Participants: Jason Bradley (Host), Nadine Joseph-Collins PhD
Series Code: TMP
Program Code: TMP000008A
|
00:33 Welcome to The Missing Peace...
00:35 my name is Jason Bradley 00:36 and our primary host is Dr. Nadine Joseph Collins 00:39 a native of Saint Lucia 00:41 she is devoted to making your prayer life go "Wow!" 00:45 Dr. Nadine is an author and presenter 00:48 who is going to share some important insights 00:50 into improving your prayer life but before she begins, 00:54 let's invite the Lord to join us. 00:56 "Dear Heavenly Father, 00:58 we thank you for the opportunity to worship you... 01:00 to praise you and to enlighten others 01:03 on to how... 01:05 as to... how to strengthen their prayer life, Father, 01:08 we ask that you would be with our conversation... 01:11 lead, guide and direct us in Jesus' name we pray, amen. " 01:13 "Amen. " 01:15 So, what are we going to discuss today? 01:17 Today we're going to be talking about: Praying for Favor 01:21 because favor is generally, you know, 01:25 referred to as getting approval 01:27 and acceptance of some special benefits 01:29 and, you know, blessings from others 01:32 so as we speak about making our prayer lives go "wow!" 01:35 as we speak about having that effective prayer life, 01:39 it will be very useful for us to know how "favor... " 01:42 receiving special blessings, 01:44 gifts and getting that approval or acceptance 01:50 could really benefit us in our prayer life. 01:52 There's usually a close association 01:55 also with mercy and grace 01:56 when we talk about things like "favor" and so on 02:00 so we can receive favor from God and man... that's the thing. 02:05 Okay, break that down for us. 02:06 Because we could get special gifts... 02:09 we could get acceptance or approval from people 02:13 but we can also get that from God 02:16 and so, that's really where we want to go today 02:18 because generally God's favor is extended 02:21 as a response to prayer. 02:22 Okay. 02:24 Sometimes they extend it by His prerogative 02:26 meaning, He does it 02:27 and we cannot say why He did it or how He does it 02:30 and that's a good thing about God too 02:33 because as human beings sometimes... 02:35 if we have criteria on how we want to bless people, 02:39 we have criteria on what is acceptable for them 02:42 in our circles 02:43 but with Him, we cannot trace some of the things that He does 02:46 it's like, if we had a choice and we could have controlled God 02:50 we would be like, "You know what... 02:51 don't bless this person 02:52 because they're not doing it the right way 02:54 or they're not doing this or they're not doing that... " 02:56 but His prerogative... He uses His own prerogative sometimes 02:59 to give favor 03:00 but it's also, thankfully, given as a response to prayer 03:05 and I remember growing up, 03:08 I didn't like the last name "Joseph... " 03:10 Really? 03:12 Because it was very common, 03:13 it's like, one of the most common surnames at home... 03:15 Okay. 03:16 So, you go through the Directory the Telephone Directory... 03:19 and a lot of people would actually have the last name 03:23 "Joseph... " it and about three other common... 03:25 really, really common ones 03:26 That's probably like "Smith" here in America. 03:28 So, it was something I really... I really honestly didn't like it 03:32 however, when I was in Court I remember 03:35 that... in fact, I think it was before then 03:38 but it really became that reality for me, 03:41 I think it happened before then, but when I realized... 03:44 when I studied Joseph's life... that's Jacob's son... 03:48 and I realized that Joseph had favor... 03:51 everywhere that he went he had favor... 03:55 and I saw, "Hey, I'm going to begin to embrace that surname, 03:59 I'm going to begin to take the blessing attached to that name 04:03 because I'm looking at his life 04:05 and the blessings that he had... and I'm saying, 04:07 "If I take that name and I personalize his experiences 04:10 and stuff like that, I thought, 'Hey, I'm going to... 04:13 I'm going to claim the Joseph blessing on my life. '" 04:16 Ah ha... 04:17 Now, the time I did that, 04:18 I didn't even think about the "pit experience" 04:21 I didn't think about the "prison experience" 04:23 I didn't think about his brothers' deed, 04:26 all I looked at was the blessing aspect of it 04:28 and usually, sometimes, we look at people's lives 04:31 and people get jealous of other people's blessing, 04:33 they don't know the "behind the scenes stories. " 04:36 That is an excellent point, 04:38 people don't see the struggle that they're going through, 04:41 they just see the success 04:42 with that... but they don't see the struggle. 04:44 Yeah... and so I took that blessing... 04:47 I'm like, "I'm taking the blessing of his name" 04:49 and I didn't look at the "struggles part" 04:51 but anyway, three years ago, I coined a phrase 04:54 and I said that, "Fame is fickle and popularity is poor 04:58 but the favor of God is sure" 05:00 because that's when I made up my mind 05:03 that above anything else in this life, I want God's favor 05:07 because I began to look at favor 05:10 as something that could really bless my life 05:12 and so, as we go through the Bible, 05:15 we could examine some of the stories 05:17 where we see people receiving God's favor 05:19 whether it was through them requesting it through prayer 05:22 or by God's own divine prerogative... 05:25 and I hope we have time 05:27 so I can share some of my personal stories 05:28 there are way too many stories about God's favor in my life 05:31 to share in one program 05:33 but I just hope we can actually put in 05:35 at least one or two of them there 05:37 but favor is important in our prayer lives 05:39 because like I said, it's often extended as a result of prayer 05:44 right, so when we look at Jabez, for example, in 1st Chronicles 9 05:48 he had a prayer... 9 to 10 actually... 05:51 he had a prayer... and the Lord granted him His request... 05:55 he got the favor that he asked God for, 05:56 then we look at Hezekiah, in 2nd Kings 20 and verse 3, 06:00 he told God something and some people look at this prayer, 06:03 and they're like, "This man is 'bigging up' himself... " 06:06 like, he's puffing himself up before God... 06:09 but really, he said to the Lord, "Remember, O Lord, 06:12 how I have walked before you faithfully 06:15 and wholeheartedly with devotion 06:18 and have done what is good in your eyes... " 06:21 and then he began to cry... the Bible says, he wept bitterly 06:24 but he was really making a plea to God 06:27 because Hezekiah was only 39 years old... 06:29 Hmmm... 06:30 Hezekiah has only reigned as king for 14 years 06:34 and here a prophet comes to him and says, 06:37 "Hey, you are really sick, you're going to die, 06:40 you need to set your house in order... " 06:41 and so, Hezekiah took that pronouncement on his life 06:46 and then looked back at what he had done in his life 06:50 in that... trying to please God and so... 06:51 and he went to God and he began to pray to God 06:54 about the things that he has done 06:56 so, what really he did there... 06:58 we know for sure that he knew the Bible, 06:59 he knew the promises in the Bible 07:01 because as we read through his story 07:03 he was able to pray back many of these promises to God 07:06 and even Ellen White encourages us to do that, 07:08 that's why the Word of God is so important in our prayer lives 07:11 because as we use the Word 07:14 we are able to take these promises that we talk about, 07:17 we're talking about praying in faith 07:18 and we are able to claim these promises, 07:20 we are able to pray them back to God 07:22 and Hezekiah did just that, 07:24 his mind was filled with Scriptures 07:26 so, as he prayed, these promises were just coming in his mind 07:30 and he also knew that God had made certain promises 07:33 to the children of Israel, 07:34 He had promised them long life in Deuteronomy 4 07:38 so, there Hezekiah is saying, 07:40 "Lord, you promised long life to my people... 07:42 but look at me... I'm only 39... 07:44 I can't die right now... " 07:45 and so, he made his plea to God 07:48 and the Bible says that as the prophet was walking out, 07:53 Isaiah was walking out of that place, 07:55 the Spirit of the Lord said to him, 07:56 "Go back... go back and answer this guy... 08:00 tell him that you... God has heard his prayers 08:04 God has seen his tears... " 08:05 and remember we spoke about tears... 08:06 tears being a language also that God understands 08:10 because the Holy Spirit could translate our tears to prayers, 08:13 so, God heard it, 08:15 God said, "I have seen your tears... I will heal you... " 08:17 Hmmm... 08:19 And so he got the favor that he had actually asked God for 08:23 and the Lord extended his life and so on 08:25 but there are cases where favor is not just given 08:28 because of prayer, 08:30 but because of God's own prerogative... 08:31 He uses His own measuring stick... 08:33 He makes His own decisions, 08:34 you know there's a text that talks about 08:36 God blessing the just and the unjust... 08:38 Hmmm... hmmm... 08:40 And so, that's His prerogative, 08:41 "I will choose to bless who I want to bless 08:43 and I will choose to curse who I want to curse... " 08:45 because it's His divine prerogative, 08:47 nobody can tell him who to bless or who to curse, 08:50 at the end of the day, 08:51 7.5 billion children in the world are all His children 08:55 and He will choose to bless who He wants to bless and so on... 08:59 I like that verse in Revelation where it says something about 09:02 how God can open a door that no man... 09:05 or God can open doors that no man can shut 09:08 and He can close doors that no man can open. 09:11 Exactly... and that's really important in our lives 09:14 because I remember, when I wanted to study 09:18 and I didn't have the funds 09:20 and one of my close friends was also a mentor, 09:22 he said to me, "Nadine, I want you to remember one thing, 09:25 an entire Committee could be for you 09:28 and if this is not God's will for you, 09:30 you are not going to get the assistance you're looking for" 09:32 but he said, "An entire Committee could be against you 09:35 and this is what God wants for you 09:38 and they will have to work in your favor... " 09:39 so, sometimes we have to remember 09:41 that as we are praying for favor and so on, 09:44 we have to remember 09:45 that God is in control of all things 09:48 and sometimes people... 09:49 and that's one of the things we'll be mentioning later 09:51 but if we brought it up anyhow... 09:53 that God is going to use even your enemies 09:56 to bless you. 09:57 Hmmm... yeah... 09:59 He's going to use your enemies to work for you 10:00 because you are going to have favor in their eyes, 10:03 they have no choice... really... 10:04 The Egyptians gave the Israelites gifts 10:06 as they were leaving... 10:08 Yes... because... 10:09 because they had God's favor on their lives, 10:11 so, we see sometimes 10:13 that God gives that favor in His prerogative 10:15 and when we look at, for example, Abraham... 10:17 the Bible says, "Abraham found favor in the eyes of the Lord" 10:20 because remember 10:22 when God gave him the instructions to leave 10:25 He said, "Go from your country 10:27 and your kindred and your father's house... 10:29 to a land that I show you... " 10:30 so, here we see that God is giving plain instructions 10:33 to somebody, right, 10:34 "And I will make you a great nation 10:36 and I will bless you and make your name great 10:39 so that you will be a blessing, 10:41 I will bless those who bless you, 10:42 I will curse those who curse you, 10:44 and all of the families of the earth will be blessed. " 10:48 So, here Abraham comes from a family, 10:51 his entire family is living here let's say, 10:53 God says, "I want you to go... 10:55 I already chose where I want you to go, 10:57 and I have already put blessings in that place for you... " 11:00 so favor is already waiting for him, 11:02 but the irony is that divine favor... 11:04 even though it rested on Abraham, 11:06 none of the other family members at the time had it 11:10 because his father died there in Haran where they were 11:13 you see, so he had that favor 11:16 and God blessed him, Genesis 12:1 to 3 11:18 "Abraham was blessed and favored because he was chosen. " 11:22 So here we see God's divine prerogative for sure, 11:26 "I am doing what I want to do, I chose you out of your family" 11:29 so he had favor because he was chosen 11:31 and that favor was repeated in his life 11:34 because we saw that in Genesis 12... 11:37 when he went down to Egypt, he had favor with Pharaoh 11:40 then, we saw in Genesis 14, 11:43 where he fought against the forces 11:45 that captured nephew... his nephew, Lot, 11:47 you remember when that happened 11:49 but Abraham was given favor again... and victory, 11:51 so favor not only was with him when God pronounced it, 11:55 favor went before him, favor followed him 11:57 because God chose him, 11:59 then we look at Isaac... 12:01 Isaac... divine favor also rested on his son, Isaac 12:04 but look his brother, Ishmael, the Bible says, 12:07 that same favor didn't rest on Ishmael 12:09 even though Isaac had it 12:11 and Isaac was so blessed 12:12 that during one of the worst famines of his day, 12:15 we read that... in like, Genesis 6 12:17 26... sorry... one of the worst famines of his day 12:20 he received, the Bible says, a hundredfold... 12:23 now that's some favor... 12:26 Absolutely... 12:27 Because everybody around you is suffering 12:29 and you are just prospering, 12:31 he was prospering so much 12:33 that the king had to ask him to leave, 12:35 not because the king didn't like him, 12:37 actually, the king liked him 12:39 but because it was causing 12:40 problems with other people in the area 12:42 they were beginning to be affected 12:44 because of Isaac's prosperity 12:46 and the king asked him to leave and so on 12:48 but later on, actually the king went back to him... 12:51 but the point is that, favor was resting on Isaac 12:53 one thing I could probably say is 12:56 that when the king went back to him, the king said, 12:59 initially he said, "You need to leave 13:01 because, you know, it's going to cause some problems... " 13:04 but he told everybody around, 13:05 "Do not touch anything that belongs to Isaac" 13:07 later on, they actually went to Isaac 13:10 and made a treaty with Isaac because they realized that 13:12 his blessings would probably be a blessing to them as well 13:15 so God's divine favor was really resting there 13:17 that he had favor with the king 13:19 and that is so important, I remember 13:22 I worked in a particular Organization 13:24 and the Managing Director's secretary, 13:27 one day, she said to me, 13:28 "You know, every Monday morning that we have Board Meeting, 13:31 your name is being mentioned about how you work... " 13:34 and I saw it happening repeatedly throughout my life 13:37 where God would give me favor with my bosses where I worked. 13:41 I remember when I was looking 13:42 for the job that I just mentioned 13:45 about them, I had another job 13:47 and I had even forgotten I had even applied for a job, 13:50 when I got the call, I was wondering like, 13:51 what they were talking about, 13:53 but when I had the interview, 13:54 that morning I got to my workplace late 13:57 and I decided that I needed to be honest with my boss 14:00 to let her know about that job and I mentioned to her, 14:02 "I just came from an interview 14:04 that's why I'm almost two hours late... " 14:05 and instead of being upset with me, 14:07 she asked me, "How was the interview?" 14:09 And I told her how it went. 14:11 She said, "Do you think you'll get the job?" 14:12 I said, "Yes, I believe so... " and so on... 14:14 and so she said to me, "You'll get the job... " 14:16 you know what? She gave me her blessing 14:17 and everything like that 14:19 because God had given me favor in her eyes 14:21 you see, and so, God does that sometimes 14:24 we see Isaac here having clear favor from the king 14:27 that he would spare the life of Isaac and his family 14:30 even though Isaac was prospering. 14:32 Then we look at Jacob, 14:34 God favored Jacob instead of Esau 14:36 and for the life of me, I studied that text for a while 14:39 when He said in Malachi 1:2 to 3, 14:42 "Yet I loved Jacob and Esau I hated... " 14:45 it doesn't mean that he hated Esau 14:46 in the way we talk about "hated" 14:48 but the thing is, He favored Jacob over his brother, Esau 14:52 and we don't know why... 14:53 Jacob was the one who came out second, 14:56 we talk about as a second child, right, 14:58 even though they were twins 14:59 but God says, "I love Jacob... I have chosen Jacob" 15:02 that's who I want to rest my favor on 15:05 and it doesn't matter what anyone says 15:07 I have chosen him... 15:09 and so, this is where we see again, God's divine prerogative 15:12 in choosing or in favoring 15:14 who He wanted to favor, 15:17 He favored one brother over another 15:18 and we have no idea why 15:20 so, we see favor still resting on Jacob later in his life 15:24 even though he tricked the brother 15:26 and his Uncle Laban had a mis... let's say "tricked" him, 15:30 Jacob left Isaac's house empty-handed 15:34 you remember he had to run away 15:35 because the mom had to tell him, 15:37 "You know, you have to pack up and leave" 15:38 so, he ran empty-handed 15:41 but he came back one of the richest men of his day 15:44 and that's because God chose Jacob. 15:47 And that's another thing, I think, 15:49 that's important to bring out is 15:51 that with God on your side, no matter where you are... 15:56 there are a lot of people that might be 15:59 at home watching and saying, 16:00 "Well, you know, I've made some mistakes" 16:02 or "I haven't always made the best decisions... " 16:06 if you accept Christ into your life, 16:09 where you are right now doesn't define where you'll be 16:13 in the future... 16:15 just like, we just talked about in Revelation, 16:17 God can open doors that no man can shut. 16:20 Exactly, and also, of course, 16:22 as we had mentioned in another program 16:23 about Jeremiah 29:11, 16:25 God's great expected end for His children 16:28 is always going to be the same 16:29 regardless of where we are in our life right now. 16:32 There is nothing that will ever happen in our life 16:35 that will change the promise that God has 16:37 on each of our lives in Jeremiah 29:11. 16:40 He will do whatever it takes as long as we work with Him, 16:43 He's going to get us right back on track 16:45 and all of the things that distracted us... 16:47 that detracted us from our... 16:48 where we think we should have been 16:50 or anything that seemed to be a stall or hindrance... 16:54 all of these things He's going to use again 16:56 for His own glory 16:58 so at the end of the day 16:59 anything that we are going through even right now in life 17:02 it doesn't matter where our Viewers are 17:04 where we are in our lives right now 17:07 as long as we give ourselves to Him, 17:09 He is going to use us 17:11 and that great expected end will be fulfilled 17:13 because His plans for us are always great plans. 17:15 Yes. 17:17 Then we look at the life of Mary the mother of Jesus, 17:19 of course, she had favor 17:21 because of all the women there were... God favored her, 17:24 in fact in Luke 1:30 it says, 17:26 "She found favour with God and would bear the Christ child. " 17:30 So, He chose her... that was his choice... 17:34 we don't know the names of the other women around 17:36 but he chose Mary... 17:38 and that was by His own doing... 17:40 That's a huge favor and a huge responsibility. 17:43 Yes, exactly, and even Jesus had favor, Luke 2:52 says, 17:48 "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, 17:50 and in favour with God and man. " 17:52 So, at the end of the day, we saw Him go into the Temple, 17:55 He was probably under-age 17:57 but he was probably accepted there 17:59 and so, we still see favor in His life 18:01 and then, we could also get favor from man 18:03 as I mentioned earlier, 18:04 I gave the examples of my own personal stories... 18:07 we look at the story of Joseph, for example, 18:09 Joseph found favor in the workplace. 18:11 That's again, Jacob's son we are talking about 18:13 because he was noticed... 18:15 he was noticed for what he was doing 18:17 and he found favor with his boss, 18:20 and sometimes, we are on the job 18:22 and we are thinking... we're looking for more money... 18:25 I prefer favor than to get more money 18:27 because you could get more money on the job and you're miserable, 18:30 you are stressed out, you know, that kind of a thing 18:34 but if you have God's favor, 18:35 it means that the decisions that are going to be made 18:38 would be decisions that would benefit you holistically, 18:40 your health and even take care of your finances 18:43 because sometimes, I mean, 18:44 when I was out in the Corporate Society and so on, 18:47 when I'm looking for a job, 18:49 it wasn't always about the big salary, 18:51 it was about the perks I get, the benefits... 18:55 health insurance... educational assistance... 18:58 things like that, 18:59 so when you have God's favor, as we saw there in Joseph, 19:03 it put him in a position, of course, 19:05 later on to be promoted and so on 19:06 because he was noticed for what he was doing 19:08 so he had favor with Potiphar. 19:11 And it's nothing like walking 19:13 in God's purpose and plan for your life, 19:16 when you're doing something 19:18 that is within His purpose and plan for your life, 19:22 you're fulfilled... you're happy. 19:25 Exactly, and you know favor rested on Joseph so much... 19:28 that's Jacob's son we're talking about 19:30 because we know that there are different Josephs, 19:31 favor had rested on this young man so much 19:34 but remember the Potiphar or the Pharaoh who promoted him 19:39 didn't know him, you remember that... 19:42 because whomever was there at the time 19:44 when he had been thrown into prison... 19:46 and so it was not the same person who was there 19:48 when the report was about this young man 19:49 and that's because the favor of God rested upon him 19:52 so even though he was unknown, yet Joseph was given such favor 19:56 that Pharaoh handed him control of the entire land... 19:59 you see, so, he had favor with the Pharaoh, 20:04 but ultimately, I believe, favor comes from God and so on 20:09 so Joseph enjoyed the favor of Potiphar 20:11 and he, of course, wisely administered the estate, 20:15 he took care of things and everything... 20:17 then we look at Esther, 20:18 another story where we see her getting favor, 20:20 the Bible says, "Esther had favor with all who saw her. " 20:23 That's in Esther 2:15 to 16 20:25 so when she went out there, 20:28 she didn't just have favor, she had favor with the king, 20:30 but she also had favor with everyone who saw her, 20:33 the king had... 20:34 the Bible talks about Esther's favor with the king 20:37 in Esther 5 verse 2, "And when the king saw Esther 20:39 standing in the court, she won favor in his sight. " 20:42 And when we look at, for example, 20:45 her having favor with everyone who saw her 20:47 the Bible says, "When the turn came for Esther to go... " 20:51 because remember, all of the young ladies had to go 20:53 before everybody else, 20:55 she asked for nothing except that 20:57 just for her to be... to see the women and so on... 21:00 and now Esther was winning favor 21:02 in the eyes of all who saw her. 21:03 So, she had favor in the eyes of people, 21:06 she had favor in the eyes of the king. 21:08 Hmmm... hmmm... 21:09 Then we see Daniel, He found favor with God 21:12 and the Bible says, "compassion with man" 21:15 when we look at Daniel 1 verse 9 21:17 "And God gave Daniel favor 21:19 and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs. " 21:22 So, he had favor... then we look at Moses... 21:25 and we are looking at all of these people 21:27 because we want to see... and as we have seen... 21:30 favor with God... favor with man... 21:33 favor by God's prerogative and also asking for favor in prayer 21:36 so, we look at the different ways 21:38 we can actually get that favor in our prayer lives 21:41 and so, Moses found favor with God, 21:43 the Bible says, "Favor rested on Moses 21:45 to such an extent... 21:47 that is why Pharaoh's daughter actually took a baby 21:50 that she didn't know anything about... 21:52 a baby that should have been dead... 21:55 and so, if they were killing all of the babies... 21:58 her father or somebody would have said, 22:00 something like, 22:01 "This mother might have put this boy there 22:02 because she wants him saved... " 22:04 but instead of them killing him, 22:05 she saves that baby and raises him up like her own child, 22:09 because favor was resting on him... 22:12 and so, we see Moses having that favor 22:16 and what I like about it, there's a text in the Bible... 22:19 in Exodus 33:17... it says, "And the Lord said to Moses, 22:23 'This very things that you have spoken I will do, 22:26 for you have found favor in my sight, 22:28 and I know you by name. '" 22:31 Oh, my goodness! "I know you by name... " 22:34 Out of all the people in the world... 22:36 Oh my goodness, could you believe that? 22:39 God knew his name... 22:40 you know, there's this song that says, 22:42 "God knows my name... " 22:43 you know, God knew his name... 22:46 and how many of us can really say, 22:47 "God knows my name... " 22:49 I think of Him visiting Elijah in the cave, 22:51 and now, I'm thinking of him telling Moses, 22:54 "I know your name so, I will give you favor... 22:57 I will answer because I know your name. " 22:58 I want God to know my name... 23:00 you understand... because if God knows your name 23:03 it means, you guys are really, really, really close... 23:06 you know what I mean... Jason: Yes, yes... 23:08 Yeah, I like that... so, he has that there... 23:10 and of course, Noah found favor in God's eyes, 23:13 Job found favor in God's eyes remember... 23:15 you know, in Job 10:12... it says, 23:18 "You have granted me life and favor... " 23:20 that is Job telling to God, 23:21 "You have granted me life and favor, 23:23 and Your care has preserved my spirit. " 23:25 Because even in the midst of all Job had gone through, 23:28 he realized that the favor of God rested on him 23:31 because God spent His life and in the end... 23:34 even though he said that in Job 10 23:36 just imagine in Job 10 he is saying that to God 23:38 in the midst of losing things but in the end... 23:41 his latter, the Bible says, was greater 23:44 and because he was so faithful and... 23:47 Ruth found favor in the eyes of Boaz... 23:49 we know we saw that 23:51 because of how she favored her mother-in-law 23:53 and so on... so there we see 23:55 that we could find favor with God 23:57 but we can also find favor with man 24:00 and God can put it in the heart of man like I said 24:05 because as we have already established, 24:07 nothing good comes from us... 24:09 so, even the very people who favor us... 24:11 it is God placing in their heart to favor us... 24:15 it's not something coming from them, 24:17 it's not like, because they're so good 24:18 they're favoring us as God's children... 24:20 it is God impressing upon their hearts 24:22 and they have no choice but to favor God's children... 24:25 And it's one... one thing I want to mention is that 24:28 even when we're going through trials and tribulations, 24:31 it's important that we still praise God 24:34 because God is still good and God is still God... 24:37 so, just because we're going through something... 24:40 as Job went through a lot... I can't even imagine 24:44 all that Job went through 24:47 and how I would have responded to that... 24:49 but even when you're going through things like that, 24:53 you have to give God the praise... 24:56 because there is still a blessing 24:58 at the end of the tunnel, you see, 25:00 see how He blessed Job at the end of that story... 25:02 Yeah, that's the thing about it you see because 25:04 if we are in a relationship with God, 25:07 over time, of course, you will trust God 25:10 because He had your best interest at heart... 25:12 but that's why when we spoke about... 25:14 in our earlier programs about establishing that relationship 25:18 because if you have that relationship, 25:20 you know that person loves you, you know that you can trust Him 25:24 it would be much easier for us to rest every other thing there 25:27 so, everything really boils down... 25:29 that's why we started with things like communication... 25:32 because it builds the platform upon which we can actually 25:34 develop a well prayer life... 25:36 so, you know, few things... you know... 25:38 because I know we're winding down our time... 25:41 is that, "Diligence brings favor. " 25:43 One of my favorite texts is, Proverbs 22:29 25:47 it says, "Seest thou a man diligent in his business? 25:50 he shall stand before kings; and not mean men. " 25:53 So, if you are diligent in what you're doing, 25:56 like Joseph was, you will get noticed by your boss. 25:58 You see, so diligence brings favor 26:01 because I saw this nice message, it says, 26:04 "God will put you where He wants you 26:06 even if no one thinks you deserve the position. " 26:09 And I can testify to that because I can tell you 26:12 that the majority of jobs that I have had... 26:14 on paper... I didn't qualify for these jobs 26:17 but God put me in these jobs 26:19 because He knew that He would give me the capacity 26:21 and the skills set and everything to do these jobs 26:23 so He can put you where He wants 26:24 even when nobody thinks... that's favor... 26:26 you see... another thing is that 26:29 "Obedience brings favor. " 26:30 So, diligence brings favor, obedience brings favor 26:34 because the more we please God, 26:36 the more we'll be favored by Him. 26:38 You see, in 1st Peter 3:12 it says, 26:41 "For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, 26:43 and his ears are open unto their prayers: 26:46 but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. " 26:49 So, obedience brings favor. 26:51 Righteous living also brings favor. 26:54 In Psalm 84:11 the Bible says, 26:56 "For the Lord God is a sun and a shield; 26:59 the Lord bestows favor and honor. 27:01 No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. " 27:04 And so, by praying we can obtain favor 27:08 as we saw with Hezekiah and so on 27:11 so our take-away points today are, 27:12 "Our petitions are more likely to be granted 27:14 if we ask God for favor... " 27:16 we'll receive life as we saw Him extending the life of Hezekiah 27:20 and our enemies will not triumph over us, 27:22 He will give us the victory... " 27:23 so, let's say a prayer, 27:25 "Heavenly Father, may our favor be our portion 27:27 and may we continue to increase in wisdom we pray... 27:30 in the name of Jesus, amen. " 27:31 "Amen. " 27:32 Thank you so much for that insight you provided on favor. 27:35 We pray that you were blessed by today's program 27:39 make prayer a deliberate practice in your daily life 27:42 and watch your prayer life explode... 27:45 if you are seeking God's favor, 27:48 you have to get to know Him first... 27:50 establish a relationship with Him 27:53 pray... and join us next time 27:56 when Dr. Nadine shares more information 27:59 to supply the missing peace. |
Revised 2018-02-13