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Series Code: BOLS
Program Code: BOLS000017S
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00:00 (Breath of Life Theme Music)
00:05 Sermon #S010 - (Don't Give God A Deadline - Part 1) 00:20 Pastor Snell: This is the word that's going to cause somebody to breakthrough in their faith today. 00:27 This is the principle that needs to be absorbed. 00:30 This is going to be the difference between where you have been 00:34 and where God is taking you. Luke chapter 18 and verse 1. When you get there, just say, "Amen." 00:39 [Congregation: Amen.] 00:41 Bible says, "Then he spoke a parable to them. That men always ought to pray and not..." 00:50 Do what? And not lose heart. Look at me real quick. This is the word for somebody. 00:58 I need you to hear me on this. 01:00 God is saying that you got to learn the difference between where you've been 01:04 and where you're going is learning how to pray and not faint. 01:10 How many of us know that there's a blessing when you persevere before the throne of God? 01:14 Bible says here in verse number 2 saying there was, in a certain city, 01:21 a judge who did not fear God nor regard men. Now, there was a widow in that city and she came to him saying, 01:30 "Get justice for me from my adversary." 01:33 And he would not for a while but afterward, he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 01:43 yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me." 01:53 Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. 01:58 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him though He bears long with them? 02:07 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. 02:10 Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" 02:19 I want to emphasize verse number 4. The Bible says, "And he would not for a while 02:25 but afterward he said within himself, "Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 02:30 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.' ” 02:40 Today saints, I want to talk to you on the subject, "Don't give God a deadline." Don't give God a deadline. 02:47 Let's pray together. Father, I pray that in this little while that you would say much. 02:54 Father, I'm asking that you would make your spirit so dense that it would suffocate any other type of 03:01 principality that might be present. 03:03 And so, father, I'm praying, Dear God, that faith will be multiplied exponentially in the hearing of the 03:09 word. And so, father, I'm praying that you would remove the lid, the cap, the plateau from somebody's faith. 03:16 That we would be able to move into a new dimension of belief. 03:20 So, Lord, help us not to just hear the word but may we act on the word. 03:25 Lord, would you hide me in itself of the cross. That Jesus alone might be seen, 03:30 that Christ Alone might be heard? And at the end of our time together, may Jesus alone be praised. 03:37 We ask this in the name of him who is all together, lovely. It is in the name of Jesus that we pray. 03:43 Let God's people say together, "Amen." 03:45 [Congregation: Amen.] 03:46 And amen. You may be seated in the house of the Lord. Again, we're talking under the subject, 03:52 "Don't give God a deadline." You know, church. 04:04 I've come to accept that the hardest part of faith is not believing. The hardest part of faith is waiting. 04:16 It is in the waiting process that our faith begins to expire. 04:23 In fact, there are some tricky elements to life that really revolve around the idea of waiting. 04:31 Isn't it funny how adversity moves in a hurry but good things seem to take their time? 04:41 Trouble moves with the speed of lightning while blessing moves with the speed of molasses. 04:50 Sickness comes as quick as a text message but healing is as slow as the mailman. 04:58 Bills come with the speed of an airplane but the provision seems like it's moving on foot. 05:07 Disagreements come with the swiftness of a microwave but reconciliation is cooked in the crockpot. 05:16 Your enemies are as fast as Google Fiber but your allies are as slow as dial-up internet. 05:26 Which is why the righteous are counseled to learn how to wait on the Lord. And the truth is, friends, 05:35 that unrealistic faith waits without a calendar. It waits without a timer. It waits without a deadline. 05:45 In fact, unrealistic faith does not wait until real faith waits indefinitely. 05:53 And I want to caution us church against giving God these artificial deadlines. 05:58 Because when we create a deadline, essentially what we're doing is creating a time frame for faith to prevail. 06:07 And we make a decision that says, that if faith does not prevail in this deadline, 06:13 we're going to then relent to our own human devices. 06:19 And even though we will never say to God that you have until July or October to move, 06:26 we all have this threshold of belief in our head that says if it doesn't happen by then, 06:34 then we're going to invoke our contingency plan. 06:38 And the thing I need somebody to get as hard as waiting can be, 06:44 acting ahead of schedule can make a bad thing even worse. 06:49 You see, the truth is that Sarah had a deadline. And because she wasn't pregnant by a specific time, 06:56 she met Abraham with her handmaid Hagar and impatience made a bad thing get worse. 07:04 You realize that Jacob had a deadline for the birthright because his father was about to die. 07:10 He procured it through trickery. And as a result, he lived the rest of his life living over his shoulder 07:18 because impatience can make a bad thing worse. 07:21 You realize that Judas gave Jesus a deadline. You realize the betrayal of Jesus was not about money. 07:29 It was his attempt to make him use his divinity ahead of schedule. 07:33 And the fact is that impatience made his bad thing get worse. 07:38 And the thing I need somebody to know is that sometimes, through impatience or giving God a deadline, 07:46 you can make a bad thing turn into a catastrophe. 07:50 You see the truth is that some of us have made it up in our minds that if 07:55 God doesn't pay the bill by a certain time, I'm going to use my tithes and offering to make up the difference. 08:02 Some have made it up in our minds that if we don't find a spouse in the church by a certain age, 08:09 we're going to begin dating outside of the church. 08:13 Some have decided that if things at home don't get better by July, 08:19 then we're going to see a divorced attorney. There are some student that has said, 08:24 if I don't get the financial aid by the end of the semester, I'm not going to come back next year. 08:30 And what I'm saying today is that sometimes when you give God a deadline, 08:35 you actually short-circuit your own miracle. 08:39 And isn't it amazing, church, that we give God a deadline to move 08:45 but we don't give ourselves a deadline to obey? The crazy thing is we say, 08:52 God has to move by this time but we don't say, "I've got to obey by a certain time." 08:58 And can I just praise God this way? 09:01 I just want to thank God that he's never giving me a deadline to get right. 09:07 In other words, what if God gave you a deadline to stop sinning? 09:13 What if God gave you a deadline to stop gossiping? What if God gave you a deadline to stop doubting? 09:20 And is there anybody that's thankful that God has never waited, 09:25 we've never waited longer on God than God has had to wait upon us? 09:30 Is there anybody that can just praise God that he didn't cut us off at a certain point? 09:36 That he didn't shut us off when we went too far? I'm thankful that he doesn't deal with us as we deserve 09:43 but he deals with us according to the multitude of his tender mercies. And the reason, friends, 09:50 I can wait on God, it's because God never stops waiting on us. 09:55 Is there anybody that's thankful that God never cut us off? 09:59 He didn't give us a lid but he is long-suffering to his children. Can the church say, Amen? 10:06 [Congregation: Amen] 10:08 And so, as we begin to unpack this word today, there are some things that I want us to be able to see. 10:13 But before we get into the details of the parable, 10:17 I want us to first be able to see the purpose of the parable. You see, Jesus in this parable, saints, 10:25 is emphasizing the need for us to learn how to persevere in prayer. 10:32 In other words, Jesus is teaching us on the front end of discipleship that things are not always going to 10:41 happen instantly. And unrealistic faith, friends, 10:46 is going to require that you learn how to never give up your petition to God. 10:53 In other words, saints, your calendar does not dictate the frequency of your coming to him. 11:01 And so Jesus says that I want men to learn how to pray and not faint. 11:06 Now, I want to give you one key to learning how to persevere in prayer 11:12 but it deals with the currency that you seek when you come before God. 11:17 In other words, you'll never learn how to persevere in prayer, number one, until prayer becomes relational 11:25 and not transactional. Let me say it again. That you'll never learn how to pray if prayer is transactional. 11:32 You'll never learn how to pray until it becomes relational. Are you with me today, church? 11:38 You see, the reason that some of us never persevere in prayer, 11:44 the reason that some of us always give up our petition, 11:48 the reason we yield as soon as it doesn't go our way is that for too many of us, 11:54 prayer is a transactional activity and not a relational activity. In other words, 12:01 for too many of us, when we go to God in prayer, 12:04 our prayer closet is about what we receive not who we receive. 12:11 In other words, the difference between someone with consistent prayer life, 12:16 and someone with a crisis prayer life is seen in the reason they approached God. 12:22 You see, how many of us know, that crisis-based prayer life is someone that is forced to God's throne 12:29 because of the presence of circumstance. 12:32 But when I have a consistent prayer life, it is not circumstance that drives me there. 12:38 It is the relationship that pushes me into the presence of God. 12:44 You see, for too many of us, Jesus is a means to another end. But when you have a relationship, 12:53 Jesus is not a means to an end. Jesus is the end or sum total of everything that you need. 13:01 Are you with me today, church? 13:02 [Congregation: Yes.] 13:04 And so I need you to get this, beloved, that when your prayer life is transactional, 13:08 you lose the incentive to pray when you are denied what you ask or even if you receive what you came for. 13:16 In other words, if I only come to God because I want something, if it's denied, 13:23 then I'll no longer come to God. But understand that the inverse is also true. 13:29 If I only come to God when I want something, guess what, when I receive it, I also stopped coming. 13:37 In other words, I lose my incentive to pray as soon as my need is met. 13:43 And how many of us know that even consistent receiving won't create a consistent prayer life? 13:50 In other words, I need somebody to understand that the consistency of my coming will only reflect the 13:57 consistency of my need. But what I need you to know is that when you're coming to God in order to foster a 14:05 relationship, when your purpose for coming is to heighten your intimacy with him, 14:10 I need you to know that you're being denied or you receiving doesn't dictate the consistency of your coming. 14:18 Is there anybody that can testify that the best part of meeting with God is not what you get from him? 14:25 It's just having intimacy with him. Are you with me? In other words, 14:30 the best time of my prayer closet is when I can just get lost in his presence. 14:36 Where is the church at today? When you just get lost in his presence, 14:40 what happens is you find so much joy in his presence, receiving becomes a bonus. 14:47 [Congregation: Amen] 14:48 In other words, when his presence is what you seek, getting the bills paid is a bonus. 14:54 Getting the healing becomes a bonus. That the primary reason I come for Jesus 15:00 and anything extra is icing on top of the cake. Are you hearing me today, saints? 15:06 And see some of us, friends of mine, I need us to get is that we've never really prayed. 15:11 We've only made wishes. And so I want to admonish somebody in this way, today. 15:19 I want to admonish you to learn how to get to a place where you learn how to just enjoy the presence of God. 15:28 Is there anybody that knows that his presence is better than his presents? 15:34 You all didn't get that. In other words, the presence of who he is greater than the presents that he presents. 15:42 And see, I need somebody to know that if you're missing out on the presents, 15:47 then you're missing out on the best thing. 15:50 What do you mean, Pastor? Remember Psalms 16:11 says that in His presence is fullness of joy. 16:00 At his right hand are pleasures forevermore. The Bible says that where the spirit of the Lord is, 16:09 there is liberty. See, how many of us know that even his presence then brings peace but his presence is peace? 16:18 See, the problem is somebody's praying for peace. When all you got to do is get in his presence. 16:25 And if you get in his presence, 16:27 then the peace is going to be the automatic by-product of living in the presence of God. 16:33 And what I'm saying, saints, is that when you seek the relationship with the son, 16:38 you will be strengthened in His presence. You will be revived in His presence. 16:42 Everything you need is found in the presence of Jehovah. 16:48 [Congregation: Amen] 16:50 Okay. You're all not with me today. Is anybody in this room old enough to remember the old Superman movies? 16:55 And you remember the only thing that could cause Superman to become weakened was kryptonite. 17:03 But whenever he got weakened by kryptonite, 17:06 one of the things that Superman would do is he would leave this atmosphere 17:11 and what he would do is he would just go bask in the presence of the sun. 17:17 And that's amazing because he would be revived in the sun. He will get re-strengthened in the sun. 17:24 He would get replenished by the sun. His lack would be filled in the presence of the sun. And I guess, 17:32 what I'm saying is if he could be strengthened by the S-U-N, 17:36 how many of us know that we can be revived by the S-O-N? 17:42 And when you get to a place where you just dwell in the presence of the Son 17:47 and bask in the presence of the Son that you get the strength that you need 17:52 because everything we lack is found in his presence. 17:58 [Congregation: Applause] 18:00 Are you hearing the word today, saints? The second thing, friends of mine, 18:04 that unrealistic faith teaches us, that this story teaches us is that unrealistic faith doesn't 18:10 need a whole lot of companions. Now, church, there are some details that 18:18 Jesus puts in this parable for a reason. There are some things that he lays out 18:23 because there are some particular tensions that he wants us to be able to grasp. 18:30 So what he does is he tells the story of this widow who goes before this unjust judge. 18:38 And understand that she is described as a widow. We don't know if she is an older woman 18:44 but we know that she is someone who is without a husband. 18:48 And what he does is he contrasts her helplessness against the sovereignty of this judge who does not fear God. 18:59 And he has no regard for people. Are you hearing me today? 19:04 And what he is trying to picture or create is the idea of helplessness. 19:10 Are you with me? Now one of the things I learned, 19:13 Louis, is that in a city or a village that had at least 120 men, 19:20 what would happen is you would have a number of justices. 19:24 So that if you couldn't get justice from one judge, what would happen is, 19:29 you could appeal to another judge who would actually allow things to work in your favor. 19:35 But what I learned is that in a small village, a rural town, where there were less than 120 men, 19:42 you didn't have a series of justices. 19:45 You would have one circuit judge that would go around to different areas and dispatch justice. 19:52 And because there was only one judge, he had no appeal that was authority, that was higher than him, 20:01 which would make him that much more arrogant and his disregard for people and even against God 20:07 because he is the sum total of justice. Are you with me today, church? 20:12 And notice now, the word says that she is a widow. And the connotation is, friends of mine, 20:19 is that understand that a widow at this time was one of the most vulnerable members of the society. 20:26 In other words, a widow with no husband to advocate for her. 20:31 A widow, at least in this text, does not have adult children to stand with her. 20:36 This widow has no kinsman-redeemer to stand with her. 20:41 In other words, there is no human aid to stand with her. She's got to before the presence of the judge, 20:48 all by herself. And even though she has no husband to advocate, 20:53 and even though she's got no community to stand with her, 20:56 even though she doesn't have a bunch of folks that have sway or pull with the judge, 21:01 the one thing I like about this lady is that even though she ain't got no posse or folk interceding on her 21:08 behalf, she's got enough faith to say, "If ain't nobody going to go with me, I'm going to go before 21:16 and present my case even if I've got to go all by myself." 21:22 [Congregation: Amen] 21:23 And can I just say this, friends of mine, and I want to be mindful on how to say this 21:27 because I believe very much in the need or the importance of having a community of faith around you. 21:34 In fact, I advocate in the book to make sure you have a believing community around you. 21:40 But one of the things I've come to learn in my own experience is that even though it's good to have folk 21:46 praying with you, how many of us know that there's going to come a time when you going to have to go 21:52 before God all by yourself? 21:55 [Congregation: Amen] 21:57 And see the unrealistic believer knows that I can go before God even if I have to go by myself. 22:04 Are you with me today, saints? See, let me say it this way. 22:07 It's good to have folks say that they're praying with you. 22:14 But how many of us know that most of the folks that have said they're praying for you have never 22:21 lifted a single petition with your name on it before God? See, when folks say they're praying for you, 22:28 it's just how religious folk have sympathy for the thing that you're going through. 22:33 And what I'm saying is, I tell the truth, how many times have you said I'm praying for you? 22:39 Oh, you are all brand-new in here today. 22:40 [Congregation: Laughing] 22:41 What you said, I'm praying for you but you forgot to follow through on the prayer. 22:44 Am I telling the truth today? But the larger point is this, 22:48 is that unrealistic faith does not attach itself to someone that you perceive as having greater faith than you. 22:58 Unrealistic faith says I'm going to stand before the throne even if I have to stand there by myself. 23:05 Now again, I believe in recruiting an army of prayer warriors 23:09 but I have come to this conclusion that there are certain prayers that have to come from your lips 23:16 and they have to arise out of your heart. Am I preaching to anybody today? 23:21 Remember the story when Hezekiah got sick and was about to die. When the prophet Isaiah came, 23:27 he didn't ask Isaiah to pray for him. The Bible says that he turned his face to the wall 23:34 and he began to ask God for an extension of his life. 23:38 Do you remember when Hannah was barren and had no kids? 23:42 She prayed so hard at the temple that the prophet Eli thought she was drunk and out of her mind. 23:49 Do you remember when Daniel found out that the decree had been signed, he didn't call Shadrach, Meshach, 23:56 and Abednego? He went up to the open window and prayed towards Jerusalem like he always had done. 24:04 Are you all hearing me today? 24:05 [Congregation: Amen] 24:07 And my point is that nobody could pray for Hezekiah's illness like Hezekiah. 24:12 There is no one that could pray for Hannah's barren womb like Hannah. 24:16 There is nobody that could pray for Daniel's deliverance like Daniel. 24:20 And there is nobody that can pray for the urgencies of life like you can. 24:26 Am I telling the truth? That nobody can pray for your children like you can pray for your children. 24:32 There is nobody that can pray for your health like you can. 24:36 There is nobody that can pray for your job like you can. 24:40 Why? Because they're not feeling the burden in the same way you feel the burden. 24:45 When you pray, it has a different weight. When you pray, it has a different urgency. 24:50 When you pray out of the mists of the despair of your own soul, 24:54 it hits the heart of God with a greater weight because nobody can pray for you like you can. 25:03 Are you all hearing what I'm saying? 25:05 And I guess what I need somebody to know is that even when you ain't got nobody to advocate with you, 25:10 you've got a standing with God that allows you to go before God even if you've got to go all by yourself. 25:17 [Congregation: Applause] 25:21 And see what I want to say is stop outsourcing your spiritual connection with Jesus. 25:28 And see, there's somebody and I want to say this with as much compassion as I can. 25:34 That's somebody who's saying, "Well, Pastor, you don't know what I'm going through. 25:38 You don't know how hard it is right now. I just don't have the strength to pray." 25:42 The devil is a liar. Guess what you may not have the mind to pray but guess what? 25:48 You do have the strength to pray. What do you mean? If you can tell your best friend, 25:53 if you can tell your homey, if you can tell the pastor, 25:58 that means you got enough strength to tell it to Jesus. 26:03 [Congregation: Applause] 26:05 The one who is able to turn the situation upside down. Are you all hearing what I'm saying today, saints? 26:10 In fact, put this quote up on the screen. I want you to look and see. What Ellen White says here, 26:15 Prophets and Kings 270. Put this up real quick. 26:18 I need you to know that one thing the enemy wants to do is keep you from calling on the name of the Lord. 26:26 In fact, she says this, that Satan trembles at the sound of prayer. 26:32 [Congregation: Amen] 26:34 Are you sure to lose your mouth right there? So, this is how to know we are not praying. 26:37 Oh, God. Satan trembles at the sound of prayer. Like when he hears you say, "Our Father", 26:49 he starts getting PTSD. 26:53 [Congregation: Applause] 26:54 Because he knows that if you just start praying, God is going to start moving 27:01 and his power is going to be broken. 27:03 She says our great adversary is constantly seeking to keep the troubled soul away from God 27:12 and appeal to Heaven by the humblest Saint is more dreaded by Satan than the decrees of cabinets 27:22 and the mandates of Kings. 27:26 In other words, I need you to know that even in your weakest moments, Satan is afraid when you pray. 27:33 That's why when you're weak, he wants to keep you away from the throne 27:38 because if you just get down on your face and say, "Our Father", 27:43 is there anybody that believes that prayer still changes things? 27:48 That prayer opens doors that no man can shut. That prayer still raises the afflicted. 27:58 That prayer still reconciles the broken. That prayer still revives the church. 28:04 That God does exceedingly and abundantly above all you can ask or think. 28:11 When we come together and pray. Are you hearing me today, saints? 28:15 Thank you so much for joining us for the Breath of Life Television Ministries broadcast with 28:21 Pastor Debleaire Snell! We hope that you have been blessed through today's message 28:25 and that you trust God through the situation you might face in your life ─ unrealistically. 28:32 Join us next week for Part Two of “Don't Give God a Deadline” You don't want to miss it! 28:40 (Breath of Life Theme Music) 29:01 [END] |
Revised 2022-05-23