Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP200030S
|
00:01 Hello, and welcome to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel.
00:03 We're so glad you've joined us today. 00:05 We have a wonderful study in the Word of God today, 00:08 we know you're going to be blessed. 00:10 You know, we're on lesson number four, 00:11 we're going to be talking about 1prayer power. 00:14 We're going to talk about interceding for others. 00:17 I'm sure you're excited about that as I am. 00:19 And you know, again, I know you have many choices, 00:22 but you decided to join us here and we're very glad for that. 00:26 You know, we're on lesson number four. 00:28 So be sure lesson number four, 00:30 be sure and get your study guide. 00:32 Some of you may not have your guides right now. 00:35 And you'll want to follow along with us 00:36 and you can do that by going and downloading them 00:39 at absg.adventist.org. 00:42 That's absg.adventist.org. 00:46 Get those study guides and join in with us. 00:49 I know you'll be blessed. 00:50 As you see we're getting ready to start. 00:51 So stay right there. 00:53 We'll be right back in just a moment. 01:25 Hello, and welcome once again to 3ABN Sabbath School panel. 01:27 Welcome back. 01:29 We'll be again on lesson number four. 01:30 So get what you need, pencil, paper 01:32 or get your Bible and sit down 01:33 because you're going to have a just a wonderful study 01:36 in the Word of God. 01:37 You know, those of us 01:39 who have been through that lesson, 01:40 you may be going through the first time right now today. 01:42 We went through it, we already have been blessed. 01:44 That panel has been blessed and we're talking about that, 01:47 we want to make sure that we introduce the panel, 01:49 not that they need an introduction, 01:51 but you know, it's nice to... 01:52 We believe there'll be new people 01:54 tuning in all the time. 01:56 I'm going to say by the hundreds and by faith 01:57 by thousands and by faith millions. 01:59 We're praising God for that. 02:01 So if you're one of the new ones, praise God. 02:03 How about writing to 3ABN to let us know that 02:04 you're tuning in for the first time. 02:06 Thank you again for joining us here. 02:07 Okay, to my immediate left, Sister Jill Morikone. 02:11 It's good to have you. Good to be here, Pastor. 02:14 It makes me feel strange to say 02:16 it's good to have you because you know, it, 02:17 but it's good to work together. 02:19 I've enjoyed it 02:21 and come to love everyone on the panel. 02:23 And most of all is your love for Jesus. 02:24 That's what shines through. Amen. 02:26 To your left, Pastor John Lomacang. 02:28 Always good to be here 02:29 and open the Word of God together. 02:30 Yeah, yeah. I love it. 02:32 When he's getting ready for that, 02:33 you can just see it start coming all over his body. 02:35 You can just see it comes to his mind, 02:36 he starts to focus on the Word of God. 02:38 So I always appreciate it lot again. 02:40 And you have him to your left there. 02:42 Yes, who is that? I don't know. 02:45 He's one of the new kids on the block. 02:46 Yeah, I had to say 02:48 'cause I think I heard it was like what? 02:49 A year or more? It's been a little while. 02:52 Since you've joined us here, Brother Greg Morikone. 02:55 I mean, it's really it's a pleasure to have you. 02:58 I know that you're busy 02:59 and you're taking time out to do this but... 03:01 It's a blessing to open the Word of God 03:03 and I'm looking forward to today's study, Pastor. 03:05 Yes. Okay. 03:06 Yes and next to you, 03:07 Brother Ryan Day, Pastor Ryan Day. 03:09 Man, I'm excited. 03:11 Excited for this lesson, talking about prayer. 03:13 Yes, it's going to be good. And I love that excitement. 03:16 Keep that excitement for Jesus. 03:18 You know, I think these lessons will bring that out in us 03:21 because it talks about Jesus so much. 03:22 Let's get in. 03:24 We're going to do to the first part. 03:25 The memory text is James 5:16. 03:28 And that's one that probably many of you have used. 03:30 We'll have prayer first. Yes, thank you. 03:32 Let's pray for that. 03:33 But, Brother, John, how about you? 03:34 Would you have prayer, please? Sure. Yes. 03:36 Loving Father in heaven, 03:37 the opportunity is always a blessing 03:39 whenever we include Your Holy Spirit's power here. 03:41 And we do pray that now 03:43 You'll come and fill our minds and hearts. 03:45 Strengthen us, create a unity 03:46 and may this topic on prayer reach out 03:49 and touch someone today to let them know that 03:52 prayer will open the door to possibilities 03:55 and find in the presence of God the joy 03:58 that they are looking for. 03:59 In Jesus' name we pray, amen. 04:03 Thank you because today is our lesson number four. 04:05 We're talking about the prayer, the power of prayer. 04:08 And I think most of us here and I know you at home, 04:10 you recognize the need of power 04:13 in our hearts and lives every day. 04:15 So memory text in James 5:16, and you have it in your lesson. 04:19 If you haven't, now remember to be sure 04:21 and download those and get them to study along with us. 04:24 James 5:16, the Bible says, "Confess your trespassers," 04:29 says your, King James says what? 04:30 Faults. 04:32 "Confess your faults one to another 04:33 and pray for one another that you may be healed. 04:37 The effective, oh yeah, effectual, fervent prayers 04:41 of a righteous man availeth much." 04:44 You know, that's powerful 04:45 and probably could spend an hour 04:46 on that passage of scripture, but praise God for that. 04:51 In our lesson, and I'm going to read 04:52 because I think that this really hits the spot 04:55 for the opening of this lesson number four. 04:59 So I'm going to take it here right 05:01 from the lesson what it says and this goes from, 05:02 if you have your Bibles be sure and looking in Acts 4:31. 05:07 Acts 4:31. 05:09 Again, there's some power that really comes here. 05:12 I love the Book of Acts, 05:13 because it's just, it's power packed. 05:16 You know, every time you read a verse, 05:17 and it's like, something miraculous happened, 05:19 God just worked another miracle that people are on fire. 05:22 God's people are working. Notice what it says here. 05:24 It says, "And when they had prayed, 05:27 the place where they 05:28 were assembled together was," what? 05:30 Shake it. It was, whoo, I like it. 05:34 I can't help but I want to go on here. 05:35 That's right. It was shaken. 05:37 I mean, maybe you felt like 05:39 that sometime when you were praying. 05:41 Maybe it didn't, physical shaking going on. 05:43 But you felt like you were shaking in the spirit. 05:45 You know that the heaven 05:47 was close to you something heaven came down. 05:49 Glory filled your soul. 05:51 And so, notice here, it said, "They were assembled together, 05:54 and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit." 05:56 I know they were in one accord 05:58 and they spake the Word of God with what? 06:01 Whoo, glory with boldness. I like that. 06:04 Notice, disciples prayed and when they prayed, 06:06 it said they were filled 06:08 with the Holy Spirit of the Living God. 06:10 They spoke the word with boldness. 06:14 Do we not live in the day that we need to have boldness? 06:17 We come boldly to the throne of God, 06:19 then we find help in our time of need. 06:21 But I think if there's ever 06:23 was a time for where boldness is needed, 06:25 and I'm not talking about overdoing it, 06:27 we're talking about holy boldness 06:28 because God has said it in His Word. 06:30 We may claim it and the power is ours. 06:33 Praise God for that. 06:34 And also in the Acts of the Apostle, page 37, 06:36 our lesson brings this out and I love this too. 06:39 It says, "There was a great relationship 06:42 between the prayers 06:43 and the infilling of the Holy Spirit. 06:46 We all have been praying, 06:47 we're praying for the latter rain. 06:48 We're praying for the power of the Holy Spirit. 06:51 But notice there, 06:53 there's a relationship between prayers 06:54 and the infilling of the Holy Spirit. 06:57 So if you're in... 06:58 We need to invite the Holy Spirit 06:59 because that'd be the Holy Spirit's 07:01 waiting for the invitation to come. 07:03 And we invite the Holy Spirit will come, 07:05 powerfully proclaiming God's Word. 07:08 Notice it talks about the disciples here. 07:10 Disciples did not ask for a blessing 07:12 for themselves merely. 07:15 What were they asking? 07:17 Most times when we get on our knees, 07:18 we begin to pray, what happen? 07:20 We've been, "Oh, Lord, I have needs. 07:21 Right. 07:22 Man, I need my mind sometime and there's nothing wrong, 07:25 we can pray for those things 07:26 but notice what they had on their mind. 07:28 When we are imbued 07:29 with the Spirit of the Living God, 07:31 other people are on our hearts. 07:34 The work of God is on our hearts. 07:36 Notice this, they did not ask 07:37 for a blessing for themselves merely, 07:39 they were weighed 07:40 with the burden of salvation for souls, 07:44 and I believe that's what we all should be doing, 07:46 there's no doubt about it. 07:47 They realize that the gospel was to be carried to the world. 07:50 They claimed the power that Christ had promised. 07:54 So part of that we're talking about today 07:55 is claiming the promise of God. 07:56 He's promised... 07:58 Sunday's lesson we'll get into that. 07:59 Sunday's lesson is to talk about 08:01 "A Cosmic Struggle." 08:02 And so you know, we look at cosmic struggle 08:04 doesn't that mean that's a universal struggle. 08:07 That's the whole universe and I'm not big enough 08:09 to understand the whole universe, 08:11 you know and all about it. 08:13 I'm lucky, I did try to comprehend 08:14 this little planet that we're on that what is going on. 08:18 So cosmic struggle is going on. And what is it going on for? 08:22 Would it be going on for the souls 08:23 and the hearts and the minds of men? 08:25 There's a struggle that's going on 08:26 and we're going to read something about prayer, 08:28 how important it is before I get into that. 08:30 2 Testimonies 3:13 says this. I like it. 08:34 I could end it right here. 08:35 It says, "Pray much, pray much for prayer 08:39 is one of the most essential," and I like the way it said 08:42 and hadn't thought so much as essential duty. 08:46 It's a duty we have as Christians to pray much. 08:50 And I've always say, hey, 08:52 a whole lot less talking and a whole lot more praying. 08:54 You know, not so much to talk about, 08:56 but we got a lot to pray about. 08:58 Without it you cannot maintain a Christian walk, 09:02 it elevates, it strengthens and it enables. 09:05 It is the soul talking to God. 09:10 What a privilege we have, 09:13 as just human beings, mere dust of the earth, sinful. 09:16 We come to Christ give our life Him. 09:18 We can talk to Him and I love Steps to Christ 09:20 where it says 93, "Prayer is the opening 09:23 of the heart to God as a friend." 09:26 You know, which I hear people say all the time. 09:28 They've been in church for umpteen years and they say, 09:30 "I don't know how to pray. 09:32 I don't know how to pray." 09:33 Well, I don't know if I know how to pray. 09:34 I just look in the Word of God. 09:36 And I talked to him as a friend. 09:38 I go to Him and I can take 09:40 my thoughts, my cares, my desires, my whatever it is, 09:43 and I could lay them at His feet 09:45 and I know He cares. 09:46 I know He hears, 09:47 opening the heart of God as a friend. 09:49 God is always ready. God is always willing to hear. 09:54 Well, I'm going to go right into our lesson here. 09:56 I guess I better, time's running out. 09:58 Our lesson wants us to compare a few passages 10:00 of scripture and ask ourselves some questions 10:03 here I think is very, very important here 10:05 is how do these passages influence our need 10:09 and understanding of not only prayer, 10:12 but intercessory prayer. 10:14 And I think we can glean from that 10:16 or how valuable really is prayer. 10:20 What's going on in the world today, 10:22 is it something we need to be 10:23 praying about and who is in control? 10:27 If you have your Bible, turn to me Revelation 12:7-9 10:32 very familiar passage of scripture, 10:33 I'm sure to each one of you, 10:35 but we'll read those Revelation12:7-9 says, 10:38 "And there was war," where? 10:39 "In heaven: Michael 10:41 and his angels fought against the dragon, 10:42 and the dragon fought against his angels." 10:44 Verse 8, "And prevailed not, 10:47 neither was their place found any more in heaven." 10:50 Verse 9, "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, 10:54 called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the," what? 10:58 "The whole world." Now where was he cast out? 11:00 "He was cast out to the earth, 11:02 and his angels were cast out with him." 11:04 So we can see now the importance of prayer, 11:07 how we need to be praying, and why? 11:09 Because the devil is down here as a roaring lion, 11:12 and certainly wanting to seek 11:14 and to devour those who you know, give their, 11:16 they don't set Christ in their heart and their life. 11:20 Verse 7 really stands out, 11:22 something I don't think I still understand. 11:25 There's something that I've read, 11:26 I've heard all my life that there was war in heaven. 11:29 And when I was just a youngster, 11:30 I kept thinking, "How can there be? 11:31 When he's talking about war in heaven, 11:33 what kind of a war was it and what went on here?" 11:35 So rather than to go into all that, 11:36 just food for thought, 11:38 the Bible said there was contention, 11:40 there was war in heaven, and the dragon was cast out 11:43 because he went against God, did he not? 11:45 What was it over? 11:48 What was the contention really over? 11:50 It wasn't over the law of God, the way God you know, 11:52 God was in charge. 11:54 The devil wanted to be in charge also. 11:56 In fact, he said, I'm going to be. 11:58 And so when the devil is cast out to this earth, 12:02 when he's cast out to this earth 12:03 as we think about it here, 12:05 he was wanting to do all that he could 12:06 certainly to take it over 12:07 and then to set in the place of God. 12:10 Isaiah 14 isn't 13 and 14. 12:13 He just makes some simple statements 12:14 as he says there, 12:15 "I will ascend into heaven," right? 12:17 "I will be like what? 12:19 "I'll exalt my throne right above the stars of God, 12:21 I will be like the most High." 12:25 Wow, big talk. 12:27 A lot of language here 12:28 after the guy that just got thrown out. 12:30 In fact the one who just got beat up, 12:32 as it were, you know, but he still has a plan 12:35 and he brought that plan down here. 12:36 He started in heaven, he brought it down here. 12:38 God shows us that there was and is a continual what? 12:42 Struggle that's going on down here. 12:44 Every day of your life, every day of my life, 12:47 we have to realize it's a struggle going on. 12:49 We need prayer. 12:50 We need to be praying for our kids. 12:51 We need to be praying for our, 12:53 they say for our enemies, you know, the stranger, 12:55 each and every one every day 12:56 because there is a battle royale 12:59 that's going on for the souls of men. 13:02 And that's you and me. 13:03 So when we look at each other during day so you know what? 13:05 Kenny's maybe going through a struggle today, 13:07 I need to pray for him. 13:08 I'm glad that God lays that on our heart 13:10 from time to time that sometimes somebody's name 13:12 comes in your mind, then what do you do? 13:14 You begin to pray for that individual. 13:17 Manuscript 3-21-1900. 13:19 Manuscript 3-21-1900 says this, 13:24 "If the curtain could be rolled back, 13:26 you would see the armies of heaven 13:28 are in continual warfare with Satanic agencies." 13:32 There's a continual warfare going on. 13:35 So we have good angels, God and Christ 13:37 and we have the evil angels, right? 13:39 And so there's that battle royale 13:40 we call about this going on for the souls of men. 13:43 It's almost too much for us maybe to understand, 13:46 but listen, we are a defeated foe 13:48 if we do not have Christ on our side. 13:50 If we've not accepted him 13:52 as our Lord and our Savior, we will lose this battle. 13:56 But if we have him on our side, 13:58 we are more than conquerors through Christ, 13:59 isn't that right? 14:01 We're going to make it to the kingdom of God 14:03 because of who Jesus is. 14:05 And I've heard people mentioned many times, 14:07 you know, the tickets already been paid for. 14:09 And I always like to say it's at the will call window. 14:12 You don't have to go to it's at the will call. 14:14 Now I know that pretty well, when I was younger, 14:16 I used to lay side tickets when I went to the basketball. 14:18 I'll leave, I better leave that. 14:20 But I just go to the will call window. 14:21 You know why? 14:23 I didn't want to waste time standing in line 14:24 because I'm afraid I was going to miss something. 14:26 I wish people were more that way about church. 14:28 You know, I want to be there first, 14:30 not last, I want to sit in the front, 14:31 not in the back. 14:32 We live in the time 14:34 I'm telling you in earth's history 14:35 where we need to be praying. 14:36 We need to be interceding for others, 14:38 because the Bible says that Christ is always what? 14:40 He's always interceding. 14:42 What an example as He intercedes for us, 14:44 should we not be interceding for others? 14:47 Absolutely, we should be. 14:49 Pray for one another, 14:50 the Bible says and so I encourage you 14:52 to pray one for another. 14:53 You know why? Because Jesus is coming. 14:55 We want to be ready and there's power in prayer. 14:58 Amen. 14:59 Thank you so much, Pastor Kenny, 15:00 what a wonderful foundation. 15:02 Think about that cosmic conflict, 15:04 the great controversy that's going on 15:06 and the power of prayer in the midst of that, 15:09 I have Monday's lesson which is "Jesus: 15:12 The Mighty Intercessor." 15:15 What an incredible lesson 15:17 and we could spend the entire hour 15:20 just studying that, 15:22 because if anyone knew how to pray, it's Jesus. 15:24 If anyone knew how to intercede for others, it's Jesus. 15:28 If anyone knew how to win in this cosmic conflict, 15:32 it's Jesus. 15:33 So we're going to take a look 15:34 at His intercessory ministry both on earth. 15:38 We'll look at some of those times 15:39 when Jesus walked this earth 15:40 and He prayed, as well as in heaven. 15:44 So let's start with His time on earth. 15:45 We're going to the Book of Luke, 15:47 Luke more than any other gospel writer 15:51 portrays Jesus as praying 15:54 during these key moments of His life. 15:56 And in fact, some of the same stories 15:58 that are in some of the other gospels 16:00 don't mention the fact that Jesus prayed, 16:02 but Luke mentions the fact that Jesus prayed. 16:05 So we're starting with at His baptism. 16:07 This is seven key pivotal moments in Jesus life. 16:10 We're going to start with His baptism. 16:12 This is Luke Chapter 3. 16:13 Luke Chapter 3, 16:14 and we're going to look at verses 21 and 22. 16:18 "When all the people were baptized, 16:20 it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized, 16:24 and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. 16:28 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form 16:30 like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven 16:34 which said, 'You are My beloved Son, 16:37 in You I am well pleased.'" 16:40 So what happened here at the baptism of Jesus? 16:43 Prayer opened the heavens, literally and symbolically. 16:48 Prayer brought the infilling of the Holy Spirit 16:51 because the Holy Spirit descended like a dove. 16:54 Prayer brought a visible 16:56 and audible sign of God's acceptance 17:00 because God spoke, "This is my beloved Son." 17:03 Prayer reminded Jesus of who He was. 17:07 Let's look at the second pivotal moment. 17:08 This is Luke 5, jump over a couple of chapters. 17:11 Luke 5:16. 17:14 It says, it's very simple sentence," 17:16 So He Himself often withdrew 17:19 into the wilderness and prayed." 17:21 Now, you might read that and just say, 17:23 okay, Jesus prayed, 17:24 but this comes just after He healed a leper. 17:27 And in the next verse, 17:28 He begins teaching, 17:30 and then He heals the paralytic. 17:32 We see in this passage 17:33 that prayer strengthened Jesus for healing, for preaching, 17:39 for teaching, for His ministry of saving. 17:43 We see that it was pivotal for Him in ministry, 17:47 to continue in prayer. 17:49 Number three, we go to Luke Chapter 6, 17:52 we see that he prayed before selecting His disciples. 17:55 Luke 6:12-3, 17:59 "Now it came to pass in those days 18:01 that He went out to the mountain to pray, 18:03 and continued," how long? 18:05 "All night in prayer to God. 18:08 And when it was day, 18:09 He called His disciples to Himself 18:11 and from them he chose 12, whom he also named apostles." 18:16 Now Jesus prayed all night in prayer. 18:19 And that prayer empowered Him to select His disciples. 18:24 That prayer gave Him wisdom and direction, 18:26 it gave Him courage, 18:28 it gave Him what He needed to select those disciples. 18:31 Moment number four, Jesus prayed before telling 18:35 His disciples of His impending death. 18:39 We see that Luke Chapter 9, 18:41 jump over a couple more chapters. 18:42 Luke 9:18-20, 18:46 "And it happened, as He was alone praying, 18:48 that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, 18:51 'Who do the crowds say that I am?" 18:53 And they said, John the Baptist, Elijah, 18:55 old prophets are risen, they mentioned several things. 18:57 And then verse 20, He said, 18:59 "'But who do you say that I am?' 19:01 Peter answered and said, 'The Christ of God.'" 19:04 And then directly after that, 19:06 Jesus predicted His death and His resurrection. 19:11 You could almost say prayer enabled Him 19:14 to share this difficult news 19:16 with those people that He loved. 19:18 It gave Him wisdom and tact 19:20 and the right words and the right spirit, 19:22 and it even empowered Him to move toward the cross. 19:26 We see Jesus praying again 19:27 just before the transfiguration. 19:29 We're still in Luke 9, just a few verses down. 19:32 Luke 9:28 and 29, "Now it came to pass, 19:36 about eight days after these sayings, 19:39 that He took Peter, John, and James 19:41 and went up on the mountain to pray. 19:43 As He prayed, the appearance of His face 19:44 was altered, 19:46 and His robe became white and glistening." 19:49 We see here that prayer brought the presence of heaven. 19:52 That prayer empowered Jesus, 19:55 both spiritually and emotionally. 19:57 That prayer changed Jesus physically 20:00 because His appearance changed. 20:02 We see again that prayer brought the visible 20:04 and audible sign of God's presence, 20:06 just like at His baptism. 20:08 We see again that prayer reminded Jesus 20:10 of who He was just as at His baptism. 20:14 And that prayer also revealed 20:16 these heavenly truths to others, 20:18 to John and James and Peter. 20:21 Snapshot number six is we see prayer 20:23 before Peter's great temptation and denial of Christ. 20:27 We're in Luke 22. 20:29 This is almost to the end of Luke. 20:30 Luke 22:31-34. 20:33 "And the Lord said, 'Simon, Simon!'" 20:35 he's speaking to Peter, 20:36 "Indeed, Satan has asked for you, 20:38 that he may sift you as wheat, 20:40 but I have prayed for you, 20:45 that your faith should not fail, 20:48 and when you have returned to Me, 20:50 or when you're converted, strengthen your brethren." 20:53 And then Peter says, 20:55 "Oh, I've got this God, I'm going to follow You." 20:56 And Jesus says, 20:58 "Before the cock crows three times, 20:59 you are going to deny Me." 21:02 The word prayed there, it says I have prayed for you. 21:04 In the Greek it means begged, beseeched, request. 21:10 Jesus says, "I love you, Peter 21:12 and I have begged God for your soul." 21:16 That is intercession. 21:18 Prayer leads to conversions. 21:20 Prayer saves others from the attack of the enemy. 21:23 Prayer strengthens others faith. 21:25 Prayer makes a difference in someone else's life. 21:28 And then the last snapshot 21:30 we see of Jesus praying is in the Garden of Gethsemane 21:32 right before He goes to the cross. 21:34 We're in Luke 22:40-43, 21:38 "When He came to the place, He said to them, 21:41 'Pray that you may not enter into temptation.' 21:43 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, 21:46 and He knelt down and prayed, saying, 21:49 'Father, if it's Your will, 21:51 take this cup away from Me, nevertheless not My will, 21:55 but Yours be done.'" 21:57 Prayer enabled Jesus to surrender. 22:01 It placed Him in that position to accept His Father's will 22:04 and it strengthened Him 22:06 for the coming trial of the cross. 22:09 Now let's jump just briefly to the Book of Hebrews. 22:12 This is Jesus' ministry as an intercessor, 22:15 not just while He walked to this earth, 22:17 but Him in heaven. 22:19 Hebrews is one of the clearest places 22:22 where we see Christ's 22:23 intercessory ministry in heaven. 22:25 We see that Christ is the better sacrifice 22:28 because He died once and for all. 22:30 We see that He is a better priest, 22:32 because He can actually take away sin. 22:34 And the ministry is based 22:36 on the sacrificial death found on Calvary. 22:39 So after His sacrifice, 22:41 Jesus ascended to heaven and became our high priest. 22:44 We see that in Romans 8:34, 22:47 "Who is He who condemns, it is Christ who died, 22:50 and furthermore is also risen, 22:52 who is even at the right hand 22:54 of God who makes intercession for us. 22:58 Jesus right now interceding 23:00 at the right hand of the Father for you and for me. 23:04 We see that this intercession 23:05 can only be done by the Lord Jesus Christ. 23:08 1 Timothy 2:5, "There is one God. 23:12 There is one mediator between God and men, 23:16 the man Jesus Christ." 23:18 We see that this intercession is for our sins. 23:22 1 John 2:1-2. 23:24 John says, "My little children, these things I write to you, 23:27 so that you may not sin. 23:28 But if anyone sins, we have an advocate, 23:33 we have an intercessor with the Father, 23:36 Jesus Christ the righteous." 23:38 We see that His intercession, 23:40 the Lord Jesus' intercession is complete. 23:43 Hebrews 7:25, 23:46 "Therefore he is able also to save to the uttermost." 23:50 That word in Greek means utterly, completely, forever, 23:54 perfectly through all time. 23:56 "He is able to save to the uttermost 23:59 those who come to God through Him, 24:01 since He forever lives." 24:03 He always lives to make intercession for them. 24:07 So in closing in my section, 24:09 you and I are called to be intercessors for others. 24:12 One of my favorite passages is Ezekiel 22:30, 24:16 the Word of God says, "I sought for a man among them 24:20 who would make a wall, and stand in the gap 24:22 before Me on behalf of the land, 24:25 that I should not destroy it, but I found no one." 24:30 God calls you and I to stand 24:34 in the gap for our brothers and sisters. 24:37 We are called to intercede. 24:40 Now we don't forgive sins, 24:41 Jesus does that in the heavenlies, 24:44 but we are called to intercede on behalf of others. 24:49 I think of Psalms 2:8, 24:52 "Ask of Me, Jesus is speaking, 24:54 and I will give You the heathen 24:56 for Your inheritance 24:58 and the uttermost parts of the earth 25:00 for Your possession." 25:01 So intercede for the salvation of others. 25:05 Praise the Lord. What a wonderful foundation. 25:07 I've been blessed already. 25:09 We pray that you've been blessed also. 25:10 We're going to take a short break. 25:12 We'll be right back in just a moment. 25:18 Ever wish you could watch 25:19 a 3ABN Sabbath School Panel again, 25:21 or share it on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter? 25:25 Well, you can by visiting 3abnsabbathschoolpanel.com. 25:30 A clean design makes it easy 25:32 to find the program you're looking for. 25:34 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guide 25:37 so you can follow along. 25:40 Sharing is easy. 25:41 Just click share and choose your favorite social media. 25:44 Share a link, save a life for eternity. 25:49 Hello, and welcome back to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 25:51 Again, we're glad you're joining. 25:53 We're going to get right into Tuesday's lesson 25:55 with Pastor John Lomacang 25:56 and I'm interested in this, it's very good, 25:58 "Paul's Intercessory Prayers." 26:00 You know, Pastor Kenny, 26:01 and those of you watching the program, 26:03 intercessory prayer is powerful. 26:07 Yes. 26:08 We just found out as Jill pointed out that 26:10 intercessory prayer makes a difference. 26:13 When Jesus prayed for Peter, 26:15 to me that was one of the greatest evidences 26:18 that not only did the Lord pray for Him, 26:20 but the Lord knew that Peter needed to go through 26:23 what he was about to go through. 26:24 And that's why 26:25 I like the phrase that Jesus used, 26:28 "When you are converted, strengthen the brethren." 26:31 He didn't pray for Peter not to go through 26:33 what he was going to go through. 26:34 He said, "I'm going to pray that when you go through it, 26:37 you'll be back." 26:38 And the evidence that the Lord knew that 26:41 Peter was going to come back, He says and when you are, 26:43 when you return, when you come back, 26:47 strengthen the brethren. 26:48 Sometimes the Lord prays for us 26:50 and I want you to get this point. 26:51 He doesn't pray for the trials to be withheld. 26:54 He pray for our faith 26:56 not to fail in the midst of the trials. 26:58 So many Christians become Christians 27:00 and they think the moment the trial comes, 27:02 that I didn't sign up for this. 27:04 Well, the reason why the Lord sends the trial, 27:06 or the reason why He allows the trial. 27:09 Servant of the Lord says, 27:10 we'll discover that trials 27:12 are no small blessing in the school of Christ. 27:16 They are designed to nerve us 27:18 to the determination to succeed. 27:22 So if the Lord allows a trial, 27:24 He wants to file down some of the rough edges, 27:27 but He will never allow a trial to break His child. 27:30 He never sends it to break us, 27:32 He sends it to lead us to the only place 27:35 where we find our courage and strength and deliverance. 27:37 That's why He said to Peter, 27:39 when you're converted strengthen the brethren, 27:40 but not only does Christ pray for us, intercessory, 27:43 I'm going to get to Paul's in a moment, 27:45 but I have to go to the work of the Holy Spirit. 27:47 Now we like Romans 8:28. 27:49 But I want you to see the precursor, 27:51 the preamble to Romans 8:28 27:53 because the reason for Romans 8:28 27:55 is verse 26 and 27. 27:59 And by the way, the context of this is 28:02 how God sustains us through our trials, 28:05 for I consider that 28:07 the suffering of the present time 28:08 are not worthy to be compared. 28:10 And then and Paul points out 28:12 how God steps in and intercedes. 28:13 He works and the spirit 28:15 is continuing to keep us from our trials crushing us. 28:18 Then He starts in verse 26. 28:19 "In the same way 28:21 or likewise the spirit also helps in our weaknesses. 28:25 For we do not know 28:27 what we should pray for as we ought, 28:29 even when we pray." 28:30 Lord says, you are not really praying 28:31 for what you need, but it goes on. 28:34 "But the spirit himself makes intercession for us 28:39 with groanings which cannot be uttered." 28:41 Meaning for those of you that think tongues as a prayer life. 28:45 No, you can't speak in tongues. 28:47 Tongues is not what you think it is. 28:50 It is not an intercessory prayer language, right? 28:53 The spirit is the only one 28:55 that has an intercessory prayer language 28:57 that you can utter with groanings 28:59 which cannot be uttered. 29:00 That's right. 29:02 Now he who searches the hearts knows 29:06 what the mind of the spirit is, 29:08 because he, now this is powerful, 29:10 now it goes from the spirit interceding 29:12 to Christ interceding. 29:14 He makes intercession 29:15 for the saints according to the will of God. 29:17 Notice, we pray 29:18 the spirit intercedes to Christ, 29:19 Christ intercedes to God. 29:21 Notice the intercessory chain. 29:23 It's a powerful chain, reliable. 29:25 And that's why verse 28 can be 29:29 our confidence with us praying, 29:33 the spirit interceding to Christ, 29:35 Christ interceding to the Father in our behalf, 29:37 then verse 28 becomes reality. 29:39 And because of that, 29:42 we know that all things work together for good 29:44 to those who love God, 29:45 to those who are called according to His purpose. 29:48 If you have the spirit, 29:50 take in your prison, fixing it up, 29:52 bring it to Jesus and He takes to the Father. 29:54 How will things not work together for good? 29:56 Come on, can I get an amen? 29:58 It's my little choir right here. 30:00 But we have to understand that is the key. 30:03 You don't worry about your prayer sounding good. 30:06 Because even the nicest prayers 30:08 still are prayed with this reality. 30:10 We don't know what we should pray for us. 30:12 That's right. 30:13 Okay, so the spirit says, I know what he meant. 30:15 So let's take this father, here, Christ, you take it now. 30:18 Now this makes sense. 30:20 It's like, somebody writes a letter and said, 30:22 "Could you edit it for me?" 30:23 Well, the Lord is always editing our letters. 30:25 You know why? 30:26 Because He knows the end from the beginning. 30:28 But in the ministry of Paul, Paul prayed, 30:30 and what I liked about it, 30:31 we're going to go to Ephesians 1:15-21, 30:34 we're going to see that 30:36 not only did Paul pray for new converts, 30:38 but Paul knew that something happened 30:39 when he prays that 30:41 would not have happened otherwise, 30:42 and we must know that. 30:44 See, when somebody says, "Well, I pray for you." 30:46 Don't approach prayer as a well, I'll pray for you. 30:50 Prayer is, you're going to talk to God on my behalf. 30:54 Thank you. 30:55 It's not a, well, let's see, I can't help you financially, 30:58 I can't help you morally, I can't help you physically. 31:00 I'll pray for you. 31:02 If you're going to go to 31:03 into the presence of God on my behalf, 31:04 I'm gonna say thank you for that. 31:06 Because I would rather 31:08 you talk to God about my problems 31:09 than anybody on earth 31:11 because nobody on earth they can say. 31:13 And what amazes me, 31:15 people may at that moment desire 31:17 or want to help you. 31:19 But when your prayers are resolved, 31:21 and when your problems are resolved, 31:22 God is the only one that 31:24 puts him in the depths of the sea 31:25 and remembers them no more, 31:26 everybody else still remembers them. 31:28 Okay, that's so much for that encouragement. 31:31 Now, I'm going to go ahead in the interest of time 31:33 and bring these five, these six points out. 31:36 When you read Ephesians 1:15-21, 31:40 you'll discover that 31:41 there are six things that Paul prayed about. 31:44 In the interest of time, I'm just going to go ahead 31:46 and bring them out and you'll get a chance 31:48 to read them in your study life. 31:50 But one of the first things he prayed for is in verse 17. 31:54 He says that the God of our, 31:56 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, 31:59 the Father of glory may give to you the spirit of wisdom. 32:03 That's the first thing 32:05 he prayed for us to have the spirit of wisdom. 32:07 Second thing Paul pray for, wisdom and knowledge. 32:12 Thirdly, verse 18, he also prayed that 32:14 we have the eyes of your understanding, 32:18 be enlightened. 32:19 He said, "Lord, I'm praying that 32:21 they get wisdom, they get knowledge. 32:23 And they also that these things lead to the eyes 32:26 of their understanding being enlightened." 32:29 You got to pray when you open your Bible 32:30 because you can't get enlightenment 32:32 unless you pray for it ahead of time. 32:34 Also, He prayed that they may know 32:36 what is the hope of their calling. 32:37 What are they? 32:38 That they may know 32:40 what the hope of their calling is. 32:41 Fifthly he prayed that they would know 32:45 what are the riches of the glory 32:46 of His inheritance in the spirit. 32:49 If you understood your inheritance, 32:52 then you wouldn't walk around like an orphan. 32:57 God does not have grandchildren. 33:00 He has children. 33:02 I've never seen the grandchildren of Israel, 33:04 the children of Israel. 33:05 I've never seen, 33:07 we are the grandchildren of God. 33:08 There is no closer connection than a child to a father. 33:12 So don't walk around like you're an orphan. 33:14 And the last thing He prayed for that 33:16 we might know what is the exceeding greatness 33:19 of His power toward us who believe. 33:22 If you understood the power that God made available to you, 33:25 you wouldn't be walking around like 33:26 life is just a humdrum aspect 33:29 and you're in a quagmire of a relationship with Christ. 33:32 We are not locked down in this pool of inactivity. 33:36 We are simply in a journey 33:38 and a part of that journey is the Lord is filing away 33:41 anything that doesn't resemble Him. 33:43 And that's why intercessory prayer 33:44 is necessary so that our faith as Christ said will not fail. 33:48 In the Book of Philippians 1:3-11. 33:52 And I'm making reference to these because 33:54 I want you to go back and look at these. 33:56 Paul brings out how the prayer, 34:01 the note in Paul's prayer. 34:03 If you were a Philippian church member, 34:05 you would appreciate the way that Paul prayed for you. 34:08 Paul prayed so that 34:10 when they received his letter, they would know that 34:13 he's not just praying for good Bible studies, 34:15 or for great walk with Christ, 34:17 but he was praying in a sincere, 34:19 he says in verse 10, 34:21 "That you may approve the things that are excellent, 34:25 that you may be sincere, 34:28 and without offence till the day of Christ." 34:31 You know, and then also being filled 34:33 with the fruits of righteousness 34:35 which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. 34:38 So Paul is praying for these evidences 34:40 to show up very clearly. 34:41 So quickly, six things, Jill. Yay! 34:44 Six things. 34:46 One, pray not just, 34:49 your prayer is not just about content, 34:51 it's not just the content of your prayer, 34:53 but the condition of your life. 34:55 "Confess your trespasses to one another. 34:58 The effectual fervent prayer of righteous man avails much." 35:01 James 5:16. 35:03 Not just the content of your prayer, 35:05 but the condition of your life. 35:07 Second one, God does not answer prayer 35:09 just because we ask, 35:10 He answers because we obey Him. 35:13 Psalm 34:15, "The eyes of the Lord 35:16 are on the righteous 35:17 and his ears are open to their cry." 35:20 Thirdly, the desire that God has for each one of us. 35:24 God wants us to pray for each other. 35:27 Abraham have prayed for Abimelech and his wife. 35:29 And when God pray for Abimelech 35:32 and his wife, say that 10 times, 35:33 Abimelech and his wife. 35:35 Not only did God hear that prayer, 35:37 but God blessed him with a child. 35:39 Also, Moses prayed for Israel. 35:41 Numbers 11:2, 35:43 "Then the people cried out to Moses, 35:45 and when Moses prayed to the Lord, 35:47 the fire was quenched." 35:49 Pray for people and in five and six, 35:52 "Obedience is a prerequisite to prayer." 35:55 1 John 3:22, "And whatever we ask we receive from Him 35:59 because we keep His commandments 36:01 and do those things 36:02 that are pleasing at His sight." 36:03 And lastly, God also answers 36:05 the prayer of the one asking for forgiveness. 36:08 "Repent therefore of your wickedness, 36:11 and pray God if perhaps 36:14 the thought of your heart may be forgiven you." 36:16 That is Acts 8:22. 36:18 Lastly, God never gives $1,000 answer 36:20 to a 10-cent prayer. 36:22 If your prayer must mean something to God, 36:25 if your prayer, if you want God to move 36:27 when you speak, you must move when God speaks. 36:31 Greg. Thank you, Pastor. 36:32 Wow, fantastic intercessory prayer. 36:35 I have Wednesday's "Unseen Powers at Work." 36:38 And you've probably all seen the little cartoons 36:41 where it shows like a devil on like, 36:43 right one shoulder 36:45 and an angel on the other shoulder 36:47 and they're talking to the poor guy 36:48 in between like into his ears like, oh, wow. 36:50 But you know, there really is a great controversy. 36:52 There really is a battle 36:54 and there's really unseen things 36:55 that are going on behind the scenes 36:58 and it's over us. 36:59 I think Pastor Kenny, I liked what you read. 37:01 There was a quote you read early on about 37:03 if the curtain could be rolled back. 37:05 Wow, what's going on? 37:06 It's a battle between Christ and Satan, 37:08 but it's over us and it's over souls. 37:09 So unseen powers at work. 37:12 The lesson brings up a very fascinating 37:14 example of this unseen battle that's going on, 37:17 and that is Daniel Chapter 10. 37:20 So I would invite you to turn to Daniel Chapter 10. 37:22 We're going to attempt to go through these verses 37:24 rather quickly today in our allotted time, 37:28 but starting with verse 2 and 3, 37:30 it says, "In those days 37:31 I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks, 37:34 I ate no pleasant food, 37:36 no meat or wine came into my mouth, 37:39 nor did I anoint myself at all, 37:41 till three whole weeks were fulfilled." 37:45 A question for you, why was Daniel in mourning? 37:49 You'd have to go back to Daniel Chapter 9, 37:51 isn't that right, Pastor? 37:52 And that explains why Daniel here 37:53 is trying to figure out 37:55 why God's people are still in captivity. 37:58 So Daniel is here in Chapter 10 of Daniel, 38:01 he's mourning and he's interceding 38:02 for three whole weeks. 38:03 That's a long time. That's 21 days. 38:07 And Daniel Chapter 10 is he seeking to understand 38:10 from God regarding the fate of his people, 38:13 and why they're still in captivity. 38:15 And then going down to verses 4 through 9 of Daniel Chapter 10. 38:20 Just real quickly, 38:21 Daniel is describing Jesus here. 38:25 It's a man clothed in linen, 38:27 waist girded with gold, face like lightning, 38:30 eyes like torches of fire, arms and feet like bronze. 38:36 And then here now is where we start getting 38:38 into this unseen battle that is taking place. 38:42 If we look at verses 10 and 11 of Daniel Chapter 12. 38:47 It says, "Suddenly, a hand touched me, 38:50 which made me tremble on my knees 38:53 and on the palms of my hands." 38:55 Verse 11, "And he said to me, 38:56 'O, Daniel, man, greatly beloved.'" 39:00 That's beautiful, isn't it right there? 39:02 "Understand the words that I speak to you 39:04 and stand up right, 39:05 for I have now been sent to you. 39:08 While he was speaking this word to me, 39:10 I stood trembling." 39:12 So who touched Daniel here? 39:14 The speedy angel touched Daniel. 39:16 And I think this is really precious 39:17 because here's Daniel. 39:19 He's struggling, he's praying, he's fasting. 39:21 And here an angel says this and touches him. 39:23 And then he says, "Man, greatly beloved." 39:25 You know, I think about 39:27 our own struggle in our own lives. 39:28 You know, we're trying to figure out 39:30 what's going on. 39:31 We've got maybe this voice in this ear 39:32 and then another voice in this other ear, 39:34 we're trying to figure out what's going on. 39:35 We're interceding to the Lord. 39:36 But God says, 39:38 you may not quite have the answer right now, 39:39 but you're greatly beloved, I still care for you. 39:43 So then moving on to verse 12. 39:45 This is where it gets more interesting. 39:48 And I think is what's interesting is like, 39:50 okay, my prayer is not being heard. 39:52 Daniel's been praying for three weeks. 39:54 He's been fasting too for three weeks 39:56 and it seems like his prayer is not being heard. 39:59 And Daniel 10:12 says, 40:02 "Then he, the angel said to me, 40:05 'Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day..." 40:10 Wow. Beautiful, isn't it? 40:13 "From the first day that 40:14 you set your heart to understand, 40:16 and to humble yourself before your God." 40:18 What does it say there? 40:19 "Your words were heard, 40:22 and I have come because of your words." 40:25 The angel was sent to answer 40:27 Daniel's prayer from the very first day. 40:29 Maybe didn't feel like things were happening 40:31 but God heard his prayer. 40:33 And like Isaiah 66:24 and it says, 40:36 "And it shall come to pass that 40:38 before they call I will answer 40:40 and while they are yet speaking, 40:42 I will hear. 40:44 Okay, so here's the battle, 40:45 verses 13 and 14 of Daniel Chapter 10. 40:49 "But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me," 40:52 that's the angel, "twenty-one days, 40:54 and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, 40:57 came to help me," came to help the angel, 40:59 "for I had been left alone there 41:01 with the kings of Persia. 41:03 Now I have come to make you understand 41:05 what will happen to your people in the latter days, 41:08 for the vision refers to many days yet to come." 41:11 So we kind of have a little Bible study here. 41:12 So just quickly the prince of the Kingdom of Persia, 41:15 that equals Satan. 41:17 So you can see here that 41:18 there is a supernatural warfare that is going on, 41:22 as Daniel is praying here in Daniel Chapter 10. 41:25 Just really quick, these are some just notes 41:26 you can jot down to do further study 41:28 later on as pastor mentioned in his part. 41:30 John 12:31, Jesus called Satan, the prince of this world. 41:35 John 14:30. 41:36 Also, Jesus refers to Satan as the prince of this world. 41:40 Paul called Satan, the prince of the earth. 41:42 Ephesians 2:2. 41:46 So then we have Michael here 41:47 in this verse of Daniel 10:13 and 14. 41:51 Michael is referred to as Christ. 41:54 The term Michael 41:55 is used five times in the Bible, 41:56 and Michael means who is like God. 42:00 And I think of Revelation Chapter 12. 42:01 It was read earlier. 42:03 And it's a very well-known passage 42:05 and it says that there was war in heaven 42:07 and Michael and his angels fought against who? 42:10 Fight against the dragon. 42:12 I think of Jude Chapter 9, it talks about Michael 42:16 and the archangel, Michael, the Archangel. 42:18 He was contending with Satan over what? 42:20 The body of Moses. 42:22 So again, you see a conflict 42:24 here that's happening between Christ and Satan. 42:26 But again, Michael is referred to as Christ. 42:30 I like what it says here in the lesson. 42:33 If you look with me in your lesson, 42:35 hopefully you're studying along as Pastor Kenny 42:37 mentioned by going to ABSG. 42:39 Is that right? 42:40 Okay, yes, you can download the lesson. 42:42 It says, "Why did it take three weeks 42:44 for the prayer to be answered? 42:46 What temporarily hindered those prayers? 42:49 It says, "Daniel 10 draws the curtain aside, 42:52 and reveals the struggle between good and evil. 42:55 As Daniel prays, Michael the almighty Jesus 42:58 descends from heaven to beat back 43:00 the forces of hell. 43:02 Although we may not see it, Jesus is at work to answer 43:05 our prayers of intercession as well. 43:07 He is a mighty Savior. 43:08 Not one of our prayers goes unnoticed." 43:11 Praise the Lord for that. 43:13 I want to just jump into quickly, 43:15 Job is another example 43:16 of the conflict that's happening, Job1:6-8. 43:20 And just skipping down for lack of time, 43:23 I like verse... 43:25 Well, we can start with verse 7. 43:26 "And the Lord said unto Satan, 'Where do you come?' 43:29 And Satan answered the Lord and said, 43:31 'From going to and fro on the earth, 43:32 and from walking up and down in it, 43:34 and the Lord said unto Satan, 43:36 'Have you considered my servant Job 43:39 that there was none like him in the earth, 43:41 a perfect man and upright one that 43:43 feareth God and askew with evil?" 43:45 You know, I think about this battle 43:46 that's going on behind the scenes. 43:48 It's a battle that's very individual. 43:50 It wasn't like Christ and Satan were just talking about, 43:53 hey, the world, they're talking about Job 43:54 an individual person. 43:56 So it's amazing to me, Ryan, I think about 43:58 what if God in heaven and now He's like, 44:00 Satan if you consider Ryan. 44:03 Pastor John right now. Wow. 44:05 Hey, Satan, have you considered? 44:06 You know, you think about that though that's personal. 44:09 So that's where the battle 44:10 is taking place over us as individuals. 44:12 So how do we fight 44:14 because we're being fought over? 44:15 So what do we need to do? 44:16 Go to Ephesians Chapter 6. Okay. 44:19 We're being fought over, we need to equip ourselves. 44:22 Ephesians 6:11-18, and it says what? 44:27 "Put on the whole armor of God, 44:29 that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 44:32 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, 44:35 but against principalities and powers, 44:37 against the rulers of the darkness of this world, 44:40 against spiritual wickedness in high places." 44:42 Verse 13, "Wherefore take unto you 44:44 the whole armor of God, 44:46 that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, 44:49 and having done all, to stand." 44:51 Going all the way down to verse 18. 44:53 It talks about also prayer. 44:54 So, for the unseen battle that 44:56 we're talking about today, we need the belt of truth, 45:01 the breastplate of righteousness, 45:03 the shoes of the gospel, the shield of faith, 45:05 the helmet of salvation, the sword of the spirit. 45:08 And of course, we need prayer as well. 45:11 And I like Luke 22:31 and 32, it says, 45:15 "Jesus is saying, 'Peter, Satan has desire to have you, 45:19 but I, Jesus have prayed for you.'" 45:20 So again, insert your name there, 45:23 Greg, Satan has desired to have you 45:27 but I, Jesus has prayed for you." 45:30 So put your name there. Boy, that's powerful, isn't it? 45:32 You have Jesus Christ, 45:33 the Son of God intercede in your behalf. 45:35 And He's there in that battle behind the scenes. 45:37 Yes, there's a battle going on. 45:39 But we know as Mr. Danny always says, 45:41 read the back of the book, Revelation, 45:42 we know who's won, that's Christ so, yes, 45:44 there's a battle that's going on. 45:45 But if we put on the whole armor of Jesus Christ, 45:48 we have nothing to be afraid of. 45:49 So in closing, the battle is real for sure. 45:52 But we do not have to fear, 45:54 for Christ is on our side as long as we submit 45:57 and commit our way unto the Lord. 45:59 Amen. Wow, thank you so much. 46:01 Praise the Lord. Wow. 46:02 You know, just listening to everyone talk. 46:05 You know, that's, what's the blessing 46:06 of Thursday's lesson because you get to glean 46:08 and hear from all of the blessing 46:10 that comes before it. 46:11 But, man, just focusing in on prayer. 46:14 In fact, that's what Thursday's lesson is entitled, 46:16 "Prayer Focus." 46:18 And I think there's kind of 46:19 a double application to this particular lesson, 46:22 this particular title being that, 46:24 yes, we need to focus on prayer. 46:26 And I still appreciate 46:28 Pastor Mark Finley's approach to this, 46:29 the subject of the fact that we're talking about witnessing, 46:32 we're talking about making friends for God, 46:35 but can you make friends for God in lack prayer 46:38 or do it without prayer? 46:40 Prayer is such a vital, 46:41 important aspect of Christian living. 46:44 And, you know, there are often those chapters, 46:46 those verses, those chapters, 46:47 those passages in Scripture that we've read so many times 46:51 and I'm about to open here with 1 Samuel Chapter 12. 46:56 So you want to go there, 1 Samuel Chapter 12. 46:59 I've read the Book of 1 Samuel through it many times. 47:02 And this is one of those texts 47:04 that never really stuck out to me in my early years 47:07 of reading Scripture. 47:08 But not too long ago actually on a Sabbath School panel. 47:11 I think it was Michelle who had read this, this text, 47:14 and it just stuck out to me and I never forgot it. 47:17 But the lesson opens with this 47:19 and it kind of sets the tone for the importance 47:21 of focusing on prayer or prayer focus, 47:24 not just focusing on prayer, but also that in your prayers, 47:28 God wants you to focus in on some specifics. 47:31 God wants you to be specific in your prayer life. 47:34 Tell Him what it is that you need, 47:36 tell Him what it is that you want, 47:37 in the sense of His will, obviously, 47:39 which we're going to read in just a few moments, 47:41 according to His will. 47:42 But notice, 1 Samuel 12:22-24, 47:47 powerful, powerful. 47:48 This is, it shakes me when I think about this. 47:50 It says, "For the Lord will not forsake His people," 47:53 praise God, "for His great namesake, 47:56 because it has pleased the Lord to make you His people. 48:01 Moreover," notice this, "as for me, 48:04 far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord, 48:08 in ceasing to pray for you." 48:11 But I will teach you the good and the right way. 48:16 Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth 48:18 with all your heart, 48:19 for consider what great things He has done for you." 48:25 Now tie that or pair that 48:27 with Job 16:21, which is very simple. 48:30 It says, "Oh, that one might plead 48:33 for a man with God, 48:35 as a man pleads for his neighbor!" 48:39 When you take these two passages, 48:41 especially that 1 Samuel Chapter 12, 48:43 that we just read verses 22 through 24. 48:46 According to the Bible, 48:48 it is a sin to neglect praying for your brothers and sisters. 48:52 And that's powerful. 48:55 And, you know, to think that we often, 49:00 we often find ourselves in a situation 49:02 where we hear people that are in need of prayer. 49:03 We hear people that are struggling. 49:05 We hear people in general that we know need the Lord. 49:08 But we're busy. 49:09 You know, we've got our careers, 49:11 we've got our lives ahead of us. 49:12 We've got, we are busy, busy, busy all the time. 49:14 But we don't take time to pause 49:16 and pray and intercede for our brother 49:19 to pray an intercessory prayer. 49:21 And I had mentioned in one of the previous lessons, 49:24 the three legs of the stool. 49:25 You know, we have, I think Brother Levin 49:27 even brings this out in his all about Jesus 49:29 revival seminar. 49:30 And he talks about how you know, 49:31 you have to have those three legs on the stool, 49:33 if you take one off, it doesn't stand. 49:35 So that would be Bible study, prayer and witnessing. 49:37 And you know, many of us struggle in one of those areas. 49:40 Some of us struggle in all of those areas. 49:42 But if you remove prayer from, 49:44 if you remove that leg that says prayer 49:46 from the Christian life, 49:47 the stool will not stand properly. 49:50 And so we have so many beautiful promises 49:53 in the Word of God in relation, in regards to prayer, 49:56 one that I often do as I'm in pastoral now 49:58 in answering calls and talking to people 50:00 on the phone and praying with them. 50:02 I never cease to forget 50:03 this particular promise found here 50:04 in 1 John 5:14-16. 50:08 More particular verses 14 and 15. 50:11 But you got to tack on verse 16, as well. 50:13 So 1 John Chapter 5, 50:15 notice what the Bible says beginning in verse 14. 50:18 "Now, this is the confidence that we have in him," 50:21 I love that, "that if we ask anything," 50:23 and here's the key, "according to His will." 50:25 That's right. Right? 50:27 And you can't just ask anything, 50:28 Lord give me a million dollars. 50:29 It may not be His will for you to have a million dollars. 50:31 So you have to pray things according to His will. 50:34 And the Bible says He hears us, right? 50:36 And if we know that He hears us, 50:39 whatever we ask, 50:40 we know that we have the petitions 50:42 that we have asked of Him. 50:44 That's a beautiful promise. 50:45 You lift up a prayer to Christ 50:47 and you say, "Father, this is, this... 50:48 I'm praying, Lord, this is what I need in my life. 50:50 And I pray, Lord, 50:52 that it is according to Your will." 50:53 But as Jesus prayed, nevertheless, not My will, 50:56 but yours, right? 50:57 And He hears us and He will answer, 50:59 but notice verse16, rather interesting. 51:00 "If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin, 51:03 which does not lead to death," 51:05 and that kind of throws some people off, 51:06 wait a second, all sin leads to death, right? 51:09 But continue reading and we'll explain. 51:11 "He says if you see your brother sinning a sin 51:12 which does not lead to death, 51:14 He will ask and He will give him life 51:16 for those who commit sin not leading to death." 51:19 There is sin leading to death. 51:22 I do not say that he should pray about that. 51:23 So obviously, what He's referring to here 51:26 would be obviously all sin according to 1 John, 51:29 the Book 1 John Chapter 1 there. 51:30 We're told that if any sin, any sins, 51:33 the manner of sin that we confess, 51:35 He will hear us, He will forgive us 51:36 and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 51:38 But the one sin, obviously John would be 51:40 referring to is the unpardonable sin, 51:42 the one sin that a person can commit. 51:44 In other words, the state in 51:45 which we cannot be listening to 51:47 or rejecting the leading 51:49 guiding power of the Holy Spirit. 51:50 Of course, Jesus calls it blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. 51:53 And, of course, I believe that 51:54 is what He's talking about here. 51:56 The one sin that He cannot forgive obviously, 51:58 he says, do not say that 51:59 I should that we should pray about that. 52:01 But those sins which does not lead to death, 52:04 those sins that we may commit 52:05 but we are forgiven because we bring them to Him, 52:08 we confess them, we repent, we placed them before Him. 52:11 Jesus says, "Pray for your brothers and sisters 52:13 in that situation." 52:14 Pray for them because 52:16 He will hear and He will answer. 52:18 When we pray for others, the lesson brings us out, 52:20 when we pray for others, 52:22 we become a channel of God's blessing to them. 52:24 He pours out the river of the water of life 52:27 from heavens thrown through us to them. 52:30 That's powerful. 52:31 Satan's whole host trembles 52:34 at the sound of earnest intercession. 52:37 And I love this. 52:39 I love this quote here, Testimonies for the Church, 52:41 volume 1, page 346. 52:43 I love this right here. 52:44 "Satan cannot endure to have his powerful rival appeal to, 52:49 for he fears and trembles 52:51 before his strength and majesty. 52:55 And the sound of a fervent prayer, 52:58 at the sound of a fervent prayer, 53:01 excuse me, Satan's whole host trembles. 53:04 If you want to make the devil shake in his boots, 53:06 send up a prayer, right? 53:08 Send up a fervent prayer. 53:10 Pray for your brothers and sisters, 53:11 pray for the church, 53:13 pray for your pastors, pray for yourself. 53:15 Pray for your family. 53:16 The devil trembles when you open the prayer line 53:19 and you begin to discuss 53:21 with Jesus as one talking to a friend, 53:22 the host of the devil, they tremble. 53:27 I often heard someone, 53:29 somebody said this to me one time 53:31 and I never forgot it. 53:33 He said, if you want to know 53:34 how popular the Sabbath school teachers 53:37 then go to Sabbath School. 53:38 If you want to know how popular the pastor is, 53:41 go to the divine worship hour. 53:43 But if you want to know how popular God is, 53:45 go to prayer meeting. 53:49 And that always stuck with me. 53:50 Because often we find ourselves you know our, 53:53 you know, Sabbath morning services packed right 53:56 for the most part in some cases. 53:58 You know, Sabbath school and divine worship hour, 54:01 but prayer meeting we struggle. 54:02 This is an aspect 54:04 of the Christian walk in our churches 54:05 and in our lives today, we need more prayer. 54:09 I often think of that passage in Scripture, 54:11 which is actually a positive story. 54:13 It's found in Acts Chapter 12. 54:15 And you can go there if you want to really put that 54:16 in my reference a couple of scriptures here, 54:18 but Peter gets thrown in prison by Herod. 54:20 This is where Herod kills James, 54:22 the brother of John, and he throws Peter in prison 54:24 and after Passover, 54:25 he's going to deal with Peter, right? 54:27 But it's interesting, 54:28 verse 5 of Acts Chapter 12, says, 54:30 "Peter was therefore kept in prison, 54:31 and constant prayer was offered to God 54:34 for him by the church." 54:37 Now, what astounds me about this, 54:38 while it is a positive story, 54:39 that obviously we know 54:41 the angel breaks Peter out of prison. 54:43 But it's interesting here, notice verses 12 and onward, 54:45 it says, "So when he was when he had considered 54:48 this he came to the house of Mary," 54:49 now he's out, right? 54:51 "So he goes to the house of Mary, 54:52 the mother of John whose surname is Mark, 54:54 where many were gathered together praying." 54:56 Who are they praying for? 54:57 They're praying for Peter, "Lord, save this brother. 55:00 Herod's going to kill him." I think it's John. 55:03 No, no, it was the brother of John, 55:05 James was murdered. 55:07 And so in this case, it's saying James is gone, 55:09 now Peter's about to be gone. 55:10 They're praying for this brother. 55:12 But notice and Peter knocked at the door. 55:13 This is verse 13. 55:15 And the girl Rhoda answered, and verse 14, it says, 55:18 "When she recognized Peter's voice 55:19 because of her gladness, she did not open the gate, 55:21 but ran in and announced 55:22 the Peter stood before the game. 55:24 But they said to her, you're beside yourself. 55:26 No, no, it can't be Peter. 55:28 You know, I think often is that how our prayer life goes, 55:32 you know, we often need to pray. 55:33 But we also need to believe in what we're praying for. 55:35 These people are paused 55:37 and praying for Peter to be released 55:39 from prison to be saved. 55:41 And while they're praying, God is answering their prayer. 55:44 This brother is at the door knocking 55:46 and then he comes knocking there. 55:47 Hey, Peter's here, no, it ain't Peter, right. 55:49 We're often, oftentimes we're in disbelief 55:51 of what God's Word actually says 55:53 and the promises that He's given us, 55:55 in reference to this amazing, 55:56 beautiful aspect of our prayer life. 55:59 We need to pray more, 56:00 we need to believe in the power of prayer. 56:02 And we need to believe that 56:04 God will and can answer those prayers, 56:06 according to His will. 56:07 So my final appeal here is pray, pray, pray, pray, 56:11 as Paul says, pray without ceasing. 56:13 Amen. 56:15 Praise the Lord, to me that's some good stuff. 56:17 Praise God for that. 56:18 My uncle always say when the times would get hard, 56:21 difficult he'd say, pray kids. 56:23 So I'm saying that pray kids, this is time we need to pray. 56:25 Final thoughts. 56:26 We have about a minute and a half 56:28 or so what, final thoughts? 56:30 I just want to appeal to you 56:32 to intercede on behalf of others, 56:34 to make a decision every day 56:36 to lift up someone's name before the throne of grace. 56:39 Amen. 56:40 There's such a thing as called prayer prevention. 56:44 Now you want to not prevent your prayers. 56:48 Listen to what Isaiah says, Isaiah 59:2, 56:51 "But your iniquity have separated you from God 56:54 and your sins have hidden His face from you 56:56 so that He will not hear." 56:58 Lay aside the iniquities of your life, 57:00 lay aside the things that so easily besets you. 57:03 And there'll be no prevention to your prayers. 57:05 Thank you. 57:07 You know, there is an unseen battle 57:08 that's going on and it's over us. 57:10 But I want to encourage you to take Ephesians 6:11-18, 57:14 put on the whole armor of Jesus Christ today. 57:18 I just want to echo what pastor said, you know, 57:20 I was reading this morning, actually, as I was praying 57:23 and considering the subject and, you know, 57:25 the Bible says, 57:26 as well as the Spirit of Prophecy 57:28 that often it's our sin that separates us from God 57:30 and keeps us from hearing, from answering our prayers. 57:33 So lay your sins before the Lord 57:35 and pray to Him in faith. 57:37 Amen. Praise the Lord. 57:39 It's been a good study. I've been blessed myself. 57:40 Desire of Ages, quickly just a line, 504 says, 57:43 "By faith a prayer presses back the power of the enemy." 57:47 And by the grace of God, we're pressing back today. 57:50 We're glad that you joined us 57:51 and by the way, don't forget next week 57:53 we've got an important lesson, 57:54 be on number five, "Spirit Empowered Witnessing." 57:58 Be sure and join us then, 57:59 we look forward to spending our time with you. 58:02 Amen. |
Revised 2020-07-23