Word Impact Gathering

you you foreign you his name the bible lets us know to ascribe goodness to his name give him glory give him praise the thing that he's worthy of that's what we need to give him our gratitude is on display at this moment how much do you appreciate god if you appreciate him tonight i want you to give him worship if you thank him tonight i want you to give him praise if you have a thankful heart i want you to thank god right now because our god is wonderful our god is great our god is merciful our god is kind our god is good i'm so glad we have a god that draws close to us he knows how to show up right when we need him he knows how to draw to us in our brokenness and our sadness and our grief we serve a god that shows up in good and the bad the same god that was opening up red seas are still opening them now the same god that spoke creation into existence is still speaking into your life right now and right now i want you to give god some praise give him some glory for what he is doing in your life for what he's done what he's doing and what he's going to do our god is getting ready to do some things and he's doing them right now please do us a favor and share at this time and let people know that we're on this evening as we worship the lord in music in the word of god we want this to be a night where god's hand is on us a night where we experience the tangibleness of his nature or we know we don't serve a god that's just out there we serve a god that is close the power of the gospel is that we have a god that came near to mankind and that's the god that we serve a god that comes near to us the god that walks with us talks with us and lives with us so please do us a favor and share at this time we're getting ready to pray getting ready to believe god to trust him to be who he is connect with me right now with your faith if you're struggling ask god to increase your faith to help your unbelief and watch god begin to move in your life father we thank you that you are already here already [Music] no matter where we are you are there some of us are in the building some are at work some are in the car some are in their homes but lord you know right where all of us are you know where your children are you're intimately acquainted with us you've numbered the hairs on our head we thank you for being with us god with us for being present all the time thank you lord that we don't have to ask you to show up because you're already here you're close to us lord you draw nigh to us and for that we give you praise i pray now that you would increase the awareness our awareness you you you foreign [Music] i right [Music] [Music] will you help me praise the lord will you help me praise the lord [Music] stop those feet [Music] yes [Music] [Music] i'll praise him i'll break him with my hands [Music] is you gotta praise you gotta pray [Music] yes everybody everybody come on and give your god some love [Laughter] [Applause] [Music] oh we give you all the glory we give you all the glory your name is worthy of praise your name is worthy of honor we give you all the glory hey we give you all the glory hey you're a mighty god you're a strong tower [Music] hey [Music] [Laughter] [Music] well bless the lord somebody said yes i'll praise him hallelujah let everything that has breath give the lord what he deserves bless the lord o my soul all that is within me bless his holy righteous everlasting magnificent marvelous name yeah for the lord is good sir and he is worthy to be praised it would be unjust not to praise him like it's unjust not to honor him right lord have mercy thank our worship team for that wonderful wonderful moment they still going through over there hallelujah bless his wonderful name [Music] oh my mama yeah yes lord yeah [Music] well welcome so glad you've joined us once again for the impact that encounter in the middle of the week ask you right now to share and share with those that you know need to hear from the lord share with those who may be going through difficult seasons in need of a word from the lord share with us who need to be uplifted i've learned that understanding can lift your spirit so won't you share with someone won't you tag four or five people and invite them to join us for this midweek impact encounter in the word pastor nick you're doing good yes sir ready lord is good yeah he is i have uh i'm excited about this word for the series of messages for a couple reasons but two primary reasons because i think it's a question that many believers ask it's unarticulated it's felt yeah but i also love to see how a series manifests itself yeah in the lives of god's people absolutely and i'm i'm i'm already hearing uh glimpses uh people are calling about saturday of course okay yes very excited about the worship service beginning outside new presentation and i'm just i'm just geared up for what god's gonna do yes sir you know it's amazing how uh how faithful he has been yes and i've always i've always been amazed at how faithful he is in the face of our publicly hidden unfaithfulness right absolutely our doubts our fears our worry you know we've been doing this thing on parables on thursdays and i love a new series because i don't know who's more excited about getting the new information yeah you were here right yep you know i'm doing a deep dive on them and finding out some things that yeah uh you know one of those uh hundreds of those is that is that what that says that kind of thing yeah it shows you how limitless god's creativity his word is you never master them no it's like i was talking to some preacher about preaching on easter and mother's day father's day you know you figure after doing 30 years of easter messages yeah i ask the same question every year yeah you know what in the world we're going to preach this time and every time he comes through absolutely what's that roman says the ways of the lord are past finding out yes sir everything about him is beyond our comprehension yeah if we could master god we'd be god that's right that's right and god is that limitless well of new understanding revelation he's simplistic as you say not simple he's simplistic i think for the preachers that are watching us ministers uh when he sends you on a search and you have to keep searching because something in you says yeah it's there it's there yeah we've recently learned that he speaks in a mystery so we can linger a little longer in his presence yeah so we can stay there and not only learn some things but i think there's a sensitivity that is created when we are searching for new truth not new truth like it's never been said before but a new way to express what god has already said yeah it is new to us because we probably like whoa and then you then you're mad cause like it's been there the whole entire time you're like how long i've been saying that so how to get a word yeah from the lord yep let's start in hebrews chapter four and i'm really going to start around verse 14 okay hebrews chapter 4 verse 14. seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens jesus the son of god let us hold fast our profession for we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but wasn't all points tempted like as we are yet without sin there's a difference because of those situations because of those principles in 14 and 15 let us therefore come boldly uh doesn't say go yeah yeah come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to hell in time of need so we're talking about how to get a word from the lord and the first step was praise we spent a couple weeks on praise yeah and the next step is prayer but not prayer the way we're thinking this step is to pray about what you want to pray about okay and i think the fundamental revelation of that will become very clear we're going to pray about what we want to pray about that's different yes okay so yeah we cannot get to this prayer conversation without transitioning from the praise conversation we have for the previous two weeks and what i've discovered is praise is a fundamental principle if you will a tool god has given us and assistance god has given us to bring our senses our heart and our mind and our soul into alignment with his heart right so when those of us that think praise is uh not in their personality praises a lot of noise when i hear that um it distresses me that that the worship part of service is a lot of noise and um and normally these are the same people that scream their lungs out at football games yes and and and and are very vocal when they're playing cards or a game yeah or something like that um or just when there's conversing with people and over the fence in the neighborhood or something that's normally very very audible yet when we get to the lord it's almost like we don't want to use the very senses he gave us to commune with him right is that making sense so what the lord revealed to me is that there is a cloud created if you will by praise and worship and that crowd that cloud covers us and connects us so praise is another type of covering for the believer so the gates of praise will open it's almost like praise is a password it connects us with mercy which is christ jesus himself in praise now um this this i thought of you when god dropped this on me we plead the blood to release the mercy of god it dawned on me that i pled the blood to probably the first third of my saved life only because i was told it was the right thing to do i didn't know that pleading the blood was releasing the mercy of god in my life now why i say mercy mercy because we don't deserve to access his mind and grace because he allows it right so so mercy to access the mind of god what a privilege so in this first step to get a word from the lord is praise the first step is praise and praise prepares you for the prayer moment right if i can say that's a lot of peace praise prepares you for the prayer moment praise prepares our hearts to meet his heart not just be in proximity which i kind of wonder has praise been limited to proximity rather than intimacy what do you think about that yes okay shallow versus d okay i think i'm using the water example okay okay well i like walking on the seashore yeah when i'm on vacation but the water hits me but it has no control over me absolutely the more i get into the water the more that flow starts to take i'm using the difference between being getting excited versus actually letting the moment transform you and has some influence over you so so we're actually talking about an immersion yes uh that ezekiel 47 which our own waterfall is patterned after where you can get up into your ankles you'll feel it but it won't overtake you get up to your knees you'll feel it even stronger but it will not overtake you get up to your hips but you still have a lot of flesh exposed yes but once you can get it where you have to swim in it we're immersed in praise i believe that's where the spirit and truth is yes it's definitely that makes sense so when i praise god and so i'm willing to say tonight and willing to believe that if i am a person who does not think praise is necessary i'm a person that does not think my heart needs to be prepared to talk to god that reeks of entitlement yes that's what that's what yes reeks of entitlement i deserve your presence yes not i'm in your presence because of mercy right and i'm in your presence because i seek your grace that the greatest part of being in your presence is the access yeah so when i get the access to you lord now you know we can start having this intense conversation right which prayer is supposed to be it's brings me to another principle i'm not sure we have reduced prayer we haven't reduced prayer to performance and not intense conversation with god i'm not sure that we have not reduced prayer to moving a crowd right rather than hearing what god has to say yes i agree okay it's more about performance yeah yeah because you know we we teach our classes in embrace class that you need to give god time to respond while you're praying yes and the reason a lot of us can't hear from god is because we don't give space to the conversation yeah we just pray a blue streak and say amen yeah and you know and god's like trying to trying to jump double dutch trying to get into the conversation he can't get in yeah could it be possible that we've made prayer about us oh it's going to praise about it's wonderful okay there's there's there's a there's a focus yeah that has become a blur right and and and and you know we can talk about it now praise is now the focus rather than god being the focus of our praise yes unfortunately because prayer and praise are linked prayer has become the focus of prayer and not god being the focus of it and we wonder with both of these essential principles not working why we can't get a word from god from the lord wow so praise prepares our hearts to meet him not just be around him but be in his immediate presence so so not just be in proximity but begin to do an archangel thing be able to stand in his presence for the duration yeah uh for a moment of intense fellowship with god so the whole thing is not to move him as much as we've been taught he inhabits the praises of our of his people we we tend to put that in a he's coming down to us yeah when it really is we get there and give him something to inhabit yes so then his movement becomes circumstantial relational uh provisional right and all those others what are we gonna say could it be why the scripture talks so much about god rising up absolutely because if i'm rising if i'm the fact that i'm rising up means i'm already present yes sir i'm sitting down now but when i rise up yes you see me differently because i my position has changed yeah i can say it like that perspective yes is what really changes it resolving the present he's not really sitting down in one place the earth is his you know so we are we're talking about god who who is never displaced but our awareness of him situationally will intensify our awareness of his presence yes yes and therefore an intense response from him so praise before prayer is necessary because our senses have been corrupted by sin yeah before the fall adam and eve lived from inside out after the fall mankind became ruled and dominated by his outer man man was created to see sense discern here believe have faith in a conversant god a god who desires to talk to us but we can't get to the conversation without the praise first right so why senses our senses and this is going to rub up against some people's doctrine our senses were created by god yes those senses were given to us so we could relate and commune with him so this makes sense my unseen senses hmm my unseen senses unpolluted before the fall were created to commune and to communicate with a real unseen god so it makes sense just like just like your voice is invisible but touch is an invisible god my sense is which i have a nose but you can't see my sense of smell yeah you you can hear me talk you can't see me hearing yeah you know so so those invisible entities that god creates he created for us to contact him yes but when adam and eve fell those senses were corrupted and i shifted from being dominated by my inner man to being dominated by my outer man and my circumstances so this is going to rub up against some folk the shift from outer to enter has to occur during the period of praise because praise is a physical expression of an inward reality yeah so people don't understand that biblically praise and worship is physical yeah i don't think we need to talk about the schism that has been created in the body of christ regarding uh praise and worship oh yeah yeah you know i think we settled that years ago yeah you know that praise and worship are two sides of the same coin and the words or the language of worship is the language of phrase they have the same language you know so i don't know where the schism came from but there was a need for first-class and second-class christians so you know yeah we have to have somebody to look down on so i'm a worshiper i'm a worshiper yet so so it is almost impossible to eliminate the physical from biblical praise yes so if i resist that some expression some outward expression of a heart reality am i diminishing in god's eyes my importance for his instruction concerning praise because praise has suffered the same as prayer the bible's full of instruction but we insist on doing it our own way yep because it's about our convenience the worship moment is about it's not about how we want to do in our convenience yeah you know what's crazy about this the very people that make have these same complaints have the same needs in their own relationships for people to love them the way they desire to be loved wow and have physical expressions of gratitude yeah not just i feel it in my heart you know my heart you know my heart yeah i'm so sick of that slogan we know your heart by you yeah yeah god knows my heart yeah he does yeah something wrong with it so it's difficult to eliminate the physical from praise movement sound communication the language of worship is the language of praise so tehillah is movement yeah enter his gates yada raised hands of thanksgiving barack kneeling shabbat not just a shout but the primary word for worship in other words in order to do this thing you have to open your mouth move your hands move your body in some fashion to give evidence that what's on the inside is causing a movement on the outside yes now so that kind of it argues with and i think this is where praise for some people has lost his power because we try to mold it into our own feelings whereas god is specific about what he wants to receive in other words he wants us not not just think of our mouths as a physical mouth but he wants us to open our gates yes yes so praise is the physical reflection of our being of our heart our mind our voice our declaring our singing our joyful and humble submission to god is all part of praise a couple of weeks we talked ago we talked about sacrifice of praise being not only praised as we know it but fellowship when it's inconvenient yes and good works when it's inconvenient then those three are the sacrifices of praise so when i don't feel like praising god and i do that i'm giving him a real sacrifice of praise but when i am when i when i'm feeling like it and i sacrifice and i pray to him then i'm doing a tabernacle thing i feel fine yeah but i'm giving you i'm giving you a sacrifice anyway yeah so i guess we can say that praise is the password to fervent prayer it is the first step the first step is to enter this gates with thanksgiving and it's course with praise approaching god with gratitude now that seems to be a repetitive word today and i think um it happened when i i heard you keep talking about entitlement okay and i started to kind of look at the state of the body of christ and i think i think we do expect god to bless us in the face of our misbehaving and i think because he's a good father and he has in the past we we tend to take some liberties with him yep yep uh paul says in romans one or two i think he basically uses our common phrase god here it is god's kindness is an opportunity for repentance absolutely just because he didn't say anything yeah number one doesn't mean he doesn't say it number two his silence and his refusal to act on our actions is him giving us an opportunity to make the change i think his mercy and his grace are opportunities yeah forgiveness is an opportunity wow so praise is the invitation to intense communication with god so like we said a little a couple minutes ago the focus must shift for this to really happen we have to shift from a praise focus to god being the focus of our praise prepare our minds to god being the focus of our prayer rather than prayer being the focus of our prayer praise pure praise sanctifies us from the rest of the world removes the contamination of the day from us so we approach god as his anointed we approach god as his consecrated priests that he has made us according to revelation access is provided by praise sets the platform here we go for prayer to approach the lord with boldness now hebrews 4. so the protocol is open to us and he says boldly how do we do that because our minds and our hearts have been shifted for prayer right we've allowed praise to consecrate us so we are prepared for this what we call prayer which is intense communication with god it's we're prepared to touch grace yeah and we'll pray for him to carry us into the intense presence of god that presence that um that archangels occupied that blew my mind when god gave it to me yeah because you know not cherubims couldn't stand that for a while but but they're a little lower than us so we get to stand in his intense presence and not have to flee because of his holiness yeah because when they're they're worshiping around the throne revelations yes sir there's no movement yes sir they're okay with it yes sir they you know it was so hot they had to get out of there they didn't want to become the ashes yeah the seraphim earth yeah yeah yeah prayer is you and i are ready to hear from god wow not you and i ready to speak ready to hear from god from god wow that changes the focus yeah yeah now that we know that we have this great high priest now that we understand this which gives us deep access to god his presence at the right hand of god gives us deep access to god yeah so don't let the fruit of a prayer moment slip away yeah yeah don't let the fruit of a prayer moment slip away jesus and this is what really gets me about he was hebrews 4 when it says jesus understands our reality he gets what we're going through so because he gets it we can come boldly to the throne yeah and get mercy and receive grace and help mercy grace and help yeah become available to us after praise sets the stage for us to begin to talk to him yes so then when we get to that place we ought to go in ready to receive hear from him not go in with an agenda of shopping items that we desire yes because so i think sometimes we pray so much for things that it gives god the impression we don't know him yes yes but it goes back to that entitlement of prayer is a transaction rather than conversation and relationship that has transactions in it an expression of relationship which causes the father to release what he knows you already need yes and the kind of help that you need not saying we are not instructed to speak yeah but we'll talk about that a minute so the prayer experience is an invitation to a new spiritual dimension in your life a deeper spiritual lifestyle boldly simply means freedom of speech yes to speak without ambiguity to plainly speak to god let's go to john chapter 16. yep i hope you all are getting this setting it up right now john chapter 16 setting it up right now let's go down to verse 25. all right watch this these things have i spoken unto you in proverbs but the time cometh when i shall no more speak unto you in proverbs but i will show you plainly of the father plainly means boldly yeah he's going to speak to us without reservation and because this is a relationship he says when you approach my father because of my presence in your life you can also speak plainly to him now that doesn't mean disrespectful right doesn't mean we go up cussing at god yeah you know you're about to get smacked down right but what it does mean is i do a moses i approach him with the absence of fear yes and whenever i see a prayer situation or think about one i always think of moses going up into the expression of god's glory that to moses looked welcoming but to the people looked like they were in danger yes yes that reminds me of childlike faith yes sir because your kids have no problem asking you even if it's something crazy little kids they will ask you for the craziest things yep and they have this confidence that you'll at least hear what i'm saying and most of the time they think you can do it you do it no hesitation unbelievable stuff i got asked if i can do a backflip the other day i said i said yeah i can do one but i'm not going right right right oh dad come on show us no no we're not doing that no no not time so the absence of fear yeah in speaking both so it speaks our word will be confidence okay yes uh not speech so much as it is a heart submitted to god i can go boldly to god because my heart has become aligned for prayer through praise and he says i can come in a time of need and speak plainly yes but my need can't be a fixed prayer agenda right right that i go to him with my list and miss all the other stuff yeah and i got to tell you when when i was a younger christian um i can't tell you how many times i went to god straight knee yeah you got it you have to do this and you have to do this right now who are you talking to i'm so glad he didn't say that right right unfortunately in some contexts okay that's the way prayer is taught it's taught that way it's taught more transactionally okay then it is about dialogue and relationship misidentified boldly yes it's more about what i can get from god that's the emphasis of it of the teaching rather than the relationship aspect so what really is telling us is that if we go to him with gratitude and thanksgiving it gives us access to mercy grace and health yeah i go to philippians chapter four let me show you what i found um and so i get this access to mercy grace and help philippians 4 and we'll start at verse 4. rejoice in the lord that is always and again i say rejoice so he repeats the holy spirit repeats the will of god the commandment of god to show us how important it is to him yeah and how important it is to us so how is this possible to rejoice always okay paul did not say be happy yeah happiness and rejoicing are not the same yeah he encourages us and here's the hard part for some of us to be intentionally rejoicing yeah so how's that happen if i don't have inner joy to tap into the external problem will limit my ability to express rejoicing yes so a quiet spirit is a praying spirit because a quiet spirit reacts to situations and people gently right even though the externals may be demanding a strong reaction right so joy and peacefulness will help me get a prayer through yeah um and we're not talking about a carefree life right we're not we're not going there you don't care about anything yeah but to care and be concerned is one thing to worry is an entirely different thing right yep now i i don't know what you do but i found even at this stage in my walk with god i have to have self conversations when worry tries to wash over me like a flooded flooded water yeah it's just i mean you i can just feel it taking over and i have to say wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute you know and sometimes i have to assess my day what's important and is this important do you have to put your your your energy your power your might on this now or can it wait right right and if i don't do that a a feeling of anxiety will enter my day yeah and begin to permeate it absolutely and knowing your moods that i know for me my moods that day because something that may not bother me on tuesday yeah will frustrate me on thursday man and i got to remember it's just today i either woke up moody i woke up you know but tomorrow i'll be okay i call it the different days of vulnerability yeah some days i feel like i'm like a tank and other days the same thing that would have bounced off me seems like it penetrates my heart yeah you know and and i think what that comes from is sometimes especially when you're in purpose there seems to be systematic challenges in your life yeah and because the challenges are systematic they seem to come too fast for us right right but i'm all like like right now i'm going through something that has disappointed me but if it had not been for the disappointment i would not have known yep yep i would not have known yeah and and and what i what i'm what i had to what i had to do today was pray and say god okay yeah i've acknowledged why you did it i understand the benefit of it i'm not feeling too good about it but yeah it's cool yeah and it started to lift yeah but without that um realism yep you know people talk about keeping 100 but they're always talking about keeping 100 with other people yeah what about keep it at 100 with the inner man which is christ jesus absolutely absolutely okay because i think i think worry can actually weigh you down oh absolutely yeah yeah yeah and what it wears down is our trust in god absolutely absolutely you can't get a word from the lord with a heart that doesn't trust god praying with thanksgiving involves trusting him yeah yeah where are we at let me see philippians 4 4. he says he says 5 let your moderation be known unto all men the lord is at hand be careful for nothing stop worrying it's not carefree yes but don't worry excessively unnecessarily how do i know i'm wearing unnecessarily when i'm giving too much honor to my problem and not enough trust in god yeah yeah but in everything by prayer get it we skip over but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto god prayer and supplication with thanksgiving so there's four principles in in in this text as we read and the peace of god which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through christ jesus here we go so prayer the approach to god is in the text what a petition is is requesting an answer to a specific need okay that's a petition so prayer petition thanksgiving thanksgiving is a heart condition is my attitude right today to talk to god yeah so i don't want to go into that conversation with my heart all jacked up yeah i want to get my heart right first and then talk to him yeah because i don't want to slow down my answer or mess up the atmosphere so thanksgiving always partners with prayer to give the word and the words in the holy ghost so i need words from god through the holy ghost in order to pray a proper prayer the last word there's requests yeah that's a definite and specific thing asked for so you've got petite you got prayer you have petition you have thanksgiving and you have requests now watch this now when we follow these instructions the bible says the peace of god will take over yeah jesus is our peace yeah so we approach god with faith we approach him with confidence we approach him with a sense of peace which protects my heart to speak to him right so i'm basically insulating myself from maybe the day at work or the day of challenges to get into his presence in the proper condition yeah i'm not sure that we haven't taken boldly yeah and and you know the tabernacle thing blows my mind you couldn't get a sacrifice to god without first washing out front yes and i'm not sure we cleanse ourselves of things that we become contaminated with during the day before we open ourselves up to you yeah what do you think that's why it makes while the priest had to make a sacrifice for himself before he made a sacrifice for everybody else deal with yourself first yes sir then you can go in for everybody else but i think when you're entitled yeah you don't think that's necessary no not at all yeah so we approach god with faith we approach him with confidence we're approaching with a sense of peace that protects our hearts spiritual peace passes understanding yep yep you can't have this peace i love philippians you can't have this peace without a strong thought life yes yes that's why he says finally my brother you know yeah protect your heart and mind with these thoughts whatsoever things are true what sort of things are just so he says protect your thought line yeah yeah so your heart stays in the right place let's go to first john let me show you something first john chapter five and we're gonna go down to verse 13. all right here we go these things have i written unto you that believe on the name of the son of god i need to say that again these things have i written unto you that believe on the name of the son of god why that you may know that you have eternal life got to be certain and that you may believe on the name of the son of god and he says it twice in the same verse believe on the name of the son of god the power of the name jesus and he says now when i believe on his name and this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will there it is according to his will he hears us so would you suggest that when my heart was was prepared properly and i go into his presence to pray i'm not coming there with anything that's not his will so if i pray his word yes sir i'm guaranteed to be in his will yes sir [Applause] search the will communicate that to god yes sir so you're saying god wants to hear an echo of his voice that's right yeah because he says ask anything so here's here's the dilemma we've heard ask anything for our entire saved lives yeah but we have not heard the responsibility and the faith needed in order for for us to ask anything because there are some things we're not going to ask him yeah mm-hmm yeah yeah if you got to know if you know you're a parent you know what will fly yeah it won't work you're not now you're going to try that yeah you know your friends down the street might try to you know i can't take that homework no no no it's not gonna work because my parents not gonna get it oh no let me get away i can't get the front door with it right let's get an answer now yeah you might get a look yeah so this is where the confidence comes from that he he that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us ask anything according to his will he hears us and if we know that he hears us watch this whatsoever we ask we know that we have the petitions that we desire of him so he says ask anything according to his will he will hear you we will have what we desire in his will yes so it's part of the prayer issue the fact that perhaps we don't know enough word to pray the word you're agreeing to faith i was thinking that we we got to study the will to know what to communicate absolutely with god so are we really praying or are we talking i think we're doing more talking than conversing so this is why we're saying in this step of getting a word from the lord you've got to pray about what you're going to pray about pray about what you need is not enough yeah pray about the words you want to say to god yeah let's go to jude chapter 20. i mean jude 20. yeah i always say that june 20. that's that's one of those questions they can get you on yeah yeah jude 20. he says but ye beloved building up yourselves on your most holy faith praying in the holy ghost so i preachers normally understand to ask for assistance from the holy ghost before they preach or teach yeah but do we ask for assistance of the holy ghost when we're going to pray so the question is when i pray am i praying in the holy ghost well how do i get the answer if i'm praying in his will i will end up praying in the holy ghost so i want to pray in the power of god speaking spirit seeking the will of god lord make your will plain to me and give me the faith to do your will yeah now why do we need instruction in prayer and why do we need to pray about what we want to pray about go to james chapter four james chapter four so i need to pray about what i want to pray about yes yes yes james chapter four and james tells us why so he says in verse 2 you lust and have not you desire and that doesn't do it you kill and desire to have and cannot obtain you fight in war yet you have not because you ask not all right so so somebody's saying okay i'll start asking hold it hold it hold it yeah you ask and receive not because you ask amiss that you may consume it upon your lust so the conversation is not about anything spiritual it's about feeding a desire that my flesh has oh buddy buddy buddy buddy buddy so he says you know i say like this you praying a miss and you're praying a mess at the same time so let's see what it looks like let's see what a perfected petition looks like go to mark chapter 10. okay we got three minutes i think mark chapter 10 and we're going to lift one verse for the sake of time verse 46 says and they came to jericho and as he went out of jericho with his disciples and a great number of people blind bartimaeus the son of a mayor sat by the highway side begging so i pray about what i want to pray about so i can perfect my petition yeah this was not bartimaeus's first time by the road yeah this was not the first time he had spoken what he thought would be effective but by the time his presence opportunity came bartimaeus had perfected his petition and he simply narrowed it down to plainness to his need but not before he worshipped him i know who you are yeah i know what you can do have mercy he didn't say i want my sight back he didn't say get me off this corner all he said was have mercy on me god in heaven so i'm praying in the holy ghost and because i'm praying in the holy ghost i'm no longer praying incorrectly and because i perfected my petition because i've prayed about what i want to pray about good god almighty so now that i'm at that point i need a revelation from god go to john 14. i need a revelation from god i need to hear from him and i need to hear from him specifically john 14 let's go down to verse 11 see what happens believe me that i am in the father and the father in me or else believe me for the very work sake i love how jesus gives you an opportunity to believe yeah yep always if you can't believe me for my testimony here believe me for some of the stuff that you saw me do yes sir verily verily truly truly i say unto you he that believeth on me the works that i do shall he do also wow and greater works than these shall he do because i go unto my father hmm what's this and whatsoever you shall ask in my name that will i do whatsoever you shall ask in my name don't attach anything to his name that shouldn't be attached that will i do that the father may be glorified wait a minute so the answer to my prayer ought to give glory to god yeah no buddy buddy have mercy buddy buddy buddy buddy buddy and whatsoever you shall ask in my name in my name there it is again that will i do that the father may be glorified in the son now i got to figure out if i'm perfecting my petition yeah can i attach my request to his name right right or have i been guilty of trying to legitimize my request with his name yeah use it like it's a magic saint yeah man wow like clean up my request with the name of jesus and to make it right yes sir i wonder how many of us for years until today have thought about is this request giving glory to god or is it something that i desire something my flesh wants really bad wow and i'm trying to i'm trying to package it put a sign on it to legitimize it yeah and make it god yeah wow lord have mercy if 14 if you shall ask anything in my name i will do it now jesus is saying this he cannot lie he's a sinless man he's the man of god he's the man of god the god man on earth he says if you ask anything in my name i will do it now the unspoken statement and question is why have we been using his name and not have anything we ask i'm just trying to ask a question i'm trying i'm just i'm just saying how how he he promised it to us we know there's nothing wrong with him so there's obviously something wrong with our petition with our ass yeah our our petition our ask is not lining up with his will yeah it's not and sometimes god's will if we're real there are times where it's not what we want but what it's what he wants and we have to align our hearts to his will and then he answers the question for us yes he answers the silent question for us he said if you love me keep my commandments and i will pray the father he shall give you another comforter there's the holy ghost that he may abide with you forever even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it sees him not neither knoweth him but you know him for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you now let's go down to verse 26 and he says but the comforter which is the holy ghost whom the father will send in my name there's that name again yeah he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever i have said unto you so if i haven't studied it if he hasn't said it the holy ghost can bring it to my remembrance when i'm in the moment of intense communication with god there's nothing to remember oh you didn't put nothing in there so i don't have the right words so i've got to pray for general revelation i hope they get this first general revelation answers the question how who how to be a good steward specific tells you what to do so i need i need i need the know-how i need the general information that i need to know what to do i need i need uh a theoretical word and i need an operative word right from the lord i don't just need to know how to be in a relationship i need to know who to be in a relationship with yes i need the general revelation i start with that then i get a specific revelation so god can now just think down to who or what so i need to see two things in prayer how and what how do i do this in your will what do i do in your will is what i want to pray about going to get me closer to god's will because to get an answer past nick we've got to linger in his presence yes proverbs 25 2 tells us kings ask for hidden things i want to hear from you god is saying in new ways so we've got to seek his will for the life we're living for the season we're in even for the moment that we're in now how much time do we have we're out of time i mean we're almost at the end so i'm almost in there all right let's go jeremiah jeremiah chapter one no need to break it in there jeremiah that's good okay jeremiah chapter one we're gonna start at verse seven and we actually started um yeah a couple weeks ago at this place concerning prayer verse seven says jeremiah 1 7 but the lord said unto me say not i am a child time for you to stop diminishing your significance to god yes he knows how old you are for thou shalt go to all that i shall send you and whatsoever here comes whatsoever i command you you shall speak now don't be afraid of reactions yeah be not afraid of their phrases for i am with you to deliver you said the lord then the lord here comes put forth his hand and touched my mouth and the lord said unto me behold i have put my words in your mouth there it is there's the exchange not my words in my mouth but his words spoken to him see i have this they set the over nations over people over the kingdoms to root out to pull down to destroy to throw down to build and to plant moreover in addition to that the word of the lord came unto me saying jeremiah what seest thou and i said i see a rod of an almond tree then said the lord unto me thou has seen well for i will hasten my word to perform it i will hasten my word to perform it so whatever he commands what i'm praying that's what i speak yeah and when i'm aligned with him like that he says i'll be with you he also says my words need to be in your mouth yes don't underestimate your part in god's plan yes don't downgrade your significance observe what do you see going on around you that you need a word from the lord for and then when when when jeremiah responds the lord says you have seen well so there's a discerning portion of finding a word in the from the lord getting away from the lord in prayer where you have to pray according to what not only you see but what god says yes he says if you do that i'll hasten my word to perform it because god's word has the inherent ability to actualize itself yes so i search the word and the last thing i have to do is proclaim it yeah how to get away from the lord now and i'm going to stop so the proclamation part is us searching the word from genesis to revelation for a general revelation overall knowledge then searching the word for specifics concerning what i want to pray about yeah now what's amazing about that is while i'm searching for specifics there may be some confirmations that happen in my life now what i don't want people to think is that just because a dog barked at you five days a week doesn't mean that was the confirmation so the repetition of events are often confirmations from god okay seeing the same things from time to time hearing the same word repeated are sometimes confirmations not every time yeah there's a story in the bible where where um abraham sends the servant to get a wife for isaac and and and the servant has already meditated and prayed about what he wants to hear to know it's confirmation of the right individual so he gets there and the woman comes out and says virtually everything that the young man desired to hear but the text says he still wasn't sure that that was the lord yeah because oftentimes words that fit into your prayer coming from other people are not necessarily always confirmation right yep that's true three flat tires in a row doesn't mean god wants you to move yeah the north dakota yeah we have to understand how this thing works so the firs the first step is praise the second step is praying about what you want to pray about to make sure that that prayer request is in his will yeah and aligned with the power and the will of the holy spirit yeah and then once we get the general revelation which we're going to talk about next time and get the specific revelation we're ready to hear a word from god because in the search will come the word for your moment yeah wow praise the lord i gotta stop so yeah i am i am uh we're honored that you took the time to join us tonight yeah um um so honored that the series is making such a difference you all are responding in unprecedented ways the numbers have increased the number of people that are watching the series during the week and i'm i'm just honored that you've taken the time to give us the chance to step into your life and hopefully teach you something that will absolutely have an immediate impact on your relationship with god it is an honor for us to have the opportunity to share the word of god but also be used of god to help you along the way of course none of this works without a relationship with god that relationship begins with accepting jesus christ as the son of god as the text repeated over and over again we get saved by that name having faith in that name if you've never ever given your life to the lord i want to suggest to you that you may have been transactional with god and god has simply been waiting for you to be relational with him yeah it is not enough to like him he wants you to love him because he loves you it's not enough you're not enough to see him as someone you go to in a crisis but have no other business with him unless there's some kind of emergency it's not enough to to have your own idea about who he is and what he is he plainly states in his letter to us this word his word old testament revealing his heart new testament revealing his person in jesus christ if you're watching us tonight no matter where you are in the world whether you're in the united states or whether you're in some of the islands or whether you're in pakistan or india where we're getting a lot of a lot of traffic from these days and there's a special prayer needed for india because this pandemic has really hit them extremely hard yeah if you've never ever given your life to christ i want to suggest to you that this moment of teaching you how to access his presence which is essential i think it should have been essential learning when we got saved but essential learning how to how to get into the presence of love how to have that conversation with the lord and how to get the answer you need if you've never given your life to the lord i suggest that you do that today simply write your name or message down in the comments section on the site and one of our workers will get back to you as soon as possible and show you the next steps now don't don't be discouraged if you live far away from us because you know we have we we created our virtual church during this pandemic and that virtual church is going to continue once we get back to meeting together in the building um but you can become a part of just virtually everything that we do new members lifestyle ministries all of our studies all of our panels all of our different ministries word of faith all our blogs all all those insights are available to you first we need to become a part of the same body if you love the lord but you during this season you got distracted but you know you need to come back you've known it for a long time and you know life has not been right when you look back and connect the dots you know life has not been right since you walked away i am so glad god is a welcoming god yeah turn around and come back today last but not least you love the lord you're saved you need a church home if you've never been saved connect with the lord connect with his house we welcome you into our ministry if you walked away from god but now you realize i need to walk back we welcome you into our ministry if you are saved and you've been searching you've been watching us for weeks or perhaps tonight is the first night and you're saying yourself where have these guys been well we've been right here waiting for you yeah so make that connection tonight three fundamental laws in the word of god the law of environment the law of relationship and the law of influence when you're in the right place with the right people god will move in your life write me a note let us know that you want to be a part of what god is doing and what god wants to do for you but also you were created to representative of god and impact the world the nations people your environment your community your state your region this country and rippling out into the world there are ways that ministry can help you do that so write us and let us know what you want go ahead um i was reading something the other day in leviticus and it talked about how when the priest would bring an offering to god uh at this moment that he would carry the nation of israel this thing on his chest god tells them keep it on your heart along with him because when he went before god in his presence god would see the priest carrying the people on his heart absolutely because there's supposed to be a genuine care and a connection there so while he's making his offering for the people the people can't be disconnected from his heart and it has to be absolutely absolutely and the interesting thing is that same part were in his clothing where he the heart of the people was was the urim and the thorium which was the mechanism to know whether god spoke or not yeah i called the knower the knower yeah was on the heart too so hearing from god was in his heart the people was on his heart and god says when you come before me come ready to bring this offering ready to hear from me yeah and watch this don't come by yourself include other people in that's right i think another thing that we think about a lot for is ourselves is giving that's right when giving's supposed to be communal and i wonder how many times have we given an offering yeah and the only person that was on our heart was us [Laughter] oh my our blessing our we give yeah and if jesus is our perfect high priest and we're supposed to be like him he we were on his heart at calvary that's right and god wants people to be on our hearts also so tonight i think we really need to give a sacrificial intercessory scene okay it's not really about us tonight no no it should never be it really should never be our overall giving should be communal in nature and tonight i want you to get a seed a significant one um 50 i'm hearing his 50 thing if you can do that do that if you can't do it do the best that you can but while you give i want you to give like that priest with someone on your heart you're making this offering not just for you but for a community as an innocent community as an intercessor as a mediator going to god for somebody else and god answered the priests when he did this that's right i believe that seed sowing does open the door for revelation for insight direction um when abraham went up the mountain to sacrifice isaac yeah that ram was there the whole time oh yeah it wasn't until he was ready to sacrifice it he didn't see it that guy opened his eyes and said there's a ram caught in the thicket now for many city people they don't get that but if you've ever seen a ram or a goat caught into something it's not calm no it fights it makes a whole lot of noise but this ram was weird but this ram was way in there for abraham to sow this seed and once god said abraham now i know that you really serve me he turns around and this provision was there the whole entire time yeah and god when you sow the seed tonight can open up your eyes and answer you with provision that's always been there you know it's amazing whenever i see uh scripture teaching us how to be good stewards how to bring god what god has given us there's always some spiritual dimension that's opened when that happens either revelation on people uh movement of people's hearts uh spiritual warfare yeah there's some dimension of the spirit that is closed when we don't have a giving heart we need to get a close grip on it it's like going to god in downright rebellion and expecting him to move on our behalf yeah no no and we heard a testimony last night yeah about someone who uh shifted the needle and started giving the way you know we were learned we learned january and february and all of a sudden this thing opened up always been there timing but timing god just does it and and i explained to the young man you could literally see the door of opportunity opening up yeah yeah and that's what happens absolutely yeah and god god does it that time off the gross change some stuff praise dogs try to tell you something yeah and start making some room now yeah they need them yeah oh yeah much needed room uh-huh so so let's see gimplify text to give our website so that c 50 if you can if you can't do the best that you can somebody called me and asked me did we have cash app yet do we look at you not as a church people interesting kind of stuff that we got today okay yeah yeah it's a lot of banking stuff you guys yeah i'd be concerned about yeah too much too much vulnerability yeah yeah yes so all right we gotta pray over these uh offerings you want me to you've been talking with me yeah go ahead go ahead you pray i've been talking to you i'm talking a lot here while we're praying if you didn't send your prayer requests in speaking into the atmosphere right now wherever you are and watch this as like he said we're giving everything don't pray for yourself while we're praying that's right pray for people on this list and see in the seat pray for other people especially those individuals there are families out there now that have been losing people in mass during this season i'm not talking about one or two people i'm talking about groups of individuals clusters of people yeah every other month so we need to pray for grieving families um all over and we're going to believe god for his comfort his care to be with them during this time you know what pastor i think the problem with intercession for some reason with intercession it feels like i'm giving away something uh perhaps giving away my answer to my situation and that is a a misunderstanding of the spiritual dynamic of intercession that when i'm interceding god hears the requests that i'm interceding and the for the person i'm in the seating for at the same time he addresses my unspoken need yeah you know isaac spoke for rebecca's need never said it was his and hers and his were satisfied yeah you know she got double he got more than he expected so intercession is really the key absolutely yeah let's do this tonight and uh let's pray father we thank you again for who you are um we appreciate you for what we've learned tonight we thank you that we can come to you in praise you've been so good to us you've been so kind to us and we appreciate that thank you for your faithfulness and even when we're unfaithful when we struggle to give you praise at times we thank you that you still are our god we appreciate you today we're so grateful that words can't even describe how we feel at times all we know how to say is thank you thank you for being the lover of our souls the center of our lives we appreciate you tonight because you are god you brought us from a mighty long way you called us to you thank you for the privilege to know you god tonight i'm just glad that i know you for myself i'm glad that i'm saved thank you for calling me into relationship with you thank you for this divine moment thank you lord for this particular position you put us in we give you praise today we want to pray according to your will lord because we want you to hear us and lord we you told us to pray and have communication with you you told us in your will that you incline your ear to us you told us in your will that we can come to you with confidence without reservation speaking plainly and father as plain as we can say it your people need your help your people need your assistance your people need your guidance lord your people need your healing we need ways made we need you to open up doors lord we're asking it because we know it's in your will for us you showed us in your word how you continue to move from the hearts of your people and father for that we give you praise your word says that you send it and you heal that you open up doors you're still opening blinded eyes and we pray for each prayer request now for every person that sent one in and everyone that's speaking it now we pray for a special touch of your presence we pray god for a movement of your spirit we pray lord according to your will because we know that you'll hear us and you'll grant us of our petitions you said in your word that no weapon formed against shall prosper you said in your word that all of our needs will be met you said in your word that you are our shepherd and we shall not one you said in your word if we seek you with all with everything that you will add all these things unto us so father for that we give you praise we thank you tonight because you hear our prayers move on each person now we thank you for the testimonies that came from last week's prayer do it again one more time show yourself strong we trust you and we believe it we pray holy spirit that you will guide this prayer to the father we pray jesus that you're interceding for us that you would communicate these words to the father on our behalf we trust you and we believe you because you're able to do it we pray this in jesus name amen god bless you all see you saturday 11 30. yeah see you drive in service see you later you

Channel: Bishop David G. Evans

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Length: 89min 20sec (5360 seconds)

Published: Wed May 19 2021