Jan. 22, 2012 - Carter Conlon - Why Should I Pray for What Seems to be Impossible?

god bless you this morning and God bless all of our visitors that are that are here with us today luli McCoy and her team from Communication Ministry are going to be at the information table at the end of the service today if you are able to give us a couple of months of your time and help it would be greatly greatly appreciated our budgets are limited we simply can't hire any more full-time people but if you can if you can help us there's just a lot of work and it's piling up on them and that we'd appreciate it very much if you've been looking for a ministry where you can help get the word of God out this this would be a good one for you to consider getting involved in three o'clock this afternoon prayer service we are praying and fasting for a period of 21 days as a church now that doesn't mean we're fasting for 21 days what it means is that people are taking the time to set apart half a day a day of putting away food except for liquids and spending that time in prayer believing God for this city for the five boroughs of New York City and I'm so glad to day to find out that almost a thousand people have signed up on the prayer board praying 24 hours a day and doing prayer walks I mean just going out on the street alone or maybe two by two and just just walking together and and praying out loud for these various boroughs and thank God for that thank God deeply appreciative of how you have embraced this time of a prayer and fasting now I'm going to be speaking a message this morning from the book of 1st John in the New Testament now the last book is revelation just go back a few pages from the last book in the New Testament you'll find 1st John chapter 5 and then the book of Daniel chapter 9 in the Old Testament Isaiah Jeremiah lamentations Ezekiel than you have Daniel now father I thank you God with all of my heart Lord we're living in a momentous help us Lord Jesus Christ help us not to fail of the grace that you've given us help us Lord not to make the mistake that the children of Israel made when they came to the very borders of the supernatural and drew back and died in it in a desert father god help us we lift our voices like your own disciples did that when they said Lord increase our faith Lord you've got to help us we can only believe as much as we can like the father with a child that was in difficulty said lord I believe help my unbelief Lord you got to help us to hear you've given us ears but we can't hear with them if you don't enable us you've given us Minds to read your word but we can't fully embrace it unless you give us the hearts to embrace it and so let I stand before you as your people do and I'm asking your father to take us farther than we've ever gone before give us hearts to believe you Lord give us hearts and ears to be able to hear you Lord we have only one desire today it's all it's in my heart is that your name be glorified in this generation I'm tired Lord of your name being thrown around is if so casually and so worthlessly it's not appropriate I'm asking you Jesus your name be glorified I'm asking you father to do something so profound in the city that the whole world will have to take notice my god I know the judgment must come to this world but I see in your word where mercy precedes it I see a mercy call in my heart and I'm asking you God to give us the grace to believe this give us faith to pray like we've never prayed Lord you're not interested in empty words that's all religion has to offer empty repetitive words you're not interested in these things you're looking for a heart of faith and so God I'm asking you Lord in this church and in my life when I opened my mouth to pray and be filled with faith God Almighty I yield my body to this purpose and yield my mind in my heart to this purpose that I'm asking you to do this do it sovereignly do it supernaturally do it whatever way you want to do it I'm just asking you to do it bless those that are hearing this day god bless those that are in home Fellowship's bless the churches that are listening my god almighty in the name of Jesus give us faith Lord to believe you Lord God help us not to look at impossibility and call it anything other than what you call it give us grace Lord give us grace in this generation give me the ability to speak this you put this on my heart help me God father I ask this in Jesus name Amen I want to read you something from the Word of God that caused my heart to explode in faith this week I read it I don't I can't tell you how many times I've read this book I don't know how many times over the years but I've never seen this I've never understood it it's as if God hides his word sometimes until the right season comes remember when Josiah was was rebuilding the temple and calling the people back to the worship of the true God it was then that the book of the law was discovered it's not that it hadn't been around it's just nobody it was hidden and the Lord just doesn't casually throw his word around if he knows that there's a generation they're not going to listen to what he has to say he'll hide his word until an appropriate time otherwise we would read it and we would just become more hardened to it and calloused to it I want to just read you first John chapter 5 verses 13 to 16 and had to explain it to you the title of my message is why should I pray for what seems to be impossible now these things verse 13 first John 5:13 these things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the son of God that you might know that you have eternal life and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God and this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will he heareth us anything my Bible says this is the confidence if we ask anything according to his will he hears us and if we know that he hears us whatsoever we ask we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him it's amazing just that I'm I'm reading it slowly so that it can sink in if we know that he hears us whatsoever we ask we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him now verse 16 ties into this if any man sees his brother sin a sin which is not unto death he shall ask and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death now these are incredible words how deeply am I to embrace them what does it mean that I can pray for my brother and God will give him life unless he has sinned a sin unto death now I'm hoping that I'm going to be able to explain this very very clearly before we get to the end of this message now go to the Book of Daniel please chapter 9 if you already have a marker there in the Old Testament Daniel chapter 9 now the Bible tells us in Daniel chapter 9 the Daniel understood by the word of the Lord in other words the Word of God was quickened to him from the Book of Jeremiah actually chapter 25 primarily verses 11 and 12 it was written clearly it was written plainly that the chastisement of the Lord upon his people and upon his nation was nearing completion he understood it it says in the first year of his reign Daniel 9 - I Daniel understood by books the number of the years where of the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the Prophet that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem now Daniel saw something that the casual seeker of God doesn't see he was a man given to the seeking of God he was a man giving to living in right relationship with God and it's not that others didn't have access to these scriptures I'm sure but suddenly at the end of all of this time it's not even the Daniel wasn't a seeker of God but suddenly the the muddy water clears as it is and suddenly you see deep into the scripture and he understood that a doorway was about to open and anyone who wanted to return to where the place of God's true blessing and purpose was found could it could go there he saw it he said Lord you you have determined a specific time where you actually chastised your own people because of the careless handling of the Word of God they had the presence of God as a nation they had the Word of God but they got caught up in the prosperity they got caught up in the blessing they became casual bored maybe with the narrowness and the simplicity of going to the temple and offering sacrifice and having their prayers answered and ministering to the stranger and all of these things that that God had so clearly come down and manifested his presence and said this is what my house is about it's to be a house of prayer and when people come in I'm going to sovereign the answer them and the name of God would be brought to reputation in the earth because of this but the people the caretakers of the house as it is the caretakers of the temple became so utterly careless with what had been given to them just as you and I can become careless we are the temple of the holy spirit and we can become casual and careless with the things of God and because of that the Lord allowed their enemies to come and overpower them and take them into captivity and to those that were in captivity the reports would be coming back that the the temple is destroyed the city is in ruins the testimony of God is in shambles we are in captivity and it would it would seem like such a hopeless and impossible situation and that's suddenly in the midst of it all this man Daniel is seeking God and off of the pages of Scripture begin to lift this incredible promise the doorways about to open now that's impossible to the neutral mind it's impossible how could it happen we're captivated by then the controlling power of the known world yes taken into captivity by the Babylonians and now the medo-persians have committed and conquered Babylon there these are not people naturally given to kindness these are not the people who you can petition the king and say we'd like to go back and build a testimony that glorifies God in the earth and and declares him to be more powerful than you are there's absolutely no way these these are not people that are even sympathetic to the things of God so not only is Jerusalem destroyed but the people of God are captivated in a sense by the nations of the world that have surrounded them and suddenly Daniel sees a door about to open he sees it in the scriptures it's not you know a lot of people claim to hear voices I don't hear voices I see God always speaks to me through his word that's how he speaks he's he's already made an open and plain declaration of who he is and what he does and how he intends to do it there was a church in Revelation chapter 3 called Philadelphia and the Lord said to this church you have only a little strength you've kept my word and you've not denied my name he said I'm going to set before you an open door and no one can close it because you've done these things he said false religion is going to be forced to bend before you because of what I'm about to do for you there are people he said to Philadelphia who claimed a relationship with me but you're going to so bypass them those who have been concerned about the honor of God those who have not denied the name of Jesus Christ those have stayed true to biblical Christianity I'm going to open a door and those who have had a relationship with me but it's not been true they're going to have to bow before your feet he said they're going to have to acknowledge that I've loved you in other words I'm going to do something so powerful for you and so supernatural that one more time like in the book of Acts chapter 2 the three thousand religionist as it was bowed at the feet of 120 that were in the upper room now there's no evidence that many people were aware of this but as I said earlier the plans of God always come to those who are truly seeking Him now what did Daniel do with this information he did as he was accustomed to do he began to pray verse 3 it says I set my face unto the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes I saw this in the Word of God and I set my face to see it happen I went to the throne of God now Daniel did something in the next verses I'm going to read to you that you and I should be aware of today now he was a righteous man he had not been personally responsible for the suffering he'd been brought into he was just a young man when he was taken in a mess and forced deportation from the nation of Israel into Babylon he had been castrated made a eunuch in the babylonian king's court in other words so those things that are most important to a jewish boy family is gone no chance of a family no chance of a relationship he could have been so bitter and he wasn't responsible he was a young man with God and serving God but because of the casual handling of the truth of God by his own people he was taken into captivity and he suffered incredible hardship and pain because of it he wasn't personally responsible for his own suffering but he included himself within the ranks of those who had been justly judged and you'll see it here he did not say they did this and they did that no there's something in his prayer it was now we did this we casually handled your word we walked away from the truth that we once knew and it reminds me of Christ Christ Jesus was a righteous man obviously the son of God and he had not been personally responsible for the mess that had come upon humanity but he included himself within the ranks of those that were justly judged when he went to a cross and so you and I have a responsibility to not pray just for ourselves when we pray we don't pray oh god bless Times Square Church that's a wonderful prayer thank God if you pray but we've got to go beyond that it can't be just our own charts our own denomination our own family it's blessed the people of God we've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God if you came down Lord in our midst today if you manifested your glory in the sanctuary there's not one of us could stand no matter how many days we faster how long we pray we could not stand because in our own selves there are all areas in every one of our hearts where we've fallen short of the glory of God Daniel 9 for he says I prayed to the Lord my God and made my confession and said O Lord the Great and dreadful God keeping covenant and mercy to them that love him and to them to keep his Commandments verse five we have sinned and committed iniquity and have done wickedly and have rebelled even by departing from thy precepts and from the judgments daniel said God we sinned when we left the simplicity of your word when we started trying to manage the from the minds of men when we started to come up with formulas and theories that have not come from the Word of God we sinned by departing neither have we hearken to your servants the prophets which spoke in your name through our Kings our Prince's our fathers and to all the people of the land and Stannis's is not as if you left yourself without a voice there were voices raised up there were people warning about where we were going but we were not willing to listen Oh Lord verse 7 righteousness belongs to you but unto us confusion of faces as at this day to the men of Judah to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to all Israel that are near and far off through all the countries where you've driven them because of their trespass that they've trespassed against you O Lord to us belongs confusion to face to our kings to our princes to our fathers because we've sinned against you this is our portion daniel said this confusion of face in other words we we are the people of God but somehow we've been marginalized somehow we've been surrounded somehow seemingly captivated by forces beyond our control but you he says in verse 9 to the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness that we've rebelled against him neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God to walk in his ways which he set before us by his servants the prophets yay verse 11 all israel of transgressed thy law even by departing that they may not obey thy voice therefore the curses upon us is poured upon us and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God because we've sinned against him now if you go back to Deuteronomy you'll see that says that you'll you'll work and not prosper you'll strive and not succeed in a sense but we're talking in the spiritual sense verse 12 and he's confirmed his words which we spoke against us and against our judges that judged us by bringing upon us a great evil front of the whole heaven has not been done as has been done upon Jerusalem as it is written in the law of Moses all this evil is come upon us yet we made not our prayer before the Lord God that we might turn from our iniquities and understand the truth I think about 9/11 I think about what came to this I think about this this constant crumbling now of the infrastructure of this country the crumbling of the family the crumbling of our financial system the the ineptitude of our political system it seems to be all falling apart at the same time God's judgment is just on societies that turn from him but it's it's gradual thank God he doesn't just judge us in one day this came upon us but it didn't turn us to the Lord our God that we might understand where we've failed and come back to truth you know we sang a few songs we sang god Bless America half a dozen times and then just walked away from everything that God was trying to speak to us as a people therefore has the Lord watched upon the evil and brought it upon us for the Lord our God is righteous and all his works which he done which he does for we obeyed not his voice now so that's the state there has to be a true recognition when I pray now for this country I don't exclude myself from being part of the problem I don't put myself before the throne of God as the solution and everyone else is the problem that's arrogance it's pride and James said clearly the Lord will resist that kind of Prayer but we'll give grace to the humble and Daniel went before God and said Lord can anybody here is anybody here can sight you've been everything that that you should have been in Christ is easier one please don't raise your hand because you'll be so embarrassed when this video is replayed in heaven and you see your hand raised and you finally see yourself in the light of God and realize as I said last week you're just a junkyard that God has stored the treasure of his son inside of so so please don't do that but Daniel now begins to appeal to that which really matters in verse 15 he said Oh Lord our God you brought your people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and you've gotten yourself renowned as at this day we've sinned and done wickedly Oh Lord according to all thy righteousness I beseech thee let that anger and the fury be turned away from that city Jerusalem the holy mountain because of our sins and for the iniquities of our fathers Jerusalem and our people and thy people have become a reproach to all that are about us now therefore o our God hear the prayer of thy servant and his supplications and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate for the lord's sake o my god incline thine ear and hear open thine eyes and behold our desolations in the city that is called by thy name for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousness but for that great mercy O Lord here Oh Lord forgive Oh Lord hearken and do defer not for thine own sake oh my god for thy city and thy people are called by thy name now here's the key this this is where the prayer turns this is where faith comes into the heart Daniel says Lord I'm not praying I'm not bringing you anything of my own I'm not saying you should do this because any of us have done right but for your holy name's sake because it's your name that's at stake here you are the God who brought us out of captivity and brought us into an inheritance and your name was once glorified in the earth and because of our carelessness your name has been cast down your your name has become a reproach among the people and Daniel says Jesus is if you are not praying Daniels prayer would say Jesus for your name's sake revive us again for your name's sake we back to life that which was dead for your name's to get glory to your name Lord I'm not appealing to you because we've done anything right and we're not bringing to you our righteousness we're not bringing our program deal we're not bringing us to 260 we're not bringing anything of ourselves to you we're simply appealing for the glory of your name Jesus for the honor of your name that one more time in history that men would not scoff but rather tremble when the name of Jesus Christ is spoken this is the heart of Christ and it's the absolute heart of prayer john 12:28 jesus said father glorify thy name it came right from the mouth of the son of god that was his mission that was his ministry to glorify the name of his father then there came a voice from heaven saying I have both glorified it and I will glorify it again thank God for that verse of scripture I have glorified it throughout all history and I will glorify it again God will continuously glorify his own name I think of the battle that Israel once had with the Philistines and David the young man who was going to be king came into the camp and the reason he went into the battle with Goliath is because the name of God was being maligned by this opposing army and by this voice of confrontation and conflict and challenge that was coming to the people of God and nobody could fight it because they were all caught in their own strength and caught in their own strategies and they'd lost sight of the power of God now God answers Daniel and he gave him an an understanding in the rest of this chapter although I'm not going to read it you can read it when you go home but he gave him an understanding that the answer to his prayer will eventually lead through a season of great trial before the ultimate victory it's amazing it gets an answer but it's not the kind of an answer you and I would expect and a messenger is sent to him and unlocks to him all of the future in a sense to the coming of Christ and he shows them trial difficulty and hardship and perplexity among nations difficulty which I believe that you and I are going to go into and greater measure in the days that we're in now now in a similar measure those in the upper room as well as in Acts chapter 4 they knew that the answer to their prayers would most likely bring many of them into the sufferings of Christ and yet still they prayed I don't know the exact prayer in the upper room but it must have been something like this Lord we've all failed you we ran when we should have stood we were quiet when we should have testified we boasted a loyalty which we are not able to fulfill in our own strength abject failures everyone in the room from those that had leaned on his chest to those that had made vocal boastings before him one thing I'm sure these people knew that they weren't going anywhere without the strength of God but I believe that they prayed something like this Lord used us to glorify your name and to draw many to yourself they knew that for God to answer this prayer they would be they would be brought into a place of scorn and derision now there would be great fruit born into the kingdom of God but I remind you that when they they came out of the upper room yes there's 3000 turn but there are also mockers there that accused them of being foolish and intoxicated and other things like this and there will be mockers when you and I pray Lord glorify your name through me you're here you're literally in short you're going to be brought into a place where you yes there'll be fruit but you will have to endure the mockery of a failed and fallen society and of many who are not going to go with God in the future in Acts chapter 4 the disciples were arrested Peter and John and they were threatened they were threatened by the powers that then existed that were no longer to speak in this name and I'm sure those threats were very real to them yet they went back they gathered in a prayer meeting and they prayed stretch forth your hand and use us in greater measure to affect our generation and they knew that for God to answer their prayer that it was going to be hardship for some of them and of course history lets us know that that was the case there was a Roman arena and many others such like things not for everybody for but for many but still they prayed they didn't pray for some cosmic visitation of God that will change their whole nation in a moment of time they prayed that God would use them they prayed for the courage to stand in the marketplace they they prayed for divine healing to flow through their hands and for the work of God to be continued in the earth now God answered Daniels prayer later on as we study the text of Scripture we see that Cyrus the King issued a decree suddenly God moves upon an impossible situation you imagine how incredulous it must have been when this door opens and the word gets around a decree is been issued we can go home we can rebuild the testimony of God's glory can be established in the earth again not only that but some are saying that the glory of the latter house would be greater than the glory of the former but not everyone returned when the call came everyone was invited but not everyone returned that initial return was about fifty thousand remember it says you can pray for your brother unless he has sinned to sin unto death and here's how I would define this it's no longer regarding or even desiring the lordship of Jesus Christ the people who are called by his name but they no longer regard him it's simply a casual Association and just like in Romans chapter 1 the scripture tells us they once had the truth but they held it in such late regard that they eventually changed the image of God in their minds and and without restraint they began to call that which is evil good it's a sin unto death to so casually handle the Word of God that they can't hear anymore won't hear don't want to hear when the Word of God comes in the heart it's crucified this Christ we have another one that we've made we have another Christ that we're following we don't want this Christ of Calvary we don't want this beat-up and bruised and wounded Savior we don't want to walk in the pathway that he has prescribed for our lives we don't want to share in the suffering we don't want to be misunderstood we've created another Christ and they so loosely and casually handle the Word of God that they can't hear anymore but to those who did return the Bible tells us they built a temple of greater glory than the former because this is the temple that Jesus came to it was the physical temple they rebuilt now they had a real struggle in rebuilding it but they kept moving forward by the Word of God that he brought through his servants they completed the temple it didn't look like much to many of them but it was the temple that Jesus came to it was the temple that he walked in it was the temple that he did the miraculous and spoke clearly and plainly now back in first John chapter 5 where we began I want to read it to you again and this is the confidence verse 14 that we have in him if we ask anything according to his will he hears us and if we know that he hears us whatsoever we ask we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death he shall ask and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death he shall ask and he shall give him life though the situation looks overwhelmingly impossible he shall ask and he shall give him life the majority of New York City have not send them to death folks oh they send but the sin unto death is when you can't hear the voice of God anymore and you don't want to hear the voice of God but I believe that many people do want to hear the voice of God in our generation they are there is an inner hunger there there is an ability and on you and I this promise I hope it's not just me that sees this but what I read is that if I ask for my brother now when I looked it up it just means fellow human being as well as it could be somebody who wants new God in his backslidden if I ask God will give him life now the death means in the original text it means just cut off from the enlivening influence of God if you see your brother cut off from God and you ask you'll give him life which means you quicken him you bring it back to life again it's it's a moment in history where God says I'm set before you an open door as my people not just for yourselves but for many others if you will simply ask in faith standing on the promises of the Word of God that if I ask for my brother if I stand in front you see there's a lot of churches in the city that are almost empty now and have very little influence but there are people there willing to hear and it may look like a cemetery but that doesn't mean anything to God he's well able to bring life out of the grave folks that's who we serve that's who Christ is it hasn't history taught us that that's where Christ's name is truly brought to glory if we can do it then there's a there's a shared glory may I say that we would write books about it and we put out strategies and we tell everybody else how to do it and that's essentially what we probably done for the last 20 or 30 years no no God in His mercy brings us to a place where he's the only one that can make a difference he lets Lazarus die let's Martha quote all the Scriptures he wants let's Mary fall and weep at his feet he waits until the situation is totally hopeless and then comes in and does what only God can do and brings his own name to reputation history teaches us this over and over again 135,000 people come against the the nation of Israel God calls a young man called Gideon he initially starts with about 20,000 or so people and then he brings it down to 300 because the odds were too much in Gideon's favor 300 versus 135,000 then gives him a ridiculous battle plan to the natural put a torch in an earthen jar standing three companies on the mountainside take the torch off the jar smash it put the torch high and yell the sword of the Lord and the sword of Gideon that means the Word of God in the mouth of a human vessel that's really what it means the Word of God in the mouth of a human vessel and one more time God brings his own name to glory he waits till Daniel is in the lion's den and the stone is put on the top and the Kings seal is on it before he sets the mouths of the Lions and brings his own name to glory and turns the laws of that nation which the Libre boys are in the furnace all wrapped up in the coats and thrown in to the furnace before he appears and delivers them out of the furnace and brings his own name to glory the King said I through three men in the fire but I see for in the midst of it now and one of them looks like the Son of God history teaches us over and over and over and over again that Jesus Christ brings his name to glory when it can happen anywhere any other way we are living at a time like that right now there's no other way we've tried all the strategies we've had all the big-name personalities we've been on television and radio all over the country and all over the world and produce the generation of death in the midst of it we have a Lazarus result in a sense of much of our efforts not all thank God but much of it when the Lord Jesus Christ is willing to do so much more I'll stake my life on this I'll stake my hope my future my everything that Jesus will glorify his own name in this generation the greatest thing that you and I can do is not come up with another program but simply come up with a heart of prayer that agrees with God we've made a mess of your testimony this nation should be singing Amazing Grace every Sunday the streets of Manhattan shouldn't be empty of traffic on Sunday when they're full Monday to Friday with people lusting for fame and money they shouldn't be empty there should be traffic jams at the Lincoln Tunnel and the George Washington as people are coming in and trying to get to the house of God history has taught us that in these critical moments that we're living in that there have been a people have laid hold of these truths you imagine Daniel bringing this to some of his close associates and people around God is about to release us and there's always a people that only can see is the captivity the destruction the hopelessness they can't see the hand of God but folks live there if you want but I'm not going to live there I see the hand of God in this generation there's always a people to come to the shores of incredible promise and all I can see is the Giants they've brought by the Word of God to this this the ads of a marvelous victory in the earth but they choose to see the Giants they choose to see the impossibility they they choose to listen to them the statisticians and all those other voices apart from the voice of God 'no sin no lord it can't be done we were too far it's too hopeless mark chapter 5 there was a ruler of the synagogue whose daughter was dying he went to Jesus and said my daughter is dying could you please come and help and then as they were heading to his house a word came the daughter is dead don't trouble the master any further the daughter is dead it's hopeless there'll always be this word come to you when Jesus is coming to do a miracle Jesus is coming to do something in your life in your home and your family your community your charge wherever you're from but this word will come to you your daughter is dead don't trouble the master don't go in the prayer closet don't speak to him anymore leave him alone it's too late it's over Jesus turned to this man and said don't be afraid only believe and when he came to his house it says he saw the tumult and people weeping and wailing for the law the hopelessness the ruin the loss of dreams and visions and all these people are crying and they're of the household of faith folks it's not like he's he's gone into some foreign nation it's his own people it's the house of faith and then verse 39 and says when he came into the house he said to them why do you make this adieu and weep why all the wailing why all the unbelief then he said something phenomenal the damsel is not dead she's only sleeping I'm telling you folks the church is not dead only sleeping in our generation only sleeping not dead only sleeping because dead to the natural eye but she can still hear the voice of God you say Jesus spoke to her and said young girl arise he spoke to her she could still hear him he spoke to Lazarus Lazarus come forth he spoke to him if I have no problem at all standing in front of churches that are empty now knowing that God is well able to speak to whoever can still hear he spoke to her the greatest thing that you and I could do today for the Lord's glory is here's how it starts get up and face your impossibility whatever it is that the devil and your mind and your circumstance is telling you can't happen in you because it's very hard if you can't believe for yourself how do you believe for others that's where it has to begin the devil has come to you from the time some of you are children and told you you're stupid you're an honest iver you'll never amount to anything you had words spoken into your heart and in your mind your life is a mess it's a ruin it's captivated very much like the children of Israel you don't see a way out but I'm telling you today that God has set before you an open door you've come here today you don't have much time but you've been in his word and you've not denied his name and he says I know you and I'm setting before you an open door I'm telling you folks when you go through that door and suddenly you begin to realize hey all things are possible to him who believes suddenly the miraculous starts unfolding in your heart your life in your mind and you now become a force to be reckoned with in in the kingdom of God and by the kingdom of darkness because you know something that the casual observer of God doesn't know anything about you know that he's able to change anything and bring victory into any situation and then suddenly as God has been good to you you and I start praying for our brothers we start praying for every person folks they may not look like they can hear but you'd be surprised we start praying for the other from the drug addict to the agnostic to the high schooler to the college kid to those on Wall Street to those in the entertainment industry to those in various churches throughout the city that seemingly died years ago and suddenly we realize hey there is no limit to what God can do and our prayers suddenly is Jesus glorify your name you've glorified it before glorified again call these people out of Darkness call them out of death clarify your name Lord Jesus Christ and suddenly God begins to answer graves begin to open churches come back to life people begin to sing praise again and you and I can't take any credit for it because we know it has not come from anything we've produced it's something that God has done in each of our hearts it all starts by winning those initial victories I want to give an altar call this morning and it's very very simple for everybody for everybody that you got something you can't get out of and you got something you can't get into you got somewhere you should be leaving and you got somewhere you can't go you're stuck as the children of Israel were stuck in the meat of Persian Empire at the time that this word came to Daniel but you're willing to say today by God's grace I'm not staying here there's a door opened and I'm out of where I shouldn't be and I'm going into where I should be and I'm not going alone by God's grace men are going to come with me I'm going to be a voice God is going to use my life in this generation I'm up and out and I'm up and in by the grace of Almighty God I'm I'm speaking to people who are living in an impossible place if you are willing to trust God today we're going to pray one prayer at this altar Lord Jesus Christ glorify your name glorify your name we're not we're not coming to him with any presentation of goodness from ourselves we're not saying you should do this because not even because of fasted and prayed you should do this for your own namesake bring glory to your name Jesus I believe that's the key to the victory I believe with all my heart and once the Lord begins to do it in your life then suddenly there's an explosion of faith comes into your mind and you say Lord what you did for me you can do for others you are the God who raises the dead and gives away where there is no way now father I know I know I know I have spoken from your throne I know I have a word from God I know Lord that many of us are at a juncture we can't go farther without faith I pray today Lord Jesus Christ break bondages you said in the book of Hebrews it out of weakness they were made strong women receive their dead back to life again Lord this is the testimony that you've always longed to have in the people forgive us God for trying to negotiate through this life in our own strength and somehow add you into the mix forgive us for this ignorance I pray God open prison doors give sight to the blind heal the wounded in heart deliver those that are captive and let the treasure of the life of Christ be revealed to the poor God do what you've always done bring glory to your name today bring glory to your name God take me farther than I've ever gone I thank you for the journey to this point but this journey doesn't stop Lord it's a journey that goes forward it has to progress I pray God don't leave me where I am take me farther father I thank you for this I thank you for the freedom I'm believing you for freedom today you do not tease your people Lord you do not give us your word and send us out the way we came in no you're not a man who can lie you're an eternal God who doesn't lie I believe Lord that you're going to do something at this altar that will astound us I believe it with all my heart I ask your Lord to give courage and faith to those who need to trust you today in Jesus name now we're going to stand in the Annex you could step between the screens and roxbury the same and those that are listening on the internet you can just go to your knees right in your own living rooms but for those that this word is applied to you slip out of your seats please and make your way to this altar the balcony could either exit if you will and we're going to believe God for the miraculous no less than the miraculous today just come as people are worshiping and those of us who are going to be still in the sanctuary we're going to pray for these who come today and we're going to believe God for a miracle Lord Jesus Christ I take you at your word and I pray for my brothers and sisters who come to this altar today I pray God that you give everyone life so abundantly so powerfully that of new song of praise will be put upon their lips I ask you Lord for a supernatural healing of woundings and words that have caused many grief for many years history Lord this day God as Samuel came to Jesse's house and poured oil upon David that you pour the oil of your healing and your power and your presence on every life the cry of my heart today Lord for each of us is that you would glorify your name through us in all the earth did you glorify your name the prophet Isaiah saw it he saw people glorifying God in the midst of the fires no matter what struggles or trials await us there was a people who had a song that could not be put out it couldn't be taken away Lord Jesus Christ give us life Lord that we may believe you then we may walk all God in faith that we may believe beyond our borders and believe for those Lord that our eyes say to us are dead but God you don't see what we see and you don't think what we think Lord lift us God out of ourselves Lord and into the place where you are I've only one request Lord there you glorify your name in the city Jesus glorify your name on the airwaves in the stores in our neighborhoods the Lord where young people gathered for violence let them gather for prayer Lord God Lord God dudes are profoundly that nobody could touch the glory the only fools would even try it would be so obvious to everyone that it's simply you begin in this house today with us Lord father God I pray that you glorify your name Jesus everywhere we go in our homes Lord our families our workplace our lack thereof whatever it is God did you glorify your name how folks would you lift your hands please everyone in this house and we're going to sing father glorify your name and let it come right from the depths of your heart today and believe believe I want you to see an open door and you take that open door and you walk through it into the strength of Christ just do that right now we'll all sing it together hallelujah Lord we're not willing to leave here the same as we came in thank you Lord for many many today walking through that open door to rebuild and reclaim and to bring glory to the name of Jesus Christ father we thank you Lord that our prayers for these five boroughs are not in vain God you hear the prayers of one Saint more than the millions of voices that don't know you you hear the prayers of one saint of God Oh God thank you Jesus thank you lord thank you God hallelujah thank you lord thank you lord thank you lord thank you Jesus this afternoon at 3 o'clock we're going to continue to pray for New York City some of our elders who didn't have a chance to pray in the first meeting will be leading us and then various ministry leaders also in the church will be part of that as well then next Tuesday be open microphone which means that if you have a per burden in your heart you may be given an opportunity to pray with the church about that Oh glory to God hallelujah thank you Lord for this day lord thank you for what's coming I envision a day when we're going to dance in the streets and clap our hands and shout for glory at what you've done you're so merciful Jesus thank you Lord thank you God in your precious name Amen see you at 3 o'clock 6 o'clock this evening please turn make a friend don't let anybody ever leave this church lonely god bless you see you this afternoon

Channel: Times Square Church

Views: 30,992

Rating: 4.8998075 out of 5

Keywords: Carter Conlon, Sermon, Times Square Church

Id: f172upa_mgo

Length: 55min 42sec (3342 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 27 2012