Participants:
Series Code: AFDB
Program Code: AFDB000091S
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00:03 brought to you by the friends of the Amazing Facts ministry.
00:06 ♪♪♪ 00:14 Doug Batchelor: You can be taught to pray. 00:15 John the Baptist taught his disciples how to pray, 00:18 and they didn't know how to pray. 00:20 It's possible for people to be born in a Christian home, 00:22 go to Christian school, go to church all their lives, 00:25 and never learned how to pray. 00:27 ♪♪♪ 00:31 Doug: A number of years ago, famous pastor was traveling 00:37 across the ocean on a cruise ship, 00:40 and F.B. Meyer was his name, and, you know, 00:44 that's when it was a more common form of transportation. 00:47 And word reached the captain that this famous speaker 00:50 was there on board. 00:51 He said, "Could you please speak to the first class passengers? 00:54 And he agreed, and he talked on the subject of prayer. 00:59 Well, a number of the people were deeply impressed, 01:01 but among them was a famous agnostic. 01:04 And someone asked, "Well, what did you think 01:07 of Pastor Meyer's talk?" 01:08 Said, "I didn't believe a word of it." 01:11 Well, later that day, word had reached some of the people 01:13 who had been traveling fourth class, and they said, 01:16 "Any chance that he'd be willing to come down 01:18 to the lower decks and talk to the fourth-class passengers?" 01:23 He said, "Absolutely." 01:24 Well, some of the passengers in first class said, 01:26 "If he's speaking again, we want to hear him." 01:29 And so they were all migrating down, 01:31 and someone said to the agnostic, 01:32 "Are you going to go?" 01:34 He said, "Sure, I'm curious about what this babbler 01:35 has to say." 01:37 So the agnostic, before he left his room, 01:39 he thought he'd get a couple of oranges to have a snack in case 01:43 it took a while, and making his way down to the lower decks, 01:47 he had to go on some of the outer decks, 01:49 and he noticed there was a few people. 01:51 They were out on these deck chairs, 01:52 trying to take in the fresh air, and there was one old woman 01:54 that was stretched out on a deck chair, 01:56 fast asleep, her mouth open, and her hands open there 02:01 on the chair like that. 02:02 Well, he had a sense of humor, and so the agnostic took 02:04 the two oranges out of his pocket, and he placed 02:07 an orange carefully in each hand without waking her up, 02:09 and he smiled and went away, went downstairs. 02:12 F.B. Meyer talked to the fourth-class passengers 02:15 about prayer, and the man felt himself convicted, 02:20 the agnostic, but he decided just resist the conviction. 02:23 On his way back up, he walked by that same deck chair, 02:27 and now the woman was there. 02:29 She was awake, and she was eating the oranges. 02:32 And he smiled, and he said, 02:34 "Well, those look like they're very delicious." 02:37 She says, "My Father gave them to me." 02:41 He said, "Surely, ma'am, your father's not still alive," 02:44 because she was an older woman. 02:45 She said, "I'm talking about my heavenly Father." 02:47 She said, "It was the most wonderful thing." 02:49 She said, "I've been up here on the deck, 02:50 trying to take in the fresh air because I had been dreadfully 02:53 seasick for several days, and I just had 02:55 the overwhelming sense that, if I could just eat an orange, 03:00 I'd feel better. 03:01 And I went to sleep, praying that God would please give me 03:04 an orange, and I woke up, and my Father gave me two oranges." 03:11 That man was so convicted that he was converted 03:14 before the cruise was over. 03:17 God answers prayer, and sometimes 03:19 He can even use the devil to do it. 03:22 Isn't that wonderful? 03:24 You know, Karen and I, in our evening worship, 03:27 our Friday evening worship, we've been reading through 03:29 a book together on prayer. 03:31 It's "The Complete Works of E.M. Bounds," a tremendous book. 03:34 Matter of fact, it's so heavy and so convicting and profound 03:37 that we only get through two or three pages and just go, 03:39 "Wow, I need to pray more." 03:43 And so I'm not going to talk to you about prayer as one who's an 03:47 expert, but I'm simply a beggar telling the other beggars where 03:50 the bread is because I'll think that every blessing that we 03:55 desire as a Christian is going to be connected with prayer, 03:59 and we would do well to learn more about that subject. 04:01 So talking about "The Priority of Prayer," 04:05 dealing with perpetual praying. 04:09 Now, everywhere we go these days, 04:11 you can see warnings. 04:14 I remember when they used to have the little glass-- 04:17 there's a fire alarm on the wall there. 04:19 They don't have the old ones. 04:20 They used to have a little glass window with a hammer hanging 04:22 on the outside, and you'd hit this glass that would shatter, 04:27 and then you'd pull the alarm, and there's a little note above 04:30 it and said, "Break glass in the event of an emergency." 04:35 You fly on the airplane, and there, by your seat, it says, 04:37 "In the event of a water landing, use your cushion." 04:43 And we're surrounded with these warnings. 04:45 Any of you ever walk out in the parking lot, 04:47 and you forgot where your car is, 04:48 and you had to press the panic button? 04:51 Find your car? 04:52 Anyone that will raise your hand and admit that? 04:54 "I know it's out here somewhere." 04:56 "Where's my car?" 04:59 Some people treat prayer that way. 05:04 "In the event of an emergency, a water landing or there's panic, 05:09 pray." 05:11 It's like it's the last resort for most Christians, 05:14 and in reality, prayer is an attitude of life 05:19 for the Christian. 05:20 It is a way of life. 05:22 Every blessing in the Christian life comes in connection 05:26 with prayer. 05:27 Prayer is not the exception for the Christian. 05:30 It is the rule, and, yet so many don't pray. 05:34 Now, the reason I'm talking about this message is 05:36 because I've got good news for you. 05:39 If you start out as a Christian, or maybe you even grew up in a 05:41 Christian home and you thought, "We just didn't pray 05:43 as we should," or maybe, "We didn't know how to pray," 05:46 or "We've been, sort of, working at it"-- 05:48 and prayer can be and must be taught. 05:52 Nobody prayed like Jesus. 05:55 Jesus sometimes spent the whole night in prayer, 05:58 and you would think, if anybody didn't need to pray, 06:01 I mean, Jesus sort of had a hotline to heaven. 06:03 Why would He need to pray? 06:04 But He prayed like nobody ever prayed, 06:06 and matter of fact, the Bible says, 06:08 when the disciples saw Jesus pray, Luke 9:29, 06:10 "He prayed, and the appearance of His face was altered, 06:13 and His robe became white and glistening." 06:16 And when Christ was done praying, 06:19 you read in Luke 11:1, "It came to pass as He was praying 06:23 in a certain place, then He stopped--" 06:25 nobody dared interrupt until He stopped-- 06:28 "one of His disciples said to Him, 06:30 'Lord, teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples.'" 06:36 Now, that's a very important point. 06:37 You know what it means? You can be taught to pray. 06:41 John the Baptist taught his disciples how to pray. 06:44 They didn't know how to pray, and these were believers. 06:47 These were Jews. They had the temple. 06:49 They didn't know how to pray. 06:50 It's possible for people to be born in a Christian home, 06:53 go to Christian school, go to church all their lives, 06:56 and never learned how to pray, and some people think, 06:58 "Well, there are people who are giants of prayer, 07:01 and they've got the gift of prayer," but, you know, 07:05 I don't find it listed that way in the Bible. 07:07 Every believer is supposed to pray, 07:09 and everybody can be taught to pray. 07:12 Don't be thinking that something-- 07:14 someone else is good at, "That's a job of another Christian." 07:17 You hear about prayer warriors. Anybody can be a prayer warrior. 07:22 John taught his disciples to pray. 07:24 Jesus taught His disciples to pray, and prayer must be 07:26 important because it never says He taught them to preach, 07:29 but He did teach them to pray. 07:32 So we should ask the Lord, "Teach us to pray." 07:35 Now I'm going to do some teaching on prayer. 07:38 Is that okay with you? 07:40 I'd like to pray better. 07:41 I'd like to talk about some of the practical things 07:42 dealing with prayer. 07:44 Some of this may or may not sound spiritual, 07:46 but it's biblical. 07:48 First of all, when and how often should we pray? 07:53 Evening and morning and at noon will I pray, 07:57 and cry aloud, and He will hear my voice." 08:01 Now, some say, "Well, now, Pastor, 08:02 that's the Old Testament." 08:04 They had these three times for prayer. 08:05 They had their specific hours for prayer. 08:06 They even did it in the New Testament 08:08 and after the Resurrection of Christ. 08:10 Acts chapter 3, verse 1, "Now Peter and John went up 08:14 to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour." 08:18 Now, that was what they would call their evening 08:19 of the third time of prayer in the day, 3 p.m. 08:23 By the way, that's the same time of day Jesus died, 08:27 at the ninth hour. 08:30 So they had regular times where they went to pray. 08:33 They set aside time for prayer. 08:34 And you might be thinking, "Well, Pastor Doug, hah, 08:38 I get down, and I pray for five minutes. 08:40 I feel like, well, I kind of covered it." 08:42 And, you know, the more you pray, 08:46 don't jump up off your knees when you feel like, 08:49 "I've run out of things to say." 08:51 Linger and say, "Lord, what am I forgetting? 08:55 Is there something that I need to confess? 08:57 Is there somebody I'm forgetting?" 08:59 So often, our prayers are about us and our needs. 09:01 Take some time to intercede for other people, 09:04 and you'll find that prayer is not just talking. 09:06 Prayer is communion where you're listening to God, 09:09 and He will begin to make impressions on your heart. 09:12 Sometimes I've been praying, and I thought, 09:14 "Oh, my mind is wandering," and then I realize, 09:15 "No, God is reminding me of something I need to do today." 09:20 God'll speak to you when you're on your knees. 09:22 He talks to you through his spirit, through angels. 09:24 He'll guide you, so don't be in a hurry. 09:27 You know, the Bible says, "Do not make haste 09:30 to leave the king's presence." 09:33 Do not make haste to leave the king's presence. 09:36 When you're on your knees and you're talking to God, 09:39 you're praying. 09:41 But since we're talking about perpetual praying, 09:43 I'm not just talking about where the Bible says you should 09:45 set aside a time, at least in the morning and the evening. 09:48 If you want to do what David and Daniel did, 09:51 you do morning, evening, and at noon, I will pray 09:53 to set aside some time to pray, but, really, 09:57 the Bible says praying doesn't end. 10:00 If you're a Christian and you're awake, 10:02 you want to live in a constant walking relationship with God. 10:06 The Bible says, "Enoch walked with God, 10:09 and he was not, for God took him." 10:12 Enoch was translated to heaven without dying. 10:14 Why? 10:15 Because he walked with God. 10:17 How many want to be among those who will not see death? 10:18 But you can be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. 10:20 Wouldn't you prefer to avoid death? 10:22 If you can, I mean, given the option. 10:25 How did Enoch do it? "He walked with God." 10:27 What does that mean? 10:29 The Bible says, "Noah walked with God." 10:31 Bible doesn't say it, but you can be safe 10:33 in assuming Moses walked with God, and many others. 10:38 That means that you spend your time abiding 10:41 in the presence of God. 10:43 You are praying always. 10:47 Now, the Bible, you'd be surprised how often it tells us 10:49 to always be praying. 10:54 Let me just give you a few verses. 10:56 Luke 18:1, "Then he spoke a parable to them, 10:59 that men ought always the pray and not lose heart," 11:03 and you got to always to pray. 11:05 Look at 1 Thessalonians 5:16, 11:08 "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing." 11:12 Now, obviously, I think everyone here knows the Bible is not 11:15 suggesting that you go around all day long on your knees, 11:18 your hands folded, and you bumping into things 11:20 because your eyes are closed. 11:22 There's always praying-- no, it's obviously talking 11:25 about an attitude of constant communion with God. 11:30 ♪♪♪ 11:32 announcer: Don't forget to request today's 11:34 life-changing free resource. 11:35 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, 11:37 you can download a digital copy straight to your computer 11:40 or mobile device. 11:41 To get your copy of today's free gift, simply call us 11:44 and ask for the offer number shown on your screen 11:47 or visit the web address and download a digital copy, 11:51 and be sure to select the digital download option 11:53 on the request page. 11:55 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word 11:58 with Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want, 12:01 and most important, to share it with others. 12:04 ♪♪♪ 12:06 Doug: Jesus said, "Watch therefore, 12:08 and pray always--" how often? 12:11 "That you may be counted worthy to escape all these things 12:14 that will come to pass, and stand before the Son of Man." 12:18 Jesus said we need to watch and pray lest 12:20 we enter into temptation. 12:21 Anyone struggle with temptation? 12:23 How often do you struggle with temptation? 12:25 Once a month? Once a week? 12:28 Every day? More than once a day? 12:31 So how often should we pray that we enter not into temptation? 12:34 In the Lord's Prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread," 12:38 that's a prayer that's dealing with daily needs, and it says, 12:41 "Lead us not into temptation." 12:43 That means, through prayer, we come to God 12:46 and ask for that power. 12:48 Ephesians 6:18, "Praying always--" 12:52 there you have it again. 12:53 "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, 12:56 praying in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all 13:00 perseverance and supplication for all of the saints." 13:03 Are you getting the picture here? 13:06 But wait, there's more, Colossians 1:3, 13:08 "We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 13:12 praying always for you." 13:16 2 Thessalonians 1:11, "Therefore we also pray always for you." 13:22 Acts 12:5, "Peter therefore was kept in prison, 13:25 but prayer was made by the church without ceasing." 13:30 There you have it again, praying without ceasing. 13:33 How do we do that? 13:35 You know, I think that the key is found in-- 13:40 go to John chapter 15. 13:43 We're taking a little detour here. 13:45 John 15:1, "I am the true vine, 13:48 and My Father is the vinedresser. 13:50 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, 13:53 He takes it away, and every branch that bears fruit, 13:57 He prunes it that it might bear more fruit. 14:00 You are already clean because of the word 14:02 that I've spoken to you." 14:03 There's a cleansing effect in the Word. 14:05 "Abide in Me, and I in you, that the branch 14:08 cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, 14:13 neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 14:17 I am the vine, you are the branches. 14:19 He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit. 14:23 Without Me, you can do nothing. 14:25 If anyone does not abide in Me, he's cast out as a branch 14:29 and withered, and they gather them and throw them in the fire, 14:31 and they are burned. 14:32 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, 14:36 you will ask what you desire, and it will be done for you. 14:40 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, 14:43 so you will be My disciples. 14:45 As the Father loved me, and I've also loved you, 14:49 abide in My love. 14:51 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in My love, 14:54 just as I've kept My Father's commandments 14:56 and I abide in His love." 14:58 Now, you notice I read verses 1 through 10, 15:01 and notice that number 10 because how many times 15:04 do you think a certain word appeared? 15:06 What's the word? 15:08 "Abide." 15:10 Why did Jesus have so much to say about "abiding" 15:13 in this passage? 15:14 There's ten "abides" there. 15:16 The word "abide" is "meno" in Greek. 15:18 Here's what it means: "to remain in a place, 15:22 to tarry, to stay in the house, to dwell, to stay overnight, 15:28 to stay alive, to remain in a sphere, to hold out, 15:33 to stand fast, to stand against opposition." 15:36 It means "to hang on, to hang in, to be in something." 15:41 So, what does it mean to pray without ceasing? 15:46 It means to abide in God. 15:48 What does it mean to love the Lord with all your heart 15:50 and mind? 15:51 It means to abide in God. 15:53 It means to be thinking God's thoughts. 15:56 Start your day and say, "Lord, help me today through 16:00 the Holy Spirit to abide in You, to keep You in my thoughts." 16:07 Now, first of all, you know much more peace it'll bring you? 16:09 So many things you worry about, and you just think, 16:13 "Lord, take that away from me." 16:15 Sometimes you got thoughts coming in your mind, 16:17 and you think, "Nobody should think those thoughts, 16:18 let alone a Christian." 16:20 Say, "Lord, cleanse my mind." 16:21 Or you'll see other people that you sense have a need, 16:25 and the Holy Spirit will nudge you, 16:27 and it's like you're in communion with God, 16:29 the Spirit, with your mind. 16:31 Now, I think that, when you do pray, 16:33 there should be a reverence in our praying. 16:36 I want you to notice something here. 16:37 Look at a few verses real quick, I put together. 16:41 Psalm 95:6, "Oh come, let us worship and bow down. 16:47 Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker." 16:50 Most of the time in the Bible, informal prayer, 16:53 it is appropriate, if you're able, to kneel, 16:57 and the very fact of bowing down, 16:59 it is universally understood that that is an act 17:03 of submission and worship. 17:06 Why would Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego not bow down 17:10 to the graven image? 17:12 They were not going to show worship by their posture. 17:16 They could've said, "Well, we'll bow down, 17:17 but we're not going to pray to him in our hearts." 17:19 They would not even physically show worship by their posture 17:21 to this pagan god. 17:23 So if we're worshipping the real God, 17:26 if the pagans are bowing down, are Christians so, 17:31 fair to say, call them "pompous" that we stand 17:34 and pray thus with ourselves? 17:36 Or is it appropriate for us to bow before the Lord? 17:39 Now, it's not necessary to always do that, 17:41 but let me give you a few verses here. 17:44 Daniel 6:10, "In his upper room, he knelt on his knees 17:47 three times." 17:48 He was 80 years old, by the way, when he did this. 17:50 1 Kings 18:42, "Elijah went up on the top of Carmel. 17:54 He bowed down to the ground, put his face between his knees." 17:57 That's not always necessary. Some of us can't do that. 17:58 Acts 9:40, "Peter put them all out. 18:02 He knelt down, and he prayed." 18:04 And then there was a resurrection. 18:06 Ephesians 3:14, "For this cause I bow my knee under the God 18:10 and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." 18:13 Solomon the king, Jesus said, "No one was arrayed like Solomon 18:18 in all of his glory." 18:20 When he was dedicating the temple, 18:22 build a platform for everyone to see, 18:24 got up on the platform. 18:25 Says, "This king, he knelt before 18:28 the King of the universe." 18:31 And most of us are not greater than Solomon. 18:34 "He knelt down upon his knees and all the congregation 18:36 of Israel." 18:37 He wanted everyone to see that he was worshiping Jehovah, 18:39 and he was not the one to be worshiped. 18:42 But having said that, you don't always need to kneel 18:46 when you pray. 18:48 There are times when it's appropriate to stand and pray. 18:51 After Solomon had the kneeling prayer, 18:53 then when he gave the benediction-- 18:54 let me read it to you, 1 Kings 8:54, 18:57 "And it was so, when Solomon had finished praying on his knees 19:01 all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, 19:03 that he arose from before the altar, 19:05 from kneeling on his knees, with his hands spread to heaven, 19:09 and he stood and he bless the assembly." 19:11 That's what we call the benediction. 19:13 At the end of the sermon after the song, 19:14 we do something called the benediction. 19:15 In the beginning, you'll see an invocation. 19:17 It's not always necessary to kneel, 19:19 but before you enter into the actual worship service, 19:23 to the opening of the Word, asking God to speak to you, 19:25 it's appropriate to kneel if you can. 19:28 I always think it's funny that, you know, 19:30 we know there's some people-- 19:32 and it's getting harder for me to get up. 19:34 Well, when I was young, I got done praying, 19:36 I could get up on one toe. 19:37 That's all it took me to get up. 19:39 But you get a little older, it's like I'm reaching around, 19:41 you know? 19:42 Person next to me, lift-- get back up again. 19:46 So, Bible says that we should pray diligently when we pray. 19:51 Diligent praying. 19:53 Hebrews 11:6, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, 19:57 for he who comes to God must believe that He is, 20:00 and He is a rewarder." 20:03 How many want God to reward your prayers? 20:06 "He's a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." 20:10 I remember reading in the Bible that when the king of Israel 20:13 came to see Elisha, when Elisha the prophet was dying, 20:15 he came to make his hospital visit, 20:17 and Elisha was more worried about the king, 20:20 than the king about Elisha, and Elisha said to the king, 20:23 "Open the window." 20:24 Syria has been attacking. 20:26 He said, "Open the window." 20:27 He said, "Put an arrow in your bow." 20:29 He put an arrow in his bow. 20:31 Elisha put his hand on the king's hand, 20:32 and he said, "Pull back the arrow. 20:33 Fire." He fired the arrow. 20:35 He said, "This is the arrow of God's deliverance from Syria." 20:37 He said, "Now, take a handful of arrows." 20:39 He did. 20:41 And then Elisha said to the king, "Beat the ground." 20:44 And he hit the ground three times. 20:46 And the man of God was wroth, and he said, 20:48 "You only hit the ground three times. 20:50 You should've smote the ground five or six times, 20:51 and you would've had five or six victories over Syria. 20:54 Because you only hit the ground three times, 20:56 you're only going to have three victories." 20:59 I wonder how many prayers that we've left behind 21:02 because we quit too soon? 21:05 We did not pray diligently. 21:08 You know what "diligently" means? 21:10 It's talking about industriously, 21:13 meticulously, "with energy to the point of perspiration" 21:18 is one definition. 21:20 Jeremiah 29:13, "And you will seek Me and find Me, 21:24 when you search for Me--" what's the rest of that? 21:27 "With all of your heart." 21:28 That's diligent praying, praying with your heart. 21:30 What does God want from us anyway? 21:33 He wants our hearts. 21:35 Deuteronomy 4:29, "But if from there," if you're carried away 21:38 to some pagan land, "if from there you will seek the Lord 21:41 your God, you will find Him if you seek Him 21:44 with all of your heart and all of your soul." 21:47 Diligent praying. 21:49 Hudson Taylor said, "The prayer power 21:52 has never been tried to its full capacity. 21:56 If we want to see mighty wonders of divine power and grace 21:59 wrought in the place of weakness and failure and disappointment, 22:02 let us answer God's standing challenge. 22:05 He says, 'Call unto me, and I will show you great 22:08 and mighty things that you have not known,'" 22:10 if you do what? 22:12 "If you call unto Me. 22:13 If My people, which are called by My name, 22:15 will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn 22:18 from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven. 22:22 I will forgive their sin, and I will heal their land." 22:25 God promises that He'll do these things. 22:28 I'd like to give you something practical in conclusion, 22:31 and this is talking about the acts of prayer. 22:37 Now, a simple formula when you come to God to pray, 22:41 the Lord's Prayer is a very good model for prayer. 22:44 Jesus said, "When you pray--" 22:46 He never said, "Repeat this prayer." 22:48 He said, "In this manner, pray," and that's why the prayer is 22:51 a little different in Luke than it is in Matthew. 22:54 Jesus didn't say it the same way all the time. 22:56 Jesus said, "Do not pray in vain repetition," 22:59 and that's including the Lord's Prayer. 23:01 We're not saved by just repeating a prayer 23:03 over and over again. 23:05 But many Christians have used something 23:07 as a formula for prayer. 23:08 It's called ACTS, A-C-T-S, that, when you pray, 23:12 try to start out--and don't have to pray an hour. 23:14 If you're not praying at all, five minutes will be 23:16 an improvement. 23:18 If you're praying 5 minutes, go to 15 and see what happens, 23:21 but start spending more time with God in prayer. 23:24 You might use this formula, A-C-T-S, ACTS. 23:26 It has--it stands for-- I think we've got it up 23:29 on the screen--adoration, confession, thanksgiving, 23:34 and supplication. 23:36 You start with your adoration, "Hallowed be Thy name." 23:39 And then we talk about "Forgive us our debts." 23:42 There's confession that happens in your sin. 23:45 First, you're coming to acknowledging, 23:46 "I have--I'm not worthy to ask anything, 23:49 but I'm coming, confessing, asking for mercy, 23:51 pleading the blood of Jesus." 23:53 Then there's thanksgiving. 23:55 Before you give God your list of everything new that you want, 23:57 you know, when you thank someone, 23:59 they are more inclined to give you future benefits, 24:01 so start out by thanking Him for all that He's done, 24:05 all that He's already given you. 24:07 You can surely find something to be thankful for. 24:09 Then you conclude with your supplications. 24:13 That's your list of things you're asking God for, 24:16 and then, hopefully, you're not just supplicating 24:19 for yourself but in behalf of others or events. 24:22 And so you might just jot that down because I just have it 24:25 on the screen there. 24:27 It makes a good formula for prayer, ACTS. 24:31 And, finally, when we pray, there's power 24:37 in the name of Jesus. 24:40 We are praying that God will hear our prayers, 24:43 not because we are worthy, but when He sees us, 24:45 we are covered with the blood of His own Son, 24:48 so we come in the name of Jesus. 24:50 You read Ephesians 5:20, "Giving thanks always for all things 24:55 to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." 25:00 Will He answer our prayers when we come claiming 25:02 the blood of His Son, when we pray reverently, 25:07 persistently, and come in Jesus's name? 25:10 You know, I believe that the Lord wants us to have a revival. 25:15 I think that a revival is going to be preceded by a revival 25:19 in our lives in walking with God in prayer. 25:22 If we're praying like we should pray, 25:25 your giving, it'll change. 25:28 If we're praying like we should pray, 25:29 your singing will change, your living will change. 25:33 Everything will change if our relationship with God changes. 25:36 ♪♪♪ 25:41 announcer: Don't forget to request today's 25:42 life-changing free resource. 25:44 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, 25:46 you can download a digital copy straight to your computer 25:49 or mobile device. 25:50 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, 25:53 simply text the key word on your screen to 40544, 25:57 or visit the web address shown on your screen, 26:00 and be sure to select the digital download option 26:02 on the request page. 26:04 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word 26:07 with Amazing Facts, wherever and whenever you want, 26:10 and most important, to share it with others. 26:15 announcer: "Go into all the world 26:17 and preach the gospel to every creature." 26:19 Through radio, television, print, evangelistic events, 26:23 and the Internet, Amazing Facts International 26:25 is heeding the call of Jesus to go into all the world. 26:29 Millions of individuals in over 150 countries have been blessed 26:33 by the Word of God. 26:35 Amazing Facts has spawned new spheres of influence in India, 26:38 Africa, China, and Indonesia. 26:41 With each new country come hundreds of translated booklets, 26:44 study guides, and video presentations produced 26:47 in each region for the people of that region. 26:50 Armed with these precious truths, 26:51 Gospel workers are empowered to spread bright rays of light 26:55 on every path they travel. 26:57 Please visit, reachtheworld.amazingfacts.org, 27:01 to learn more about Amazing Facts International and 27:03 how you can participate in this exciting soul-winning ministry. 27:07 That website again is reachtheworld.amazingfacts.org. 27:12 Thank you for your support. 27:14 announcer: What if you could know the future? 27:18 What would you do? 27:20 What would you change? 27:22 To see the future, you must understand the past. 27:27 This intriguing documentary hosted by Pastor Doug Batchelor, 27:31 explores the most striking Bible prophecies 27:34 that have been dramatically fulfilled throughout history, 27:38 "Kingdoms in Time." 27:40 For more information, visit kingdomsintime.com. 27:44 female announcer: Did you know Amazing Facts has 27:46 a free Bible school that you can do 27:48 from the comfort of your own home? 27:50 It includes 27 study lessons to aid in your study of God's Word. 27:54 Sign up today by calling 1-844-215-7000. 27:59 ♪♪♪ 28:06 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's free offer. 28:08 It's sure to be a blessing, and thank you for your continued 28:11 support as we take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. 28:15 We hope you'll join us next week as we delve deep 28:17 into the Word of God to explore more amazing facts. 28:21 ♪♪♪ 28:25 announcer: This presentation was brought to you 28:26 by the friends of the Amazing Facts ministry. |
Revised 2020-03-16