WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:08.380 It is an honor to have Brad with us this morning. He is our pastor, and it just felt right to me. 00:09.100 --> 00:12.960 He's going to be speaking this morning, and then he's going to close the meetings next Sunday morning. 00:13.580 --> 00:19.580 It felt right to me. It felt like God wants him here at the beginning and the end. 00:20.180 --> 00:27.420 And the thing that goes through me is we are living in a society that has very little use for authority. 00:29.060 --> 00:37.080 And everything God does is in authority. Everything He does flows in authority. 00:38.380 --> 00:47.460 He is our pastor. He is our authority. Scripturally, if we will honor authority and let authority speak 00:47.460 --> 00:56.080 into our life, our life living for God will go much better than if we just lone ranger it, 00:56.080 --> 01:03.240 and we're just going to do our own thing, and well, that's great. But that is the culture we're living in. 01:03.500 --> 01:08.720 Nobody wants to be under anybody's authority. We're going to do our own thing, our own way. 01:09.100 --> 01:17.020 That is totally demonic in origin. It's not God. God flows in authority. 01:17.340 --> 01:25.300 And there's times that, you know, Mary and I have called Brad, and I'm convinced we don't hear the answer 01:26.040 --> 01:32.100 because God wants to see if we're still submissive to authority. And He'll say something simple, 01:32.220 --> 01:39.160 well, just do this. And it's like, okay, I could have thought of that, but I didn't. 01:40.840 --> 01:46.500 Why? I think God's testing our heart sometimes. Saying, do you really have someone over you 01:46.500 --> 01:52.360 who is in authority? Then submit to it and let them speak into your life. And that's 01:52.360 --> 01:56.180 what I'm looking forward to this morning. I don't know, I have no idea what He's speaking on. 01:56.820 --> 02:05.560 But as our pastor, if He steps on our toes, just say amen. Stick them back out, let them step on them again. 02:06.920 --> 02:15.060 Because He's the one responsible over us. We're accountable to Him. So Brad, awesome to have you. 02:17.940 --> 02:18.860 It's your turn. 02:22.120 --> 02:40.050 Well, I just want to say that I'm extremely honored and humbled at the same time to know you guys 02:40.050 --> 02:46.010 and to be a part of this church. And you know, some people are different. 02:46.370 --> 02:52.170 You know, there's people out there that, I mean, they just think they're the greatest thing in the world 02:52.170 --> 02:57.270 and if God used them, their attitude kind of is, yeah, I mean, I can understand why God would use me 02:57.270 --> 03:05.750 because I'm so great. But that's just not me. I just don't work that way. I mean, I'm like just amazed 03:07.330 --> 03:16.170 that God would even speak to me and get to know me. And that's just me. Not everybody's that way. 03:16.170 --> 03:23.370 But so it really is. It really is an honor to be here. And I am humbled by it. 03:24.390 --> 03:31.030 And I do believe that I have something from the Lord to share with you. 03:32.370 --> 03:41.170 And because Vern had contacted me quite a while ago about the meetings and in the moment that he contacted me, 03:41.170 --> 03:48.650 it was just like, you know, a switch turned on in my heart and I knew exactly that this is what I'm supposed to share. 03:51.050 --> 04:00.810 And it's really something that I just said earlier here to Pastor is that it's kind of a little bit out of my wheelhouse 04:00.810 --> 04:08.210 as far as teaching goes. Not that I don't know anything about it or, you know, have experience in it, 04:08.210 --> 04:17.670 but I just don't normally teach this way. And so it's a step of faith for me, but I believe that it's what God wants. 04:18.470 --> 04:33.150 I really do. There's no question that we are in what I like to say the last of the last days. 04:36.490 --> 04:50.890 And if you've been paying any kind of attention whatsoever, I mean, we're witnessing almost everything that the Bible declares will happen in the end of the age. 04:52.490 --> 05:03.610 Almost everything. And right along with that, we also are witnessing the forces of evil. 05:05.130 --> 05:08.710 They're doing everything they can to promote the works of darkness. 05:11.110 --> 05:22.790 But for us as the followers of the Lord and the Church of Jesus Christ, it's important that the plans and purposes of God come to pass. 05:25.870 --> 05:31.650 The harvest needs to be reaped. The glory of God must fill the earth. 05:31.650 --> 05:35.450 Amen. Yes. And I believe it will. 05:38.070 --> 05:51.310 And so one of the things that Pastor had communicated to me was that kind of the theme, and I don't know if everyone's really going to go this way or not, 05:51.450 --> 05:58.670 but it was kind of like, okay, you know, what does a church in America need? You know, kind of where do we go from here? 06:02.990 --> 06:18.730 And I believe there's one thing, and I'll say it's not the only thing, but I believe there's one thing or one activity maybe would be a better way to say it. 06:18.730 --> 06:29.730 I believe there's one activity that is going to be absolutely necessary if we're going to see the things come to pass that we want to see come to pass. 06:32.110 --> 06:41.170 And it's very simply this. The followers of the Lord must be skilled prayers. 06:43.650 --> 07:00.160 Must be skilled prayers. And I'm not talking just about saying a simple prayer of request or thanksgiving. I'm not just talking about speaking in tongues. 07:02.420 --> 07:11.320 I'm talking about working together with the Holy Spirit in prayer. And there is a difference. 07:14.240 --> 07:27.320 And so I'm going to examine that some. And obviously we could not totally exhaust the subject, but I'm going to do my best to try and communicate to you some of the things that the Lord put on my heart. 07:27.920 --> 07:34.260 And some of the things that I have witnessed and been a part of through the years. 07:35.380 --> 07:47.060 It's interesting to me anyway is that I'm now 72 years old. A lot of you are younger than me and some of you are older than me. 07:49.140 --> 07:58.220 But I've been around for a while now. And when you get older, you're not as cool as you used to be. 07:59.940 --> 08:07.440 That's just kind of reality. And you don't dress, you know, hip and all this sort of stuff. And you got gray hair and wrinkles. 08:07.980 --> 08:13.740 And, you know, the old body just doesn't quite do what it used to do. You think it can. 08:16.680 --> 08:30.540 But I also realize this, that I've witnessed some things and seen some things that a lot of the younger people have no idea about. 08:35.860 --> 08:45.880 And if some of us that are more experienced in our walk with God and been walking with Him for a while, if we fail to teach these things, 08:46.540 --> 08:58.180 they can be lost. Truths can be lost for the next generation. And what I want to share with you this morning concerning prayer, 08:59.760 --> 09:16.470 I honestly see that this truth is being lost. And so I'm going to do my best to try and communicate some things to you about prayer 09:16.470 --> 09:30.390 that I believe is absolutely necessary for this day and hour. And something that if some of us don't start teaching on it, 09:31.350 --> 09:40.420 it will be just lost totally. So that's where we're going. Let's see where we end up. 09:41.540 --> 09:51.980 But I want to begin with the Scripture. This is in James chapter 5. James chapter 5 verse 16. James chapter 5 verse 16. 09:53.300 --> 10:00.320 And it says, Confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. 10:00.320 --> 10:10.920 And then it says this, a very interesting statement. It says, The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 10:11.800 --> 10:18.580 A simple little statement. The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. And I'm sure we've read that, we've heard that. 10:19.860 --> 10:29.140 But it's interesting that the word back in the original language, which really they use a couple of words to describe it, 10:29.200 --> 10:34.160 but effective fervent, but the word in the original language actually means this. Now listen to this. 10:34.580 --> 10:42.400 It means to be operative or at work. And then it said this, to put forth power. 10:44.400 --> 11:02.930 So he basically says the prayer that is work is what makes power available. I like to say it this way. 11:04.170 --> 11:12.410 And it's kind of a big word, but I think we all understand what it means. The laborious prayer is what actually puts forth power. 11:16.600 --> 11:21.760 Again, not just the simple prayer. Now we understand that we can pray, we can communicate with God. 11:22.080 --> 11:26.360 We understand that I can ask Him for things, so forth. We understand all that. 11:26.940 --> 11:34.080 But if we're really going to work with the Holy Ghost and produce some power that's going to be world changing, 11:35.140 --> 11:43.400 then it's going to take a different kind of prayer. And this kind of prayer involves work. 11:47.850 --> 11:52.990 It's not just a simple little thing that says, well, you know, we love you God, you got to do something. 11:56.210 --> 12:01.430 Help us, send your power. See, that's not going to cut it. 12:06.690 --> 12:15.510 The Amplified Bible says it this way. It says the earnest, heartfelt, continued prayer of a righteous man 12:15.510 --> 12:20.390 makes tremendous power available, dynamic, and it's working. 12:26.480 --> 12:35.320 Now, to be honest, if we want to even see an example today of how this laborious prayer is working, 12:36.360 --> 12:42.360 one of the things that's been happening in recent times is that the church has been praying very diligently, 12:42.360 --> 12:48.240 really working at prayer so that corruption will be exposed. 12:50.320 --> 12:52.600 And boy, is it being exposed. 12:54.940 --> 12:59.020 But that's happening because the church has taken that on. 13:00.400 --> 13:05.440 It's not just happening because someone, well, you know, Lord, you got to do something. 13:05.700 --> 13:08.560 I mean, things are so corrupt, you need to expose this. 13:08.560 --> 13:12.380 No, there's people that are diligently praying. 13:14.440 --> 13:18.180 They're working at it. And it's being exposed. 13:20.640 --> 13:28.440 Now, you know, we're maybe not always happy what we see when it's exposed, but it is being exposed. 13:28.440 --> 13:43.680 All right, so prayer has the potential to put forth just tremendous power, but it's a prayer that is work. 13:46.930 --> 13:59.670 Now, this prayer is so powerful in the mouth of a believer that God actually gave us the Holy Spirit to help us. 14:01.490 --> 14:06.510 Because that prayer is so powerful. That kind of prayer can change things. 14:08.490 --> 14:10.710 But he gave us the Holy Spirit to help us out. 14:12.990 --> 14:16.170 Now, I want to read another scripture. I'm just kind of getting started here. 14:16.450 --> 14:20.070 I want to get you thinking in the right direction. Let's go to Romans chapter 8. 14:21.270 --> 14:27.490 Romans chapter 8, and we'll pick it up here, verse 26 and then in verse 27. 14:28.610 --> 14:31.850 Romans chapter 8, he says, 14:32.070 --> 14:35.490 Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. 14:36.770 --> 14:46.270 For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 14:47.530 --> 14:55.090 Now, he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. 14:56.230 --> 15:05.170 Now, he speaks here of these groanings. These groanings are actually utterances that cannot be articulated. 15:07.170 --> 15:10.790 Now, the Amplified of verse 26 says it this way. 15:11.690 --> 15:17.090 It says, So too the Holy Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weaknesses. 15:17.690 --> 15:24.050 For we do not know what to pray or what prayer to offer, nor how to offer it worthily as we ought. 15:25.090 --> 15:36.250 But the Spirit himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance. 15:37.190 --> 15:45.790 So, there is a place in prayer in which the Holy Spirit is helping us, 15:46.910 --> 15:50.910 but it's a place in prayer where there actually is, as the Bible calls it, 15:50.910 --> 15:58.990 these groanings, unspeakable yearnings, but it is the Holy Ghost working through us. 16:00.450 --> 16:10.170 Now, I'll be honest with you that, and I'm sure, I mean, I can't speak for something that happened over a hundred years ago because I wasn't here. 16:11.250 --> 16:19.650 But just in my time, there was a time in which God was really emphasizing this type of prayer. 16:22.210 --> 16:29.570 But then it got a little off, which seems to happen with truce. 16:30.770 --> 16:35.710 People, you know, their own reasoning gets in, different things start to happen, things get off a little bit. 16:35.990 --> 16:42.170 I mean, we saw this with many areas. We saw it with prosperity. God emphasized prosperity at a point. 16:42.290 --> 16:47.070 He does want to prosper us, but then people start getting their own thinkings mixed in. 16:47.070 --> 16:54.210 All of a sudden, there were extremes that were out there. But see, people have a tendency when that happens this, then they just want to throw it all away. 16:56.890 --> 17:06.870 And we saw this with this type of praying, is that it started, there started being some air that was entering in, and then people just said, 17:06.910 --> 17:10.050 well, we can't have any of that anymore. And they just threw that whole thing out. 17:11.810 --> 17:22.410 Well, it's going to be necessary that the church knows how to pray this way in this day and this hour. 17:25.190 --> 17:33.550 I have, now I haven't recently, but in years past, I've done a lot of study about revivals because it just kind of piqued my interest. 17:33.550 --> 17:42.810 And so I studied about past revivals. Every past revival, at least that I studied not, there were revivals in other parts of the world. 17:42.890 --> 17:49.690 It's not just the United States and a few European countries. I mean, there's been revivals in China and Africa and all over. 17:49.850 --> 17:57.630 But the ones that I studied, every single one took place because they were people praying this way. 18:01.390 --> 18:08.090 You can read reports about it and different ones and it's very interesting. 18:09.030 --> 18:17.290 You know, there's reports of prayers that they had prayed so much that they actually wore their floors from being on their knees, 18:17.790 --> 18:21.410 praying in this one spot and actually wore the floor out, they prayed so much. 18:24.790 --> 18:30.850 People would pray and those that would hear them praying in this way would think there's something wrong with them. 18:31.870 --> 18:44.070 They think they were crazy. So there were air. There was, I should say, was air that entered in. 18:45.770 --> 18:56.330 In fact, what we saw some is that we saw some, what I would say misguided individuals. 18:58.350 --> 19:06.450 They would start pushing people to attend what they called groaning meetings. 19:09.760 --> 19:10.760 We saw this. 19:12.500 --> 19:18.660 And sadly it was nothing more than people just getting together and trying to conjure up some kind of groaning 19:19.580 --> 19:22.600 that was supposed to be by the Spirit, but it was just the flesh. 19:24.000 --> 19:25.660 And there was no anointing on it. 19:29.190 --> 19:38.170 And so sadly, you know, it caused people to walk away from that truth. 19:40.030 --> 19:42.830 And like I said, basically just throw the whole thing out. 19:44.170 --> 19:47.330 And now I could go into many churches. 19:49.070 --> 19:53.250 And I'm not saying it's that way here at all, but I could go into many churches. 19:53.870 --> 20:01.590 And if they asked them anything about this type of praying, they would know nothing about it. 20:04.740 --> 20:07.980 Because they just tossed it all out years ago. 20:12.080 --> 20:15.140 But we're not going to get where we need to get without this type of praying. 20:28.530 --> 20:38.910 See, the Holy Spirit will help believers to pray with groanings that cannot be articulated. 20:42.210 --> 20:45.790 But that doesn't mean that we can announce some kind of meeting and saying, 20:45.910 --> 20:54.060 well, we're going to have a groaning meeting and then exhort everyone to groan. 20:54.400 --> 20:55.680 It doesn't work that way. 21:01.930 --> 21:10.110 The Holy Spirit has to take hold with believers as they pray in the Spirit. 21:11.490 --> 21:16.590 Otherwise, any type of these groanings are nothing more than just a fleshly display. 21:26.120 --> 21:30.680 So, I was thinking of this when I was preparing some things. 21:30.900 --> 21:37.540 I thought, well, I'm going to explore this today, but to be honest with you, 21:38.900 --> 21:47.460 I explored at the risk of being misunderstood and even being persecuted for it. 21:50.170 --> 21:52.290 But I believe that's what the Lord told me to do. 21:59.910 --> 22:02.050 Because we need this kind of praying in the church. 22:05.110 --> 22:08.930 All right, you can tell I'm just kind of... 22:11.050 --> 22:17.190 I'm struggling a little bit here, but let's look at a scripture again. 22:18.330 --> 22:20.450 This time, Isaiah 66. 22:24.270 --> 22:26.210 Isaiah 66 and verse 8. 22:27.110 --> 22:30.590 Now, I told the guys in the sound booth, I was just using these two, 22:30.890 --> 22:33.130 and this one actually is the old King James Version. 22:33.710 --> 22:37.890 Now, I'm going to switch back, but I want to read it first in the old King James Version. 22:38.650 --> 22:41.090 This is in Isaiah 66, verse 8. 22:42.470 --> 22:44.470 He says, Who has heard such a thing? 22:45.650 --> 22:46.970 Who has seen such things? 22:48.010 --> 22:51.110 Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? 22:52.090 --> 22:54.530 Or shall a nation be born at once? 22:55.550 --> 22:58.590 For as soon as... Now, I pronounce it Zion. 22:59.130 --> 23:02.690 I could be wrong in that, I've heard different pronunciations of it. 23:02.750 --> 23:05.190 But just for me, let's go with that. 23:06.610 --> 23:13.550 But anyway, for as soon as Zion prevailed, she brought forth her children. 23:14.790 --> 23:16.470 So it speaks of a travail. 23:17.750 --> 23:21.190 But then in the new King James Version of that same verse, 23:22.310 --> 23:24.190 it says, Who has heard such a thing? 23:24.390 --> 23:25.470 Who has seen such things? 23:26.090 --> 23:28.810 Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? 23:29.290 --> 23:31.110 Or shall a nation be born at once? 23:31.550 --> 23:34.190 It says, For as soon as Zion was in labor, 23:35.510 --> 23:37.110 she gave birth to her children. 23:37.550 --> 23:40.270 So in one translation that spoke of this travail, 23:40.530 --> 23:43.450 here it talks about being in labor. 23:44.230 --> 23:48.390 Now, we need to understand that Old Testament prophecies 23:49.350 --> 23:52.130 often have multiple applications. 23:53.650 --> 23:55.350 First, there's a natural one. 23:57.250 --> 24:00.270 But then there's also a spiritual application. 24:01.210 --> 24:06.030 So in this verse, we know that in the natural, 24:06.710 --> 24:10.170 it's speaking about Israel becoming a sovereign nation. 24:11.570 --> 24:14.590 Now, there's some, you know, question among Bible scholars that, 24:14.650 --> 24:16.170 well, when did that exactly happen? 24:16.170 --> 24:19.490 You know, some say back like in 1948 or whatever. 24:19.670 --> 24:23.510 I don't know, but it is talking in the natural sense, 24:23.670 --> 24:27.230 it's talking about Israel, that nation being birth, 24:27.830 --> 24:29.510 becoming their own sovereign nation. 24:30.210 --> 24:32.510 But when the Bible talks about Zion, 24:33.410 --> 24:36.970 it's not always necessarily talking about Israel. 24:38.530 --> 24:40.270 And I can prove that to you. 24:40.910 --> 24:44.410 Because if we come on over here to Hebrews chapter 12, 24:45.870 --> 24:50.570 Hebrews chapter 12, and I'm going to pick it up in verse 22. 24:51.350 --> 24:54.650 Hebrews chapter 12 verse 22, he says, 24:54.810 --> 24:57.990 but you've come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, 24:58.470 --> 25:01.970 the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels 25:01.970 --> 25:05.490 and to the general assembly and church of the firstborn 25:06.690 --> 25:09.710 who are registered in heaven and to God the judge of all 25:09.710 --> 25:12.690 to the spirits of just men made perfect to Jesus, the mediator, 25:12.690 --> 25:14.110 so forth and so on. 25:14.570 --> 25:15.930 Now notice here this phrase. 25:16.110 --> 25:18.690 It says to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, 25:19.170 --> 25:22.650 that refers to us, the church. 25:24.770 --> 25:27.570 And so under the new covenant in this sense, 25:28.850 --> 25:31.890 when it refers to that they come to Mount Zion, 25:32.070 --> 25:33.290 to the city of the living God, 25:33.470 --> 25:35.310 to the general assembly of the church of the firstborn, 25:35.670 --> 25:41.970 we see in the new covenant that the church is referred to as Zion. 25:46.890 --> 25:52.410 So if we look at that, it actually brings them some more meaning 25:52.410 --> 25:55.870 into Isaiah 66 verse 8, where it says, 25:56.110 --> 25:59.690 for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. 26:02.050 --> 26:09.470 When the church travails, she'll bring forth spiritual children. 26:14.300 --> 26:18.320 But that is a prayer that involves labor. 26:21.520 --> 26:23.040 Labor is work. 26:24.900 --> 26:25.400 Huh? 26:27.640 --> 26:28.780 Labor is work. 26:32.920 --> 26:39.720 Now, the apostle Paul spoke of this over in Galatians chapter 4 26:40.880 --> 26:44.260 of this travail, or labor. 26:45.020 --> 26:47.380 Galatians chapter 4, look here in verse 19. 26:49.060 --> 26:55.460 He says, my little children of whom I labor in birth again 26:56.640 --> 26:58.760 until Christ is formed in you. 26:59.660 --> 27:02.720 So he mentions here of a labor. 27:02.960 --> 27:05.680 Some translations say he travailed in birth. 27:05.820 --> 27:07.720 I think the original King James says it that way, 27:08.060 --> 27:10.920 that he travailed in birth again until Christ be formed in them. 27:11.580 --> 27:15.900 And so here's the apostle Paul referring to a labor or a travail. 27:15.900 --> 27:18.320 And it had to do with prayer. 27:19.020 --> 27:22.460 Now he implies here, of course, that he had actually travailed 27:22.460 --> 27:26.020 in prayer for those so that they could be born again. 27:26.240 --> 27:29.440 Because he says, I'm travailing again for you. 27:29.580 --> 27:31.120 So that Christ can be formed in you. 27:31.160 --> 27:34.580 So he's really implying that he had prayed or travailed 27:34.580 --> 27:37.900 in this type of prayer for them to be born again. 27:38.860 --> 27:42.380 Now he's travailing for them that they would actually grow up in Christ 27:42.860 --> 27:44.740 and continue their spiritual walk. 27:44.740 --> 27:45.860 You following me? 27:48.220 --> 27:55.980 So we can very scripturally see that there is a type of prayer. 27:56.120 --> 27:58.160 There's a groanings. There's a travail. 27:58.860 --> 28:03.120 There's a labor in this type of prayer 28:03.700 --> 28:06.400 that makes tremendous power available. 28:07.280 --> 28:09.960 It can cause people to be born again. 28:10.740 --> 28:13.800 It can cause people to grow up in Christ Jesus. 28:14.740 --> 28:18.520 It can change things around the world 28:19.760 --> 28:22.400 because it makes tremendous power available. 28:26.320 --> 28:28.040 But it does involve work. 28:34.140 --> 28:38.820 It's not just simply saying we know someone that's not saved them. 28:38.900 --> 28:40.500 Oh Lord, just save them. 28:41.440 --> 28:43.060 That's not the kind of prayer we're talking about. 28:48.880 --> 28:50.800 This is a prayer that involves some work. 28:52.960 --> 28:53.900 It's a travail. 28:56.020 --> 29:01.100 Because the example that's given, it's like a woman bringing forth a child. 29:03.800 --> 29:10.320 And in the natural, birthing a baby involves discomfort, 29:13.180 --> 29:14.360 even pain. 29:16.380 --> 29:18.640 It's labor. It's work. 29:20.260 --> 29:21.300 You following me? 29:25.610 --> 29:27.970 I'm not just talking over your head. 29:27.990 --> 29:28.410 Am I? 29:34.480 --> 29:35.400 All right. 29:39.770 --> 29:40.570 See now, 29:43.690 --> 29:49.430 if we're really going to have the lost saved to the degree 29:50.830 --> 29:53.490 that we all want and that we all talk about, 29:53.730 --> 29:56.730 this great harvest coming in around the world, 29:57.690 --> 29:59.150 it's going to take prayers, 30:00.810 --> 30:04.290 travailing in this type of prayer to bring in that kind of harvest. 30:07.590 --> 30:09.690 Now, I'm not opposed to this, 30:09.890 --> 30:13.230 but we do have to be a little careful because see, 30:13.650 --> 30:17.310 churches will set up all kinds of programs trying to reach the lost. 30:19.090 --> 30:20.590 And I'm not opposed to that. 30:21.030 --> 30:23.470 Thank God they want to try and preach the gospel to people. 30:23.590 --> 30:24.390 I'm all for it. 30:25.070 --> 30:28.050 But they'll set up all kinds of programs to reach the lost. 30:28.370 --> 30:29.670 And what can happen 30:31.050 --> 30:34.850 is that people can just make a mental agreement 30:37.050 --> 30:38.770 and never really, truly get saved. 30:41.210 --> 30:43.230 Because you can put pressure on somebody 30:44.070 --> 30:46.550 in trying to witness and share the gospel with them 30:46.550 --> 30:48.090 and they'll go, well, I believe in Jesus 30:48.090 --> 30:51.390 and they'll even pray a prayer with you. 30:52.990 --> 30:55.370 But you don't see any transformation in their life. 31:03.120 --> 31:06.220 Now, I can't judge someone's heart and don't want to. 31:08.100 --> 31:10.460 And I'm not saying that someone won't get saved 31:10.460 --> 31:13.320 just because they hear the gospel and believe it 31:13.320 --> 31:14.300 and receive Jesus. 31:15.860 --> 31:16.840 Certainly they can. 31:18.440 --> 31:22.080 But there are people out there that have just decided that, 31:22.220 --> 31:23.840 well, you know, I did this. 31:24.080 --> 31:26.540 I mean, I tried the drugs and, you know, 31:26.620 --> 31:27.860 and the alcohol and I tried. 31:28.020 --> 31:29.400 Well, let's just try Jesus. 31:33.540 --> 31:35.060 They may not even be saved 31:36.900 --> 31:38.220 even though they prayed a prayer. 31:40.800 --> 31:42.860 Because they just mentally agreed to something. 31:43.840 --> 31:45.340 That doesn't get you saved. 31:57.160 --> 32:01.200 But when the Holy Spirit takes hold together with someone 32:02.740 --> 32:04.820 to intercede for the lost, 32:06.480 --> 32:09.280 there's a mighty power that's made available 32:10.320 --> 32:12.200 and it'll bring forth fruit. 32:14.120 --> 32:16.440 People will be, if we could use this terminology, 32:16.720 --> 32:18.500 people will be birthed into the kingdom 32:18.520 --> 32:19.040 of God. 32:20.460 --> 32:23.200 Because when the Holy Spirit takes hold together 32:23.200 --> 32:24.900 with them to pray for the lost, 32:25.020 --> 32:27.000 it makes tremendous power available 32:28.520 --> 32:32.120 that changes things and at last it produces fruit 32:32.120 --> 32:33.080 forever. 32:42.620 --> 32:44.760 If you think about it, 32:46.300 --> 32:46.860 children 32:48.780 --> 32:51.180 are not born into a home without travail. 32:58.300 --> 32:59.280 And the same way, 32:59.280 --> 33:01.160 children are not born into the family of God 33:01.160 --> 33:02.320 without travail and prayer. 33:12.670 --> 33:15.110 But this spiritual travail that we're talking about, 33:15.250 --> 33:16.210 these groanings, 33:17.750 --> 33:19.170 does not occur 33:21.010 --> 33:22.690 without the help of the Holy Spirit. 33:25.130 --> 33:26.090 Any more 33:26.970 --> 33:29.090 than someone can give birth to a child 33:29.090 --> 33:29.910 if they're not pregnant. 33:31.730 --> 33:33.150 They got to be pregnant first. 33:44.110 --> 33:46.070 See, you can just decide that well 33:47.090 --> 33:49.630 I'm just going to groan and travail and whatever else. 33:50.270 --> 33:52.870 But the Holy Spirit never takes hold together with you. 33:53.390 --> 33:55.710 You can travail all you want, nothing's going to happen. 34:00.680 --> 34:02.840 It'd be like someone trying to give birth to a baby, 34:02.960 --> 34:03.600 but they're not pregnant. 34:06.910 --> 34:08.950 Because this type of prayer is you 34:09.870 --> 34:11.390 working with the Holy Spirit. 34:11.510 --> 34:13.350 It's the Holy Spirit taking together with you. 34:13.510 --> 34:14.830 It's a different kind of prayer. 34:19.010 --> 34:19.490 Amen. 34:21.170 --> 34:23.690 But when we have genuine spiritual travail 34:24.070 --> 34:26.470 it brings supernatural results. 34:28.590 --> 34:30.210 And I'm convinced that 34:30.210 --> 34:33.150 the closer we can pattern our prayer life 34:33.150 --> 34:34.030 to the Word of God 34:35.210 --> 34:36.690 we're going to get greater results. 34:43.710 --> 34:44.270 Now 34:45.410 --> 34:46.730 this type of prayer 34:50.140 --> 34:52.760 is under the anointing, we could say. 34:54.380 --> 34:54.940 Now 34:55.940 --> 34:57.340 you can pray in tongues. 34:57.480 --> 34:59.140 If you're born again filled with the Holy Spirit 34:59.140 --> 35:02.000 you can pray in tongues whenever you choose. 35:03.360 --> 35:05.220 You can communicate with God 35:05.220 --> 35:07.040 you can pray in tongues whenever you choose. 35:08.970 --> 35:11.000 But you should come to the place 35:11.880 --> 35:14.420 where you can distinguish the difference 35:14.420 --> 35:15.980 between praying in tongues 35:16.780 --> 35:19.740 for your own personal edification 35:20.820 --> 35:23.100 and actually interceding 35:23.100 --> 35:26.320 for others as the Holy Spirit 35:26.320 --> 35:28.560 takes hold together with you in prayer. 35:29.140 --> 35:31.600 You should be able to distinguish the difference. 35:35.980 --> 35:36.380 Amen. 35:44.600 --> 35:47.980 I like to try and describe it like this. 35:48.520 --> 35:49.980 See when you were born again 35:51.120 --> 35:53.840 we know that the Spirit of God came to live inside of us 35:53.840 --> 35:55.380 and then we got filled with the Holy Spirit 35:56.100 --> 35:59.620 which gave us this ability to speak in this supernatural language. 36:00.320 --> 36:00.460 Now 36:01.540 --> 36:02.840 speaking in tongues 36:04.400 --> 36:05.700 as you could say 36:05.700 --> 36:09.060 the native language of the new kingdom that you're in 36:10.620 --> 36:11.600 that's your language 36:12.740 --> 36:14.940 because you were translated out of the kingdom of darkness 36:14.940 --> 36:16.440 into the kingdom of his dear son. 36:16.600 --> 36:19.540 So now in this new kingdom that you're in now 36:19.540 --> 36:22.280 that you received Jesus and were filled with the Holy Spirit 36:22.280 --> 36:23.880 he gave you a language. 36:24.100 --> 36:27.420 It's the native language of the new kingdom that you're in. 36:28.460 --> 36:29.300 And so 36:29.300 --> 36:32.460 now you can communicate with God in this new language 36:33.320 --> 36:35.520 and when you first start speaking in tongues 36:35.520 --> 36:36.620 more than likely 36:36.620 --> 36:38.800 I know it was certainly that way with me 36:38.800 --> 36:40.460 more than likely 36:40.460 --> 36:42.540 you weren't real fluid 36:43.260 --> 36:44.580 in your new language. 36:46.620 --> 36:48.700 You were like a baby 36:49.940 --> 36:51.580 just learning to talk. 36:53.660 --> 36:55.400 I know it was that way with me 36:55.400 --> 36:57.500 and when I got filled with the Holy Spirit 36:58.440 --> 36:59.960 I got two words. 37:00.480 --> 37:01.720 I mean two words 37:03.660 --> 37:04.660 but I was 37:04.660 --> 37:06.160 I mean I believed it 37:06.160 --> 37:07.840 I knew I'd received the Holy Spirit 37:08.580 --> 37:10.560 and I just kept saying those two words 37:11.140 --> 37:12.900 over and over and over and over again 37:12.900 --> 37:14.020 this went on for days 37:15.320 --> 37:16.560 I'd be driving in my car 37:16.560 --> 37:17.020 two words 37:17.020 --> 37:18.940 you know just over and over again 37:20.320 --> 37:22.520 but the more that I did that 37:24.260 --> 37:26.060 the more words started to come 37:27.300 --> 37:28.380 and you think about 37:28.380 --> 37:31.020 you know a baby that's just learning to speak 37:31.020 --> 37:42.280 A lot of times they get one word, and it's usually either mama or dad. They start 37:44.440 --> 37:49.760 somewhere, and then they learn to speak more words. And so we have this new 37:49.760 --> 37:54.260 language now, and so when we first start out we may not be very fluent in it, but 37:54.260 --> 38:03.180 the more that we speak in that language, the more fluent we become. But that 38:03.180 --> 38:11.860 language, see, that we have is something we can use to speak to God anytime we 38:11.860 --> 38:19.920 want. I don't need an anointing to do that. I can just speak. It's my, you could 38:19.920 --> 38:28.000 say my native language to this kingdom of God. But see, then there's times when you 38:28.000 --> 38:41.560 speak with tongues under the anointing, and that's different. During that time 38:44.000 --> 38:53.760 tongues would just flow out of your spirit by the anointing of the Holy 38:53.760 --> 39:02.140 Spirit within you. And all you do is just speak out the words. It almost seems 39:02.140 --> 39:11.660 like you have nothing to do with it. Now you do because you yielded. But see, 39:12.620 --> 39:16.960 sometimes when you pray just in tongues, you're just gonna decide that you're 39:16.960 --> 39:23.040 gonna pray in tongues. You sometimes just got to make yourself do it. I'm 39:23.040 --> 39:28.140 gonna pray in tongues. And what you're doing is you're just making yourself 39:28.140 --> 39:33.260 speak. And that's cool. You can do that. But then there's times, see, like I said, 39:33.800 --> 39:38.780 when the anointing comes on you to pray where the Holy Spirit takes hold 39:38.780 --> 39:44.300 together with you. And at that point, see, then tongues will just begin to 39:44.300 --> 39:48.740 flow out of you. And it almost seems like you don't even have nothing to do 39:48.740 --> 39:59.620 with it. It just flows. And I know I've experienced that where times, I'm just, 40:00.300 --> 40:05.620 it's like I'm listening to what's coming out of my mouth. And I'm, things, I'll say 40:05.620 --> 40:10.300 certain things. That's interesting. And then it'll start to sound like 40:10.300 --> 40:13.720 different things because it's, it's different tongues of men and angels. 40:14.100 --> 40:17.720 And so it kind of sounds like it's some kind of Chinese language. And I'm 40:17.720 --> 40:23.500 going, well, that's kind of interesting. But it's just flowing because there's an 40:23.500 --> 40:36.240 anointing there where now the Holy Spirit has taken hold together with you. But 40:36.240 --> 40:43.580 speaking with that anointing or we'd say by the anointing of the Spirit, even 40:43.580 --> 40:47.640 where it comes to the place where it's not just these tongues, but it 40:47.640 --> 40:56.930 proceeds into something else that even becomes a groaning, a travail, that kind 40:56.930 --> 41:09.760 of experience in prayer. Very few believers have. Very few. Because you often 41:09.760 --> 41:14.000 believers get filled with the Spirit and they speak in tongues, which is 41:14.000 --> 41:19.500 their now new language they got for their kingdom. But they never develop any 41:19.500 --> 41:26.160 further in that supernatural realm of the Spirit. They just stay there. They never 41:26.160 --> 41:36.070 get any farther. But they need to start putting some effort into speaking in 41:36.070 --> 41:44.250 tongues, I would say, long enough to get over into the realm where the Holy 41:44.250 --> 41:52.790 Spirit takes hold together with you. Because it changes. It's not the same and 41:52.790 --> 41:58.930 some of you have experienced that. But all of a sudden he takes hold together 41:58.930 --> 42:04.770 with you and now there's an anointing there and now you're praying in a way 42:04.770 --> 42:10.570 in which it's just flowing out of you and that kind of prayer the Bible 42:10.570 --> 42:44.770 says makes tremendous power available. It'll change things. Now it's hard to, and 42:44.770 --> 42:47.730 this is where I struggled a little bit. Like I said, it's not a topic I teach 42:47.730 --> 42:54.510 a lot. Because it's hard to teach people this. Because if we can look at 42:54.510 --> 43:02.970 it this way, how could I teach someone what it's like to give birth to a baby 43:02.970 --> 43:14.300 in the natural? How could I do that? You have to experience it for yourself. Now 43:14.300 --> 43:19.260 ladies that have children, will you understand it? And husbands think they 43:19.260 --> 43:25.780 understand it and they don't. They try to understand it. I mean seriously 43:25.780 --> 43:29.800 they do try and understand, but they don't. Because they've never really 43:29.800 --> 43:35.760 experienced it. And how are you going to teach them what it's like? And it's 43:35.760 --> 43:43.500 that way with this type of praying is that it's hard to teach it because you 43:43.500 --> 43:53.980 got to experience it. That's the only way you begin to learn. But you, in 43:53.980 --> 43:59.160 fact, have to be willing, if necessary, to pray long enough in tongues until 43:59.160 --> 44:02.900 you get to that place where the Holy Spirit does take hold together with 44:02.900 --> 44:08.540 you. And then you begin to understand and you begin to learn some things. Now 44:08.540 --> 44:14.200 you can get together with other believers that understand this type of 44:14.200 --> 44:19.340 prayer and pray with them. And that can help you to learn some 44:19.340 --> 44:25.440 things. And because you see how they pray and it kind of helps you. So we're 44:26.240 --> 44:31.900 not... We can do that. We can get together. But the other thing with 44:31.900 --> 44:39.940 this type of praying is that the Bible actually frowns on praying this 44:39.940 --> 44:54.550 way among those that are unlearned. It actually frowns on it. Let me 44:54.550 --> 45:05.110 read. Let me find a scripture. First Corinthians chapter 14. First 45:05.110 --> 45:11.370 Corinthians 14. We'll pick it up here in verse 16. It says, Otherwise, if you 45:11.370 --> 45:16.410 bless with the Spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed? 45:17.570 --> 45:23.290 Now some translations say unlearned. But the uninformed. How can they say 45:23.290 --> 45:26.310 amen to your giving of thanks since he does not understand what you 45:26.310 --> 45:31.290 say? For you indeed give thanks well, but the others not edified. So it speaks 45:31.290 --> 45:41.060 about this place of the unlearned. There's been a lot of damage that's 45:41.060 --> 45:48.280 been caused in the body of Christ by people praying this way in amongst a 45:48.280 --> 45:52.060 large group where there's people that are just unlearned because they don't 45:52.060 --> 45:56.280 understand. And that's why you certainly can't have a meeting and say, 45:56.280 --> 46:00.240 okay, we're going to have a groaning meeting and y'all come and then this 46:00.240 --> 46:10.640 grown. Well, it doesn't work that way. And so that makes it again, that makes 46:10.640 --> 46:19.920 it difficult to teach because you can't really teach by example in a group 46:19.920 --> 46:24.660 where there would be people there that just have no understanding of this 46:24.660 --> 46:33.200 whatsoever. So you see the challenge. But yet at the same time, if we don't 46:33.200 --> 46:38.240 have this type of praying in the church, we are going to fall short of what 46:38.240 --> 46:47.080 God wants to do. And see in fear of the persuasion that God's just going 46:47.080 --> 46:50.620 to do whatever he wants to do. And we as a church don't have much to do 46:50.620 --> 46:54.240 with it. Well, and I'm here this morning to inform you that that's 46:54.240 --> 47:00.940 not correct thinking. Because I can find all kinds of examples where God's 47:00.940 --> 47:13.140 will did not come to pass was delayed because of men. Just think of one of the 47:13.140 --> 47:16.640 most popular stories in the Bible, the children of Israel being delivered 47:16.640 --> 47:20.560 from Egypt, they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years and they all 47:20.560 --> 47:28.910 died. Was that God's will? No. Well, why didn't God just take him in anyway? 47:29.690 --> 47:34.350 If that was his will, why didn't he just make it happen? No, because we have 47:34.350 --> 47:40.070 something to do with it. And we can say, well, man, I believe that God wants 47:40.070 --> 47:44.570 to bring in this great harvest and His glory wants to fill this earth. We 47:44.570 --> 47:51.410 understand all that. But it's going to take us, now we can delay it. We 47:51.410 --> 47:58.190 can cause things not to come to pass that should come to pass. Unless we 47:58.190 --> 48:23.520 learn to pray this way. He needs us. Now, like I said before, that during 48:23.520 --> 48:28.880 these times of prayer, it seems like you don't have much of anything to do 48:28.880 --> 48:32.580 with it. Once you've reached that place where it takes hold together 48:32.580 --> 48:38.760 with you, things just begin to flow. Things just begin to happen. But you 48:38.760 --> 48:41.680 did have something to do with it in the beginning, because you chose to yield. 48:43.120 --> 48:48.280 We have to understand that the Holy Spirit just doesn't take us over. It's 48:48.280 --> 48:54.220 a matter of us yield to Him and His will, and then that stronger 48:54.220 --> 49:01.340 anointing will come. The Holy Spirit is not going to come on you and 49:01.340 --> 49:07.460 flow through you without your permission. Just not going to do that. But if you 49:07.460 --> 49:14.320 yield to Him and give Him permission, then He'll actually give you that 49:14.320 --> 49:30.980 stronger anointing to pray. And sometimes, when you're in that place of 49:30.980 --> 49:37.420 prayer, and the Holy Spirit is taking hold together with you, you will, 49:38.980 --> 49:45.320 because it is intercession, you're taking the place of another. Sometimes the person 49:45.320 --> 49:51.180 that you're praying for, you can actually begin to feel some of their hurt, their 49:51.180 --> 49:56.640 heartache. You can begin to feel that yourself, because you're standing in 49:56.640 --> 50:01.720 the gap. You following me? I've heard stories people talk about how they've 50:01.720 --> 50:04.720 been praying for someone with that loss, and then that the Holy Spirit 50:04.720 --> 50:08.240 would come upon them in that way, and they begin to pray in this deeper realm of 50:08.240 --> 50:16.690 prayer, and they started to feel like they were lost themselves. And so that 50:16.690 --> 50:20.930 can happen. Sometimes you can be praying for a situation, maybe someone's in 50:20.930 --> 50:27.490 need of healing, and you're praying for them. And the very thing that you're 50:27.490 --> 50:32.430 praying that God would move in their life and help them, you start to 50:32.430 --> 50:38.750 feel that same pain. But it's the Holy Spirit taking hold together with you, and 50:38.750 --> 50:43.090 you're standing in the gap, you're that intercessor. But it's a supernatural 50:43.090 --> 50:49.690 thing. And sadly so many people never experience those things. And sometimes 50:49.690 --> 50:55.530 when you're praying for people in that deeper realm of prayer, you will 50:55.530 --> 51:03.350 actually feel like you're in their presence, like you've been translated. 51:04.750 --> 51:08.010 You didn't, you're still there, but it feels like you're there. 51:09.630 --> 51:16.950 I remember one, it's, you know, kind of a real, I guess kind of a dramatic 51:16.950 --> 51:23.570 experience with me, is that several years ago now my wife had a medical 51:23.570 --> 51:30.650 emergency, and so they had to, we called the ambulance, they came, took her to 51:30.650 --> 51:34.850 the local hospital, but then they needed to airlift her out to a different 51:34.850 --> 51:40.450 hospital. And so they said, well we're going to airlifter, so they took, put 51:40.450 --> 51:45.630 her in the helicopter, they took off, and then I had to drive in the car, 51:46.190 --> 51:50.450 and it was about 65, 70 miles that I had to drive in the car. 51:50.930 --> 51:55.110 Of course the helicopter got their way ahead of me, and they had done a whole 51:55.110 --> 51:59.230 bunch of things already, they rushed her into surgery, different things, so in fact 51:59.230 --> 52:02.790 I think she was coming out of surgery by the time I got there, they went that 52:02.790 --> 52:07.670 fast. But anyway, so I'm driving down the interstate, and I'm praying, I mean 52:07.670 --> 52:15.970 obviously, and I'm praying. And the Holy Spirit started taking hold 52:15.970 --> 52:21.790 together with me, so it wasn't just me praying in what I knew how to pray, I mean 52:21.790 --> 52:26.770 I can speak in tongues, and I can pray in English, I know certain things, what the 52:26.770 --> 52:29.830 Word says, so I'm speaking what the Word says, and I'm praying in tongues, but 52:29.830 --> 52:35.310 then the Holy Spirit just took hold together with me, and it changed, and 52:35.310 --> 52:42.870 anointing came on me to pray. And so I'm praying, and all of a sudden I'm 52:42.870 --> 52:48.450 driving down interstate 94, and all of a sudden I'm in the helicopter. 52:51.830 --> 52:54.290 Now I wasn't translated there, I'm still driving my car. 52:55.110 --> 53:00.250 Well I'm pretty sure I was. I guess I couldn't say that for sure, but I'm 53:00.250 --> 53:03.630 pretty sure I was, okay, because it would have been quite the 53:03.630 --> 53:06.370 sight if there was just a car going down 94 and nobody in it. 53:06.890 --> 53:12.230 So I don't think that was going on, but see, because when you pray that 53:12.230 --> 53:17.030 way, sometimes you'll be in their presence. 53:19.290 --> 53:22.290 I've heard prayer people talk about how they prayed for the president, 53:24.030 --> 53:26.370 and they'd find themselves in the oval office 53:27.390 --> 53:33.510 in prayer. See there's no distance in the spirit, 53:36.600 --> 53:39.320 but those are the kind of prayers that get things done. 53:39.320 --> 53:45.000 They make tremendous power available, but it takes some work, 53:45.720 --> 53:51.480 it takes some labor, and the church is going to have to be willing to do that. 54:06.420 --> 54:09.040 But we do have to do things again correctly. 54:10.480 --> 54:12.740 Like I said, part of the challenge in this 54:14.060 --> 54:22.140 is that the Bible does warn us, you know, that we should not be doing these 54:22.140 --> 54:24.860 sort of things in the presence of those that are on learned, 54:25.720 --> 54:27.940 and so that makes it more challenging to teach, 54:29.520 --> 54:30.960 but yet people got to learn. 54:33.780 --> 54:41.700 And anytime we talk about things that are more of the supernatural realm, 54:42.460 --> 54:46.600 you run the risk of people getting off. 54:49.120 --> 54:52.520 You run the risk even as a preacher, you run the risk of people looking at you 54:52.520 --> 54:56.160 and thinking, you know, something weird about you, 54:58.220 --> 55:00.380 and they want to persecute you and whatever else. 55:02.560 --> 55:05.380 But we have to learn to pray this way. 55:11.740 --> 55:14.020 But it's going to involve some effort on our part, 55:17.440 --> 55:21.260 because you're going to have to be willing to give yourself to times of prayer. 55:23.720 --> 55:29.420 I believe with all my heart that God is calling us to a deeper realm of prayer 55:29.420 --> 55:30.520 in this day and this hour. 55:35.700 --> 55:39.220 And for me, just in my life, it's been confirmed to me over and over again 55:39.220 --> 55:41.640 because of all the studies I've done about past revivals. 55:41.640 --> 55:47.400 They did not happen just because someone said, well, Lord, send revival. 55:50.420 --> 55:55.360 They happened because people were willing to give of their lives to pray. 55:57.080 --> 55:58.700 And they labored in prayer. 55:59.680 --> 56:02.160 And the Holy Spirit took hold together with them. 56:03.560 --> 56:05.080 And things began to happen. 56:07.520 --> 56:09.060 And we can find stories. 56:10.980 --> 56:14.760 You look at it in the Bible, remember the situation, the time that Peter was in prison, 56:15.000 --> 56:17.840 and they're in the book of Acts, and then it says that there were believers, 56:18.060 --> 56:19.300 there was the church, they prayed. 56:21.640 --> 56:24.320 And remember, an angel came and got Peter out of prison. 56:27.600 --> 56:34.000 Now, to me, I think it's rather interesting because, see, if that had happened today, 56:35.360 --> 56:38.660 I think too much of the church world would have just organized a protest 56:39.180 --> 56:40.360 in front of the jail. 56:48.670 --> 56:51.050 Now, I'm not opposed to being involved in things. 56:51.430 --> 56:53.210 And I mean, I'm all for that. 56:53.390 --> 56:55.350 We need to not only pray, but we got to do. 56:58.230 --> 57:02.850 But they didn't, that early church, they didn't organize any kind of protest or anything 57:02.850 --> 57:04.170 because Peter was in prison. 57:04.310 --> 57:04.910 They just prayed. 57:06.730 --> 57:10.450 And I don't mean it sounded like it wasn't much because they just did that, 57:10.970 --> 57:12.010 but they prayed. 57:17.330 --> 57:18.590 And Peter was delivered. 57:20.030 --> 57:21.790 It makes tremendous power available. 57:23.930 --> 57:27.710 I remember, this happened to me many, many years ago. 57:28.150 --> 57:29.550 It was during a time of prayer. 57:30.630 --> 57:32.650 And the anointing just came on me to pray. 57:34.190 --> 57:38.570 And so, you know, you begin to pray in that deeper realm of prayer where the Holy Spirit 57:38.570 --> 57:39.810 takes hold together with you. 57:40.490 --> 57:44.590 And all of a sudden I found myself praying for a major corporation in America. 57:46.250 --> 57:47.110 A major corporation. 57:47.490 --> 57:48.570 And I'm not going to tell you who it was. 57:49.610 --> 57:51.450 But a major corporation in America. 57:52.050 --> 57:53.770 And these are the words that come out of my mouth. 57:53.910 --> 57:54.630 It shocked me. 57:55.230 --> 57:57.190 So I was praying in tongues and different things were going on. 57:57.250 --> 57:58.250 And then this came out in English. 57:59.250 --> 58:03.030 And God said that that corporation needed to judge itself. 58:03.190 --> 58:06.350 And if it did not judge itself, it was going to close down. 58:06.610 --> 58:07.390 It was going to fail. 58:10.150 --> 58:13.810 And I heard just a few months after that, that's a whole corporation. 58:14.090 --> 58:15.890 Huge corporation it folded. 58:18.890 --> 58:20.510 Makes tremendous power available. 58:23.530 --> 58:29.370 And here's just some little old farm boy from rural Minnesota praying. 58:33.750 --> 58:35.350 Makes tremendous power available. 58:44.890 --> 58:46.850 But the church is going to have to decide 58:50.840 --> 58:53.640 if we're going to give ourselves to this deeper realm of prayer 58:55.220 --> 58:58.520 so that we can actually usher in the next move of God's Spirit 58:59.700 --> 59:00.700 in these days. 59:08.420 --> 59:10.780 See, God can't do what He wants to do 59:12.380 --> 59:16.640 until we as the Christians, for one, we need to humble ourselves. 59:17.700 --> 59:20.920 And I'll tell you what Pastor was talking about here just a little bit ago was 59:23.920 --> 59:26.440 amazing because we're going to have to forget our petty differences 59:28.140 --> 59:29.980 if we're going to usher in this move of God. 59:34.300 --> 59:35.580 We're going to have to humble ourselves. 59:35.800 --> 59:37.820 We're going to have to come together in a place of unity 59:38.400 --> 59:42.860 and enter into that realm of the spirit in prayer. 59:44.820 --> 59:47.600 And if we do that, it will happen. 59:48.320 --> 59:49.840 We will see a harvest come in. 59:54.150 --> 59:56.310 Now you say, well, are good things happening already? 59:56.570 --> 59:57.230 Yes, there is. 59:57.910 --> 59:59.110 There's good things happening. 01:00:00.430 --> 01:00:09.470 But we have not yet got to that place that many of great men and women beforehand, 01:00:09.470 --> 01:00:13.270 have prophesied about this last days. 01:00:14.170 --> 01:00:16.010 The level of God's presence. 01:00:16.930 --> 01:00:20.790 I've heard prophecies talking about how hospitals would just be emptied out 01:00:20.790 --> 01:00:22.410 because of the healing power of God. 01:00:23.530 --> 01:00:26.750 I've heard prophets talk about, I mean, going way back, and these are trusted people 01:00:27.270 --> 01:00:30.790 way back in time that prophesied about these things, 01:00:31.210 --> 01:00:33.030 talking about the harvest coming in. 01:00:34.190 --> 01:00:36.310 Well, we're seeing some good things happening. 01:00:36.430 --> 01:00:38.630 There's a great move of God among the young people again, 01:00:38.630 --> 01:00:40.090 which I think is just awesome. 01:00:41.830 --> 01:00:45.310 But even if you look at all the good things that are happening on our universities 01:00:45.310 --> 01:00:48.650 and so forth and so on, that's only a fraction of the people in the world. 01:00:50.450 --> 01:00:52.810 And if we're going to reach this huge harvest, 01:00:52.990 --> 01:00:54.310 it's going to take something more. 01:00:58.390 --> 01:00:58.790 Amen. 01:01:00.870 --> 01:01:05.410 And it's going to take the church today, stepping up to the plate, so to speak, 01:01:06.210 --> 01:01:06.550 pray. 01:01:08.730 --> 01:01:11.810 And pray till the Holy Spirit takes hold together with you. 01:01:12.930 --> 01:01:17.770 And you'll find yourself working in things of the spiritual realm 01:01:17.770 --> 01:01:20.930 that sometimes can just kind of boggle your mind. 01:01:21.630 --> 01:01:26.510 But the Holy Spirit's using you and it's making tremendous power available. 01:01:27.170 --> 01:01:29.350 And things are happening, things are changing. 01:01:32.080 --> 01:01:33.460 But it's going to take us. 01:01:36.870 --> 01:01:39.050 Because what He does on this earth, He does through us. 01:01:40.430 --> 01:01:42.410 And I know some people struggle with that. 01:01:42.570 --> 01:01:44.530 Well, you know, God's sovereign, He can do it every once. 01:01:45.290 --> 01:01:46.230 Well, He is sovereign. 01:01:46.990 --> 01:01:50.370 And what He chose to do was to work through us in His sovereignty. 01:01:53.920 --> 01:01:54.460 That's simple. 01:01:56.340 --> 01:01:56.920 I didn't. 01:01:57.680 --> 01:01:59.200 I didn't make that choice. He did. 01:02:00.420 --> 01:02:01.980 It was His sovereignty that made that choice. 01:02:02.480 --> 01:02:03.360 So, yes, He is sovereign. 01:02:03.440 --> 01:02:04.280 But He works through His body. 01:02:04.340 --> 01:02:05.180 That's the way He set it up. 01:02:05.300 --> 01:02:06.200 That's the way He wants to work. 01:02:08.120 --> 01:02:11.960 And so it's interesting because we find within the scriptures over and over again that there's, 01:02:12.520 --> 01:02:17.200 you know, this analogy between the body of Christ and the human body. 01:02:17.580 --> 01:02:18.620 You find that in the scriptures. 01:02:20.080 --> 01:02:22.920 And you got to realize that, you know, your head 01:02:24.100 --> 01:02:25.740 can't do anything without your body. 01:02:26.500 --> 01:02:27.660 You don't believe that. 01:02:28.540 --> 01:02:31.120 Just tell your head to walk out of here without your body. 01:02:33.860 --> 01:02:34.860 It doesn't work. 01:02:35.900 --> 01:02:37.480 That's not the way He designed it. 01:02:43.990 --> 01:02:45.490 I believe God's getting us ready. 01:02:47.110 --> 01:02:48.630 And so where do we go from here? 01:02:49.510 --> 01:02:51.790 What does He need from us as a church today? 01:02:52.830 --> 01:02:54.850 Here, just, well, around the world, 01:02:54.850 --> 01:02:57.450 but if we just talk to the United States of America, what does He need? 01:02:58.470 --> 01:03:00.390 He needs people to answer to call the prayer. 01:03:00.750 --> 01:03:01.410 That's what He needs. 01:03:13.630 --> 01:03:17.070 But too much of the time people think, 01:03:17.950 --> 01:03:19.130 well, the Lord doesn't need me. 01:03:21.730 --> 01:03:22.730 Well, yes, He does. 01:03:25.110 --> 01:03:28.990 Because they hear people say that, well, you know, I need Him, 01:03:29.170 --> 01:03:30.250 but He doesn't really need me. 01:03:30.930 --> 01:03:32.770 No, He needs me too. 01:03:33.170 --> 01:03:33.930 And He needs you. 01:03:35.150 --> 01:03:37.150 Because we're His body here in this earth. 01:03:38.850 --> 01:03:40.150 And He chose to do it that way. 01:03:41.330 --> 01:03:43.790 Then you hear people say, well, God just doesn't use me. 01:03:44.790 --> 01:03:47.890 You know, I know this person or that person and God uses them, 01:03:47.890 --> 01:03:49.990 but God just never uses me. 01:03:52.510 --> 01:03:54.730 Well, first of all, if you're going to be used by God, 01:03:54.850 --> 01:03:55.910 you've got to make yourself available. 01:03:59.190 --> 01:04:02.070 And then, second, you're going to have to yield to the Holy Spirit 01:04:03.530 --> 01:04:05.290 when He's prompting you to pray 01:04:08.070 --> 01:04:09.130 and yield to that. 01:04:13.220 --> 01:04:15.660 Sometimes, you know, it could be true, I guess. 01:04:16.640 --> 01:04:18.700 Sometimes people just aren't walking close enough 01:04:18.700 --> 01:04:21.040 in fellowship with the Lord to understand what He's saying. 01:04:29.860 --> 01:04:31.240 But we need to walk with Him. 01:04:35.480 --> 01:04:38.160 If He gives you burden, prompting, and inward urge to pray, 01:04:38.280 --> 01:04:39.020 then yield to it. 01:04:41.860 --> 01:04:43.400 Don't... don't brush it off. 01:04:44.580 --> 01:04:46.760 Don't override that, prompting. 01:04:49.080 --> 01:04:50.480 You ignore Him enough, 01:04:52.340 --> 01:04:55.440 and pretty soon you won't be able to hear Him very good no more. 01:04:57.320 --> 01:05:00.120 Because the flesh will have gained dominance in your life. 01:05:03.600 --> 01:05:04.840 See, too much of the Church, 01:05:04.980 --> 01:05:06.780 and I don't want to sound like a downer this morning, 01:05:06.860 --> 01:05:10.060 but I'm just trying to tell you best I know how to... 01:05:11.180 --> 01:05:13.980 what I believe the Lord sent me here to do. 01:05:16.560 --> 01:05:18.540 The trouble with too many Spirit-filled Christians 01:05:18.540 --> 01:05:20.380 is they just say a few words in English, 01:05:20.580 --> 01:05:22.660 and a few words in tongues, and then that's the end of it. 01:05:25.910 --> 01:05:27.710 And then they just leave that place of prayer 01:05:27.710 --> 01:05:28.710 and they go on with their day. 01:05:29.510 --> 01:05:33.230 And everything else in that day just is so much just 01:05:33.230 --> 01:05:36.730 natural thinking, flesh, our minds. 01:05:39.450 --> 01:05:41.930 But if we as believers are willing to pray long enough 01:05:41.930 --> 01:05:44.270 in tongues, God will begin to use us. 01:05:54.220 --> 01:05:55.220 And like I said earlier, 01:05:57.680 --> 01:05:59.360 what I'm talking about today, 01:06:02.180 --> 01:06:04.000 if we don't learn these things, 01:06:04.000 --> 01:06:06.460 and if someone don't start trying to teach us, 01:06:08.600 --> 01:06:09.940 then it's going to be lost. 01:06:13.120 --> 01:06:16.040 And just what I observe as I travel around, 01:06:17.120 --> 01:06:19.020 I think much of it has been lost already. 01:06:20.860 --> 01:06:22.860 But truth can always be brought back. 01:06:25.200 --> 01:06:26.940 So it doesn't need to be lost forever. 01:06:32.430 --> 01:06:34.130 But if we're going to accomplish 01:06:35.150 --> 01:06:37.990 the plans and purposes of God in this day and hour, 01:06:38.890 --> 01:06:43.190 then it's going to require more and more of His people, us, 01:06:44.390 --> 01:06:48.550 to say no to the flesh and spend time praying 01:06:49.530 --> 01:06:53.870 out these mysteries, praying in that deeper realm of prayer. 01:06:58.920 --> 01:07:00.940 And I believe, and I'll even speak for myself, 01:07:02.340 --> 01:07:05.360 see some of us have kind of just touched the edge of that realm. 01:07:09.160 --> 01:07:11.260 But yet we're still not experienced 01:07:12.080 --> 01:07:14.120 and moving out in the fullness of it. 01:07:20.540 --> 01:07:22.560 But we're going to have to learn how to maneuver there. 01:07:26.620 --> 01:07:28.820 And that may take a little time for us to learn, 01:07:28.940 --> 01:07:30.440 but we're going to have to be willing to do it 01:07:30.940 --> 01:07:32.500 and be determined to do it. 01:07:36.470 --> 01:07:38.270 Things like that don't always come easy. 01:07:42.350 --> 01:07:45.050 And like I pointed out, when we first begin this type of prayer 01:07:45.050 --> 01:07:46.250 and is a labor, it's a work. 01:07:50.360 --> 01:07:53.020 The flesh is always going to try and hold us back. 01:07:57.850 --> 01:08:03.450 And I see so much that I know at this point 01:08:04.030 --> 01:08:07.370 in my life, people that I know, younger people, 01:08:09.050 --> 01:08:15.870 I have talked to them more about slowing down in life than I ever had before. 01:08:17.530 --> 01:08:19.270 Because people have gotten too busy. 01:08:20.430 --> 01:08:23.350 And you can get so busy that you don't have time 01:08:25.110 --> 01:08:26.570 to give yourself to prayer. 01:08:28.570 --> 01:08:30.370 And you can know the Word 01:08:30.370 --> 01:08:32.610 and you can be even applying the Word to your life 01:08:32.610 --> 01:08:33.690 and speaking the Word. 01:08:34.030 --> 01:08:38.450 But you can be so busy that you just miss this whole thing. 01:08:39.550 --> 01:08:42.350 But what God wants you to do is give this time in prayer, 01:08:43.150 --> 01:08:44.670 learn how to work together with Him 01:08:44.670 --> 01:08:47.630 so that we can accomplish His plans and purposes on the earth 01:08:47.630 --> 01:08:49.070 like we've never seen before. 01:08:57.490 --> 01:08:59.390 I believe we're moving into something. 01:09:00.630 --> 01:09:03.090 I believe we're going to answer the call to pray. 01:09:05.410 --> 01:09:07.770 I believe we're going to see manifestations 01:09:07.770 --> 01:09:09.770 and demonstrations of God's power 01:09:10.390 --> 01:09:12.430 like we've never seen in the earth before. 01:09:14.450 --> 01:09:15.610 I believe that. 01:09:19.880 --> 01:09:22.780 And I believe the church is going to be willing to move out, 01:09:24.320 --> 01:09:26.080 learn how to pray in this place, 01:09:27.020 --> 01:09:29.100 maneuver in that greater realm of prayer. 01:09:30.960 --> 01:09:35.180 And as we do that, we're going to see the fullness of His glory. 01:09:36.320 --> 01:09:36.920 I believe it. 01:09:49.830 --> 01:09:51.430 That's how it's praying about this morning. 01:09:54.520 --> 01:09:56.400 One of the things that the Lord put in my heart 01:09:58.420 --> 01:10:03.960 is that some of you, you've done exactly what I talked about. 01:10:05.560 --> 01:10:08.220 You've kind of touched that realm of prayer. 01:10:09.960 --> 01:10:11.780 But you haven't walked in the fullness of it. 01:10:16.780 --> 01:10:18.620 But I believe the Lord put in my heart 01:10:18.620 --> 01:10:20.760 and if I'm wrong, Pastor, it can just straighten me out. 01:10:22.080 --> 01:10:24.220 But I believe He put in my heart 01:10:27.300 --> 01:10:30.760 that I need to offer to you 01:10:31.840 --> 01:10:34.140 an opportunity to make a commitment 01:10:35.820 --> 01:10:39.500 that says I will take this to the next level. 01:10:41.200 --> 01:10:42.780 That's the way I would describe it. 01:10:43.740 --> 01:10:46.440 Is that I'm not going to be satisfied just with 01:10:48.640 --> 01:10:52.120 experience here that I kind of just barely touched into that realm of prayer. 01:10:52.420 --> 01:10:54.620 But I want to move in that deeper realm of prayer. 01:10:56.940 --> 01:10:58.580 And you're going to be willing to do that. 01:10:59.600 --> 01:11:00.880 You're going to be willing to yield. 01:11:01.040 --> 01:11:04.140 You're going to be willing to give the time necessary to do that. 01:11:06.480 --> 01:11:10.460 And so, Pastor, you come up and help me. 01:11:11.900 --> 01:11:12.720 Come with me. 01:11:15.680 --> 01:11:18.100 But as you can tell this morning, to be honest, 01:11:19.820 --> 01:11:22.120 I kind of struggled with sharing these things with you. 01:11:23.140 --> 01:11:26.720 I just wasn't as comfortable as I normally am. 01:11:28.520 --> 01:11:31.060 But it's not about me being comfortable or not. 01:11:32.020 --> 01:11:33.360 It's about what God wants. 01:11:34.600 --> 01:11:37.660 And I was telling Pastor, even driving over this morning in my vehicle, 01:11:38.100 --> 01:11:40.920 I'm still talking to God driving over here this morning and saying, really? 01:11:42.800 --> 01:11:43.900 I talked to him that way. 01:11:44.860 --> 01:11:47.440 And I said, you really want me to talk about this? 01:11:48.820 --> 01:11:51.360 I said, this is a hard thing to really teach 01:11:51.900 --> 01:11:53.300 in a public meeting. 01:11:55.520 --> 01:11:57.980 But he just confirmed over and over and over again. 01:11:59.560 --> 01:12:00.700 Man, it's time, church. 01:12:03.660 --> 01:12:06.420 And I'm challenging myself to give more time. 01:12:11.640 --> 01:12:14.360 And so, there's so many things that are at stake. 01:12:16.180 --> 01:12:19.200 Not only just the entire move of God around the world, 01:12:20.340 --> 01:12:23.300 but how it affects you right here at this church. 01:12:25.040 --> 01:12:28.140 There needs to be more people that are willing to move into that place 01:12:28.140 --> 01:12:31.700 with this deeper realm of prayer in order to bring the past to things 01:12:31.700 --> 01:12:34.000 that God wants to do right here at this church. 01:12:35.700 --> 01:12:38.660 Because there's not just going to be about things that are done in the natural. 01:12:40.300 --> 01:12:43.240 I mean, yes, we do the things that are necessary in the natural. 01:12:44.860 --> 01:12:46.480 But we can work together with God 01:12:47.080 --> 01:12:49.740 and we can see just tremendous things happen. 01:12:51.680 --> 01:12:56.280 Things that we just would think, well, how is he ever going to do this? 01:12:57.440 --> 01:12:59.480 How is this ever going to happen? But they happen. 01:13:01.080 --> 01:13:03.720 Supernaturally. Amen. 01:13:07.280 --> 01:13:09.120 But he needs us to spend that time in prayer. 01:13:10.520 --> 01:13:20.440 And so I would like to close out my part here this morning just with this is that 01:13:24.020 --> 01:13:27.880 if there's people here that would like to make that commitment that says I will... 01:13:28.780 --> 01:13:31.040 I'm committed to go into that deeper realm of prayer. 01:13:31.680 --> 01:13:35.700 But don't make it lightly. Don't just come well because, you know, 01:13:36.420 --> 01:13:38.420 well, we all should pray more. Well, yeah, we should. 01:13:38.820 --> 01:13:40.860 But I mean, you really want to yield to God. 01:13:41.660 --> 01:13:48.590 And you want to be used in that way. And it's like Pastor said earlier, 01:13:49.350 --> 01:13:52.790 you know, sometimes it's just good to do something. 01:13:54.290 --> 01:13:58.190 You know, we could just... I could just exhort you, well, you all do that, 01:13:58.230 --> 01:14:02.090 and then we just send you on your way. But sometimes it's good just to really 01:14:02.090 --> 01:14:04.610 make a public commitment and say, you know what, I'm going to do this. 01:14:05.530 --> 01:14:07.030 And it's really between you and God. 01:14:11.790 --> 01:14:15.450 And I don't know, maybe even as the week goes on, maybe let's make that a 01:14:15.450 --> 01:14:18.190 practice for this week. Let's spend more time in prayer this week. 01:14:19.070 --> 01:14:28.660 It opens heavens. I don't know. 01:14:31.040 --> 01:14:32.680 That's... I think I've said all I need to say. 01:14:34.260 --> 01:14:37.720 I'm going to ask, we've been here since 10. 01:14:38.700 --> 01:14:42.060 I'm going to ask for another 15, 20 minutes because of where we're going to go. 01:14:43.920 --> 01:14:48.840 Okay? Can we do that? And then at that point, you know, we're going to go into some Q&A time 01:14:48.840 --> 01:14:52.860 because this is one of those subjects that I think would be beneficial to 01:14:53.920 --> 01:14:55.720 address from as many angles as we can. 01:14:58.820 --> 01:15:02.740 But those of you who are wanting to respond to that invitation 01:15:05.060 --> 01:15:08.180 of, okay, I want to go into this. I want to go there. 01:15:08.580 --> 01:15:11.080 And those of us that are there and we want to go deeper, 01:15:11.760 --> 01:15:14.300 just stand where you're at. I'm going to have Brad pray for you. 01:15:27.200 --> 01:15:30.860 Hallelujah. Father, we're so humbled 01:15:33.460 --> 01:15:36.880 by the fact that you love us with a love that's never ending 01:15:38.440 --> 01:15:45.720 and that you designed in your great plan that you designed for us to be part of you 01:15:46.760 --> 01:15:48.800 and that we could work together with you. 01:15:50.580 --> 01:15:56.320 And Lord, as I've shared these truths with the people this morning concerning this deeper realm of prayer 01:15:57.380 --> 01:16:05.460 and as they stand here at this place committing to spending more time with you, yielding to you 01:16:05.460 --> 01:16:10.680 and entering into that deeper realm, learning to maneuver with you in the spiritual realm. 01:16:13.480 --> 01:16:17.060 Lord, I pray that you would continue to lead them, 01:16:17.060 --> 01:16:19.780 guiding them, strengthening them. Hallelujah. 01:16:22.740 --> 01:16:30.040 Yeah. May this day, Lord, be a day of change. May they be able to look back on this day 01:16:30.670 --> 01:16:35.440 right here and say, man, have things changed 01:16:37.440 --> 01:16:39.580 because they chose to make this commitment. 01:16:42.280 --> 01:16:50.160 And I thank you for that. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. You may be seated.