Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW200032S
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00:02 I want to spend my life
00:08 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:19 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:35 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:08 Hello and welcome 01:10 to our special 3ABN Family Worship. 01:11 We're so glad 01:13 that you've joined us this evening. 01:14 You're part of our family 01:16 and we look forward to this time 01:17 that we can spend here together with you. 01:19 We're always glad 01:21 to also spend this family worship 01:22 with our 3ABN family. 01:23 Absolutely. 01:25 I know it's probably been a really busy week, 01:27 maybe extremely busy week for you at home. 01:30 3ABN, it always seems like 01:31 many good things are going on here 01:33 but it's always time to take a breath 01:36 and enjoy the Sabbath hours. 01:37 That's right. 01:39 Enjoy this time with God, and with you. 01:40 Thank you for your prayers and financial support 01:42 for the Ministry of 3ABN 01:44 because of you, we were able to reach the world 01:47 and come into your home right now. 01:49 Or maybe you're listening on 3ABN Radio. 01:52 We're able to go around the world 01:54 because you're supporting the Ministry of 3ABN. 01:56 But I'm excited about this topic. 01:58 We were discussing what we should do 01:59 for Family Worship. 02:01 And Jill said, "Hey, 02:02 what about the power of intercessory prayer?" 02:04 I was like, "Oh, yes, I like that topic 02:06 because prayer is such a vital..." 02:08 It is. 02:10 Wow, "a vital part of our lives." 02:11 It is. Should be if it's not. 02:13 It is. Absolutely. 02:14 You know, intercessory prayer is so important. 02:15 I need intercessory prayer. 02:18 I would imagine if you've lived 02:20 any length of time on the earth, 02:22 you need intercessory prayer as well. 02:24 I want to start with a quote 02:26 and then we'll introduce the family. 02:27 Can we start with a quote? Yes. 02:29 This is from E.M. Bounds 02:30 if you're familiar at all with their writing. 02:32 I love this. 02:34 It says, "What the church needs today 02:36 is not more machinery or better. 02:39 Not new organizations or more and novel methods. 02:43 But man," we could add and woman, 02:46 "whom the Holy Ghost can use, 02:48 men of prayer men mighty in prayer. 02:52 The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, 02:54 but through men. 02:55 He does not come upon machinery, 02:58 but on men. 02:59 He does not anoint plans, but men, men of prayer." 03:03 That's what we're talking about tonight, 03:05 the power that there is in intercessory prayer. 03:09 Let's introduce our family here we have Donald Owen, 03:13 working in 3ABN pastoral department 03:16 and you get to see prayer all the time. 03:18 Yes, this is interesting, 03:19 because I love the power of prayer 03:21 and just to be able to pray with folks 03:22 and just to hear 03:23 how God can turn a sad or broken situation into joy 03:27 I have often called as people who start laughing 03:29 at the end of the conversation 03:30 and it's just incredible 03:31 how God can turn that situation around 03:33 just through prayer. 03:34 So I'm thankful to be here. 03:35 This is going to be an awesome topic so. 03:38 Amen. 03:39 Next to you, we have Tim Parton, 03:40 General Manager of 3ABN Praise Him Music Network 03:45 and a man of prayer too, glad to have you here. 03:47 Amen, it's always a pleasure to be involved, 03:49 especially on this topic. 03:51 I love it. Looking forward to it. 03:52 Amen. 03:54 So Donald was talking a little bit about prayer. 03:55 What about you, Tim? 03:56 Why is prayer maybe important to you? 03:58 Well... 03:59 Why does it mean something to you? 04:00 Because we know it does. Yes. 04:02 It's kind of obvious. 04:04 I mean without prayer I know my grandmother prayed for me, 04:09 prayed that I would be involved in the ministry. 04:12 And so I know the power that you, 04:14 we talk about everyone that has breath, 04:18 has a need of prayer. 04:20 Those but we, 04:21 I think it's important that we pray for the future, 04:24 you know what, but what, 04:25 what's going to happen 04:26 know for those who are yet to be 04:28 I don't know how you may feel about that. 04:30 But I think it's important that we be praying 04:32 for things that we can't see, 04:34 things we see, it's prayers just, it's vital. 04:38 We got to have it. Vital. 04:39 Yes. 04:41 Thank you, Tim, for sharing that. 04:42 I appreciate. 04:43 You know, a lot of people know you, Tim, 04:45 as someone that does a lot of music. 04:46 But also a lot of people I think 04:48 are getting to know Tim that is also, 04:49 can I say, a theologian 04:50 but he loves to study the Word of God. 04:52 Let me say that loves to study the Word of God, 04:53 you know, really digs deep 04:54 and that's a new side of Tim that we're able to see that too 04:57 because we know you're talented with music 04:59 but God's given you another gift as well. 05:00 So thank you for being on. Amen. 05:02 Sitting next to you 05:03 last but not least is Dee Hilderbrand. 05:06 I want to say 05:08 is your title production coordinator? 05:09 I'm still production coordinator, yes. 05:10 It just means... 05:12 That's a title I've hung on to for years, ages. 05:14 We've gladly given that to you so. 05:16 You do a good job. 05:18 Dee does an amazing job. 05:19 And we're just so grateful you have wonderful insight 05:21 into the Word of God and into people. 05:24 And tell us how you feel about our topic tonight. 05:27 Well, you know, when you were talking about 05:28 Tim and music, it's interesting. 05:30 But since Tim has been here, 05:31 I begin to think of him as a man of prayer also. 05:35 Maybe it's because time to prayer and pause... 05:37 Pause to pray. 05:38 I realized he is quite a prayer warrior, 05:40 which changed in my mind. 05:43 I was delighted when Jill asked me to do this, 05:46 because my first, she will let you know, 05:49 my first response was, "That's not, 05:52 intercessory prayer is not my strength." 05:56 But I started thinking about that. 05:57 And I came to some interesting conclusions 06:02 that so I'm very happy I'm on this program. 06:05 And it made me think about my prayer life 06:08 and redefine things. 06:11 Well, I would say this, 06:12 people could relate to that, Dee. 06:13 Someone right at home tonight, maybe like, 06:15 "Well, I don't consider myself 06:16 into intercessory prayers but..." 06:18 I didn't think I did. 06:19 But I had to look at my definition. 06:22 It's interesting. 06:23 You know, we have to think the people home too, 06:25 you know, our family at home 06:26 because we always say 06:28 your prayers and financial support. 06:29 We just kind of spit that out, right. 06:30 And but we're really grateful for your prayers 06:32 and financial support. 06:33 But many of you have interceded for 3ABN for many, many years. 06:36 And that's made a difference too. 06:38 You know, some people 06:39 are not always able to give financially 06:41 but are able to just drop on their knees 06:43 and pray for this ministry. 06:44 And wow, what a powerful blessing. 06:47 Amen. For sure. 06:49 Do we want to open in prayer? 06:50 I have opening question, but I don't know... 06:51 You know, I have some questions too. 06:53 And you know, we're on the topic of prayer, 06:54 I think it would be very appropriate for us to. 06:56 So, Donald, would you mind to open in prayer 06:58 as we start our Family Worship here. 07:00 Thank you. 07:01 Heavenly Father, we want to thank You 07:03 that Your son, Jesus gave us this opportunity 07:06 that we can lift up prayers. 07:09 Yes. 07:10 I'm thinking of Hebrews 4:16 07:11 says we can come boldly into throne of grace 07:14 asking these petitions. 07:15 So we thank You for what Jesus has done. 07:17 We thank You that we have an advocate, 07:19 one who does listen to these prayers 07:21 and takes them before the Father. 07:22 And You know, this message is going to resonate 07:25 in hearts tonight and that many souls, Lord, 07:28 maybe like Dee said, I didn't think 07:29 I was an intercessory prayer warrior 07:31 but we're all intercessory prayer warriors 07:33 when we put our confidence and trust in You. 07:34 So, Lord, 07:36 we just want to thank You for that 07:37 and ask that Your Holy Spirit will abide with us 07:38 as we tackle this topic, 07:40 this wonderful topic of intercessory prayer. 07:43 We thank You, Lord, we ask us in Jesus' name, amen. 07:46 Amen. 07:47 Amen. Thank you. 07:49 So just to kick it off, 07:50 what would you say is intercessory prayer? 07:53 You know, people could say, well, I pray, 07:56 does that mean I intercede? 07:57 Does that mean I am involved in intercessory prayer? 08:00 Is any prayer intercessory prayer? 08:02 Or is there a difference in that? 08:05 See, that's where I had to, 08:06 I've always thought 08:07 of when you say intercessory prayer, 08:09 I immediately my brain goes intercessory prayer warrior. 08:13 I'm thinking of someone who intercessory prayer, 08:17 they go and they pray for an hour or two hours, 08:21 are doing it several times a week, 08:22 they have this long list, their fervent prayers. 08:26 And I'm thinking, 08:27 "Well, I'm not really an intercessor prayer person." 08:30 But as I started to think about it, 08:33 I've developed a different picture. 08:35 Intercessory prayer has different pictures. 08:39 It's different for each person, I think. 08:42 And so I've kind of changed my mind 08:45 that I do intercessory prayer, and I, 08:49 but it looks different 08:51 than maybe it does for somebody else. 08:53 And that's okay. 08:55 What does it look like for you? 08:57 I realized that I pray a lot for other people, 09:00 but I'm there, they're short, 09:03 shorter prayers are more often 09:05 or especially if someone's on my heart, 09:10 I may lift them up several times a day, 09:11 or they come to mind several times a day, 09:14 but I'm not on the floor on my face 09:18 for an hour 15 minutes or 20 minutes 09:20 or whatever it is. 09:22 It's not that that picture. 09:26 Mine are more instant 09:29 and I don't have this long list. 09:31 It's what God puts on my on my heart. 09:33 And there are certain people like family members 09:36 that I pray for. 09:39 And it's almost each time I pray 09:41 or when I'm doing prayer, 09:43 I put that intercessory prayer in there 09:45 so it looks different 09:47 than what I originally pictured intercessory prayer is, 09:51 and I think that's okay, 09:53 I think intercessory prayer can look 09:55 how it needs to look for you personally. 09:58 It can be your definition of what works for you. 10:03 I looked up that word speaking intercessory 10:05 means the action of intervening on behalf of another, 10:09 like the word action. 10:10 You know, it's all it does is take a little simple action, 10:12 just like you said, lifting up somebody's name. 10:14 You know, for me, I had an individual. 10:16 Long time ago, when I was praying, I said, 10:18 you know, you have really long prayers. 10:20 I was like, yes, 10:22 just the way that like you said, 10:23 the Lord does different things for me personally 10:25 and intercessory prayer, 10:26 I got testimonies that come to my mind, 10:27 I have scriptures that pop in my head, 10:29 I have stories in the Bible, 10:31 and just how God just He uses all, 10:33 He takes like some kind of formula 10:35 and just puts it all together. 10:36 And just, it's amazing. 10:38 And just the power, what He can do through prayer. 10:40 So again, of course, for an intercessor, 10:42 it means we are the individuals doing the action for somebody. 10:45 So that's kind of the definition. 10:46 Yes, we're the action, I guess, 10:48 taking the action and doing the action so. 10:50 I like that word too, action. 10:53 Take about you, Tim, what does that mean to you? 10:54 Intercession is a verb for sure. 10:56 And I think when, 10:57 when the important things is following through, 11:00 you know, if I, 11:02 if I want someone to intercede for me, 11:04 I want them to until it's what is the 11:09 Pray Until Something Happened, PUSH. 11:11 PUSH, yes. 11:13 So until something happens... Yes, the acronym. 11:15 Until you see the, to the result, 11:18 not necessarily the result, what you thought would happen, 11:21 but, but so I find that, you know, making it... 11:24 It may be not on a list, 11:27 but it's something that comes to my mind 11:29 every day that I've, 11:31 until I see a change or until I know 11:34 that there is maybe it's resolved some, 11:36 in some way. 11:38 I think that's what interceding for someone to me, 11:41 it's important to follow through. 11:43 Because sometimes I will literally, 11:46 I'll pray something one day, and never remember it. 11:49 Now not that that prayer isn't still circulating, 11:52 and God certainly knows the need. 11:55 But I think it's, 11:57 I think a lot of times 11:58 intercession is more important for us 12:01 than it is for God because a sign of, 12:03 you know, how interested in this are you? 12:06 How invested are you in this situation 12:09 to really see it to fruition? 12:13 And prayer changes us. Certainly. 12:16 Ellen White, she had said this, 12:17 and this is really interesting. 12:18 She said, "By your fervent prayers 12:20 of faith, 12:21 you can move the arm that moves the world." 12:23 And you just tackle it in your brain. 12:25 You can't even understand it, 12:27 but it moves the arm that moves the world 12:28 as you pray for somebody you're actually moving your arm 12:31 that moves this entire universe. 12:32 Amen. 12:34 Wow, that's a powerful thought. 12:36 What's it mean to you? 12:37 You know, I think yes, intercessory prayer is, 12:39 to me this is just Greg Morikone's definition 12:42 is more than like, what you're saying to me, 12:44 we can just pray for something once. 12:46 But for me, intercessory prayer would be like 12:47 lifting that request up, 12:49 or that individual up over and over again, 12:51 or really just beseeching the Lord, 12:53 you know, like, God, 12:54 this person manages really heavy on my heart. 12:56 And just really, 12:58 I think it's that action of maybe repetition, 13:01 you know, day after day after day 13:02 until there's a result 13:04 may or may not be what we're looking for. 13:05 But until we say, hey, there's the answer. 13:07 This is what God's will. 13:08 I think that's what it means to me. 13:11 Because many times I've prayed for someone like, 13:13 oh, they've come and said, 13:14 "Hey, can you please pray for so and so 13:16 and I'll pray for them." 13:17 But I may not put them on a list. 13:19 That's my own problem. 13:20 I should have probably put them on a list. 13:22 But still, I think if there's a certain situation 13:24 or a certain individual, 13:25 for me, it's just yes, taking out before God. 13:28 Yes, it doesn't necessarily mean 13:29 there has to be 10 hours. 13:31 It's just like, to me bringing it up again, again, 13:33 God, please work in this person's life. 13:36 That's what it means to me, how about you? 13:38 I should have thought 13:39 that you'd ask me that question. 13:41 Are you prepared? 13:43 I would say that it does mean interceding for other people 13:47 like you talked about 13:48 and just bringing them before the Father, 13:51 I think that's really powerful. 13:53 But something to me, this is this is new. 13:55 So this is still evolving for me. 13:58 Something that it's coming to me now 14:00 is actually intercession can have an impact 14:05 on how God looks at other people. 14:08 When I read the Word of God, we know of course, 14:11 that God is love. 14:12 And he's not willing that any should perish, 14:14 but that all should come to repentance. 14:15 But when I read the Word of God, 14:16 I see many times people stood in the gap, 14:19 actually asking forgiveness, 14:21 standing in the gap between the judgment of God 14:24 that was maybe coming against a people 14:25 or a group and the mercy of God 14:28 which we know flows from the heart of our Father, 14:31 so I'm not even sure I understand it entirely. 14:36 I know I don't understand it entirely. 14:37 But that concept of Moses 14:40 interceding for the sins of the people, 14:42 the golden calf experience, 14:44 or Stephen when he's being stoned, 14:46 interceding, God, 14:48 do not lay this into their charge. 14:50 Interceding, asking forgiveness on their behalf. 14:54 To me, this is a new aspect of intercession 14:56 that I'm just learning I guess you could say. 14:59 Well, it's like when you just said that 15:02 it's like, God accept our, God accepts our prayer, 15:07 our intercession on their behalf. 15:09 In other words, 15:10 he can't move unless he's asked to 15:13 because of freewill. 15:14 And by us asking for them, he accepts that in their place. 15:18 And then he can move in a way he couldn't have before 15:21 because He wasn't invited to. 15:24 So we can invite the Lord, 15:26 we can invite the Lord to move 15:28 on behalf of someone else because He needs permission. 15:33 He's not invasive, he doesn't push. 15:35 I never really thought of that before. 15:38 You just made me think of Job 42:10 15:42 talks about something there, let's see. 15:43 Oh, that's interesting because Job, 15:45 you know the experience he had. 15:46 Praying for his friends. Right, yes. 15:48 Which is powerful. Yes. 15:50 Then what happened though, 15:51 after he prayed for his friends. 15:53 That's the... 15:54 God doubled the, yes, it's powerful actually. 15:55 Here, that's a powerful verse. 15:57 As you're turning there, I just got to bring this up. 15:58 Why, why would you pray for people 16:01 who didn't stand with you when you needed them, right? 16:04 Because he's going through everything 16:06 and so much trouble and the people 16:08 who are supposed to be his friends, 16:10 they just kind of turned on him. 16:12 And so yes, he prayed for that. 16:15 You know, you mention that makes me think that 16:18 we as people are interceding on people's behalves. 16:20 We have to have that compassion in our heart. 16:22 If it's not there, you're not going to do it, 16:23 you're not going to pray for somebody. 16:25 So obviously, Job must have had compassion for his friends 16:27 or you wouldn't have... 16:29 "Forget you guys, you know, 16:30 I'm tired of hearing all your stuff just go away." 16:31 No, he prayed for them. 16:33 Then as he did, says in here, 16:35 "The Lord turned the captivity of Job 16:37 when he prayed for his friends also, 16:39 the Lord gave Job twice as much as," 16:41 you mentioned, greatness he had before." 16:43 So everything was restored to him to full 16:46 because he had 16:47 so much more compassion for them 16:49 than his own needs at the time. 16:51 I mean, think about all the needs he had, 16:52 but he saw their needs more. 16:54 But even if we pray for someone, 16:56 if we don't have that compassion 16:57 to start with, prayer changes us. 17:00 So when you start praying for someone, 17:03 you look at them differently. 17:06 We've all heard stories about that 17:08 and how it changes 17:09 how we've used someone too changes us 17:13 when we're intercessoring for prayer 17:15 for someone that didn't stand with us. 17:18 So a person cannot, based off the definition, 17:20 cannot intercede for themselves. 17:22 Would that be correct? 17:25 So, so if you can't intercede... 17:27 I don't know. I'm just throwing this out. 17:29 So if you can't intercede for yourself, 17:30 what if nobody intercedes for you? 17:32 There may be no one in the world 17:34 that you can even think of that even intercede for you. 17:37 So then what happens? 17:38 Jesus intercedes, and the Holy Spirit intercedes. 17:40 Oh, yes. 17:42 That was a cliffhanger. 17:43 Oh, I don't know if that's real. 17:45 That was good. I was holding my breath. 17:50 Can we read that script? 17:51 Yes, yes, absolutely. Yes. 17:52 You thinking 1 Timothy? 17:54 We can do 1 Timothy absolutely. Which one were you thinking? 17:55 I was thinking Hebrews 7:25, I love that. 17:58 Yes, Hebrews 7... 18:00 We were supposed to start with Philippians 1:19 18:01 but we can get there. 18:02 No, let's do Hebrews. I love this. 18:04 Hebrews 7:25 is a really good scripture. 18:07 Wow. 18:08 Any if you have that want to jump in? 18:11 I'm still finding it. 18:13 "Wherefore He is able also to save them 18:15 to the uttermost, " 18:17 beautiful word there, 18:18 "that come unto God by Him 18:20 seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them." 18:23 Praise the Lord. Wow. 18:25 I got a little box here, it says, 18:26 "Through the administration was to be removed 18:29 from the earthly to the heavenly temple 18:30 though the sanctuary in our great high priests 18:32 would be invisible to human sight, 18:34 yet the disciples were to suffer no loss thereby, 18:36 while Jesus ministers in the sanctuary above, 18:39 He is still by His Spirit, 18:41 the Minister of the Church on earth, 18:42 while which He delegates His power 18:44 to inferior ministers, " 18:45 being us, 18:47 "His energizing presence is still with His church." 18:48 So you know, he, 18:50 while he poured out His Spirit on us to be, 18:51 you know, says, 18:52 "His inferior ministers energize his presence 18:55 in the church," that's really powerful. 18:57 So isn't that beautiful, 18:58 who better than to intercede for us than Jesus Himself? 19:01 And all you have to do is come to Him, 19:03 and He will intercede for you 19:05 because many people 19:06 when you first come to the Lord, 19:07 you don't know how to pray. 19:09 You don't know what to say. 19:10 But Jesus intercedes for us. 19:13 There's almost a kind of connecting scripture 19:14 to that Revelation 8:3, 19:16 it's symbolic because obviously, 19:18 Revelation has a lot of symbolic terminology. 19:20 But it says in verse three. 19:22 You said 8:3, I'm just getting there. 19:23 Revelation 8:3 says, 19:25 "And another angel came and stood at the altar, 19:27 having a golden censer, 19:28 and there was given unto him much incense, 19:31 that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints 19:33 upon the golden altar which was before the throne." 19:35 So Jesus is actually mingling His prayers with our prayer 19:39 before the Father, isn't that beautiful? 19:41 It is. 19:42 He takes that and He takes, you know, well, 19:44 we're going to talk about Romans 2 19:45 about this Holy Spirit, 19:46 but He takes those prayers and He mingles them like, 19:49 maybe we don't know how to pray like we should. 19:50 But He knows how to pray before the Father, 19:52 you can plead His blood. 19:53 We can't plead anything, He can plead His blood. 19:55 So He takes His blood 19:56 before the Father and our prayers 19:58 and combines it and that's when you know, 20:00 like you mentioned earlier about 20:01 maybe a prayer is not answered right away 20:02 or the way we thought 20:04 but eventually a prayer does get answered in a way. 20:05 So this is the question that I know 20:07 I've asked a number of questions. 20:08 So I'm hopefully, hopefully we're answering some of these. 20:10 But what comes to mind is okay, we just said then, 20:13 that Jesus who better than to intercede is Jesus, 20:15 then why do we even need to intercede? 20:16 Let's just sit back 20:18 and let Jesus do it for everybody. 20:19 So what's the use of us interceding? 20:21 I'm just curious 20:23 on your guys' thoughts on that then. 20:24 Jesus lives to make intercession. 20:27 But like we, every one of us mentioned, 20:29 this prayer changes us, it changes us, 20:33 it changes our point of view. 20:35 It brings us more in line 20:37 of how Jesus views someone else. 20:38 Okay. Good. 20:40 Any other thoughts on that? 20:41 I was thinking of something that was written 20:43 as divinity needs humanity to reach humanity. 20:47 Divinity needs humanity in order to reach humanity. 20:50 That's good. 20:52 So they, basically what they're saying is that, 20:53 you know, He, yes, He's, He's able to intercede for us, 20:57 but He wants us like you're saying 20:58 to cooperate with Him to do work. 21:00 And I mean, people think of work, 21:02 obviously, a nine-to-five job or something. 21:03 But even prayer is a form of work 21:05 between you and the Heavenly Father. 21:07 So I think, you know, doing that, 21:09 intercede on people's behalf saying the gap, 21:11 it's like He needs us, 21:13 because we're like His hands and feet, right. 21:15 I mean, He sees everything obviously, 21:16 but He wants us to play an active role. 21:18 We talked about action earlier. 21:20 We can actively play that role. 21:21 And just to give you a quick story 21:23 of how power prayer works, 21:24 had a situation with an individual 21:27 a few years ago, 21:28 and this individual and I got into a pretty scuffle 21:31 wasn't like fist or anything, but just words. 21:33 And I just a couple days later said, 21:34 "Lord, I don't want to hold on this anymore. 21:36 I just want forgive this person and ask forgiveness." 21:38 I prayed that and two hours later, 21:40 this individual came up and just said, 21:41 "Hey, man, can I talk to you for a minute?" 21:42 I said, "Yes, what's going on?" 21:44 He said, "I'm sorry, man, for what I did." 21:45 I said, "I'm sorry for what I did too." 21:47 And now to this day, we're friends. 21:48 Praise the Lord. Amen. 21:49 So God can just turn it around, 21:51 He needs us to be able to do that to, 21:53 you know, seek Him and that we can trust Him. 21:55 He will answer those prayers 21:57 and help build relationships so. 21:59 Any thoughts, Tim, on Jesus being our intercessor or us... 22:01 Well, I think just the whole idea 22:03 of you look at Abraham and how he was, 22:10 it was he, because he believed in God, 22:12 he was kind of a friend of God. 22:16 What does a friend expect? 22:18 They expect to be talked to, that's a good way, 22:21 you know, to, yes, a relationship. 22:23 In fact, when someone tells me, 22:25 "Well, I don't really, I'm not all about religion." 22:28 I say, "Well, let me introduce you to Jesus. 22:31 And then you've got a relationship 22:34 instead of religion." 22:35 Sure. 22:37 And so, I think the whole, 22:38 I think one of the things that God why prayer works, 22:43 or hopefully would work 22:44 is because it's just talking to God, 22:46 it's not fancy words. 22:48 It's not a list. 22:49 It's not anything 22:51 that we really obligate ourselves for, 22:52 you know, make prayer to, to be out. 22:55 It's just simply talking to God. 22:58 And when you have a relationship with someone 23:02 that is so focused on just talking to them 23:05 and pouring out your heart 23:07 and then listening to him what he has to say, 23:09 what they have to say, that's to me, 23:12 that's what makes 23:13 the whole intercession thing powerful for humanity 23:16 for, you know, necessary for us 23:20 because it keeps us in touch with God. 23:21 And then we can just be friends of God, 23:25 and have a relationship with Him. 23:26 You said a really powerful word there, 23:28 you said "necessary." 23:29 And I would agree with that 100 percent 23:30 because it's both sides, right? 23:32 Us talking to God and God talking to us, 23:34 and that's back and forth. 23:36 That's beautiful. That's great. Isn't prayer our very breath? 23:38 Absolutely. The breath of the soul. 23:39 It's our, we die without prayer. 23:42 It's the breath of life. It is. 23:44 And if Jesus lives to make intercessory, 23:48 then if we do that we, aren't we going to reflect Him? 23:52 Aren't we going to be like Him when He comes? 23:54 So intercessory prayer makes us more like Jesus. 24:00 And you mentioned opening with the verse 24:02 that you were going to open with... 24:03 I was just going there... 24:05 Philippians 1:19 24:06 and I want to read that if you don't mind and... 24:08 Is this amplified? It is. 24:10 Oh, good. Yes. 24:11 So Philippians 1:19 says, "For I am well assured, " 24:16 this is Paul speaking, 24:18 "For I am well assured and indeed know 24:21 that through your prayers 24:23 and a bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 24:26 this will turn out for my preservation 24:29 for the spiritual health and welfare of my own soul 24:32 and avail toward the saving work 24:35 of the Gospel." 24:37 Spiritual health. 24:38 Three words, "through your prayers." 24:40 Right. 24:41 Can you imagine something that you're going through 24:43 that you are counting on someone 24:48 to maybe intercede for you and they didn't follow through, 24:55 you know, they forgot about you. 24:58 You know, because this is Paul writing from prison, right? 25:02 And in this first chapter of Philippians. 25:05 And so he says, 25:06 "I'm well assured and know that through your prayers," 25:11 that's weighty, that's heavy 25:13 to know that somebody is depending on my prayers, 25:17 to meet a need to get, to break through or to, 25:23 for something to change in their life. 25:24 Man, that's... 25:26 But he knew those prayers would make a difference. 25:27 Oh, absolutely. 25:29 He did know, but if they weren't there, 25:31 then they, would they make a difference, you know? 25:34 Yes, so I mean, that is... 25:36 That's an interesting question. Wow. 25:37 That's a heavy verse to me. It is. 25:40 You know, it really is. I have New King James. 25:43 It says, "I know this will turn out 25:44 for my deliverance through your prayer 25:45 and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ." 25:47 King James's salvation but and that one said, 25:53 preservation right? 25:54 For spiritual health and... 25:55 Spiritual and deliverance. 25:57 I like the deliverance. 25:58 It's amazing to think that our prayers 26:02 make a difference in someone else's salvation. 26:04 I like that though. 26:05 That's a preservation for the spiritual health. 26:08 You know, those prayers help our spiritual health. 26:10 You know, we feel like we're draining it. 26:11 Think about today, how many people are alone 26:13 in their own houses? 26:14 Talking on prayer line, I mean you have so many, 26:17 thank you for your prayers. 26:18 I just need somebody to talk to. 26:19 I just need somebody to pray for me. 26:21 And it builds their spiritual health. 26:23 Especially I think Tim and Greg and Jill, 26:26 you hear from a lot of people that say, 26:30 "I'm praying for you. 26:31 I'm praying for 3ABN." 26:32 How does that impact? 26:35 I know, I know how it impacts me 26:37 when someone says I'm praying for you. 26:40 I believe that my aunt's intercessory prayer 26:43 for me when I was living in the world, 26:48 changed my life. 26:49 And I think it protect, I think delivered me from harm. 26:55 So how do you feel when you hear 26:57 that someone else has been lifting you up 26:59 in prayer interceding for you? 27:01 It's encouraging. Overwhelming. 27:04 Yes, yes. 27:05 So okay, so someone at home, 27:06 you know, we have this COVID that's going on, right. 27:08 So a lot of people are isolated in their home 27:10 and feel very alone. 27:12 So what would be some advice 27:14 we could give to someone right now 27:15 as we're talking for your family worship, 27:17 then how can they intercede for someone, 27:19 and they're isolated in their home? 27:20 Any ideas 27:21 on how someone could become involved 27:23 in intercessory prayer? 27:24 So Donald mentioned, and we've mentioned 27:26 that he's part of pastoral, 27:27 I think one of the greatest hidden ministries 27:31 here at 3ABN is the prayer warrior, 27:34 the email that you at home can sign up for, 27:38 you can tell us maybe a little bit more 27:39 or I don't, I never know exactly 27:41 how to sign up for it. 27:43 I just know I'm signed up. 27:44 You can go on the website, actually just go on 3ABN.org.tv 27:49 and there's, on some, like, it's like closer to the bottom. 27:52 Yes, little box on the left you can click. 27:54 Okay, a box on the left of the website, 27:56 you can sign up for the prayer warrior request. 28:00 Yes. 28:01 So we have about I think 28:02 2,290 prayer warriors currently. 28:06 And every week, or every two weeks, 28:08 you get a list. 28:10 I opened mine this morning and was reading it. 28:14 The list of requests from around the world 28:17 and it's amazing. 28:20 Some are for other people, 28:21 some salvation, some, well, physical... 28:24 Healing. Yes absolutely. 28:26 Every aspect really is there. 28:28 But so that is a good, 28:30 something that you can sit right at your home 28:33 and go to your email, 28:34 and just begin to read for people that you don't even, 28:37 or pray for people that you don't even know. 28:39 But again, that though, when you're praying for, 28:43 that prayer will, think, 28:44 oh, that's somebody else in my family 28:46 that has the same issue. 28:48 So yes, you don't have to leave your house. 28:50 But I think it changes you. 28:51 That's great, Tim. It gives you a purpose. 28:53 And with COVID, so many people are struggling of what to do. 28:58 So it gives you a purpose. 28:59 And I think it will change you 29:01 if you start doing intercessory prayer like them. 29:04 I think most, everyone has a cell phone too. 29:07 And so you've got a list of contacts 29:08 would be just to go through there 29:10 and text them and say, 29:11 "Hey, you know what, I'm praying for you." 29:13 I actually received a text just this week 29:14 where someone actually texted me and said, 29:16 "I'm praying for you, Greg," 29:17 just someone that doesn't normally do that. 29:18 I was like, "Oh, wow!" 29:20 You talked about what does that do for you 29:21 and you talked about encouraging that was fantastic. 29:23 And so wow, that encouraged me. 29:25 I don't know if you were to do that. 29:27 Or if you don't have a cell phone, 29:28 you've got hopefully a little card 29:30 that you could put "I'm praying for you" 29:32 and put that in the mail 55 cents 29:34 here in the United States for a stamp 29:35 and send that to someone saying, 29:36 "I'm praying for you." 29:38 And I've been doing that with text saying... 29:40 Have you been doing that? Great. 29:41 Sending a text and saying, 29:43 "I'm thinking of you right now and lifting you up in prayer." 29:45 There's a few people that are on my heart right now. 29:47 And that's, they're too sick to really communicate. 29:51 But the text they send me back a little emoji 29:55 and I know that and it helps both of us. 30:00 So there's little things you can do to... 30:05 Intercede. Intercede and it all counts. 30:09 And the thing I do believe... 30:11 One of you said something about that it continues on, 30:13 think of all the mothers 30:15 that have prayed for their children 30:16 over the years. 30:18 And maybe they pass 30:19 and they haven't seen the results yet. 30:21 But then years later it happens. 30:23 And those prayers God, Jesus 30:26 keeps those prayers 30:28 in front of the Father, I believe. 30:31 And they keep on going. 30:33 So no prayer of intercession is ever lost, I don't think. 30:37 It doesn't just, God doesn't just 30:39 oh, well, set this one aside, 30:41 because I didn't hear from them a second time. 30:44 He keeps them working on that. 30:46 Yes, something that the Lord has been working on me 30:48 and I try to do this every weekend, 30:50 since we don't work Fridays, or Saturdays or Sundays. 30:51 But I try to take about, for me personally, 30:53 a four-mile walk and talk with the Lord 30:56 and I just start sharing what's on my heart with Him 30:58 or things that I see are, 31:00 for me, they're, different things 31:01 that go through my mind, 31:02 different people I think about 31:04 and just one quick example 31:05 that happened to me 31:07 when we had to put our cat to sleep a while back. 31:10 It was a tough time at that point. 31:11 But the next morning, it was a Sabbath morning, 31:13 and I was walking, I asked the Lord like, 31:15 Ellen G. White, she prays, 31:16 "Take all of me, O Lord, to be yours. 31:18 I lay all my plans at your feet." 31:19 And so I actually prayed it, sometimes I do it. 31:21 And it just happened, I'm walking my way back 31:23 and a man stopped and we began talking. 31:26 And while I'm going through my loss of my cat, 31:28 he told me about his issue 31:29 of going through a stroke few years ago. 31:32 And I asked him, I said, "Can I pray with you?" 31:34 God brought me somebody to pray with. 31:36 So I'm here praying in the middle of this road. 31:38 And, you know, after he left, I was like, 31:41 "Man, God, you know, it's amazing, 31:42 because here I am and my loss of my cat and said, 31:45 you know, it was really, 31:46 a little struggle for a few days 31:48 and you brought me this man to pray for him." 31:50 And it just relieved my soul just like, I was like, 31:53 "Man, I just, wow, God really cares about you. 31:55 He listens to your prayers." 31:56 Amen. Just incredible. 31:57 Amen. 31:59 Tim, you were going to say something before. 32:00 Well, I've forgotten by now. 32:02 I'm sorry. But it's not. 32:03 It was... 32:04 Yes, we'll just proceed. 32:06 Okay, sorry. 32:07 You know what, what's interesting, 32:09 and I'm just going to be really candid. 32:11 If you're like me, and I've never had a cat, 32:18 that I was, that I mourned the loss. 32:21 And I think it's interesting, 32:26 you know, I have family members that have passed that I, 32:29 I will just again say that I have not mourned over. 32:34 I think I'm wanting God 32:36 to bring something so close to me 32:39 that if it's taken away, 32:42 that I will realize 32:43 and this is scary to be praying, 32:44 or just to even be verbalizing right now. 32:47 And I realized 32:48 this is maybe not even the time for this. 32:50 But that is powerful. 32:54 Because I think that, again, 32:55 is what intercession does something again, 32:59 this verse is saying that through your prayers, 33:01 if there is not somebody that I'm praying for, 33:05 that is in, 33:09 that if I don't pray for them, 33:13 that, that this, it's, it's curtains for them. 33:17 It's that it... 33:20 So I'm really convicted by this, 33:22 this whole topic 33:24 because, you know, I go through life, 33:27 and God is great. 33:28 God is food. Thank you... 33:29 God is good. Thank you for this food, amen. 33:32 And I know, I know, there are prayers 33:34 that I pray that are deeper, but for the most part, 33:38 I think this is such a serious issue. 33:42 You know, of all the topics that we have, prayer, I mean, 33:48 this is our connection to God. 33:50 And so I really, I want God to stir me 33:56 and put some play, 33:58 Lord, lay some soul upon my heart, 34:01 that I would you know, and salvation, 34:03 you know, it is one of the, 34:05 is the biggest issue. 34:07 So if you don't have anything else to pray for, 34:09 I would recommend that you just, you know, 34:12 begin to pray for salvation for your family. 34:15 And I know I'm praying for my sons. 34:19 They are both saved. 34:20 But they, that God would keep them 34:23 close to Him and make them great men of God. 34:27 You mentioned, I'm sorry, that was maybe a little... 34:30 No, that was good. No actually... 34:31 But I think, I challenge you as at home if you don't have, 34:35 if you are home 34:37 and don't feel like you have anyone to pray for, 34:39 if some of you may still have a phone book. 34:43 I was going to say that. 34:45 Old fashioned concept, 34:46 but what if you called somebody, 34:49 just somebody you don't even know you 34:50 just start in the As 34:53 and simply ask them you could tell them 34:55 your first name and say, 34:57 is there anything I can pray for you about? 35:00 I mean, wouldn't that kind of blow their mind? 35:04 They may hang up on you. 35:06 Or it may open the great door, 35:09 pray for the Holy Spirit to even guide you. 35:11 You don't have to be random, 35:13 but pray for the Spirit to guide you, 35:15 then just reach out. 35:16 Some of us don't want to, 35:18 don't want to intrude into someone else's life. 35:20 Every once in a while I'll get a text that will say, 35:22 "Can I pray for you for something?" 35:24 And then at first, I think, 35:25 well, that's kind of intrusive of you. 35:28 Are you kidding? 35:30 What a better honor that someone would say, 35:33 you know, "Can I pray for you something specifically?" 35:36 Anyway, I'm... That's great. 35:38 That's actually... 35:39 No, I agree. 35:41 I was just going to say I was thinking, Dee, 35:42 you had referenced before 35:44 as far as what a difference it makes 35:45 when people pray for you, people stand in the gap. 35:49 And this is the time you prayed for me, Dee. 35:52 And it just came to my mind when you asked that. 35:54 I was just, I've been thinking about that. 35:56 This was years ago. 35:58 Maybe 10 years, I don't even remember how long, 36:00 I just remember 36:01 I was going through a hard time. 36:03 And I was discouraged. 36:05 And I remember waking up at night and God, 36:09 should I even be here, am I in the right place? 36:11 Should I move? 36:13 Should I... 36:14 Not with Greg and I but just, you know, 36:16 sometimes you get discouraged in ministry. 36:19 And you came to me one day in the office 36:23 and you said, 36:26 "I woke up in the middle of the night 36:28 and you were so heavy on my heart." 36:30 I don't know if you remember that. 36:31 We were in John Dinzey's office, 36:33 I just stepped in there. 36:34 He wasn't there. 36:36 And you stepped in and you said, 36:37 "I woke up in the middle of the night 36:39 and I couldn't sleep. 36:41 And I knew that you needed prayer. 36:43 And so I don't know 36:45 what you're going through, Jill, 36:46 but the Lord wants you to know that He loves you, 36:49 and I'm praying for you." 36:51 And that was a tipping point in my life, 36:56 and made a difference for the decisions I made 36:59 in the future. 37:01 So the prayers that we offer for other people, 37:04 or as you mentioned, Tim, 37:05 when the Holy Spirit convicts us, 37:08 or puts it on our heart, pray for someone, do it. 37:13 Don't cast it aside, don't say, 37:15 "Oh, I guess I don't need to pray 37:16 for this person or it's not important," 37:18 but pray for them. 37:20 You know, I think of Psalm 2:8. 37:23 It says, "Ask of me, 37:25 and I will give you the heathen 37:27 for your inheritance, 37:28 and the uttermost parts of the earth 37:30 for your possession." 37:31 So that to me, in my mind, 37:33 it ties back to Philippians 1:19. 37:36 By that I mean 37:37 it's that whole salvation prayer. 37:39 What if we get to the kingdom and there's someone not there 37:44 because I neglected to pray for my neighbor, 37:47 or for a co-worker? 37:49 What if I somehow failed 37:54 in praying for someone else? 37:56 To me, that's just, 37:57 what a privilege to be able to intercede 38:01 for other people and their salvation! 38:03 So that time I must not have been ignoring 38:06 the Holy Spirit 38:08 because in Romans 26, or in Romans 8:26. 38:14 It says, "Likewise, 38:15 the spirit also helps us in our weakness, " 38:19 because I don't wake up in the middle of night... 38:21 For nobody. 38:24 "For we do not know 38:25 what we should pray for as we ought 38:28 but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us 38:32 with groanings which cannot be uttered." 38:34 So the Holy Spirit if we want, 38:37 like I say, I'm not a prayer warrior, 38:40 but the Lord will still use anyone so... 38:43 By your definition though, Dee. 38:44 By my definition, but the Holy Spirit laid, 38:49 He says, and I didn't ignore that. 38:52 See, sometimes we ignore the Holy Spirit, 38:56 it's, we're sleepy or we're busy. 38:59 If the Lord wakes me up in the middle of night, 39:01 I am very cooperative. 39:04 If I am on a task, I got a mission, 39:08 I've got to get something done in the middle of the day... 39:09 We know you. 39:11 If the Holy Spirit tries to interrupt me 39:13 then sometimes even get ignored. 39:17 But I try and run over in the road. 39:19 We're all like that. 39:20 I've learned to try and I've 39:25 because I've prayed and asked, Lord, give me awareness. 39:29 Let me, I want to be a person 39:32 that makes a difference in somebody's life. 39:34 So use me, give me tender words, 39:37 encouragement. 39:39 And that's, I have several prayers 39:41 marked in my Bible 39:43 that I want to pray on morning worship 39:46 during the day, 39:48 so that I'm attuned to the Holy Spirit 39:50 during the day. 39:51 Am I 100 percent successful? 39:55 No one at this table could say I was... 39:58 Yes. 40:00 None of us are perfect, Dee, so you're all... 40:02 But also, all of you would encourage me 40:04 that they've seen changes in me, 40:06 and that comes from the Holy Spirit, 40:08 that comes from you. 40:10 Please, Lord, do something about Dee. 40:12 I can't imagine 40:14 how many prayers have gone out from me so... 40:15 For all of us. 40:18 I want to go back to the story of Job 40:20 because you mentioned Job 42:10 40:22 and I think that's a powerful story. 40:24 You know, he was going through a horrendous storm 40:26 in his life when his children died. 40:28 He lost all of his wealth. 40:30 Pretty much everything was gone. 40:32 Even his wife... His wife, yeah. 40:34 Terrible storms, right? 40:36 So all of us go through storms in life. 40:37 I mean, all of us here at the table 40:39 have gone through storms, 40:40 maybe going through a storm now, 40:41 you at home saying same thing. 40:43 And I think what's powerful about Job 40:45 nowhere that I can see in the Bible does it say 40:49 and all these people stood up interceded for Job. 40:52 Nobody. 40:53 So at this point, we don't know 40:54 that anyone is interceding for Job. 40:57 So here is the poor man scraping boils 40:59 and there's no one interceding for him. 41:00 What does he do? 41:02 He intercedes for his friends. 41:06 You talk about hard, 41:07 when I'm going through the midst of something 41:09 I may not be scraping boils and lost everything, 41:11 but I'm going through a storm in life, 41:13 the last thing I'm thinking of is usually somebody else 41:14 and I need to be interceding for them. 41:17 And so he intercedes for his friends. 41:18 That, yes, it's like the story, the illustration that you gave. 41:21 You were mourning the loss of your cat, 41:23 God sent you someone to pray for. 41:25 Well, I think that's so powerful. 41:26 What a rebuke for me 41:27 because sometimes it's so easy to think about me, 41:29 myself and I, 41:30 and everything that I got going on, 41:32 it's like, okay, you know what, I don't know 41:33 if someone's interceding for me or not. 41:34 I know that Jesus is. 41:36 But I, you know, sometimes want that human touch, right? 41:38 You want someone to come up and say, 41:39 "Tim, Tim, I'm praying for your, brother." 41:41 Well, Job didn't have that and yet here he says, 41:44 "You know what, let me just go ahead 41:46 and pray for my friends." 41:47 And God blessed him for that. 41:48 Tim, you were going to share? 41:50 Well, I was, I was going to just comment 41:51 the fact that God really interceded for Job 41:53 back at the beginning where he was, 41:55 because he was stepping in, telling Satan. 41:58 You know... 42:00 You can only go so far. You can go so far. 42:01 And that's it. I'll take his life. 42:03 So that's an interesting, a whole other study. 42:06 But yes, you're right. 42:07 He was, he was a spectacle, 42:10 that sounds bad, but to the universe, 42:11 Job was... Absolutely. 42:13 You know what, you were just making me 42:14 think that prayer actually it walls back the darkness, 42:18 it walls back the evil. 42:20 It's like it's lifted. 42:21 You know, for me going being in pastoral, 42:25 you know, sometimes you feel like your faith is just waning, 42:27 it goes down, especially in this COVID environment, 42:28 it's been really kind of like, 42:30 you can't do what you used to do. 42:31 Like, I used to love going to prison ministry 42:33 and I can't do it anymore. 42:34 You know, I can't go out door to doors easy. 42:36 It's just changed and things shift and it's just, 42:38 you start becoming 42:40 a little depressed really, it happens. 42:41 So then being able to intercede for other people, 42:44 it's just really, it's really boosted my faith. 42:46 It's just changes. 42:48 Like I'm so encouraged, I get excited 42:50 and hear other people excited on the phones and like, 42:51 I am going to heaven! 42:53 I had one gentleman, this amazing, older gentleman. 42:54 He just got so excited. 42:56 He's saying all this negative stuff 42:57 is keeping battling habits. 42:59 I said, well, I prayed with him certain prayers. 43:01 I said, "Do you realize you're a son of God?" 43:03 As soon as I told him that he said, 43:04 "I am a son of God. 43:06 Hallelujah, hallelujah." 43:07 He got so excited, 43:09 it just turned around and God just, he breaks down. 43:12 It's just amazing so I think... It's awesome. 43:14 Greg, something came to mind when you said 43:16 that no one was praying for Job. 43:18 No one was interceding that we know of. 43:20 Why was no one praying? 43:23 Why was none of his friends praying for Job? 43:26 They all thought he had sinned. 43:29 They, in another words... They were casting judgment. 43:31 They were casting judgment. That's good, Dee. 43:33 They weren't praying for him 43:34 because they were not lifting him up 43:37 because they were judging him 43:38 and decided he didn't deserve prayer. 43:41 Do we do that to other people? 43:43 That's a deep thought. 43:45 Do we judge them 43:46 that they're not worthy of our prayer? 43:49 Wow, no, that's deep. 43:51 Have we ever neglected to pray for someone 43:53 because we didn't think that they were worthy? 43:55 They got what they deserved. 43:56 Exactly. Yes. 43:58 Or because we, well, yes. 43:59 Why would I pray for something that I don't feel... 44:02 Think about Jonah. Wow. 44:03 Jonah of Nineveh. 44:05 A whole entire... 44:06 And he's judging those people and God forgave them. 44:09 They were like James and John, 44:10 won't you strike him dead, like, 44:13 what if God did that to you? 44:14 That's a deep thought. 44:16 We could go a whole hour on that, 44:17 that's a deep thought, you know. 44:19 I mean... Ezekiel... 44:22 Then it must have been a thought 44:23 from the Holy Spirit... 44:25 That's good, Dee. Let's go to Ezekiel. 44:26 I want to, I don't know if, how this ties in. 44:28 But it's right now it's morphing in my brain, 44:30 but Ezekiel 22. 44:31 That's really good, Dee, 44:33 because so often we either judge people 44:35 or maybe we don't like the person. 44:38 And we don't want to pray for them, right? 44:41 Or they have done us wrong. The Sermon on the Mount. 44:44 What does Jesus say? 44:45 Love your enemies, pray for them, 44:47 which despitefully use you and curse you. 44:51 And so, that's the last thing you want to even do. 44:53 This is Ezekiel 22. 44:56 This goes back to that whole thing of judgment 44:58 and there was judgment, of course, on the people. 45:01 The Israelites, 45:02 because they had cast God out of their mind. 45:06 They had turned their back on God. 45:07 They had gone to idol worship, 45:09 they had intermarried with the heathen. 45:11 They had done everything God had told them not to do. 45:14 And then there's judgment coming on the land. 45:18 And I don't know. 45:22 This is just Jill speaking here. 45:23 This is not some CA with say, 45:26 ecclesial logical obiter dictum. 45:30 Oh my goodness, say that again. 45:31 That's tongue twisted. That's a big word. 45:33 So this is just Jill talking here. 45:36 But we know at the time of Ahab, 45:41 that there were 7,000, 45:42 who had not bowed the knee to Baal, right? 45:44 This is with Elijah, Mount Carmel, 45:46 even though Elijah felt like he was all alone, 45:47 there were still people in the land 45:49 who had not bowed the knee to Baal. 45:52 So I don't know at the time of Ezekiel, 45:54 were there people at that time, 45:56 who could have stood up and prayed? 45:58 Were there people who have, could have stood in the gap? 46:03 And yet, God found no one. 46:06 So does that mean, Dee, what you just mentioned, 46:08 were they judging? 46:10 Were they sitting there saying, 46:11 "Why should I pray for this people?" 46:12 I sought a man... 46:14 Ezekiel 22:30. 46:16 Go ahead. 46:17 "So I sought for a man among them 46:20 who would make a wall, 46:21 and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, 46:25 that I should not destroy it, but I found no one." 46:30 Wow. 46:32 So if you read before that you see the priests, verse 26, 46:35 the priests have violated the law 46:37 on profaned holy things 46:39 and they didn't keep the Sabbath. 46:40 Verse 28, the prophets plastered them 46:43 with untempered mortar, seeing false visions, 46:45 divining lines for them. 46:47 Verse 29, 46:48 the people of the land used oppression, 46:50 committed robbery, mistreated, the poor and needy 46:53 and wrongfully oppressed the stranger. 46:54 So there's all these sins and oppression going on. 46:57 And God looked for someone 46:58 to stand in the gap and to pray. 46:59 "And because no one prayed," 47:01 verse 31, He poured out his indignation on them 47:05 and He consumed them with a fire of His wrath. 47:08 So there was absolutely no one left in the land that... 47:12 Who would stand up and pray. Who would stand up and pray. 47:14 And intercede. 47:15 They had all grieved the Holy Spirit away. 47:20 Would we want that to happen to our land? 47:23 And were there people 47:24 who claimed to be Christians there? 47:26 That was what I'm thinking, right? 47:27 Did they claim to be Christians? 47:29 And were they thinking all these people, 47:31 "I don't need to pray for them," right? 47:34 I don't know. That just kind of went deep. 47:35 Because now you made me think about when Jesus says, 47:37 "Depart from me, I never knew you, " 47:39 that was because you never prayed for anybody. 47:40 Christian atheists. 47:41 Oh, man. 47:43 Because you never pray for somebody 47:44 He wanted you to pray for and He says, 47:45 "I don't know you 47:47 because you didn't pray for someone." 47:48 That's the relationship 47:50 that Tim was talking about earlier, right. 47:51 It's got to be back and forth. 47:52 Wow. Wow. 47:54 But I think fast forward now to Daniel, 47:55 who did stand in the gap. 47:56 You know, Daniel 9, beautiful. Yes, let's look at that. 47:59 Thank you. 48:00 Something good and positive. 48:01 Daniel 9 and then also that goes along 48:03 with Nehemiah was very, 48:05 I mean, very similar in prayer. 48:06 Nehemiah 9 and Ezra 9. 48:07 They're all the same. Yes. 48:09 Daniel 9, I just I really love this prayer, you know. 48:12 I think it was in verse 5, it says, 48:13 "We have sinned and committed iniquity, 48:15 and have done wickedly, 48:16 and have rebelled even by departing 48:18 from Thy precepts and from Thy judgments. 48:20 Neither have we hearkened unto Thy servants the prophets, 48:23 which spake in Thy name to our kings, our princes, 48:25 and our fathers, 48:26 and to all the people of the land." 48:28 I like this though, 48:29 "O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, 48:31 but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day." 48:35 Man, you just, I mean, just look at this. 48:36 And you see where our world is today. 48:39 I think about that so much confusion in the land. 48:41 I mean, all the stuff that's happening. 48:43 But Daniel was the man that stood in the gap 48:45 and I love what gave us a dear man highly favored. 48:49 I mean by the Lord, beloved, wow. 48:50 And this is a man whose heart was knit 48:52 but I think when God personally prayed constantly for people. 48:56 And Daniel's sins did not cause the captivity. 48:59 That's what's powerful to me. It's not due to his sins. 49:03 In fact, remember, 49:04 the prince has tried to find something wrong with him 49:06 and they couldn't. 49:07 So... 49:08 Prayer, they try to get him on prayer. 49:10 Right. 49:11 So therefore he is identifying 49:13 with the sins of the people instead of, 49:14 "God be with these people. 49:15 They really need help," 49:17 he said, "We have sinned and done wickedly" 49:19 identifying what that... 49:20 Moses did too, didn't he? 49:22 Oh, yeah, humblest, meekest man on the earth. 49:25 I think that makes us realize that we got to be humble, 49:28 you know, 1 Peter 5:6 says, "Humble yourselves, 49:31 therefore, under the mighty hand of God, 49:33 that He may exalt you in due time." 49:35 So we have to realize that. 49:36 I think being a prayer warrior makes you, 49:38 humbles you like we mentioned, you know, 49:39 taking that time 49:40 to really intercede for somebody, 49:42 even if you don't love them, that you're showing that, 49:44 that force the Holy Spirit kind of on you to say, 49:46 "Hey, this person really needs prayer right now. 49:48 So I think that yes, 49:50 Daniel exhibited that really well, 49:52 constantly for praying for people 49:53 and look at how we got before kings. 49:54 And I mean, 49:56 and what a powerful prayer warrior. 49:57 And how many times when we're out in public 50:00 do we get offended or mistreated at a store 50:03 or a driver or so many, 50:06 and how do we respond to that? 50:08 Do we stop and think that... 50:10 Laying on the horn shaking my fist and... 50:12 As long as you're doing just shaking. 50:13 You don't do that. Or I can't imagine. 50:17 But you see, a lot of people do that. 50:19 And even in a store, 50:21 when a clerk maybe is not as patient or whatever, 50:26 what are our thoughts and how do we respond to that? 50:29 What if we thought, 50:30 well, maybe that person's mother is dying 50:33 or maybe they can't feed their children 50:36 or they're worried about they're going to lose this job. 50:39 Do we stop and think 50:41 what they may be contending with 50:43 and then do we lift that person up in prayer? 50:49 No? 50:51 Occasionally I have. 50:53 Because this Holy Spirit got a hold of me 50:56 and I responded properly. 50:57 But a lot of times, 50:59 my lower man rises up 51:02 and I want to get even. 51:07 I want the respect I should have gotten 51:09 instead of God's Spirit. 51:13 If we, if, 51:15 and this is something I pray too, 51:16 Lord, let me see this other person 51:18 as you see them. 51:19 Amen. 51:20 That helps me look at somebody 51:23 the way I want God to look at me. 51:25 Also, it's like, Lord, 51:27 let me see them as you see them. 51:29 And let me give them grace and mercy 51:33 that You give to me daily. 51:35 I want to do something here just a little bit different 51:36 because normally at the end of our worships 51:38 we like to do a little prayer and I still want to do that. 51:40 But maybe let's do, 51:41 can we do like maybe a 20 second, 51:43 like to someone at home, 51:44 to encourage them in intercessory prayer? 51:46 Just go around the circle here, 51:47 maybe the three of you starting, 51:49 Don, you want to start first? Let's go down to Dee. 51:51 So what would you say to someone at home? 51:53 Personally, what I would say to you is, 51:57 knowing who you are, and whose you are, 51:59 that's what always keeps coming to my mind 52:00 when I have a lot of people on pastoral call, 52:03 a lot of people don't know who they are. 52:05 And when you realize that you are a child of God, 52:08 that really changes thing. 52:10 It's a game changer. 52:11 Really big game changer. 52:13 I could go on a lot big story on that. 52:14 But just the fact of knowing who you are and whose you are, 52:16 and the only way you're going to know 52:17 who you are and whose you are, of course by prayer, 52:19 but also by reading God's Word 52:21 and let the Word say to you who you are. 52:22 And you're going to start, 52:24 you're going to start finding people coming 52:25 asking for prayer. 52:26 They're going to know who you are. 52:28 They're going to see you so just know who you are, 52:29 whose you are, 52:31 and just take God's promises 52:32 and just put them in your heart. 52:33 Thank you. And pray. 52:35 Excellent. Yes, Tim. 52:36 I would say one of my favorite songs says, 52:40 "O what peace we often forfeit, 52:42 O what needless pain we bear all 52:44 because we do not carry everything to God in prayer." 52:47 That's it. 52:48 Don't think that it has to be 52:50 some grand world changing event. 52:54 If it, if it changes your world, 52:56 if it changes someone's world close by you, 52:59 that's, that can be 53:01 how big your prayer needs to be. 53:02 That you're changing the world, 53:04 the peace that that you can bring 53:06 into someone else's life 53:07 just by bringing it to the Lord. 53:09 Amen. Tim, thank you. 53:10 Dee. 53:12 Just starting a conversation with God, 53:14 taking time to speak to Him in positive things. 53:18 When Satan tries to take bad thoughts into you 53:22 where you don't know who you are, 53:24 and you don't accept His love, 53:25 start actually speaking out loud. 53:28 Thank You, Lord, that I am Your daughter. 53:31 Thank You, Lord, I am Your son. 53:33 Thank You, Father, that You love me. 53:35 Speak into your own life the positive things 53:38 that God gave you 53:40 and then share them out with others 53:41 you want to lift them up. 53:43 Let's go to Lord in prayer. 53:44 Dee, let's start with you 53:45 and we'll go around in a circle. 53:47 Thank you. 53:48 Our dear Heavenly Father, 53:49 the most thing that we are so grateful for 53:51 is that You do intercede for us and that You are our pattern, 53:54 the one we look up to, the one we look to, to do this. 53:58 And, Father, help us become 54:01 more aware of interceding for others. 54:04 Father, the best way to lift ourselves up 54:07 is to lift up others. 54:08 It will change our lives. 54:10 So, Father, help each of us reach out, 54:13 pray for one another. 54:15 Amen. 54:16 Lord, I pray that You would move me 54:19 with the things that move You. 54:22 I ask God that You will help me to put aside my busy schedule, 54:26 Lord, we are all swamped. 54:28 We're all overwhelmed with duties 54:31 and responsibilities that, 54:32 with our jobs, our families, God, 54:35 nothing is more important than what You, 54:41 what You want for us and what You want us to be, 54:44 how You want us to be involved in this world changing, 54:47 changing each other's lives through prayer. 54:50 So I pray that you will help me to put aside my agenda 54:52 and may Your agenda rule my life. 54:55 Thank You, Father, for the answered prayers. 54:57 Amen. 54:58 Heavenly Father, we just want to thank You 55:00 that You are our Father, 55:02 the Father of the entire universe. 55:04 Lord, I just think what Ellen White wrote 55:05 in 'Steps to Christ' about prayer. 55:07 She said, "Prayer doesn't bring God down to us 55:09 but brings us up to You." 55:11 That's right. Amen. 55:12 I think again of Psalm 46:10 it says, 55:14 "To be still and know that you're God." 55:16 So, Lord, there are many people out there today, 55:17 I've heard 'em on prayer lines that are, 55:19 with this whole COVID environment, 55:21 they're home alone right now. 55:22 They feel so isolated, Lord, 55:23 and the enemy's trying to cast 55:25 that dark cloud above 55:26 and I pray You lift that dark cloud, Lord. 55:28 May You send somebody to pray on their behalf. 55:30 Maybe somebody calls 55:31 and maybe somebody knocks at the door, 55:33 or maybe I don't know, Lord, how it works 55:34 but just as you touch those, Lord, 55:36 who feel like they're forsaken, 55:37 because Your Word says You never leave us 55:39 nor forsake us. 55:40 Lord, I just ask You to touch those individuals today, 55:42 touch those that are struggling 55:43 to have a relationship with You, Lord, 55:45 that they realize that this is a communication 55:47 between us and the universe even. 55:49 And that, Lord, one day angels 55:51 will be able to stand before them 55:52 and the entire universe. 55:54 And they're going to want to know 55:55 what it was like to be on this earth, 55:57 and that we had an opportunity to pray. 55:58 And, God, You are our Father and Jesus, 56:00 You are our advocate. 56:02 And we just thank You for what you're doing. 56:03 And that You did pour out Your blood 56:04 on each and every one of us who call upon Your name, 56:06 and that we can as You are interceding 56:08 on our behalf before the Father, 56:10 we can lift up prayers. 56:11 And thank You, Lord, that the Holy Spirit 56:13 as we talk about in Romans 8:26. 56:15 "He intercedes on our behalf, 56:16 we don't even know how to pray." 56:17 So, Lord, You've made this all available for us. 56:19 We just got to seek You. We thank You, Lord. 56:21 We ask this in Jesus name, amen. 56:24 God, thank You for Your presence. 56:27 Thank You for Your spirit. 56:28 Thank You for the blood of Jesus 56:30 that cleanses us from all sin. 56:33 Thank You for the privilege we have 56:34 of coming into Your presence 56:36 and just presenting what's on our heart. 56:38 And we do that just now asking in the name of Jesus, 56:42 that You would be with our brothers and sisters 56:44 who are watching and listening 56:45 that You would hear and answer in Jesus name, amen. 56:49 Father in Heaven, Lord, 56:51 as we've talked here in worship 56:52 and studied Your word and opened Your word, 56:54 Lord, I'm just convicted, again, 56:56 that I need to take time to communicate with You 57:01 but not only that, to do that, 57:04 for other people to intercede for them in their behalf. 57:08 So, Father, yes, we have a lot that we have going on. 57:10 But Lord, I just pray that I would be reminded 57:13 throughout the day, 57:14 to intercede for my brothers and sisters. 57:16 Thank You for this time. 57:17 Thank You for Your Sabbath, in Jesus name we pray. 57:20 Amen. Amen. 57:22 Can't believe our time is all gone. 57:23 Thank you, Dee. Thank you, Tim. 57:25 Thank you, Donald. Been a blessing. 57:27 Thank you for joining us. 57:28 Know that we love you and that we pray for you. 57:30 We intercede for you. That's right. 57:32 Amen. 57:33 God bless you, keep you, till we see you again. |
Revised 2020-11-15