel room, I finally pressed in 21:44 to the presence of God, and the dam broke. 21:48 I was flooded emotionally, and I wept openly. 21:52 I pleaded for J. D.'s life. 21:54 And this went on for some time, and then a sudden calm 22:00 came over me and I said, Father, I trust You. 22:05 I can't see the end from the beginning like You do. 22:08 If it is Your perfect will that he should die now, 22:12 I know it is for his eternal benefit. 22:16 If there's any chance that something could interrupt his 22:20 relationship with You, if You raise him up, if later in life 22:24 he could walk away from you, I plead that You 22:27 would take him now. 22:28 If the result of death is not Your perfect will, than I pray 22:32 in Jesus' name that You will restore health unto him. 22:36 And then I said, Thank You, Lord. 22:40 You see spending eternity with J. D. was more important than 22:44 having a few extra years together here on earth. 22:46 And I cannot tell you how relieved I was. 22:52 Giving God permission to be God somehow 22:57 settled me in a special way. 22:59 It helped me return my focus to Him, 23:03 trusting in His plan for our lives. 23:06 And it brought the perfect peace that He promises in 23:10 Isaiah 26:3, where He says: 23:21 And then again in Philippians 7, Paul promises that: 23:35 That night perfect peace, that perfect peace which God promises 23:43 flowed over my raw emotions like a warm soothing balm. 23:47 I knew God was in charge, and no matter what happened, 23:52 I could trust Him. 23:53 He would always be with me. 23:55 He exchanged His strength for my weakness, 23:58 and He carried me in His everlasting arms for the next 24:02 six months, until we passed through the flames of this fiery 24:06 trial unscourched. 24:08 And about a year later I was sitting in an examining room 24:14 when my Optometrist asked me, she said, Why is it than when a 24:20 child is dying with cancer God doesn't always answer 24:24 prayers for healing? 24:25 Is it because we don't pray with sufficient faith? 24:29 I casually mentioned my plan to begin writing this book on 24:33 prayer, and with soulful eyes this sweet and soft spoken 24:37 woman asked if I would explain it in the book, 24:40 why some prayers are answered, and others, 24:42 most, even some children are not. 24:48 So what happened was this scripture that came to my mind 24:56 was Isaiah 57:1. And this is what I shared with her. 25:02 Let me tell you, the devil is a thief who comes only to steal, 25:26 kill, and destroy. 25:28 God is the author of life, and He does not cause 25:31 a child's illness or death. 25:33 Why is His answer sometimes No to the request for some 25:39 children's healings? 25:40 Perhaps He receives them to their rest to avoid evil 25:44 that could turn them away from Him in their later years, 25:48 or cause unbearable grief. 25:50 We cannot see the end from the beginning as God does. 25:55 We have to trust His heart. 25:58 That's the best answer I can offer. 26:00 What I know with absolute certainty is that God 26:05 longs to bless us. 26:06 Prayer is how we bring down His blessings to earth, 26:11 to all mankind. He is calling on us to plead for the perishing. 26:18 And this is what we're going to be taking a closer look at, this 26:25 duty, and this privilege, in the next couple of programs. 26:30 Because as we go before the throne of the king of kings, 26:36 lifting up those who either can't, 26:41 or won't pray for themselves, we do help Him. 26:48 It's like we're taking the key. 26:49 We're unlocking those handcuffs of love and saying, 26:53 Lord now You've got permission to really work in their lives. 26:57 I pray that this is something that God will really get your, 27:03 gain your attention with. 27:04 And I pray for myself as well. 27:05 You know, it's amazing... 27:07 I heard yesterday about a car accident, and I'm thinking, 27:14 Oh, how sad. Someone I knew was actually in a car accident 27:19 and it took me at least thirty seconds to respond in prayer. 27:24 And I thought, Oh Lord, forgive me that I didn't 27:28 immediately intercede. 27:30 Intercessory prayer is so important. 27:34 And you will find next time we're going to be discussing 27:39 this duty, and this privilege of ours, and it is a privilege. 27:45 Thank you so much for joining us. 27:48 We enjoy this time together. 27:50 And as always, our intercessory prayer for you, for all of you 27:56 who are watching, and who are listening. 27:58 Our prayer is that the fellowship of our Lord and 28:01 Savior Jesus Christ, the love of our Father, 28:05 and that the fellowship of the Holy Spirit 28:09 will be with you always. |
Revised 2015-02-04