I Want To Be His Friend | Pastor William McDowell

amen amen always so grateful to be gathered together uh across the world as a family uh and of course as we've alluded to before we certainly miss the times that we're able to gather together in person but we are so grateful that you continue to be faithful to gather together online uh we know uh just watching church statistics that a lot of communities are struggling in this particular area but we are so grateful for your continued faithfulness and how you gather together online interact with one another online encourage one another online pray with each other uh it's a pretty beautiful sight to behold to watch how you interact with one another and continue to foster healthy community even in this we know that it will not always be this way but as long as it is this way we encourage you to stay faithful to the lord and to one another and uh we're so grateful for all of our times gathered together i want to uh pray and then we're going to jump right into the word of the lord today and uh we just are so thankful for the presence of god that we sense and feel as as the worship team leads worship and we're able to worship together so grateful for the atmosphere that is able to be captured and released even across the airways and so we just want to say welcome to all of our family who are watching around the world our australia family our namibian family and uh all of those who are watching around the world i know there's some regular folks watching from uk and and other places and uh and uh the continent of africa as well so we're just so grateful and of course all of you who are deeper family here in central florida we're so grateful and shout out to all of you let's pray together then we'll stand together and read the word father thank you [Music] thank you thank you thank you for the reality of your presence and thank you for inviting us into a place of intimacy with you thank you that you are not a distant god but you are a god who is known you're a god who reveals yourself and reveals your heart to your people and to your friends lord i pray that over these next few moments as we declare the word of the lord that you would illuminate the truth of your word and may it come alive in us may be received by us may it not go wasted may not a single word that you declare to us be wasted but father i pray that it will take root in our hearts and bear fruit lord i pray for the anointing to proclaim your word father i thank you that it is by the power of your holy spirit that we preach it's not by our strength but it is by your spirit and so father we surrender to you completely and totally we ask you to use us for your glory and anoint us to declare the truth of your word may your holy spirit take that which is spoken and interpret what everyone needs to hear and lord we also pray that even as we preach the spirit of god will do work on the hearts of those who've yet to come to believe show them the reality of jesus and reveal yourself to them that the lost would be saved and as always i pray that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight o lord my strength and my redeemer in jesus name amen amen i am um also going to take something that uh i um just have the privilege of doing just because uh i have the privilege of doing it uh my oldest son is nine uh and this coming week he turns ten and i won't have an opportunity to shout him out and say happy birthday it'll be past by the next time we gather together but he is a lover of jesus uh and he is someone who is at nine ten years old godly and we're very proud of him it's his parents uh his mother and i and so i just want to shout out my son joshua uh and say happy early birthday uh we love you and so uh let's let's uh read the word of the lord um and as you know we we have a custom here to stand we'll read the word not know you're like well you can't see us and we're at home and that's totally fine no we cannot see you on the other side of the camera although sometimes he shows us by the spirit some things but we can't physically see you on the other side of the camera so no one is making you do anything it's just our way of honoring the lord it's a way of saying to the lord that your word is above everything else we don't stand for the reading of anything else no one's going to stand for the reading of a magazine a newspaper an internet site a blog a book or anything else this is not that this is the word of the lord and so i want to invite us to stand for the reading of the word of the lord wherever you are uh would you just do that unless you're driving please don't uh but other than that uh if you're able to stand uh stand for the reading of the word we're gonna read two passages of scripture at the beginning we're gonna read john chapter 13 verse 34 and 35 and then we'll flip over into john 15 as well john chapter 13 verse 34 and 35 and then john chapter 15 it reads this way so now i am giving you a new commandment love each other just as i have loved you you should love each other your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples now let's flip over to john chapter 15 john chapter 15. i want to start with verse 12 john chapter 15 starting with verse 12 this is my commandment love each other in the same way i have loved you there is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends you are my friends if you do what i command i no longer call you slaves because the master doesn't confide in its slaves now you are my friend since i have told you everything the father told me you didn't choose me i chose you i appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit so that the father will give you whatever you ask for using my name this is my command love each other amen you can be seated wherever you are you can be seated wherever you are and we will dive into this and um to be honest with you based on the things that i was meditating all week long and things of that nature the holy spirit illuminated something to me um last last night really or yesterday uh that really came alive in me and uh so i'm gonna actually spend the majority of my time uh i think on that particular thing but uh it's really interesting because some of the things i'm going to share with you today i've actually shared with you before and we've layered throughout this week uh and our prayer calls uh monday through friday at 7 a.m and 9 p.m eastern time for those who are able to be a part of that and then also at 6 a.m prayer but the lord has really uh kept this particular theme on our heart and so i i just felt a strong impression of the lord that we should continue in that same vein as we are and it's really really interesting because as i was spending some time depending on where the holy spirit takes us during this time of sharing as i was spending some time meditating on the scripture i got to a particular passage of scripture on friday in my study and i was literally sitting in my study on friday i just began to weep over a particular path of scripture because it just really grabbed me uh and really spoke to me and really um began to just do something in me that caused a visceral reaction i just began to weep and and after i finished weeping and got myself together i texted pastor caleb and i said man i was reading this past of scripture and i just began to weep and you know i'm sending the crying emojis so he sends me the crying emoji back saying man if you even knew what the holy spirit gave me to share with our deeper young adults community he ministered on friday and it was the same passage of scripture the same around the same story and literally he and i were crying over the same passage not knowing that that this is what the holy spirit was doing so it was a great confirmation for us that god is is really saying something there's something on his heart and so i really thought that the bulk of my message was gonna be that uh to be honest with you and this time i wasn't even uh bothered by it or anything like that you know we had to have this inside joke that sometimes we preach or some say some of the same things and i was like man go for it and i i listened to his message on friday and i was like man this is so powerful and and so good and and yet at the same time was literally some of the same things that that that the holy spirit was speaking to me so it let me know that this is something that's on god's heart but as i began to press in a little bit more he began to really illuminate something uh and i i would almost say if if it's not complicated is a person it's jesus you know how we we say that meme sometimes we're like you know uh if if doing too much was a person here it is or if you know whatever well i would say this i'm at the more we gonna look at scripture now he's very clear about what he said that the issue for us is that we we don't like to act like it's clear but he's very very clear about what he says but the implications of not doing what he says are huge and so so i want us to spend some time uh looking at the scripture and for some of this for those of you who have been with us for a while some of this you may have heard before but i'm going to explain to you why it's important for us to say these things again because some of the things that the thing about being in and this is not treating our own horn or anything like that but the thing about being a prophetic house or or walking with a prophetic edge is the fact that there'll be some things that we say and that we teach that are ahead of the season that they're needed god will give them to you get it down into us and then we'll arrive at a season where that revelation is necessary now and that's kind of where we are right now because there is an inescapable truth that we are sensing as it relates to the drawing of the holy spirit to the place of prayer and the amazing thing to me is as i was talking with dfc uh australia and talking with dfc namibia uh independently of talking with me uh both of them were sensing that god was saying the same thing in this area uh and it was it was it was one of those confirmations for us to say you know what this is this is clearly something that the spirit of god is saying to us and so as i said before we've spent time in our prayer calls layering this and everything else and i we're gonna talk about prayer now you you have to i'm sure for those of you who are a part of the the deeper community you're probably like well what what why do we need to talk about prayer again because it is interwoven into the fabric of our community it is a part of our dna and so i'm sure that some of you may be wondering uh why is it that we need to talk about it again the answer is simple we need it the answer is very simple we we need it um the truth of the matter is prayer is not a last resort it is the only answer not the first thing it's the only thing it's not a last resort and so we don't put it in a hierarchy of things we do this and this and this and then you know prayer is a part of that no it is the only answer and it is something that we need to do and the reason why at this moment um we need to talk about it and we need to talk about it and even begin to highlight and bring out some more revelation on this and specifically for this reason there is resistance to that thought now now i'm gonna i'm gonna say this to us because it's vitally important for us to embrace this reality there is resistance to the idea that prayer is the only answer we know this because every single time some major cataclysmic event happens in the world um believers uh and and fringe believers alike will say um you're in our thoughts and prayers and so as a result of the phrase thoughts and prayers thoughts and prayers thoughts and prayers what's ultimately happened is the world has already basically said you can save that because the idea of the world is that that does not work and so the world says basically enough of your thoughts and prayers and what they are boldly proclaiming is that they don't work now we know that that's not true because ultimately one of the things that believers know this is why it's so important sometimes when we bring up some of the phraseology of generations gone by that some of it has has come into our own generation but but the truth of the matter is um some of the phraseology of generations gone by are necessary for us to remember when we would say things like he kept us from dangers seen and unseen often times people are unaware of the things that their prayers have kept them from and so a lot of times we'll say well your thoughts and prayers don't work and my my my come back to that uh is very full but i'll just say in a basic way uh in this moment you don't know what could have happened you know what did happen but you don't know what could have happened in other words uh that the enemy himself is not trying to just prick your finger he's trying to kill you and so the reality is even if you see something that seems to be big or major or whatever it's still not the fullness of what the enemy would want to do except for the fact there are people in the earth who have the ability to hold back and cancel plants are you with me so the world says uh enough of your thoughts and prayers uh however one of the reasons why we need to talk about that is when that resistance begins to show up among those who say they are believers it's at that point that it's important that we begin to talk about prayer even more why because there are people who claim to be believers who will also highlight or believe or promote the fact that they also don't believe that prayer is enough now this is vitally important for us family because we are entering into a season where the spirit of god is beckoning and drawing his people and dare i say specifically his friends to pray he is drawing by the spirit his people and let me say specifically his friends to pray that'll make sense to you as we continue going forward but he is drawing his friends he's drawing his people to pray and if we are going to be a people who are going to hear the spirit of god and hear the voice of god to sense a drawing of the spirit it's important that we understand the why behind it we have uh in the nations of the earth right now i know that i've used the western lens to describe some things because i understand that we're speaking globally but we do understand that we have in the nations of the earth right now growing courses of justice politically and justice socially injustice economically but it's important that we declare and i said this on wednesday i've said it before but i want to say it again to us it's important that as the growing course of justice begins to rise in the earth and people begin to demand for justice it's vitally important for us to understand where justice is found justice is found in the place of prayer let me say it again boldly justice is found in the place of prayer if you were here with me i'd have you say that with me so i'm gonna say it one more time justice is found in the place of prayer one of the reasons why it's vitally important for believers to understand this family is because injustice is spiritual resistance injustice is spiritual resistance hear me protest don't move spirits now i lost some of y'all because you're like well wait a minute we don't we need to do that and everything else are you telling us are we just supposed to sit back well part of that is because you don't understand the power of prayer that's why you believe you're being passive in it but the reality of it is if injustice is spiritual resistance tell me how marching in a street is going to move a spirit now i'm not saying that people don't need to to show some level of protest let me show you what protest actually does protest uncovers spirits to those with eyes to see what happens is when people begin to sense an oppressive spirit and they don't know what to do they come out into the streets and they begin to somehow try to say we want everyone to see this now that it is seen here is the thing the people who are marching don't have the ability in and of themselves to actually change it unless there are some people who understand in the realm of the spirit that injustice and delay is a demonic opposition and the only way that a demonic opposition is actually moved in any region or at any time is in the place of prayer you can join protest if you want to protest is different from writing but you can join protests if you want to but here's the thing if you join a protest understanding your role in prayer that's one thing you can pray those who don't know god those who are not friends of god don't have the same sway in the courts of heaven so if on on the realm of the earth people want to shine a light on an injustice there have to be also some people who understand where injustice comes from and how it is moved how can you get justice if the judge of the earth doesn't make a decree who is the judge of the earth it's certainly not a magistrate in a row in a courthouse somewhere it is he who rules the courts of heaven and when he makes a decree and when he makes a verdict it is so and if we are going to be a people who understand what kind of season this is and what kind of authority we have then we better not be pulled into the natural realm only are you still here so i want to i want to highlight to us luke chapter 18 again now you know that we spent quite a bit of time on luke chapter 18 and in 2019 here we are in 2020 and you're saying well okay um we've read this haven't we seen the victory in this yes family as a community particularly those of you who are part of deeper fellowship church in orlando florida you know that we saw justice take place as it relates to property we we also know that as a result of our prayers is how it moved it wasn't just the result of some decisions that were made because if you knew the full story the decisions that happened on the earth made no sense to turn the other way except for the fact that there were people who cried out for justice day and night so here's what the bible says we know it many of you could probably quote it by now for those of you who are part of dfc in orlando um you could probably quote it by now but let me read it to you again and the bible says and he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart he said in a certain city there was a judge who neither feared god nor respected man and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying give me justice against my adversary for a while he refused but afterward he said to himself though i neither fear god nor respect man yet because this widow keeps bothering me i will give her justice so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming and the lord said hear what the unrighteous judge says and will not god give justice to his elect who cry out to him day and night will he delay long over them i tell you he will give justice to them speedily nevertheless when the son of man comes will he find faith on earth now i want to spend some time for just 60 seconds in this last phrase nevertheless when the son of man comes when he finds faith in the earth the reason why i want to spend some time here and i made this statement on wednesday morning and i want to make it to us again in the hearing of all of us one of the manifestations of faithlessness in the earth is leaving the place of prayer in order to try to get justice on your own that's one of the manifestations of faithlessness is leaving the place of prayer where justice is found in order to try to get justice on your own this is a season in which certain things are going to have to be done in the realm of the spirit because if you try to do it in the realm of the natural you're going to find a great deal of frustration and even failure because the resistance and the natural is going to surprise you in the coming days now many of you may not know but i'm preaching to you putting in you the word that you need in order to prophetically get to the through the next season for us we tend not to know strongly or or pray the will of god i want you to know that what jesus taught us to pray and what we call the lord's prayer is not passive language at all it's not passive language at all however the way that we tend to pray it or the way that we tend to act like it goes and and and hear me on this i'm just giving you an allegory here but the way that we choose tend to pray like is we tend to pray this way our father who is in heaven hallowed be your name your kingdom come at some point our will be done on earth like it is in our minds that's how we tend to pray what we call the lord's prayer it's not the lord's prayer it's our prayer we we we tend to pray in a way that says um we don't know what the will of god is we don't actually uh care that his kingdom come quickly and and basically um your kingdom come at some point but but our will be done let what we want take place um and we want everything to mirror like it goes in our minds because we think we know but that is not how we were invited to pray the reality of what is known as the lord's prayer is not passive language at all and truthfully when we understand the true power of prayer there'd be no way that we wouldn't do it the enemy fights to project the illusion that prayer doesn't change anything it's all a mirage it's all an illusion things are working in the realm of the spirit for those who are the friends of god they can see but for those who are not they cannot see and so the illusion of temporary resistance discourages them but i need you to understand that this resistance that you see we're going to move it in the place of the spirit because the things that we see in the natural are nothing but an illusion that the enemy is trying to do in order to discourage and frustrate the friends of god but you and i are not going to be discouraged and frustrated in this next season because we're going to recognize that the things that we see on earth have to change for those who are praying in the realm of the spirit somebody say let's go deeper the devil knows the promise we have i taught this to us some time ago as well forgive the reminder but we need to be reminded these are the words of jesus in john chapter 15 verse 7 and 8. if you abide in me and my words abide in you ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you by this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples ask anything ask anything ask anything and i will do it these are powerful words but they come with the condition of a certain position which is a position of abiding which is a primary verb which means to stay to stay in a given place or state or relation or expectancy to continue to dwell to endure to be present to remain to stand or simply to be committed to stay there is a particular place in which prayer is answered jesus is saying i'm giving you a blank check with a signature of my authority and when you pray with my signature which is my name anything you ask will be granted but there is a condition you must stay in a certain place you must stay in a certain posture family there is a place in god where you can know his heart so well that you can ask for anything and expect it to be done why because the level of intimacy you have you'll know what you should ask for you are ultimately asking for something that you know will please him for those of you who have been with us for a while that is a level of review for those of you who have not you need to hear this hear this key the key to answer prayer is the place from which you ask the key to answer prayer is the place or the posture from which you ask i want to say it again the key to answered prayer is the place from which you ask which is why the enemy fights intimacy in your life so bad almost every attack in your life is to get you to move from the place almost every attack in your life i need you to understand that if you are going through money trouble and your money is funny the reason for that is not just to make you impoverished the reason for that is to pull you out of the place of abiding or intimacy if you have something going on in your body the reason for that attack is to pull you out of the place of intimacy that's why i have a really close friend of mine who over the past couple of weeks was going through something unknown in their body and the first thing i said was get to the secret place the whole thing is about pulling you out of the place of intimacy if you are going through an argument with your spouse the purpose of that is to pull you out of the place of intimacy so that you're far away when you ask why because the key to answer prayer is a place from which you ask stay with me the enemy does everything he can to keep us from abiding because the position of abiding is a place of authority in which we can ask anything that's the beginning of john chapter 15 verses one through eight but there's something else that the enemy fights he fights abiding he fights intimacy and he fights friendship he fights friendship you say pastor friendship yes and this is this is the part where the holy spirit began to illuminate something to me yesterday that just really began to open up something for me now now some of you you might say this is simple i'm not trying to be deep i'm trying not to be complicated because it's not complicated this is what the bible says in john chapter 15 verse 12. john chapter 15 verse 12 this is my commandment love each other in the same way i have loved you there is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends you are my friends if you do what i command i no longer call you slaves because the master does not confide in the slaves now you are my friends since i have told you everything the father told me you didn't choose me i chose you i appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit so that the father will give you whatever you ask for using my name this is my command love each other now i read this and everything just popped out at once and i could literally have started here and closed here and it been the length of a prayer call but the truth of the matter is god wants us to understand this because of the place that he wants us to pray the scripture says and jesus says to his disciples in this particular passage of scripture you are no longer servants but friends the truth of the matter is servants are never given a reason for the work assigned to them they're just expected to do it but they're never given a reason for the work that's assigned to them however secrets and the future are told to friends the secrets of god are told to friends they're not told to servants i understand that we are servants of god i understand that it's a privilege to be a servant of god but jesus elevated a level of relationship saying i don't just call you servants i call you friends servants are not afforded the privilege of confidence or confiding or secrets this is going to be important to us in just a moment because if you don't have that you can't pray proactively servants are not given the privilege of secrets that belongs to friends the scripture says jesus is talking and he says these words you are my friends if you do what i command you are my friends if you do what i command [Music] say it again you are my friends if you do what i command and you know the interesting thing about this is that if you begin to go and study and look up different commentators and what commentaries and what different commentators have to say um the the course of agreement goes essentially where i have gone all of the years of my life looking at this particular passage of scripture and then as i was looking at it yesterday it became simpler than that it became much more simple to me because i'm like oh my goodness all of it's right here when the scripture says you are my friends if you obey my commands most of us begin to think of all the things that we need to obey all the different commands of the lord and all the different things that he said and are we we were right with this and are we we good in this area now are we good in this area and are we good in this area so he says you are my friends if you do what i command but in this passage of scripture what does he command love one another it's not i know that this is not my message and i preached it a while ago but i'm just going to use his tagline again it's not complicated he says you are my friends if you do what i command what does he command love each other this is going to mean something to you in just a moment that's what he commands i know that we want it to be deep listen y'all i get it i i grew up in in in stuff where it was like all popular to be deep and you could say stuff that was deep and and everything else and everybody be standing up on their feet and shouting you down and everything else and now the person could explain what you meant when you got to the car but we oh i was deep oh that was deep and you can't remember it to this day jesus was not trying to be deep he was literally saying to them this is what marks you as a friend to me love each other you are my friend if you do what i command that's why we started in john chapter 13 verse 34 and 34 when he said so now i am giving you a new commandment love each other just as i have loved you you should love each other your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples he said i'm giving you a new commandment now he gets to john chapter 15 and in john chapter 15 verse 12 starts with it again this is my commandment love each other in the same way that i have loved you for there is no greater love than lay down your life or one's friends you are my friends if you do what i command you are my friends if you do what i command what does it command love each other how are we supposed to love each other in the same way that he is loved become like him love how he loves what does that look like laying down one's life for his friends if you do that what does it make you a friend of jesus a friend of jesus loving each other loving like he loves makes you a friend of jesus this is going to mean more to you in just a moment but loving like he loves loving each other and loving each other like he loves makes you a friend of jesus those are the people those are the people appointed to go as ambassadors for christ and to produce lasting fruit which is a result of abiding which is what the enemy wants to keep you from doing and the promise of that found in the earlier parts of john chapter 15 are simple do this and the father will give you whatever you ask for in his name so that you don't misunderstand the qualification necessary to see that kind of result jesus says at the end of this let me repeat it for you in verse 17 love each other he starts with it in this particular moment and he ends with it because he does not want anyone to miss it so family the litmus test of being a friend of jesus is not based on what many think most of us when we talk about being a friend of jesus we think about people who spend a bunch of time with him that's a part of it we tend to think about people who like to soak in his presence that's a maybe a part of it we we tend to think about people who do this and do that can i help us that what the scripture says defines a friend of jesus it's based on how you love each other because we've seen plenty of people who do plenty of other things but treat people terrible the effectiveness of prayer is linked to fruit bearing which is linked to abiding and is linked to loving one another are you ready for this these two things these two things affect your prayer how you live and how you love these two things affect your prayer how you live and how you love now you may say it's this is so simple it is but many aren't doing it [Music] jesus says you are my friends if you do what i command we establish that he also says i no longer call you servants but friends because i have told you everything the father has shared with me one of the benefits of friendship with the lord is knowing his heart one of the benefits of friendship with the lord is knowing his heart and in his heart is revelation of past present and future how you treat other believers is a key factor that defines friendship now you may say i really the truth is he's saying can i trust you with my family because if i can if i can't trust you with my family i can't trust you with secrets if i can't trust you with my brother i can't trust you with secrets if i can't trust you with my sister i can't trust you with secrets if i can't trust you with my kids i can't trust you with secrets you would never tell a secret to somebody that you can't trust with your own family and how is it that we expect god to trust us with secrets when he can't trust us with his family [Music] the implication of this passage of scripture hear this if not loving one another disqualified you from friendship with god not loving one another disqualifies you from friendship with christ disqualification from friendship disqualifies you from insight or intimate knowledge of his heart and of the future this is going to help some of us because it helped me this may cause us to understand why some who identify themselves as christians seem to be blind about the future and ignorant about the things happening on the earth right now you can be a servant but you can't be a friend not doing this one thing leads you to not being trusted by god if you call yourself a believer but you do not care about your brother no wonder you don't have prophetic insight and in this moment and in this time where everybody seems to be scattered in their opinion about what god is saying and what god is doing for many of us we've been so confused because we've been like why in the world doesn't such and such see or these people see or that can't see but now we also see at the same time they care nothing about their brother they care nothing about their sister they care nothing about the plight of others they only care about themselves and as a result now we see why they're not speaking prophetically in this season because secrets have been cut off from them as their heart has been revealed we've been wondering where has been the voice of the prophetic in this season but there's some of the same people who in seasons past seem to be able to reveal the secrets of the heart of god now their heart is being exposed and what's being exposed about their heart is they don't care about anybody and because that's being exposed now we're also seeing that the secrets of the next season have not been given to them because jesus said you are my friend if you obey my command which is to love one another and since you don't seem to have the capacity or the capability to love one another i don't have the desire to tell you the secrets of the next season this is the test of friendship not how many hours you spent that's not it it's not the prophecies you've had in the past it's how do you treat my kids how do you treat my brothers how do you treat my sisters you can be a servant but you'll never know my heart you can be used but you can't be intimate when you're a friend of god he says i i know you won't pray or ask wrong because i confide in people who love this way i let them in on my plans but hear me friends of god friends of jesus the expectation of insight is prayer what is the point of knowing his heart and knowing the future if you want partner with him in prayer the expectation of insight is prayer the only people who know how to pray proactively are his friends this is why the majority of those who call themselves believers pray reactively something happens then they pray that's why the world says save your thoughts and prayers because if they really worked you could have stopped it they're saying you're just like us if you're praying after we're the ones who say god where are you that's not what the world does that's not how the believer is supposed to pray the friends of god pray proactively the friends of god pray proactively because he trusts them with secrets he trusts them with insight and the expectation of insight is prayer there's only one way to pray proactively and that is to have insight or foreign knowledge who receives foreign knowledge friends who receives foreknowledge friends who are friends those who love each other that's why it's important that we don't misinterpret the reason we see certain things it's so important that we don't misinterpret the reason why we see certain things march in april and may couldn't sleep i was trying to but i was seeing things and i was hearing things and because of the things that i saw and i heard they were troubling my spirit and i was looking for some sort of prophetic core lessons agreement that would confirm the things that i was sensing and seeing but whenever i would look towards certain prophetic outlets all i would find is vitriol towards one another and no one seemed to have insight now i understand why some folks didn't have insight because if you have contempt for your brother you were cut off from secrets [Music] if you see other people as enemies you're cut off from secrets if you're more committed to winning than you are to loving you are cut off from secrets so you have no insight and so i would toss and i would turn thinking oh my goodness what am i gonna do with the things that i'm seeing and then it became clear to me that some of the things that you are seeing you are being shown because you're my friend and i've given you the ability to proactively pray instead of reactively praying there are some things i am showing you son because i'm exposing the plots and the plans and the desires of the enemy for your nation but they don't have to happen ah there are things that god will show you friends of god there are things that he will show you and he's not showing you inevitability he's showing you possibility some of you don't know what to do with your dreams right now he is showing you how to proactively pray some of you don't know what to do with your sense you don't know why you have an unease while you are not settled you don't know why you feel the way that you feel you you don't know why you're seeing what you're seeing you you don't know why what you think doesn't seem to be what everyone else is saying it is because he is giving you friendship insight he is giving you the ability to begin to pray proactively for i want you to know there are a whole lot of people who are taking on the assignment of prayer but not everyone who's taking on the assignment of prayer are friends some people who are taking on the assignment of prayer are doing it to pray their will to pray what they want to pray what they desire but they're not praying the heart of god because the very heart of god is simply to say with confidence and assurance your will be done on earth as it is in heaven and who knows the will of god his friends [Music] there are times when he will show you like he did elisha i won't go there for the sake of time he'll show you the movements of the enemy so you can warn your nation [Music] and pray that's what he does for friends proactive prayer does a few things i'll wrap up soon it leads to insight interrupts and preempts plans it opens up eyes and it confuses enemies [Music] i said it on the prayer call i'll say it for you again just in case i went too fast for you proactive prayer comes from insights it interrupts and preempts plans it opens the eyes of the faithful and it confuses the confounds enemies the word proactive means acting in anticipation of future events how can you do that without friendship with christ react means occurring as a result of jesus showed us what his proactive prayer life looked like in luke chapter 22 he showed us luke 22 31 speaking in he says simon simon satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat but i have pleaded in prayer for you simon that your faith should not fail so when you have repented and turned to me again strengthen your brothers go back to verse 31. i know that if you're not reading this in nlt it says simon simon satan has desired to sift you like wheat but the greek word there for you is plural so the nlt actually has it correct in this when it says he's asked to sift each of you like we satan wanted all of them in verse 32 you goes back to singular so he's specifically talking to simon but i have pleaded in prayer for you simon that your faith should not fail so when you have repented and turn to me again strengthen your brothers why would he have to do that because all of them would fall away proactive prayer i have pleaded in prayer for you i've gone ahead and already laid the groundwork in prayer that what the enemy wants to do to you will not prevail it will not succeed what he wants to do to you is make you fall away altogether but because i have prayed even though you stumble when you repent and turn to me again i'm telling you your future strengthen your brothers they're gonna need it this comes contextually during the last supper where jesus is telling his friends the future he's telling them what is going to take place to him he told them that one of them sitting there would betray him this led to mass confusion at the table where everyone's like is it me who could it be is it me who could it be and we see all that's going on and mass proclamation the declarations of how i would never do that and i'll be with you until the end including peter who was like listen i'm willing to die for you and everything else and jesus is like man you don't understand the attack that's going to happen to you but i've already prayed this attack's going to be so heavy on you that by the time the morning arrives you will have denied me three times tonight at the table they're like i died for you he's like i get that you think that but the attack's going to be so heavy on you that before this night is over you're gonna deny that you even knew me [Music] but yet because they're his friends he's proclaimed them as his friends he has given them insight he says but i need you to come with me so in verse 39 the bible says this then accompanied by the disciples jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the mount of olives matthew and mark make it very clear that he went to the garden of gethsemane then accompanied by the disciples jesus sorry left upstairs i read that already next verse there he told them pray that you will not give in to temptation what is he asking them to do pray proactively pray he walked about a stone's throw away and knelt down and prayed father if you're willing to take this cup of suffering away from me please take this cup of suffering away from me yet i want your will to be done not mine then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him he prayed more fervently and he was in such agony of spirit that sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood at last he stood up and returned to the disciples only to find them asleep exhausted from grief why are you sleeping he asked them get up and pray so that you will not give in to temptation jesus showed them how he prayed for them proactively then he invited them to do the same thing there was only one thing he asked them to do pray jesus asked his friends to pray and i was sitting in my study meditating over this passage here in luke also in matthew and i begin to cry and i asked myself why i didn't ask myself i just said out loud where are the friends of jesus [Music] like this passage asleep i'm just holding myself together is it possible that we're in a season right now where he's revealed his heart he's confided in some people he's let some in on the future and he only asks us to do one thing pray when he looks up we're asleep [Music] on friday pastor caleb was preaching through this he so beautifully brought out a point that i had already written down but he so beautifully brought it out how do we know that the friends of jesus were asleep because when things started to get rough and they had not done what he asked him to do the manifestation of them trying to prove themselves or to prove their friendship was that they tried to accomplish the will of god in natural means isn't that what's happening right now we have 30 or 40 years in this nation of a bunch of people trying to prove themselves by natural means trying to say god we're with you we're for you don't you see how we're protesting injustice and he's like did i ever teach you that injustice is changed by natural means or did i not teach you that if you'd be persistent in the place of prayer i would give you justice so when they come to get jesus and do what the entire old covenant prophesied would happen when they come to get jesus to do what he just told them at dinner would happen because they fell asleep they felt like they had to jump up and prove themselves a different way so peter jumps up and cuts off the ear of the servant of the priest marcus as if to say jesus i told you i proved my loyalty to you and jesus is like i asked you not to do that i just asked you would you pray with me would you pray but because they didn't they felt like we're with you we're going to prove ourselves a different way can i tell you family how do you prove your fidelity and your loyalty and your friendship to god obey his commands love each other and then if he asks you to do something do that what is he asking of his friends in this next season i don't see in this book where he asked us to make signs i don't see in this book when he asked us to support a particular candidate i don't see in this book where he told us to yell at people who don't agree with us i don't see in this book where he told us to cancel everyone with a different opinion i don't see in his book where he told us to eviscerate the harvest friends of jesus you the ones who love each other what he asked us to do is the very thing that the world is saying doesn't work what he's asking us to do is the very thing religious people say is not enough the world says it doesn't work religious people say it's not enough friends say this is all i need where are you where are the friends of jesus are they asleep or will they pray where are you friend of jesus are you awake yet because what's coming is going to seem sudden and you're going to want to jump up like peter and join the resistance but if you would pray you will not fall into the temptation and your business will be in the courts of heaven and you will stand in the gap for your city and your nation or you can stay asleep and be caught off guard when what the enemy is trying to do shows up now on the other side of this is still the possibility of revival but it's contingent on the friends if their friends stay sleep so will the earth if the friends wake up there can still be revival where are the friends of jesus who are the friends of god pastor caleb's going to come who are the friends of god those who obey the commandment of loving one another who are not the friends of god [Music] people who say they love him while not loving others servants but not friends no insight no intimacy no clue what god is doing i have spent days with one refrain on my lips jesus i want to be your friend is there anybody watching me who wants to be the friend of god if so just put in there i want to be your friend i want to be your friend [Music] i don't want to move on from this moment and while we're going to invite people to [Music] make it a commitment and a decision and a choice to place their faith in jesus which is the beginning of friendship with god all of you who are watching right now who desire to be a friend of god and maybe i want to speak to those of you who you have been how shall i say dishonoring your friendship with god he's shown you the future he's shown you secrets [Music] he's giving you insight to his heart [Music] he's asked you to do something specific we could talk about a number of things but for many of us i can even say here that there has been a deep call to pray being awakened in the middle of the night we hours of the morning wide awake after three hours of sleep don't need an espresso shot just my friend speaking to me saying pray for the middle east pray for this this is about to happen and the true friends of god don't ignore the cries the secrets the revelations of their friend the true friends of god they say if you're showing me this if you're telling me this [Music] i'm not just content with that with revelation without action i'm not just content with knowing but i want to see your heart expressed manifest in the earth so if that's you maybe you've been sensing the call but you've been ignoring it you've been hitting the spiritual snooze button and been going back to sleep maybe it's been physical you've been going back to sleep when you know you should be up praying but if you've been hitting the spiritual snooze button you've been dishonoring your friendship i want you right now wherever you are to repent say sorry to your friend jesus and then commit to say i'm not gonna sleep anymore i'm not gonna ignore your heart maybe you've been acting like a servant being obedient without insight and maybe your revelation has been cut off because you haven't done what he said which was to love one another this is the moment to repent yes we're still repenting in this moment because we understand that there's a greater place of intimacy that god is beckoning us to it's the place of friendship for all those who are friends with you right now join join me let's go before the lord let's pray let's repent let's take on the burden the responsibility but more importantly the privilege of friendship lord jesus we come to you as friends you've shown us the future you've given us insight and lord maybe there's been moments where we've been frustrated by what we've seen maybe there's moments where we didn't agree with what we saw but you showed it to us anyway we like peter wanted to fight against it because we thought there maybe was another way but god you have shown us the future you have told us secrets you've given us insight you've beckoned us to do the one thing that you told your disciples to do which was to love one another and lord there have been moments where we have been guilty of dishonoring the friendship there have been moments where i have been guilty of dishonoring the friendship i'm not taking what you have shown me as seriously or as urgent as you've revealed to me and so lord before i pray general i pray specific and i say lord i repent lord i repent i repent if any moment i've dishonored my friendship with you if any moment i've not loved my brother the way you've commanded me to love my brother if any moment i've hit the spiritual snooze button of any moment where i've rejected an invitation where i thought there was something more important to attend to where i attended to my own grief and my own sorrow instead of what was upon your heart and what you desired to be expressed in the earth lord we as friends come to you our best friend and say don't stop showing us your heart don't stop telling us what's on your mind we still want to know the secrets but we understand that the secrets are only revealed to those that you trust so lord we we say humbly with fear and trembling you can trust us you can trust us with your secrets you can trust us with your heart we're not going to be a people who when we see your heart and when you show it to us remain passive but we will do what you've asked you've asked us to pray so lord we will pray [Music] we won't be found asleep when you come looking for a people to see if they have partnered lord you will find the people who are praying lord thank you for your your mercy and your grace for just like peter you came to him and the disciples three times lord you were merciful to come and again and again giving them another chance to partner with you in the place of prayer and i sense lord you coming to those who maybe were asleep and you're giving them another chance to partner in the place of prayer the lord this time we say yes yes lord we'll pray we will pray we want to be friends of god friend if you're watching and you're hearing us talk about being a friend of god [Music] there is a truth that god doesn't withhold himself from anyone who would believe in him and while seemingly you know you look around you and it seems as if there are those who have different levels of intimacy with god the truth is we all have access to the same level of intimacy in god some maybe due to their lack of surrender their lack of obedience stay on the fringes of intimacy in the place of servanthood willing to do things for god while never knowing why he does what he does or his heart for those who will be obedient and surrender for those who care enough to ask and care enough to obey he reveals his heart but the truth is i cannot be a friend of anyone i don't first believe in those who come to god must first believe that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him if you want to be a friend of jesus a friend of god the first thing you must do is believe in jesus believe that he died for your sin to purchase your freedom from sin and forgive you of all your sin and then you must believe that he was buried and rose again to give you new life this is what jesus did he took your punishment he took the guilt the wages of your sin which the scripture outlines his death he took your place upon the cross and all of the punishment that you deserve he took that it was the greatest love of the greatest friend because there is no greater love that one can have for another than to lay down his life for his friend and what jesus did for you was to say i desire friendship with you so i am laying my life down for you and if you will place your faith in me you will have access to this deep intimate friendship jesus is the greatest friend because he demonstrated the greatest love by laying down his life for you question is do you believe it if you do you have access to friendship with god this friendship with god means the forgiveness of your sins this friendship with god means hearing his voice as the scripture says my sheep know my voice one of the inheritances of the friend of god the inheritance of the friend of god is hearing him speak all of this is available to you and if that wasn't enough all friends of god receive eternal life they receive the the capacity or the privilege of living with god eternally this is all available to you but you must first believe in jesus in order to be a friend of jesus you must first believe in him now i know what you're thinking you're saying pastor caleb i love what you're telling me and i so desperately desire it but there's this issue that i have i haven't been obedient to god i've broken his commands what you would call sin i've messed up i've done things that are wrong can i tell you that sin is not the issue right here simply is your faith jesus died for sin he's dealt with sin already there's already forgiveness that exists for your sins you just need to believe that it's for you so in this moment you want to give your life to jesus you want to lay down your life and follow jesus lay down your will and live out his will turn from your way and follow his way this moment is for you you just need to believe in jesus we say this every week you don't get good to get god you get god and he makes you good and it's our way of saying you don't need to clean yourself up in order to believe in jesus you don't need to get yourself together in order to place your faith in him you place your faith in him and from the inside out by the power of the spirit he changes you you can live free from sin by placing your faith in jesus and so if you're watching me right now you want to be a friend of jesus first starts with believing in him those who come to god must first believe just believe in what jesus has done dying on the cross and raising again so that you could have new life that's you right now i just want you to repeat after me say i believe in jesus just right now say i believe in jesus i believe in jesus and then once you say that say i surrender to jesus i believe in jesus i surrender to jesus and if you said those words and you meant them deeply within your heart i can send some of you saying them right now i want you to know that you have just started the most beautiful friendship that you could have with jesus you are saved you have received eternal life the forgiveness of your sins and now you have been commissioned and invited into a beautiful journey of intimacy with the lord jesus this is an amazing day for you if you said i believe in jesus if you said i surrendered to jesus if that was something that you said and you prayed and you meant it i want to invite you to pray this with me just repeating after me it's not the prayer that saves you it's your faith i'm just giving you language for this moment you repeat after me say father in the name of jesus i come to you just as i am thank you for loving me thank you for forgiving me of my sin i repent of my sin and i surrender to you i believe that you died for my sin and i believe that you rose again so that i could have eternal life from this day forward i place my faith and my trust in you and with your help i will live for you for the rest of my life in jesus name amen amen amen amen amen friend i can call you that because you have joined the family of god brother sister whoever you are you have just begun the journey of friendship with god remember what makes me a friend of god as i do what he commands what does he command he says love one another and then whatever he says to do that's what we're going to do if you pray that prayer and you place your faith in jesus we want you to we want to hear about it we want to know who you are so our moderators can reach out to you and congratulate you and help you out help you walk out some next steps if you believed in jesus you made that decision today whether for the first time or you rededicated your life to jesus i want you to just do this for us just put in the comments hashtag i met jesus and our moderators were happy to be to contact you communicate with you congratulate you and we want to help you as you walk out your faith and your friendship with the lord listen family we've been we've been invited into such a significant moment uh as a community and god has again revealed his heart to us and it's a privilege to know the heart of god it's a privilege to hear him speak this way and i think for many of you as you were watching there was actually a reassurance and a happy one at that because you realized you are a friend of god i know that that make you feel kind of uh presumptuous to to say something like that maybe someone said how can you say something that seems so arrogant well you're not saying it because of your own works or your own behavior you're simply saying it based on what the scripture says the scripture says that if you love one another you're his friend this is how we know we're his friend so you also know that you're a friend because he's showing you secrets he's giving you insight to the future so there should be a research assurance to say you know what i'm walking with god you may have been walking through this this year like man i'm unsure where i stand but if he's showing you the future and he's giving you secrets and you are loving your brother you're doing what he says you're his friend and that's a beautiful place to be that's a beautiful place to be you can confidently walk away today from this stream you could put it in your iphone you could put it in your instagram bio if you want you could say i'm a friend of god and and it maybe people won't look at you crazy but you know just what that means now live with that responsibility live with that weight live with that privilege family we need to pray if we're friends of god we need to pray our prayerlessness is revealing our lack of intimacy and lack of friendship but for the friends of god they will pray they want his heart to be demonstrated in the earth family join us for prayer all throughout this week and continue to to to lift up your pastor and his family continue to cover them messages like this that i know it may not have taken on a warfare type of tone but when you speak of intimacy with god trust me there is a a demonic attack that wants to root you from that place of intimacy and i know that our pastor and his family will not be rooted from that place i know they'll fight for that place but let's cover them this week let's let's protect them in the place of prayer let's preempt attacks of the enemy against them uh because we we understand the significance of what the lord has shared with us family we love you so much we're praying for you continue to pray continue to walk as friends of god we hope you have an amazing sunday

Channel: Deeper Fellowship Church

Views: 9,637

Rating: 4.9536233 out of 5

Keywords: william mcdowell, caleb grant, trinity anderson, deeper fellowship church, orlando, florida

Id: NRAoi3hUiOs

Length: 86min 28sec (5188 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 13 2020