Interceding in Prayer - Tim Conway

when I rise I want to go immediately to my Bible that's just the way I'm wired I want to eat of God's Word first and foremost and I want to go there and then I'm a person that if I try to if I try to pray with bended knee and my head on my chair or on my bed I fall asleep I pray walking and and I can tell you I'm not real partial to Texas Sun or heat I thought there's a whole lot of that right now but most of the year there is and when that Sun Goes Down and the night is upon us and that South breeze is blowing at night that's when I like to pray and you know there's a text in Philippians that says it says I I heard John MacArthur preached on this text years and years ago maybe maybe 20 years ago I don't I don't remember exactly but but listen to what listen to how the ESV reads here it's yeah it's 3:16 it says only let us hold true to what we have attained only let us hold true to what we have attained in other words we've attained we have already attained and he says let us hold true to what we've attained now the the New King James read something like this anybody have the New King James once you read that for me read 3:16 whoever's got it in the New King James go ahead ok listen to that to the degree we have already attained let us walk by the same rule now see that in my estimation brings brings a little more substance out of it it's basically saying this in whatever way you have succeeded in the spiritual life and made attainment you've grown you've achieved walk by the same rule and you know I was thinking the other day that oh you know I hear this brothers had amazing seasons in prayer I mean he's had visitations of the Spirit repeatedly and I thought ok maybe maybe there's something about following the Lord and maybe I just need to I need to change my disciplines and you know as I was walking in praying I thought no that's not it at all I have known some of the sweetest times in prayer it isn't a matter of change it's a matter of just reapplying myself more diligently to the ways that I've already attained I mean we're all wired different and and the thing is to seek to image this is one of the reasons that there just isn't a whole lot of wisdom in telling people how much you pray especially if you're somebody that others look up to as a spiritual example for you to say well this is the time of day I pray and this is the number of hours I pray because inevitably you're gonna get somebody that's going to try to imitate you they're gonna try to copy that the thing is as I was thinking I thought my best seasons my best growth has always come when I've gotten deep into the word in the morning and I've prayed I like to pray when I have nothing at the back end restricting how long I can pray if I try to pray in the morning especially like when I was an engineer and everything and this is where all this developed it's back when I was 15 years as an engineer if I were to tried to pray in the morning there's always a cutoff I got a go and so if I'm in a sweet season they just I couldn't do it but at night nothing bars me nothing holds me only sleep and so if I get into a season of Prayer I can stay out there till 1:00 in the morning it's not it I or two or three aren't I didn't even have to sleep but um anyways that's just the way I was wired but coming back to that truth but I'll tell you this one thing that he said that I think no matter what our prayer life is like he devotes an entire season of prayer to intercession did you guys catch that I typically try to bring all the aspects of Prayer into every time I pray or or certain aspects of it whatever whatever I feel most pressed with right at the moment but that's interesting a special season of intercession I just want you to think with me here why don't you open your Bibles to maybe Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 18 does the word of God say anything about intercession and I want you to think about your prayer life listen to this Ephesians 6:18 praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication to that and keep alert with all perseverance making supplication for all the saints you know what how many of us really do that making supplication for all the saints now you can say well I don't even know all the Saints obviously we're not expected to pray for somebody we don't know about I mean yes we could pray generally I suppose but if we just prayed for all the saints we do know do you know one thing that struck me the next day John Sytsma and I were sitting at the table with Andy and we were talking about different people and he asked about a pastor from another Church here in town who I know he's only met maybe twice maybe twice maybe another time or two but who know two two three four times he's met this pastor in his life I know this man his church doesn't support Andy and he brought him up and he asked or he came into the conversation and and he asked about him and he just very lightly moving on to something else he said I think about him and I thought he prays for him he and he is interceded for this man a man who is way out there on the fringes and I was convicted he didn't say so but I could tell by the way he said he thinks about him and I thought he prays for him and that struck me because this is a man who he barely knows but he's a Christian man and he's a pastor and I can tell he takes seasons where he intercedes literally for everybody and I thought wow brethren I I have to I mean do I do I pray for Mac and Charles and and these other pastors out there and for Kyle and for Ken Billings and I do but you know when Mac stood in the pulpit and he said I pray for you guys every week and I thought wow thank you lord we need those prayers I mean I I hear from people that they pray for us or they pray for me every day I've heard about this English couple over there and in in England I hear about folks I hear about Ruby's sister I hear about people that pray for us in ways and it's brethren let me ask you this your life we're moving towards Judgment Day that's not fiction that's a reality when Andy talked about the fires of God brethren I realized that that text there in 1st Corinthians 3 has to do with ministers men that are involved in building the church but there's some reality there that our works are going to be tested listen Ephesians 2:10 says that there are good works we have been ordained to and they're going to be there and what God is ordained to us but that doesn't that does not at all mean that we're not responsible and that as Christians when that fire of God tries our works I mean there's yes we see we see one picture of judgment day when Christ is saying those are my right hand those on my left hand you did this and you didn't and that's all true and that will stand up and there won't be anybody when it says some will be saved so as by fire that doesn't mean that there isn't good works in their life every Christian has been 400 ordained to sum all those on the right hand have these things where Christ is able to say well done he's able to say I was this and you did this even to the thief on the cross who only had moments to live he lived those last moments in defense of Christ and in defense of truth every person that will ever be saved and so when it says save so is by fire brethren it's got to be taken in light of all these other realities and yet there is that reality that our works are going to be tried and it's as we heard last week love is what's going to matter in the end and brethren I'll tell you intercession says an enormous amount about our love for other people and I want you to think with me here you are on judgement day I got to thinking about this intercession and I got to thinking about Judgment Day and here we have a text that says make supplication for all the saints brethren I want to encourage you to take this to the next level you have this in 1st Timothy 2:1 first of all then I urge that supplications prayers intercessions and thanksgiving be made for all people brethren let me ask you this the time is going to come when your works are going to be examined there you are your life is going to be unfolded all your works tested imagine if Paul went to the judgment bar before you Paul did you intercede for others Paul says Lord you know not perfectly but listen to this I do not cease to give thanks for you speaking to the Ephesians I do not cease to give thanks for the Ephesians lord I didn't cease to give thanks for the Ephesians remembering them in my prayers of the Romans he says for God is my witness whom I serve with my spirit and the gospel of the son that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers Colossians 1:9 we have not cease to pray for you brethren if I have seen anything in my 20 years as a Christian it's this young Christians have a tendency to be selfish in their prayers let's imagine Judgment Day Paul just went before you he didn't cease to pray for the Ephesians he didn't cease to pray for the Romans he didn't cease to pray you can tell from these letters he knows some of these people by name you ever read the last chapter of Romans you go through these you read Philippians my true syczyk is true yoke fellow he knows these ladies by name they served in the gospel with him yo Deus and Sint aqui he knows them he calls off the name of these brethren at Rome he knows these people brethren you know how you get to know people like that you're praying for them when he says he didn't cease to pray for them he wasn't praying for this nebulous church maybe somewhere that just really didn't have any identity to him he saw faces he knew names he knew these people he prayed for them he you can be certain he prayed for them by name he knew who they were now okay here's Paul the fires of God have tried him you're next in line and this guy's prayed this guy's prayed without ceasing for all of them or or what if I just you know I'm imagining in my own mind or what if I have to go right after Abraham Abraham did you intercede large you know you know when you were going to send fire down from upon Sodom and Gomorrah I pleaded with you I've wrestled with you Lord not on my behalf but on theirs Lord would you well that's a look well not the judge of all the earth do right if there's 50 righteous people I pleaded with you I was so bold as to say if that if it's just minus a minus five and all the way down to Lord if there's ten I mean I'm imagining in my mind as I'm thinking about this intercession I'm imagining these people going first and then it's your turn what's what's the track record what has your life looked like so far in prayers are you going to be able to say that you prayed for all the saints I love surrounding myself with people like Andy because they they exercise me to greater godliness when I pick up on that this man is praying he's praying for a brother and the truth is there are a lot of people that I mean that I know are true Christians but I simply do not take the time in prayer yes yes there are many that I pray for and I pray for regularly but realizing I'm falling short of this making supplication for all the saints I'm falling short of it and as I begin to imagine these different people from the Scriptures going up there Judgment Day before me brethren what if Moses was right before you Moses did you intercede I mean I just pulled these out there's there's probably more of these but but because I just searched the word faces because I knew Moses was always falling on his face why in intercession I mean there was a time do you remember it God says Moses I'm gonna make a view of great people if Moses was in this just for himself he would have said well that's good Lord wipe them all out just start all over with me if this is all about Moses glory he would have easily gone that route but it wasn't he said Lord your name's at stake these are your people he was fallen on his face all the time and I don't read that he ever fell on its face for himself once he was interceding for people who were stiff-necked and that God was repeatedly ready to destroy Exodus 30 to 30 Moses said to the people you have sinned a great sin and now I will go up to the Lord perhaps I can make atonement for your sin so Moses returned to the Lord and said alas the people have sinned a great sin they have made for themselves gods of gold brethren if there is ever an intercessory spirit in the scriptures it's that which Paul and Moses had listened to this but now if you will forgive their sin but if not please blot me out of your book that you have written isn't that an amazing statement of intercession where does Paul say something similar romans 9 who knows what he says there he could wish himself a cursed and caught off for Christ brethren can you imagine if Paul went to the judgment seat before you and that came to light and now it's your turn rather what do you have what do we have to say what are we going to be able to say brethren what I want to encourage you is to have something to say I want to encourage you in a life you young people it's so easy for you to pray about your financial difficulties so easy to pray about your own spiritual immaturity and wanting growth and good things to pray so easy to pray for a wife or for a husband so easy to pray for all for stuff cars cell phones and maybe your own family difficulties parents who are not brother remember this you say well I pray for my parents I pray for my children remember the tax collectors what do you do more than others that's what Jesus said he said the tax collectors do that they do what well I mean they're nice to their relatives they greet one another in the market they look worse we have been called to be followers of the one who hung on the cross and said Father forgive them they know not what they do can you imagine Stephen up there at the throne before you I was being stoned Lord and I prayed for them just like you did while you were on the cross and now it's your turn I mean I'm sitting at my desk today and I'm seeing all this flash before my face there they go one after another they're standing there Samuel said far be it from me to sin and not pray for you speaking of Israel brethren we need to ask ourselves and I was really I was convicted this week I was convicted that next day I was convicted by a missionary that lives far away praying for a man that I know extremely well who I know he knows very remotely he is a man who's taken this admonition seriously so much so that he is determined to set aside a block of time brethren I'll tell you this it's fine to pray when you feel led to pray it's fine to pray when you feel compelled to pray it's fine to pray when you feel drawn to pray but brethren if we are not disciplined and setting aside certain disciplined devoted times to prayer you remember how it was with with George Whitefield 10:00 p.m. and no matter what else was happening in his life no matter what and they said even if he was speaking to the Queen of England herself he would depart for audience with the king of the universe no matter what else and brethren I'll tell you this you can have a prayer life without dedicated times of prayer but it won't be the prayer life that excels they won't be the prayer life of men and women who walk closest to the Lord it won't be like the prayer life of the men and women who most intercede and excel in prayer it won't be that the men and women who have excelled in this area are men with purpose they are determined to give parts of their day the best parts to praying brethren we don't want to get there because I can tell you this if what we heard last week is right and it's right because first Corinthians 13 says it's right you can have a lot of things true about you but listen if you tell me you love people but you don't pray for them that is a kind of love that does not seem to be consistent with the love Paul knew or that Moses knew or that Samuel knew or that Christ knew or that Steven knew it's not you cannot tell me that you love this church if you're not praying for them you can't say that you love these missionaries if you're not praying for them now I realize some people are gonna have greater burdens to pray for certain people than others I know God wires us differently I know some of us may have greater burdens because of exposure obviously people you know better people you're closer to your gonna tend to have greater burdens for them there's I think there's no question about that but brethren there's men in the scripture too that I started thinking about who are who are men that I don't want to be like these are some of the men I do want to be like but I thought about Nabal here's a man that he was just selfish just selfish self-centered you can imagine if he won't give his stuff away and he's just selfish man if he's like that you think about somebody like Ananias and Sapphira you think about the rich man there with Lazarus you think about people who just basically live their life selfishly and we here they are they didn't pray for people oh they may have prayed for their children but tax collectors do that but here are people they go before you at the judgment and then it's your turn I mean how are we gonna stand you know Jesus said this as much as you have done it to one of the least of these he says you've done it to me one of the least of these my little ones and brethren he did not give us an exhaustive list of how to show love to his little ones he mentioned several things but there are other ways visiting widows and orphans in their affliction is clearly one of them he's we have done James authority that that's one of them so Jesus certainly was not giving an exhaustive list brethren I have to say one of the ways that we're gonna prove whether we loved his little ones is whether we prayed for them brethren intercession that's what it's going to be sad you prayed for these my little ones as much as you did it for them you it for me I came across this story that Spurgeon says I have heard of a man who had made complaints against his Minister I've had I've known of such things before I've heard of a man who had complaints against his Minister and is not check this out this is this is supposedly a true story that Spurgeon heard this man the Spurgeon said his minister wisely said as I heard this story I thought this man is probably wiser than I am I wish I had wisdom like this his Minister wisely said to him well don't talk to me in the street because this man just came up to him and said I've got complaints against you I got something against you pastor and he said well don't talk to me in the street come to my house and let us hear it all well the man did he went and the minister said my brother I hope that what you have to say to me may be greatly blessed to me no doubt I have my imperfections as well as any other man and I hope I shall never be above being told of them but in order that what you have to say to me may be blessed to me let us kneel and pray together so our quarrelsome friend prayed first and the minister prayed next though both prayed briefly when they rose from their knees he said now my brother I think we're both in a good state of mind tell me what is it that you have to find fault with the man blushed and stammered and stuttered and said he did not think there was anything at all except in himself and he confessed I have forgotten to pray for you sir he and of course I cannot expect that God will feed my soul through you when I neglect to mention you at the throne of grace and brethren that is that is HUGE I remember one night sitting in a bed-and-breakfast with Charles and Mona Leiter and he was talking about what we've been talking about with the law Charles was saying love love will rule the day and he said it's not so much duty to the law we need to be driven by love which is really what we heard last week and Charles said you know if you have somebody in the church that you intercede for and you weep for and you pray for and you pour yourself out for you intercede on their behalf you go to the throne of grace when that is true it is so easy for you to forgive them if they offend you because you have labored for their behalf brethren strife look at it if strife rises in the church do you think it rises between two people who pray for each other do you see how this situation could have gone bad if the minister had acted in pride the whole thing would have blown up that the way Spurgeon tells it was a real story do you know what the difference was the man didn't pray for his pastor but I'll guarantee you that pastor prayed for him and you can see it in the way he responded and he became convicted to that brethren I say this again young people if you're gonna live life long we are called to be priests priests intercede that's what we're called to be brethren if you're gonna live a life of being an intercessor it starts young you need to put that into practice right now you need to look there may be a lot of ways you are hindered from loving the Brethren as young people because you don't make significant amounts of money right now a lot of young people that's the case or remember the widow in or two mites that doesn't mean that you can't do anything and do something that that the Lord approves of greatly but the truth is you may have limited resources there may be lots of ways you can't help but don't ever let this be an area that you drop the ball in because you can't pray and you could pray and you can labor in prayer and you can lift up others and it's not of none effect your prayers are heard your prayers will be answered there is every reason to believe when the Apostle Paul when he told those churches he prayed he also said pray for us that was divinely inspired he told the Ephesians he prayed for them but he wanted their prayers he told the Colossians he prayed for them but he wanted their prayers he told the Romans he prayed for them but he wanted their prayers why because I can tell you this God works through love there's no question about it I mean you have John comes along and he says look you can't say you love the God who you have never seen if you don't love your brethren who you do see and there is something about love that seems to be the very catalyst in unleashing the power of God and I'll tell you this if every prayer was equal what I mean by that if if me praying for me and only praying for me was sufficient and you praying for you was sufficient and if that brought about all the results that we could expect to see from God then Paul wouldn't come along and say I pray for you unceasingly please pray for me if it was a matter of just hey conservation to prayer I'll pray for me you pray for you I know my needs best you know your needs best but that's not what he says and I'll guarantee if he's pressing that upon us it's because that is the way God is pleased to unleash his blessings upon his people God has designed this thing that in prayer it is more blessed to give than receive he has designed it so that love works as the catalyst of Prayer rather than we might all we might brethren have you ever let it grab you but when Jesus says pray this way you can't even go through that prayer without seeing the plural everywhere our Father us give us he wants us praying with a spirit of the unity a spirit of care and concern for others that prayer is not to be prayed in form obviously over there in Luke 2:11 it isn't said exactly the same way and you don't see anybody disciples or Christ praying that verbatim that prayer gives us the substance of how to pray not the exact words right before that he had met in there in Matthew 6 he says don't be like the Gentiles they think in all their vain repetitious prayers and the Catholics take that very prayer and do exactly what Jesus says not to do they come in and they want to say the Lord's Prayer all the time no heart no soul we're looking for substance here in the substance of it is that we are to pray with a mind and a concern and a love for others now young people you let your own conscience be witness here that if you died tonight and it was time to stand before the judgment seat would you're praying go beyond that of the tax collector who probably prays for his kids or for his parents which would you be able to say unceasingly I prayed for the Brethren and other church in it not just our own I mean how many of us would have to hang our heads just for praying for those in our own church but let alone sister churches all brethren how many of us wrestle like Moses and would fall on our faces if we saw sin among others how many of you would fall on your face how many of you would say Lord take me out of the book of life if you'll not forgive brother so-and-so how many of us would say I would that I could be a cursed and cut off from Christ if God would but have mercy upon my physical brethren brethren there's something of the heart of Christ in that that I'm afraid there's something in the heart of Christ in that but when I see living examples like I saw in the man who sat in this chair a week ago and when I heard him say that next day it struck me brethren I don't think we think enough about praying for all the saints just taking seasons where I go through and I pray for every saint that I can think of just but if it's even just their face that I've met in other churches I go through and pray for pastors in other places men I know men I've heard of brethren I guarantee you men like John Piper and John MacArthur they're men they're prone to faults and failures and sins and Falls and problems and trials and struggles do you think that they would have you pray for them they would covet your prayers they're not beyond that but then how much more your own pastor and brethren I know it's not a small thing I've heard Ruby's sister has said that one of her ministries in life is to pray for me when I heard that I thought I hear that there's this brother and sister over there in England that they just they pray all the time I hear Mac say what he said when he was in our pulpit and brethren we need that one of the reasons for the blessings that we've experienced as a church will no doubt be traced to the prayers of others well brethren Spurgeon said this will not the Lord say to some he's speaking of some will not the Lord say selfish wretch you're always knocking at my door but it is always to cry for your own welfare and never furan others in as much as you have never asked for a blessing for one of the least of these my brethren neither will I give a blessing to you brethren that's what I don't say that because most of you have never asked anything for somebody else I say that to you because I'm wanting you in your own conscience to answer the question how often are you knocking at that door for other people are you knit I'm not asking you just how much you pray but how much are you knocking at that door for the sake of others when it's your turn to stand at that judgment bar and your prayer life is thrown out there how much of the time were you standing at the door saying Lord I need this and I need that and help me with this and help me with that certainly it's not bad to pray for yourself but brethren were to love our neighbor as ourselves more than that if we're called to follow Christ and to be willing to lay down our life for the Brethren as he did then can you not lay down your prayers for the Brethren brethren it's a truism it's a reality if you'll do the lesser you'll do the greater if you won't do the lesser you will not do the greater we're called to lay down our life for the Brethren brethren if you won't lay down your prayers for the Brethren you will not lay down your life for the Brethren mark it down well god help us to be intercessors we are called and he has saved us to be a kingdom of priests priests intercede we are called to that brethren we are called to intercede for all the saints and to intercede for all kinds of people Kings presidents government officials men in all walks of life that's what Paul tells Timothy but to the Ephesians he says all Saints brethren I'm not I'm not talking as one who has this all down pat and figured out I'm talking to folks that just a little less than a week ago was majorly convicted as I realized by just a few little words with that man at my table by what those words meant about his prayer life and I was convicted so god help us brethren you have anything you want to add yes sir when you talk about seasons of in what context you said that you have seasons of Prayer or when you're in a certain season of Prayer just curious well basically basically by you know as as the New King James says they're out of that Philippians three texts that in what ways you have attained made progress stick to them and by seasons what I mean is those seasons when I have experienced the most glory the closest manifestations the greatest growth the greatest closeness to the Lord the greatest times of the word impacting my life when I have most clearly heard his voice when I felt his presence most dearly and tenderly in my life those are the seasons I'm talking about it's been seasons when I have given myself to what works most in my life and it hasn't been trying to trying to be exactly like somebody else it's been when I have applied myself to what I through experimentation and seeking to walk with the Lord that I have found works best with my life and it hasn't been trying to be you know there's certain men that they've lived these discipline lives where they arose at four and they prayed from four to eight and then they started studying their Bibles I have found that basically the greatest progress has been made in my life when I've stuck to what's worked for me and it's not rising at four it's typically rising fairly early to get into the word and then praying praying throughout the day but giving in if I feel drawn and a lot of times when I was working as an engineer at lunchtime I might feel compelled to go into a season of Prayer but really seeking in the evenings to devote myself to that and I'm I'm just saying that because that's that's what works for me and I think everybody needs to figure that out everybody needs to give the best hours of the day to the Lord we all need to be in the word and we need to be in it more than just casually we need to be in it where we're meditating memorizing digging deep we need to be more than casual and in prayer we need to be more than flipping more than saying blessed brothers bless them bless them bless that church bless that that that's Paul never prayed that way Christ didn't pray that way Moses didn't pray that way Abraham didn't pray that way Stephen didn't pray that basically when you're serious about praying for people you go to their deepest needs you learn to pray for people scripture Lee you've learned to ask for them the things that scripture puts prominence on as being most important you realize missionaries you need to pray for them in the capacity that Paul wanted to be prayed for when he he asked for certain things he didn't just say pray for me sometimes he did but he was very specific often times pray this okay well I mean that gives us a good indication about how to pray for missionaries but we can imagine you know what the greatest needs are we see how Paul prayed for the churches a revelation of the knowledge of God these are some of the things I've been hitting on in Ephesians that we might have strength to comprehend the breadth and length and height the depth there's there's levels of the love of Christ that we need to be praying that people would be able to comprehend this is when prayer becomes serious when we learn to pray things like that where we're really praying Lord let that man know your love let that man have revelations of you that just fill him with joy and glory build him up the joy of the Lord is our strength Lord give him joy joy doesn't come just abstractly it comes through the promises and seen them and feeling them it comes through fresh views of the Cross and the realities of what Christ has done for us maybe it really begin to understand these things our prayers for other people become deep and so what I meant by seasons is seasons in life just when I see that you know typically when things start to go south when things start to grow cold or if they start to grow dry what I need is not suddenly to become like somebody else I need to revert back to the old paths and I think that's exactly what Paul's saying to the Philippians right there in that text they can wait relating seasons to different periods and our walk towards sometimes are a little bit cold sometimes huh for me you know I sometimes I can't think of a single thing to pray it's just like if any of you can't pray pray for me pray I mean seriously if you can't pray your pastor needs prayer desperately our missionaries need prayer desperate I mean desperate brethren desperate and and looked by what saying what I'm saying I'm not saying we can't learn from other men we certainly can and I'm not saying that there isn't a place for imitating godly people there certainly is but when it comes like look like this intercession thing I want to imitate him but as far as the exact amount of time and the exact time of the day that's what I'm getting at with it right approaching it exactly just like you know I can guarantee you that if ever there was a man to teach us how to pray it was the god man why do you think in Luke 11 they said Lord teach us to pray I mean they knew they've been watching this man they've been walking with him they knew if anybody knew how to pray it was him Lord teach us but but notice the Lord gave general principles but he did not say what time of the day how long he never says things like that Paul never says things like that yes the scripture talks about Christ praying in the morning but also praying in the evening yeah I mean it's it's like if you try but we don't want to beat what we don't want to try to do is simply be like somebody else we want to live and thrive on the biblical principles absolutely and where other people are God we want to imitate and if they're disciplined we want to imitate it but not try trying to you know thinking that the path to godliness is if I arise it for every day now let look arising at foreign praying maybe a mark of a very godly man and I certainly don't knock it all I'm saying is each one of us needs to we need to resort to those those ways by which we have excelled already and every one of us know this I mean if you've been a Christian in any amount of time at all you know you have better some seasons in life that are better more profitable you grow more and it's you could say well those are the seasons of trial well it's possibly possibly but you know I can say personally that it hasn't it hasn't i've known great manifestations of of christ in my life not just in seasons when there's trials it's others as well I mean I have had sweet seasons in prayer when there wasn't maybe sometimes when there is trial but in seasons when there hasn't been for me it's just a matter of just spending that time where I get beyond it's it's where I I really open up with the Lord it's more than just this you know kind of I got these things and I know I need to lay them out there it's it's when I take that time and where I'm determined you know I'm gonna stay out here tell my time with the Lord is sweet and real we heard last week about David Brainerd what a thing go all day all morning through the afternoon till finally the Lord comes about sunset that's sticking to it of course when you're a missionary and you're out in the woods you can do that a lot of us have to go off to work places and we have things we have to do and we have families and we have responsibilities and the truth is truth is we can't always do what Brainerd did but we need to give priority to the Lord over family over work over everything and so we need to be figuring out when in our schedule we're going to give him the best we're talking about seeking not to imitate wrongly it's possible to seek experiences unearth I have had as opposed to seeking Christ those aren't the same thing right I mean I'm drawn towards the experiences of others when in that experience what they experienced was Christ I mean I I want it I want it and I guess hearing what was said last week about numerous visitations in his prayer life all that dozens encouraged me with greater expectations in my own prayer life because that's when I've by and large that's when I've known the greatest manifestations of Christ in my life and so all that does is renew a hunger in me that in a certain way that just makes me want to want more but brethren I'll tell you this there may be a connection between these many and repeated seasons that he is experienced and the amount of time he dedicates himself to intercession think on that he's pouring himself out in love for others and the Spirit sweeps in and pours the love of God into his heart I really believe there's a connection brethren I really believe there is ok well God make us intercessors you're dismissed

Channel: I'll Be Honest

Views: 8,738

Rating: 4.8769231 out of 5

Keywords: tim, conway, intercession, prayer, secret, closet, father, heaven, reward, answer, biblical, Ephesians, 18, Jesus, Christ, glory, god, supplication

Id: suglHltKI_A

Length: 60min 48sec (3648 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 23 2010