Perfecting Me

Character and Hourly Prayer

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Wintley Phipps (Host), Adly Campos, Dr E.T. Stoddart, Ruthie Jacobson

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Series Code: PFM

Program Code: PFM000008A


00:27 Hi, I'm Wintley Phipps, and welcome to our program
00:31 Perfecting Me, Becoming More Like Jesus.
00:36 I'm so glad you've joined us.
00:38 My guests today on our program, our Ruthie Jacobsen,
00:41 head of the Prime Ministry of the North American division
00:43 of Seventh-day Adventist.
00:45 Pastor Georges Fleurimond,
00:47 pastor of the West Park Seventh-day Adventist Church.
00:50 And Mrs. Adly Campos, speaker and president
00:53 of Family Well Being International.
00:56 You'll hear from them a little later.
00:59 The mounted sentries at Buckingham Palace,
01:01 you know the soldiers with that black bearskin hats,
01:05 they are the watchmen at the walls
01:07 of the Buckingham Palace.
01:09 And they have to change soldiers every hour
01:12 round the clock, round the clock protection.
01:15 In Washington, D.C., the guard at the Tomb
01:18 of the Unknown Soldier is changed every 30 minutes
01:21 during the summer
01:23 and every hour during the winter.
01:25 And the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
01:28 has been guarded every minute of every day
01:32 since 1937.
01:35 Well, if a tomb of a dead soldier
01:38 is guarded every minute of every day,
01:43 we who are living soldiers to be safe,
01:47 we too must watch and pray.
01:52 But it's not occasional, sporadic, infrequent,
01:56 intermittent prayer I'm talking about.
01:59 Jesus has given us the formula
02:01 for the spiritual threat detection
02:04 and spiritual victory.
02:06 He said, "Watch and pray."
02:09 And not just any kind of prayer,
02:10 I'm convinced that constant hourly prayer
02:14 is our only protection.
02:17 I believe with all my heart that if we will follow
02:22 the counsel, the command, the encouragement of Jesus
02:25 to pray without ceasing, to pray every hour on the hour
02:32 that we will see in our own personal lives,
02:35 victory over sin, victory over habits
02:39 that threatened to stain the character of Christ
02:42 that has been given to us.
02:44 I want you to stay with us during this program.
02:47 You will hear strategies, and you will hear experiences
02:50 that will inspire you and teach you
02:53 how to watch and pray hourly.
03:02 I'm sure with all of us, there are some things about
03:06 how we live now and how we act now,
03:09 that must change.
03:11 And they must change now.
03:15 No, it is not okay to die addicted to porn.
03:20 No, it is not okay to die addicted
03:23 to weed and drugs.
03:25 It is not okay to die a liar and a thief.
03:29 1 Corinthians 6:9 says, "Know you not
03:32 that the unrighteous shall not inherit
03:34 the Kingdom of God?
03:36 Be not deceived, neither fornicators,
03:38 nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate,
03:41 nor abusers of themselves with mankind."
03:44 1 Corinthians 6:10, "Nor thieves, nor covetous,
03:48 nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortionists shall inherit
03:55 the Kingdom of God."
03:57 God has done everything possible
03:59 to show His love for us.
04:02 And it is the height of self-deception to think
04:05 that His love will over look the fact
04:10 that we are still stubbornly chained
04:13 to ungodly habits by our own choice.
04:18 Jesus died to set us free from ungodly habits
04:22 and character defects.
04:25 And any changes and transformation of character
04:29 we plan to make before Jesus comes,
04:33 we must make it now, not later, now.
04:39 The servant of the Lord reminds us
04:41 that death brings decay to the body,
04:45 but death does not change the kind of person
04:50 we have chosen to become.
04:53 Our character, the servant of the Lord
04:55 reminds us no change of character will take place
05:01 at the return of Christ.
05:04 If we are full of pride when we die
05:06 we will not come out of the grave
05:08 suddenly clothed in humility.
05:11 If we are selfish when we die, we will not come up
05:14 out of the grave suddenly
05:16 clothed in Christ-like generosity.
05:20 If we go down thinking evil, we will not come up
05:24 out of the grave suddenly clothed
05:26 with the mind of Christ.
05:29 If we go down speaking evil of others,
05:32 we will not come up out of the grave suddenly
05:34 with our mouths filled with words
05:36 of love and encouragement.
05:38 If we judge those with whom we come in contact,
05:42 did you know that that only means
05:44 we are not being sanctified
05:46 and perfected through the truth,
05:49 and we will have no part with Christ in His kingdom?
05:54 Those who make no change in character
05:57 though claiming the privilege of being called Christians
06:02 will not enter the Kingdom of God.
06:05 God considers no conversion truly genuine
06:10 that doesn't radically change the heart,
06:13 the character, the behavior, and the conduct.
06:18 I'm absolutely clear that Christ offer to change
06:22 and transform us into His lightness
06:26 is the most thrilling and wonderful offer
06:31 that has ever been made to us.
06:34 And I believe there is nothing more important
06:38 or more exciting that you can do with your life
06:42 than to choose every day to become more like Jesus,
06:49 growing to be more like Jesus is exciting, joyous.
06:53 It is amazing.
06:55 It is the greatest privilege of my life and your life.
07:00 Nothing is more important to me
07:04 than becoming more like Jesus, nothing.
07:08 Sanctification is becoming more like Jesus.
07:13 And too many people really have taken the joy
07:17 out of sanctification.
07:19 There is joy in growing to be more like Jesus.
07:24 As long as you are a Christian, you are going to be growing,
07:29 you ought to be loving every moment
07:32 of spiritual growth, God will bless you,
07:36 He will strengthen you.
07:38 He says if you love Me, keep my commandments,
07:41 keep growing, keep maturing.
07:45 It is God's way of perfecting you.
07:50 I want you to see a video from our friends
07:53 at the 700 Club.
07:55 It will help you grow in your prayer life.
07:58 And it'll help you grow in your faith.
08:01 Watch this video.
08:09 Six years ago, what was my life like
08:12 I didn't like to sit still.
08:15 I loved hanging out with friends,
08:16 I had really solid relationships
08:18 that was what I can remember.
08:20 I knew what I wanted to do.
08:22 You know, I really encountered the Lord at this point.
08:24 And I wanted to go into ministry somehow.
08:26 Cameron got accepted into a Bible college
08:29 and began making plans to attend after high school.
08:32 Car was packed, I was all ready to go.
08:36 On the way to college, Cameron went to the lake
08:37 with his family and friends.
08:39 On the second day of the vacation,
08:41 all his plans changed.
08:43 I dove into shallow water, hit my head on the bottom,
08:46 broke my neck, and the broken neck
08:50 went into my spinal cord.
08:51 The body is dead and I was paralyzed.
08:53 Cameron, still under water,
08:55 was unable to swim to the surface.
08:57 He soon began to run out of air.
08:59 I began to really realize I could die here.
09:04 I couldn't move anything. Tried to swim up couldn't.
09:06 I just begin to pray.
09:08 A miracle occurred under the water.
09:10 When I ran out of breath I kind of gasped a little bit.
09:14 But instead of taking in water,
09:16 it's hard to explain other than just I could...
09:18 I had more air.
09:19 Cameron kept praying.
09:21 And finally one of his friends found him
09:25 and pulled him to shore.
09:26 Called out the Lord to the scriptures,
09:28 calling on His name all the way back to the shore
09:32 as my best friend at this point
09:33 is dragging my limp body as much he can.
09:36 And they got me in the ambulance, you know,
09:38 I'm still thanking the Lord for healing,
09:40 I'm still talking about Him.
09:42 After two intense surgeries and several tests,
09:45 Cameron had to face the truth.
09:47 I remember doctors saying,
09:53 "His broken neck and paralyzed."
09:56 I remember Dad coming over to me,
09:59 his head falls on my chest, and he just begins to sob.
10:04 His friends and family asked others to pray.
10:07 Soon the miraculous story of him breathing under water
10:10 went viral.
10:11 Some people even gave their lives to Christ.
10:14 Still Cameron had unanswered questions.
10:17 Why didn't God heal him?
10:20 Some of the people around me were still encouraging me
10:25 in that, "Keep going, you're going to get healed,
10:27 you're going to be well."
10:29 Others were inspired that I was perseverant
10:34 through this thing and not turning from the Lord.
10:37 But I didn't initially like that so much
10:39 because, you know,
10:40 they were saying, "You and your wheelchair
10:42 are being used by the Lord."
10:44 And I knew that, but that wasn't the goal.
10:46 Cameron's goal was to be healed.
10:49 During this time,
10:50 he experienced another kind of loss.
10:52 I think sometimes people are less willing
10:55 to pursue relationships with people
10:58 who are broken, and sick, and in wheelchairs.
11:01 I lost some really close relationships.
11:05 Some of it seemed to be
11:08 because I wasn't getting healed.
11:11 All the tears shed none of it was about this,
11:14 you know, whole paralyzed.
11:15 I've never cried about that.
11:17 I didn't deal well with it.
11:18 It was really, really hard.
11:20 Cameron continued praying
11:21 and reading verses about healing.
11:24 He did everything he could to grow in his faith
11:26 and be healed by God.
11:28 Year and half, and two years, and you're doing what you know
11:32 to do to get the healing, but the Lord has to break
11:35 in that situation or else you'll just
11:37 keep spinning your wheels and it's like,
11:40 "I don't have enough faith or God isn't real."
11:43 That's the logical end of this faith healing thing
11:46 isn't happening.
11:48 "Or God doesn't love me or God isn't faithful,"
11:51 but the reality is that God is very faithful.
11:53 And He's set up in His word, the truth in reality
11:57 about healing, He's faithful to His word.
12:00 I just might not understand His word very well.
12:02 One of his mentors shared with Cameron
12:04 how Jesus suffered in order to bring glory to God.
12:08 Cameron began to explore
12:10 what it means to endure the cross.
12:13 Jesus suffered.
12:14 Paul's always talking about suffering.
12:16 And I had seen those scriptures.
12:19 They will weigh on my heart, it's like,
12:20 "Wow, that doesn't fit my faith healing thing."
12:22 Peter says, "Set your hope
12:24 fully on the grace to be given you
12:27 at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
12:29 Where we haven't done that is where we get sorrow.
12:33 There is sorrow when I set hope in other things
12:35 like the healing, but when I set my hope fully
12:38 in what God has promised,
12:39 He's promised to come and restore all things.
12:42 I set my hope fully there, I'm going to have joy.
12:45 The healing may or may not happen.
12:47 I may or may not have great relationships.
12:49 But what will happen is Jesus will come back
12:51 and will give me a resurrected body.
12:53 And I will be out of this wheelchair.
12:55 Now Cameron shares his story
12:56 and what he's learned with others.
12:58 Three years ago, I'd be looking at myself right now
13:01 I'll be like "You lost faith for healing, you gave up."
13:04 I realized, "Okay, I never lost faith,
13:07 it's that my faith was redirected."
13:09 I want to go in to a ministry this way, go to school,
13:14 and now the Lord has just thrust me
13:17 into ministry a different way
13:19 through the avenue of the center.
13:21 You may have the faith to be healed.
13:26 But do you have the faith to continue on when you're not.
13:28 What the Lord's done to me is given me the strength
13:31 and faith to continue on.
13:32 He did it so tenderly.
13:35 And so what health, He turned my heart to it
13:38 like my desire is to be used by hand in this way.
13:43 It's a rejoicing.
13:49 Joining us again, our guests Ruthie Jacobsen, Adly Campos,
13:54 and Pastor Georges Fleurimond,
13:56 thank you for being with us today.
13:57 Let me ask you something about this really
14:01 a very revolutionary idea.
14:04 And that is Christians praying hourly,
14:09 not just when they're going through a tough experience,
14:13 but making a commitment to hourly prayer
14:17 for the rest of their lives.
14:20 That is a revolutionary commitment.
14:24 My idea or I should say my introduction
14:28 to hourly prayer came from
14:31 when I was with Dr. E. E. Cleveland,
14:34 my friend and mentor for many years.
14:36 And I was working
14:38 in one of his evangelistic crusades.
14:41 And he said to me during those crusades
14:44 and in one of those crusades in his very unique voice,
14:48 he said, "Wintley," he said, "I have learned
14:51 how to pray every hour on the hour."
14:55 And that touched me, it moved me.
14:57 And in all my young days of ministry,
15:00 I was trying to learn how could I do that.
15:03 But I found it very difficult to remember every time
15:06 the hour was coming around.
15:08 So I went out when people were buying
15:10 expensive watches,
15:11 I would buy these cheap digital watches
15:14 that would vibrate every hour on the hour.
15:18 And it would remind me to pray every hour.
15:21 Can you imagine after three, four years of feeling
15:25 that on your arm what happened to me?
15:28 I began praying not only on the hour but before the hour
15:32 and in the hour.
15:34 And I was learning to have constant communion with God.
15:38 Let me ask you, all of you about this idea
15:42 of hourly prayer.
15:44 Sister Ruthie, what do you think
15:45 is that really possible for Christians?
15:50 I think it's the most wonderful thing.
15:52 Yes, it's possible.
15:54 And, you know, when you came on the all-night prayer call
15:57 that we have across North America in July,
16:01 and you shared this concept.
16:03 Many of the people were already trying to do it.
16:07 And it's difficult without some kind of prompt.
16:11 But they're doing it.
16:12 And they were experiencing the wonderful effects of it.
16:17 But when they heard you, just underscore it,
16:21 they were thrilled.
16:22 And now since this app is going to be available very soon.
16:26 And I have been using it for a couple weeks.
16:29 I keep sharing with them, you know,
16:31 some of the expressions that I'm getting, the prompts,
16:38 the ideas that are coming on my screen,
16:40 and they are so excited.
16:43 I don't know when there has been anything
16:46 this exciting that's come across the screen
16:48 for our prayer coordinators, one of them said,
16:52 a man in Southern California, he said, "Ruthie, you tell me
16:56 this is going to knock my socks off."
16:58 He said, "I lose more socks with you
17:00 than I do in the dryer."
17:03 That's beautiful.
17:04 Well, for those who are listening
17:06 and I think it'll be important to describe what this is,
17:10 it's called SDA Divine Alerts.
17:13 You know, how when you get on your cell phone,
17:15 you get a little news alert from Fox News
17:18 or a news alert from CNN News, well, we developed an app
17:22 for your phone called SDA Divine Alerts.
17:26 And you can set it to the frequency you are.
17:29 So if you want it every hour, I want it every hour,
17:32 but you're able to choose a book in the Bible,
17:35 you can get the Psalms.
17:40 Every hour it reminds you to center yourself and to pray.
17:44 You can also get Steps to Christ,
17:47 so some of the Ellen White's writings
17:49 or other great writers.
17:51 And so we're excited to let people know
17:53 about SDA Divine Alerts.
17:56 Sister Campos, tell me about your thought
17:59 about the importance of hourly prayer.
18:04 I think I cannot say that I have experienced it
18:10 myself praying every hour on the dot, I have not,
18:15 but I do pray every moment that I think
18:19 that I want to have a contact with God.
18:23 And that could be many times a day
18:26 without exactly being every hour.
18:28 And it's in thought, and at times it's on my knees,
18:32 and at times it's reading something from this scripture,
18:35 at times it's listening to someone
18:37 that is presenting a sermon, a DVD.
18:41 But I'm having that communion
18:44 as often as I can possibly do it.
18:47 But I think this idea, it's wonderful
18:50 because it's easier to do it
18:53 when you're reminded of something.
18:55 Exactly.
18:56 Pastor Fleurimond, what do you think
18:58 about this whole concept of praying hourly?
19:00 And not just as I said, "Well, I'm about to go
19:03 through a difficult period in my life.
19:05 I'm going to try to pray every hour,"
19:06 but to dedicate yourself to living
19:09 so that you pray as...
19:11 And as Sister Campos said,
19:12 not just every hour on the hour,
19:14 but at every moment you can think of living
19:17 in a constant life of constant communion with God.
19:21 What do you think of this idea of hourly prayer?
19:24 I want to read 1 Thessalonians 5:16, 18
19:27 'cause I think you made a mention of that
19:29 in your introduction.
19:31 "I rejoice always, pray without ceasing,
19:34 give thanks in all circumstances
19:37 for this is the will of God in Jesus Christ for you."
19:40 And I think that's so important for us to know
19:43 that praying without ceasing is actually the will of God.
19:48 And that it is more than just asking,
19:52 it is more than just the simple request of God
19:56 to help, it is to pray in every circumstances
20:00 in good times and in bad times, you know, to rejoice in prayer.
20:04 And so I think that it is very possible
20:07 and, you know, in my time with you
20:09 actually have noticed this consistence being
20:14 in prayer always.
20:16 I don't know if you noticed in you,
20:18 there are times when you say, "Thank you, Jesus."
20:20 You will say, "Thank you, Jesus."
20:22 Right.
20:23 And that's for me, it is an indicator
20:26 or indication that while you are speaking
20:29 or in the middle of a conversation with someone
20:32 you're still in communication with God.
20:34 And so I think it is possible, I think it is a matter of us
20:40 becoming more disciplined,
20:42 training ourselves to view this,
20:44 praying without ceasing to be something
20:47 we can do it all the times.
20:49 Yes.
20:50 And, you know, praying hourly...
20:54 A lot of people think that prayer is the...
20:58 It's really unrealistic to just pray, pray, pray
21:02 and just pray and pray, pray, pray.
21:06 You know what I tell people no time spent with God
21:12 is ever wasted.
21:15 Right. Right. Amen.
21:16 And, you know...
21:18 Go ahead, Ruthie.
21:19 I was just going to say there is this very simple
21:22 little song that the children, well, adults sing it too.
21:26 Walk in the light, beautiful light
21:29 Walk where the dewdrops of mercy shine bright
21:33 Shine all around us by day and by night
21:36 Jesus is the light of the world
21:38 And the more we are in communion with Him,
21:41 the more we're in fellowship with Him,
21:43 the more of His light is able to shine on us.
21:47 I am getting the Andrew Murray thoughts on prayer now.
21:53 And I tell you it just lifts you
21:55 into the presence of the Lord.
21:57 One of them said the countenance of the Father
22:01 shines down on you.
22:02 Amen.
22:04 Well, that scripture
22:05 but it's just lifts you into His presence,
22:08 and it gives you a grateful heart.
22:09 And you'll get that from the SDA Divine Alerts app,
22:13 those Andrew Murray sayings.
22:16 And they are the powerful quotes that remind you
22:20 to get yourself into the presence of God.
22:23 And I think that's one of the things
22:25 that an hourly reminder does, it centers you,
22:29 it refocuses you.
22:31 And I was talking to somebody about this the other day.
22:34 And, you know, you think only people
22:37 who are busy in secular work need that kind of centering,
22:40 but the truth is a lot of people in ministry,
22:43 you can get so busy, you know, you ever heard that song
22:47 that my friend Larnelle Harris sings
22:49 "I miss my time with you."
22:53 And it's a beautiful song, beautiful words,
22:55 but the Lord is saying, "I want more time with you."
22:59 And I also believe nobody is going to get to heaven
23:03 and ask God for an audience to tell Him, "Listen, Lord,
23:08 when we were on earth, You were bothering me too much.
23:14 You were just every time I turn around,
23:17 You wanted to talk to me, you know."
23:19 It's not going to be like that.
23:22 Wintley, could I share one more thing
23:25 about this God alerts.
23:28 It's not just a prompt to prayer but it's a call
23:33 to prayer, it's a reminder, but often these quotes
23:38 are so full of encouragement and inspiration
23:42 that your prayer first is just gratitude,
23:45 and peace, and it's just such a wonderful prompt
23:50 and the launch to prayer.
23:52 So I just praise the Lord for this.
23:53 Well, praise God.
23:54 Sister Campos, you were going to say something.
23:57 Yes, somebody said yesterday to me,
24:00 "I cannot spend that much time in prayer
24:03 and study up the Bible like you do.
24:06 I don't think I could ever do something like that."
24:09 I said, "Try it.
24:11 If you try it, you will fall in love with it
24:15 and you will not be able to subsist one moment
24:18 without it, all it takes is for you to taste it,
24:22 to try it just for a little bit.
24:24 And you will see how addicted it is."
24:26 It is. It is. And I tell you the truth.
24:29 And Pastor Fleurimond, he and I worked together
24:31 in a ministry for years, and I cannot think
24:35 of another way to live.
24:37 I really can't think of a better way to live
24:40 than to live...
24:42 Remember in our early introductions,
24:45 I was talking about how it is so exciting,
24:49 it is, it is exciting living each day
24:53 talking to the Lord and living in the presence of God.
24:57 I don't know of any other more beautiful exciting way to live.
25:02 Pastor Fleurimond, you want to close with us.
25:04 Oh, definitely.
25:06 I think a prayer is not only a tool
25:10 that can be used to bring us closer to God,
25:13 but prayer will allows us to get to know Him better.
25:19 And the more we speak with Him, the more dimensions of Him
25:23 we're able to find, you know.
25:25 Amen.
25:27 And I believe that it's kind of like a flower
25:29 that has many petals, you know, you pull one back
25:33 and it's another layer behind it.
25:35 And I think as more we pray, we get into deeper levels
25:40 who God is for us.
25:41 Well, I will tell you this every hour,
25:44 He'll have something even more beautiful to say to you.
25:47 Exactly. God bless you. Thanks for being with us today.
25:56 When I was a teenager I worked with a great evangelist
25:59 by the name of E.E. Cleveland.
26:02 And during one of the crusades, he said to me, "Wintley,"
26:05 he said, said "I have learned how to pray every hour
26:09 on the hour," that touched me so much
26:12 that I decided I wanted to make
26:14 that a part of my life and ministry.
26:16 But I found it very difficult to, you know,
26:19 always know when that hour was coming around.
26:22 So I started buying these cheap digital watches
26:26 that would vibrate every hour on the hour.
26:30 And it would remind me to pray.
26:33 Well, after about three years of doing that,
26:36 I found myself praying not only on the hour,
26:39 but before the hour, and all in the hour.
26:43 And I have learned the power of hourly communion with God.
26:50 I've learned the power of regular hourly
26:54 continual interaction with God's will,
26:58 God's thoughts.
27:00 It is not fanaticism to pray hourly.
27:04 On the contrary, it is what we were created for,
27:10 to watch and pray.
27:12 Man was created for fellowship with God.
27:17 And can only in such fellowship find
27:20 His real life and development.
27:22 We were created to find in God our highest joy.
27:27 And we can find in nothing else this joy
27:32 that can quiet the cravings of the heart
27:34 and satisfy the hunger and thirst of the soul.
27:38 And so He who, with sincere teachable spirit,
27:43 studies God's Word, and watch,
27:46 and pray will be blessed by the God of heaven.
27:50 I'm Wintley Phipps, and remember to be a Christian
27:55 means to be Christ-like.


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Revised 2018-02-07