September 5, 2021 | 9:00AM | Bellevue Baptist Church

amen it is great to see you here this morning you know when there seems to be no way god makes a way he did it for abraham and isaac he continues to do it for his children today would you stand and sing with us sing along with lee as she leads us [Music] you are here moving in our midst i worship you i worship you you are here working in this place i worship you i worship [Music] i worship you you are here working in this place i worship you i [Music] light in the darkness my god that is who you are [Music] you are we make [Music] miracles my god that is who you are you are here touching every heart [Music] you are here and you're healing everybody [Music] [Applause] [Music] every [Music] [Applause] [Music] baby [Applause] [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus jesus even [Music] even when i don't see it you're working even when i don't feel it you're working you'll never stop you never stop again [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh i'm so thankful god is still working we're going to celebrate with three people who trusted christ as their savior and they're coming to proclaim that through believers baptism turn your attention to the baptistery and the screens well good morning church family it is so good to be in the house of the lord i'm excited this morning we're baptizing three people this morning and we're starting out with two beautiful sisters an eight-year-old and eleven-year-old that have given their lives to christ amen [Applause] we've talked with each one of them they have all repented of their sins they believe that jesus died and rose from the dead to save them and they have received jesus as their lord and savior so this is my friend elizabeth adeboye she's eight years old and she loves jesus and so elizabeth it's because of that decision you made to trust christ as your savior i can baptize you my little sister in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit we are buried with jesus in baptism unto death and raised to walk in newness of life [Music] attaboy a that's right amen well deborah it's because of that decision you made to follow christ i can baptize you my sister in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit we're buried with jesus in baptism under death and raised to walk in newness of life [Applause] [Music] this is my new friend jonathan seiler he was just telling me a pastor came in to buy a car from him pastor got the car but he got jesus so jonathan [Applause] it's an absolute honor to baptize you my brother in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit we're buried with jesus in baptism under death and raised to walk in newness of life church family all guys people said [Music] [Applause] hey we're going to teach you a new song this morning it just came out it was by charity gale who was with us just a few weeks ago the pastor heard it and said man we need to sing that song so harmony's going to lead us you learn it i think you'll see it's the truth and it's the cry of our heart [Music] we're the same god today in the same god tomorrow help me see the victory you already see let my faith be today but it will be tomorrow when i see the victory you've already seen [Music] jesus [Music] we need a miracle you are the miracle maker god of the impossible there is no power exceeding [Music] jesus [Music] by the power of your name [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] me [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] he receives all the glory [Music] and in the healing you get the glory you get the glory in the breakthrough you get the glorious in the waiting [Music] even in the breaking you get the glory and the breakthrough [Music] [Applause] is [Applause] [Music] there is no power [Applause] we need a miracle [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh jesus [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] lord jesus we need a miracle work in our midst can we sing that chorus we need a miracle you are the miracle man [Music] is [Music] jesus [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Applause] amen you can be seated i'm not sure it's fair that all i get to do is announcements after that right there uh that's pretty incredible it's been a great morning of worshiping already thank you for being with us today and uh if you're a guest with us we would really love to know that we know a lot of people are celebrating labor day weekend away from here but we know there's guests here as well we would love the chance just to get to know you a little bit better we also have people that are watching online we know from all over that are guests as well if that's you we would love for you to do one quick thing for us and that would be to text the word guest to 901 901 if you do that somebody from our team will reach out to you answer any questions you have help you take any next steps you'd like to take so if you would just take just a minute to do that just text that word guest to 901 901 there's a lot that's going on the fall is just about in full swing and so i want you to watch this a quick video here that tells you a little bit about what's happening and how you can be involved with the fall season just around the corner so are our equip classes bellevue strives to equip you with the tools you need to grow in your faith whether you wish to study the bible or find christian community as you search for solutions to life's problems equip offers a variety of options classes start this wednesday so go online to bellevue.org equip and register today bellevue men is hosting two bible studies a week beginning this wednesday evening we'll offer disciplines for every man and on thursday morning starting september 16th the minne memphis weekly bible study with pastor steve continues go to bellevue.org men to register we are thrilled to usher in this new season of bellevue women let's gather together to study the beginning his story in genesis 1-11 we hope you'll join us on tuesdays wednesdays or sundays go online to bellevue.org women and register today so those are a few things that are going on that we hope you look forward to this wednesday night another thing that we're adding to this wednesday night is at the end of our time at 7 45 in the courtyard we're going to have some jerry snow cones and menpops so we hope that you'll join us i heard that that's exciting for sure they're excited so it's going to be a great time after you finish the different classes you're a part of this will be for our children our students and nextgen all of our adult classes all these things going on we'd love for you to join us for that for sure another thing that i want to tell you about is we have something that we do every month called explore 101 lunch with the pastor and that is happening today immediately following our 11 o'clock service so around 12 30 and guest central which is right out these back doors to my left and to your right and we would love for you to join us if you are somebody that's wanting to check out our church you're thinking about is this the place the lord is leading you or maybe you know this is the place then you can go to explore 101 today hear from our pastor about who we are as a church and then have the opportunity to take a next step there if you didn't sign up it's okay but if you're a guest we would love to encourage you to be a part of that today like i said around 12 30. i want to pray for us and as i pray we're going to continue to thank the lord for how he is blessing this church through the faithful giving of his followers and of these church you the church members here thank you for your giving we don't pass the plate but there are receptacles all along the hallways also you can do that online we would encourage you to continue to be obedient in this way as you give of your tithes and offerings let's pray together and we'll continue to worship the music lord thank you so much for the opportunity that we do have to worship you to celebrate new life in christ through salvation and through that being given as a testimony through baptism lord thank you for the opportunity you give us to give to you through our tithes and offerings lord you continue to make us part of your plan thank you lord i pray that we would be faithful and obedient to follow you all the days of our lives and father there are people in this room who don't know you i pray that today would be the day of salvation for them lord we thank you we worship you now in spirit and in truth in jesus name amen [Music] jesus is the king of kings [Music] yes we will bow down and say you are good [Music] every man will bow down and say you are keen so let's start right now why would we wait king of glory fill this place i just wanna be with you i just want to be with you king of glory fill this place i just wanna be with you i just wanna be with you [Music] yes the world [Music] so let's start right now what would be [Music] [Applause] [Music] i just want to be with you [Music] i just wanna be with you [Music] and we'll dance in your presence till you come [Music] and we'll dance in your presence till you come again [Music] till you come again [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] with yes [Music] [Applause] [Music] i just wanna be with you [Music] i just [Music] going to wanna with you jesus [Music] thank you lord [Applause] thank you guys so much thank you sir appreciate that thank you take your bibles and turn with me please to james chapter 5 and in just a moment we'll be in verse 13 and following we continue our sermon series in the book of james and this is if you're counting number 19. we have one more sermon after this out of the book of james which will make obviously 20. and i have enjoyed walking through this book back in 2003 18 years ago my brother ed was diagnosed with aggressive lung cancer my mother went out to be with him and to take care of him and she stayed with him during and after his surgery and he came home and he was not going to church but while my mother was there she went to a baptist church and she talked to the pastor he was an older man and she asked him if he would pray for her son my brother ed and ed had not gotten a good diagnosis the doctor told him you've got less than one year to live and my mother was distraught and she told the preacher and he prayed the next morning that preacher was knocking on my brother's door at 8 30 in the morning that's not normally the time that preachers go see people but he said that god had gotten hold of him during the night and that he was supposed to be here be there he told my brother that he himself had faced his own mortality he shared the gospel with my brother and my brother prayed to receive christ my brother would do that again with me six years ago to make sure that he was saved but he prayed to receive christ and after that i called my brother and read to him from the passage that i'll be preaching from today about healing my brother i've told you before is the smartest person i've ever met and you might know somebody smarter than him but i doubt it he was just absolutely brilliant off the chart but when i shared james 5 with him he said seems pretty straightforward to me and i said would you come to gardendale and let our staff and let our deacons lay hands on you and pray for you to be healed and anoint you with oil and pray for you to be healed he said i sure will and he came and we prayed for him and i got to baptize my own brother at that time he went back to the doctor and he was totally healed all the lung cancer gone [Applause] a year later the doctor examined him and said i have no explanation for why you're still alive i didn't think i'd see you again he said it's a miracle i officiated my brother's memorial service this past june but god granted him 18 more years in our text today james tells us how god used his prayer look with me there in james chapter 5 verse 13. is anyone among you suffering that he must pray is anyone cheerful he is to sing praises is anyone among you sick and he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him the picture is someone lying down on a sick bed and they're circled around him praying over him anointing him with oil in the name of the lord and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick and the lord will raise him up if he's committed sins they will be forgiven him therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed the effective prayer of one literally one righteous man can accomplish much then he gives an example of one righteous man elijah was a man with the nature like us or ours and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months then he prayed again and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit god is omnipotent he is almighty he is more powerful than you or me or anyone or anything in the entire universe he's omnipotent he's also omniscient and all-knowing god is smarter than you god is smarter than me god is smarter than anyone he's more wise and intelligent than anyone in this universe including the devil and god is omnipresent he's everywhere at the same time the only place god is not is hell and because he's omnipotent omniscient and omnipresent he's absolutely self-sustaining that is he's self-sufficient that is he doesn't need us he doesn't need anything to continue to be god there is no one like our lord no one and yet as awesome as he is in all of his grandeur the lord allows us even though he needs nothing no one he allows us to serve him and amazingly he works sovereignly through redeemed humanity that is christians men and women boys and girls when we preach the gospel when we share the gospel in witnessing the lord uses the sharing of our gospel as the means by which he wins people to faith in christ more people get saved when we share the gospel than when we don't jesus uses our efforts when we read the bible god speaks to us through his word more people get a word from god if they read the bible than if they don't and god uses our prayers to accomplish his will more people see god move in their lives if they pray than if they don't and more people get healed when we pray for people to be healed than when we don't jesus said in matthew 6 10 lord let your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven and somehow for some reason i can't figure out god uses my little bitty prayers in a big way that's an ocean full of truth that i'm trying to pour into my pint-sized brain why in the world would almighty god want me to pray and why would he accomplish his will through my prayers all i know is he does and james is trying to tell us that today how does god use your prayers number one he uses prayer to comfort our suffering if you're suffering today one of the best things you can do is to pray and god will use your prayers to comfort that suffering look at verse 13 is anyone among you suffering then he must pray literally he must pray first century christians many of them were suffering the romans were taxing them unfairly disproportionately the jews when they became christians the jews would kick them out of the synagogues and the jews when they became christians many times their own families would disown them and treat them like a stranger i had a pastor friend that i knew and he pastored in west tennessee he was jewish he became a christian and his family totally disowned him and he never was able to speak to them again same thing was going on here many of the jews when they became a christian were losing their jobs simply because they were following jesus as the christ jesus said when you're suffering you must pray suffering christians needed help that only god can give the lord's not your last resort he's your first choice i love what mark batterson says prayer is the difference between the best you can do and the best god can do i can't do very much but god can do anything i want god to work and so i'm going to pray is anyone among you suffering he must pray paul and silas were suffering because they shared the gospel if you read about it in acts chapter 16 and as they were preaching one day in philippi i've been there twice a demonized woman who was a fortune teller came up and started interrupting paul while he was preaching her content was good she was saying these men are bond servants of the most high god who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation nothing wrong with the content but she was interrupting the whole time now if you got up and started shouting out john 3 16 and you did it about 20 times after a while i'd get tired of it i'd say you know god's talking right now and he's talking through me and he does god doesn't interrupt himself so paul got tired of it the bible says he said in the name of the lord jesus he talked to it the demon come out of her and the demon left her demons bow to the name of jesus and all of a sudden when the demon was gone the owner of the fortune teller was angry because now the source of revenue had evaporated and so they took it to the local officials and paul and barnabas were in trouble we read about in acts 16 22 and following the crowd rose up together against them and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods when they had struck them with many blows they threw them into prison commanding the jailer to guard them securely and he the jailer having received such a command threw them into the inner prison and fastening their feet in the stocks and then it says but about midnight this is about as sad as a country music song amen about midnight paul and silas were what said hell out prayed they weren't complaining they weren't wondering why god wouldn't come through they were praying they weren't just praying they were singing hymns of praise to god and the prisoners were listening to them and guess what somebody else was listening god almighty and suddenly there came a great earthquake the foundations of the prison house were shaken and immediately all the doors were open and everybody's chains were unfastened when paul and barnabas suffered they prayed god heard their prayers came to their rescue now they'd already been beaten why didn't god come to the rescue earlier i look i don't claim to know the mind of god and some people when they prayed the doors weren't open and they went on to be martyred god moves in mysterious ways that's not scripture but it is a scriptural thought we don't understand the ways of god that is a scripture his ways are not our ways his thoughts are not our thoughts for as high as the heavens are above the earth so great are his thoughts greater than ours and his ways are beyond our comprehension we don't understand god i don't understand all that he does but i know this if i knew everything about everything there is to know i would agree with him on everything he does god is a good god god has a good plan even when we go through hard times we need to pray god will use prayer to comfort you when you're suffering king david went through times of suffering and he's the one that wrote these words he said that god told him psalm 50 verse 15 call upon me in the day of trouble how many of you have ever had a day of trouble in your life anybody out there okay the ones that didn't raise their hands just keep living just keep breathing well thank you preacher you're welcome call up and by the way you've already had them you just don't want to admit it call upon me in the day of trouble why i shall rescue you and you will what honor me he gets all the glory when we go through a tough time and he pulls us through we give him all the glory and even if we die we give him all the glory psalm 91 9-15 if you make the lord your refuge if you make the most high your shelter no evil will conquer you it may come to you but it won't conquer you no plague will come near your home he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go they'll hold you up with their hands so you won't even hurt your foot on a stone you say well donna broke her ankle yeah but she didn't fall all the way down the mountain there was a tree that caught her she would have gone 50 feet further god protected her then she was tough enough to walk a mile on a broken ankle hello you will trample upon lions and cobras you'll crush fierce lions serpents under your feet the lord says i will rescue those who love me i'll protect those who trust in my name when they call on me there it is they call on me that's prayer i'll answer i'll be with them in trouble i'll rescue them i'll honor them have you lost your job have you had a devastating diagnosis with your health have you lost a loved one to covet or you got coveted now has someone dear to you died recently are you having difficulties in your family what am i supposed to do pastor when i suffer pray pray god uses prayers to comfort your suffering secondly god uses your prayer to celebrate our savior is on the complete other side of the spectrum look at the last part of verse 13. is anyone among you cheerful he's just saying praises euthamine oh you're to be cheerful you're to be courageous literally and you're to sing when things go wrong pray when things go right praise the lord sing praises it's the same word used in ephesians 5 19 make melody with your heart and by the way he didn't say make melody with your voice he said make melody with your heart it may not sound that great coming out but go and let it come out because it's just expressing your heart amen some of you all have quit singing because somebody told you you couldn't sing i'm not interested in how pretty you sing i just want you to let your heart loose and praise the lord you say well i can't sing on key then sing in the key of holy ghost amen it's one thing to celebrate in the sunshine it's another thing to celebrate during the storm paul if you continue to read about paul 11 chapters away from acts 16 in acts 27 he's on his way to see nero and to be before the emperor in rome and while he's going his ship that has almost 300 people on it they get in a big storm and they're at sea so long that and it's been so dark and the rain and the and all the trouble was going on and they hadn't seen light for days and they gave up but they better be glad paul was on that boat because he was praying the bible says since neither son nor stars appeared for many days this is acts 27 and no small storm was assailing us from then on all hope of our being saved was gradually abandoned when they had gone a long time without food paul stood up in their midst and said men you ought to have followed my advice and not to have set sail from crete and incurred this damage and lost yet now i urge you keep up your courage be cheerful that's the same word used in our text euthanaso for there will be no loss of life among you but only the ship for this very night an angel of the god to whom i belong and whom i serve stood before me saying don't you be afraid paul you must stand before caesar and behold god has granted you all those who are sailing with you they better be glad paul was on that chip that's why it stayed afloat therefore paul says keep up your courage euthamine oh be cheerful take courage men i believe god that it will turn out exactly as i've been told don't you love that well when you pray you think differently don't you everybody else says there's no hope but the person who prays says oh yes there is there's jesus it's all the hope we need god uses your prayers to celebrate our savior some of y'all are letting the world get you down you watch more news then you read the good news and you're all distraught you're all depressed what are we going to do what are we going i think what i'm going to do i'm going to trust god i'm going to pray things happen when you pray that don't happen when you don't pray worrying doesn't do any good just makes you look older wears you out bogs you down displeases god when should i pray all the time luke 18 1 one of my favorite verses now jesus was telling them a parable to show that at all times everybody say all times at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart you're either praying or you're losing heart you're either praying or you're discouraged you need to pray ephesians 5 19 speaking to one another in psalms hymns spiritual song singing making melody with your heart to the lord of all the people on the earth we as christians have more to rejoice about than anybody else doesn't matter how much money you make doesn't matter what kind of house you live in what kind of car you drive what kind of clothes you wear what kind of school your kid goes to i want to tell you something if you know jesus christ you are rich in where it really matters you have the riches of the lord jesus christ you're on your way to heaven celebrate throw up your hands and give god praise don't don't throw up your hands and say oh woe is me and surrender to fear throw up your hands and say my god is on the throne and i'm coming through i'm coming through amen celebrate your savior that's how god uses prayer number three god uses prayer to conquer our sicknesses look at verse 14. is anyone among you sick you must call for the elders of the church there to pray over him anointing him with oil in the name of the lord and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick and the lord will raise him up james said when you get sick call upon the elders elders presbuteros the pastors of the church he said no no no elders aren't pastors yes they are there's not three offices there's not pastors elders deacons there are only two elders which are pastors deacons which are servants pastors are servants too but they're different offices only two offices pastor and deacon elders and deacon a new testament elder is a pastor it is not a pastor excuse me no he is a pastor i'm sorry elder is not a super deacon on steroids now bellevue has pastors we don't call them elders we call them pastors i'm the senior pastor and that just means i get more male than the rest of them all right we have other pastors besides me here at bellevue james was the lead pastor the lead elder at the church of jerusalem there were other pastors along with him and so you call these pastors and you say i want you to pray over us it's the picture of someone again who's bedridden they're praying over the person they anoint him with oil oil does not refer to a medicinal treatment it's referring to this a symbolic form of the holy spirit the anointing is the anointing of the holy spirit but there's nothing magical in the oil it's just a a place where you you see god moving and they anoint the sick person with the oil in the name of the lord in the name of jesus there's no more powerful name than his name and the bible says in verse 15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who's sick and the lord will raise him up prayer was the means that god would use to bring healing to people doesn't mean that they don't go to doctors we'll talk more about that in a minute or take medicine i've been taking medicine for 21 years before that never taken any medicine there were doctors in the first century christians utilized them but the christians also relied on the lord for healing they used medicine used doctors but they also prayed for miracles i remember in my first church in lake dallas texas i was 25 years old i was preaching pastoring for the first time we had a prayer meeting on wednesday night most of the time it seemed like over 50 percent of our requests were people praying for asking for prayer for people who were sick and so i just finally said okay what are we supposed to pray for them and they gave me that look that only pastors can understand well didn't they teach you that in seminary that's the look they gave me didn't they don't you somebody should have taught you that i said well let's let's explore our options do we want to pray for them that god will just comfort them in their sickness or do we want to pray for them that god will help them not to be in much pain until they die or do we want to pray that god will heal them and then i read to them the text that we just read james 5 14 and 15 is anyone among you sick he must call the elders the pastor of the church there to pray over him anointing him with oil in the name of the lord and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who's sick and the lord will raise him up then verse 16. and by the way in verse 16 i only in baptist churches had heard the last part of it quoted you'll know the last part but did you know there's two other parts to it first part and the middle part here's the first part therefore confess your sins to one another we don't like that because that count that kind of sounds like catholicism don't we we don't want to confess our sins and then the next one pray for one another that you may be healed oh that's the charismatic we don't want that oh we'll take the baptist part the last part the effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much how many of you know that all of it's in the bible amen you can't pick and choose what you're going to believe i call this the catholic charismatic baptist verse but we need all of it not just one part of it the bible says to pray in faith for healing don't ever forget what i'm about to say to you it is our job to ask it is god's job to answer say it with me it is our job to ask it is god's job to answer i'm going to ask for healing because the bible tells me to ask for healing and then i'm going to leave the results with god i'm going to take my medicine i'm going to go to the doctor and i'll tell you why in a minute but i'm also going to ask god and i believe more people get saved when we share the gospel with them than they do when we don't share the gospel and i believe more people get healed when we pray for them to be healed than if we don't pray for them to be healed i believe that with all my heart god uses means god uses methods only god knows his perfect will but let's pray in faith i've prayed for sick people to be healed for over 40 years for 21 years i've been praying for god to heal me from my esteem and grab us i was so sick at one time i couldn't even dress myself my wife had to help me i couldn't preach i could just lay in bed well i'm preaching now and i still take small doses of medicine and i do it because my doctor tells me to but i still every day pray for healing and i will to the day i die or until i'm healed but i'm a lot better than i was and so do i understand any of it no i don't i don't look i i don't understand my car i don't understand it used to be listen donna had a battery go out used to be i could just go in there take two little screws out put the battery now you've got you've got to own so much mechanical stuff you can't even take a battery out of a car anymore it was absolutely unbelievably difficult to even think about it we looked on a video a youtube thing and i said i ain't doing that i don't know how to do that all right that's what i felt like right there that's exactly what i felt like especially when i paid for it amen i don't understand all of this i'm grateful for doctors i'm grateful for medicine jesus said in matthew or luke 5 31 jesus answered and said to them it's not those who are well who need a physician but those who are what sick jesus is fine with medicine he's okay with it but jesus in scripture also tell us to pray for healing the bible says god is the lord our healer exodus 15 26 if you will give earnest heed to the voice of the lord your god do what's right in his sight give ear to his commandments keep all his his statutes i'll put none of these diseases on you which i put on the egyptians for i the lord am your healer uses prayer to conquer our sicknesses number four god uses prayer to cleanse our sins very quickly look at verse 15 and if he has committed sins they'll be forgiven him therefore confess your sins to one another pray for one another so that you may be healed before the elders would anoint them and pray for them to be healed the sick person needed to repent of any unconfessed unrepentant of sin you know what we do here at bellevue don't you at the lord's supper we we said don't you just take this because the bible says if you take it in an unworthy manner that is with unconfessed sin in your life you can get sick okay i believe that i i believe that there are people that get sick because they take the lord's supper and they've got unconfessed unrepented of sin in their life i believe that that's what the bible says that's why i believe it and so here he's saying now listen you need to pray for one another so that you can be healed and you need to confess your sins if you committed sins you need to to pray about all that is exactly what the bible says confess your sins to one another pray for one another so that you may be healed manasseh was one of the meanest most wicked people in all of judah's history he was their king he killed people he was a sexual pervert he was absolutely terrible he's the reason god said okay that's it that's the final straw i'm not going any farther i'm taking judah down babylonians are coming but he repented and god forgave him listen to this when he was in distress he entreated the lord his god he prayed and humbled himself greatly before the god of his fathers when he prayed to him he was moved by his entreaty heard his supplication brought him again to jerusalem to his kingdom then manasseh knew the lord was god if my if god will look at me reason i bring up manasseh some of y'all are saying preacher you don't know what i've done you don't know how bad i am god would never heal me look at me if god will forgive manasseh god will forgive you if you'll repent if you'll repent amen psalm 103 is still in the bible verses one through three bless the lord o my soul all that is within me bless his holy name bless the lord o my soul forget none of his benefits and two of those benefits are this who pardons all of your iniquities and when he does that then he heals all of your diseases god uses prayer to cleanse our sins and finally god uses prayer to change our society i love verse 16. it says the effective prayer of one righteous person can accomplish much the effective prayer it's the word where we get energy effective a prayer of spiritual energy can accomplish much it doesn't have to be eloquent but it does have to be energized by the holy ghost that kind of prayer changes our environment he gives a great example of how the environment was changed back in elijah's day this is the day of jezebel and ahab all the prophets being killed but the greatest prophet in the old testament was a man with a nature like ours the bible says and elijah was and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain it did not rain on the earth for three years six months then he prayed again and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit elijah was just a guy like you guy like me god called him but he prayed that was the difference that's what made elijah different and that's how you can be a different person you can pray if you will pray god will use you beyond your wildest dreams if you'll pray this last thursday we invited over 50 pastors to come together and we've got the the weak almost two-thirds full now of two-thirds of the week every day people praying over memphis we're going to pray over this city we're going to cry out to god we're going to pray over this mid-south area and we want god to open the windows of heaven and he only does it when people start praying and we've got dozens of churches now praying and we're going to get more until we pray over this city and we're going to ask god to save a bunch of people to set a people a bunch of people free from sinful strongholds to help people grow in grace to heal people to do whatever he wants to do that would glorify his name we're going to pray over this city because we believe god changes circumstances and changes society when we pray and seek his face amen [Applause] read this verse with me ii chronicles 7 14 would you read it with me please and my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray seek my face turn from their wicked ways then i will hear from heaven will forgive their sin and what's the last part heal their how many of you think our land needs some healing anybody it's not going to happen unless we pray it's not going to happen unless we pray let's all stand up please god uses prayer to change things to build up our faith i want us to read these verses and while we're reading these verses some men are going to come in and we're going to pray for people today and we're going to anoint people with oil who are sick and we're going to pray for them to be healed all right the guys are coming down that's what's going on let's read together everybody read with you from james chapter 5. here we go is anyone among you sick then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him anointing him with oil in the name of the lord and the prayer offered in faith here let's keep reading the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick and the lord will raise him up and if he has committed sins they will be forgiven him therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed the effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much elijah was a man with the nature like ours and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months then he prayed again and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit i want us to be in an attitude of prayer let's all bow our heads if you will right now all of these men there's about 40 of them all of them have a little vial of oil if you want to be prayed in a moment if you want to be prayed over there's going to touch the top of your head what they're going to say is this they're going to say how can i pray for you tell me your name they're going to ask your name and they're going to say how can i i tell you what let's let's even shorten it from that you don't have to tell them what your sickness is okay if you want to fine but we don't have a lot of time here so let's expedite this not to rush through but you just let them pray for you and just let them say okay which one of you is going to be praying if you come together with a couple just tell them your name and they're going to anoint your head with all and pray for you to be healed and then you're going to come up here the front we're going to pray over all the people that come forward okay before we pray all of us all of us before we pray for anybody let's wait just a second let's all ask the lord to show us if there's any unconfessed sin in our lives even now even if you're not planning on coming please get clean with god right now you don't want to be the one that short circuits the power of god i'm going to pray staff and deacons are here they're going to anoint you with oil and if you're in the balcony you'll need to come down from the balcony and come to this main platform down here they'll pray for you tell them your first name you can tell them briefly what your sickness is you don't have to but again please be very brief we're expecting a lot of people to come we want everybody to be prayed over if you want to bring somebody with you that's fine they will anoint you with oil pray a short prayer then you'll move toward the platform we'll all pray together at the very end come now just come right now if you'd like somebody to pray for you [Music] there's nothing worth more that could ever come close nothing can compare [Music] i've tasted and seen of the sweetest of lands where my heart becomes free and my shame is [Music] your praises lord [Music] holy spirit you are welcome [Music] your glory god for is be overcome by your presence lord [Music] your presence [Music] there's nothing worth more that could ever come close [Music] your presence [Music] when my heart becomes free and my shame is under [Music] your presence [Music] this place [Music] to be overcome [Music] open our eyes lord to see you [Music] let us become more aware of your presence let us experience the glory of your goodness let us become more aware of your presence let us [Music] let us experience [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] let us experience [Music] [Applause] [Music] you are welcome here come your glory god is what our hearts long for to be over [Music] i'll be in prayer [Music] if you're down here at the altar if you have not been prayed over with all would you raise your hand is there anybody who has not been prayed over raise your hand high so we can see have you been with oil okay we need one right here in the front when you guys come very quickly come on here [Music] go with her i understand [Music] this little song is one of my favorites it's a faith builder amen god is moving by his spirit moving in all the earth let's sing it you look at the words god is by his spirit by his spirit very simple [Music] in all the [Music] signs and wonders when god [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] [Music] there [Music] us [Music] now we want to pray okay we've already been prayed over but thank you for coming and let me just say this to you i know what it's like to be sick and want to get well i've had operations i won't get into all my stuff but i've had a lot of what you've gone through and all i can say is i pray for god to heal i take medicine and i leave all the results with god amen so you've done what you're supposed to do let's thank the lord for these people they've done what they were supposed to do amen amen i have found out i've been walking with the lord over 40 years and sometimes he and i disagree on things all right sometimes i'm not look i'm not trying to i'm not trying to pour water on your faith but i am saying you let the lord have his way in your life and look at me as job how many of you know about job you might know about job remember what he said though he slay me yet will i trust him [Music] so he just haul off and feed me to the lions i'm going to say praise the living god no matter what no matter what it's my job to ask it's god's job to answer let's just go before him right now let's pray father in the name above all names church family reach your hand out toward these people like you're laying hands on them amen [Music] in the name above all names the name of jesus christ [Music] we thank you for these precious people lord i pray in the name of jesus that you would bring healing nothing is impossible with you i was reading this morning you said god sees not as man sees man looks on the outward appearance but you look on the heart you see the hearts of these people lord you know what they're going through father in the name of of all names in the name of jesus let's everybody in the building say the name of jesus right now jesus lord in his name we come to you and we just ask father that you bring healing our prayer would be that you would bring miraculous healing lord we pray that you'll use any medicine you want to that's fine the lord go beyond all man can do and bring healing to these precious people heal us and we will be healed save us and we will be saved you are our praise in all respects may we prosper be in good health just as our souls prosper lord pardon all of our iniquities heal all of our diseases redeem our lives from the pit crown us with loving kindness and compassion satisfy our years with good things so that our youth is renewed like the eagle bless the lord of my soul all that is within me bless your holy name bless you lord bless you lord father we pray for the mountains that they'd be taken up and cast into the sea we pray for healing i pray for emotional healing lord not just physical healing but emotional healing god we pray for you to do it exceeding abundantly beyond all we can ask a thing now we place all these these these are not our sheep these are your sheep lord we place them in your care [Music] heal us lord we pray heal us we pray heal us we pray let's just stay in an attitude of prayer and praise and even though you may not know all this song it's so easy let's all sing it let's all sing it i just want to speak in the name of jesus [Music] i know there is peace within your presence i speak [Music] i just want to speak the name of jesus till every dark addiction starts to pray declaring there is hope in there is freedom i speak jesus [Music] your name is [Music] [Applause] [Music] break every stronghold shine through the shadows [Music] i just wanna speak the name of jesus [Music] i speak jesus [Music] [Applause] your name is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] shout jesus from [Music] jesus for my family [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] jesus [Music] [Applause] in jesus [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] your name is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] we're live [Music] i just wanna speak the name of jesus over every heart and every mind because i know there is peace within your presence i speak jesus [Applause] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] this [Music] we're is on holy ground for the lord is present for the lord is present and [Music] is [Music] we're standing on [Music] for the lord [Music] [Music] there's another verse to this i'm going to teach it to you and uh it's the same music so these are holy hands we're lifting up holy hands he works through these hands and so these hands are holy these are holy hands we're lifting up holy hands he works through these hands so these hands are holy won't be on the screen if you get lost just do your best all right these are holy we're lifting up holy hands [Music] he works through these hands [Music] he works through the so these hands are holy and so these hands [Music] these are holy hands [Music] he works through he works through these hands and sew these hands and sew these hands [Music] you know when you when you really get in the presence of god you don't want to leave do you amen let's thank god for being so good to us amen [Applause] amen amen [Music] i surely love y'all you're so sweet yeah uh i'm praying for my wife too you know mike mcintyre come here buddy i met mike when he was 10 years old his daddy was my football coach at ut martin he's the defensive coordinator at the university of memphis he loves jesus amen they have joined our church and we thank god for them i appreciate you buddy amen amen [Applause] i want you to let's give him a mic can somebody hand him a mic you give him a mic okay he's got a mic i just want you to pray over these people i mean just look might look from right to left and let me say this he's going to say our benediction that's and if that's baptist talk for the last guy to pray okay now look when you go home and you're still a little achy or whatever don't don't worry about all that just leave all that with the lord keep praying keep i've been praying 21 years for god to heal me it's been a slow process keep taking your medicine do what your doctor says but just keep praying and trusting god amen and don't give up don't give up we're going to keep praying and god did something today in all of our lives amen he did something in our lives and i believe that if you need to be saved we're gonna have pastors here in the front as soon as we dismiss you come and we'll talk with you about being saved if you'd like to join the church you want to get baptized anything like that you come all right we'll do that mike close us in prayer would you please jesus thank you for your holy spirit oh how we love you jesus as we come before you and present all of our sins all of our goals our aspirations our hurts our pains our healings we know you have us jesus and all we thank you for eternity we thank you for what you did on that cross for us and when you walked out of that grave because we're living eternity right now jesus we just thank you for your thank you for your love well i thank you for this pastor i thank you for steve just putting it out there and being real and showing his love for you ask you for these people that came down front that are going through all different types of things lord and you know everything they're going through even when the devil speaks to us and says he doesn't know what you're going through yes he does yes you do let them know that as we leave here today as we go out let people see that light through our eyes let people see that through how we live and how we how we love you oh jesus we thank you we praise you in your mighty name we pray in jesus name amen let's thank the lord for being so good to us amen amen thank you god bless you we're dismissed okay thank you for being here you

Channel: Bellevue Baptist Church

Views: 2,170

Rating: 4.8857141 out of 5

Keywords: how god uses prayer, praying for healing, Bellevue Baptist Church, Pastor Steve Gaines, Memphis churches, Tennessee churches, online church, digital ministry, church service, Sunday worship, echurch, Bellvue, Steve Gains, Bellevue livestream, Bellevue live stream, live worship service, worship service, baptist church service, bible teaching, Sunday sermon, church live stream, book of James, pastor gaines sermons, Bellevue sermons, Steve Gaines sermons, gains sermons

Id: z_QQz2DMSM0

Length: 90min 37sec (5437 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 05 2021