today we will be in the book of first
john
chapter 5. why don't you turn over there
and meet me
in verse 14 and today
let's talk about prayer essentials
and by essentials i mean those things
that
must be brought into consideration
and worked out in order for god to
answer
your prayer praise god now let's pray
first
before we jump into today's message
heavenly father we come before you thank
you for this beautiful day
we give you all of the praise and we ask
o god that the anointing
the illumination of your holy spirit
would flow
that we can hear and understand your
word and take it today
and apply it to our lives father we
thank you for helping us to approach you
in a way
and talk to you in a in a way that's
pleasing to you
biblically so that our prayers can be
answered by you
father thank you for helping us in jesus
name
we all agree and say amen
now let's drop down to verse 14 and
it says now this is the confidence
that we have in him and there is
something
that brings a tremendous confidence in
asking god for something now when we're
talking about asking really
that would be what is noted in scripture
as
supplication sometimes
christians they talk a lot about
intercession they say we're going to an
intercessory prayer meeting
and they'll go to the prayer meeting and
oftentimes there's not a lot of
intercession going on it's more
of what we would call supplication
they're making
certain types of requests for perhaps
certain needs
maybe for the church or for the ministry
or something like that
intercession is when you're standing in
the gap
for the lost and you're you're praying
for the lost you you are in a sense
taking their place because they don't
know how to pray
they don't know god so you're standing
in the gap for them and you're
interceding for them
but supplication is when you get into
this area of making petitions and
requests
to the lord so sometimes
you know people will go to a prayer
meeting and they'll say this is an
intercessory prayer meeting but really
they should just call it a prayer
meeting because uh you don't always know
what direction the holy spirit
is going to leave that prayer meeting so
it's good to just leave it open because
you may be
interceding you but it could be
supplicating and so
you have to go in the route of the holy
spirit
so here's something that's fascinating
though
when you come before the lord
particularly in this area of
supplication
you're making a request of god there's
something that you want god to do in
your life
if you have this ironed out and uh i
can't promise you that
it uh you'll get it ironed out
immediately although some things you can
but there was others you may have to
work it over a little bit
but if you get this straight you'll have
uh tremendous confidence when you come
before the lord in prayer
and also it is sometimes
i i would use the word shocking
and i use that word cautiously but
sometimes it can be shocking how fast
god can answer a prayer when things are
lined up right
and we have these prayer essentials
baked into the prayer
praise the lord i would even say maybe
besides the word shocking i would also
use the word easy
it just everything lines up right
because you're
you've got it in the right order and so
when you ask
god sometimes the prayer is answered and
it happens so quick and so easy
you're just like wow well you're doing
some things right in that prayer because
we know god will do his part
but we need to also do our part and that
is
revealed here in this scripture as we
continue we're about to see it
now this is the confidence and you need
that
this is the confidence that we have in
him
that if we ask anything according to his
will
he hears us one of the greatest things
that will strip you
of confidence in your prayer time is not
really being settled about the thing
that you're asking god for
and you know you come back next week and
you've changed your mind and
you go down a different road and you
come back a week after that you've
changed your mind again and
uh maybe it's all on that same subject
but
you're not even really sure if that's
what god wants you to do but you're
maybe you're pushing a hit on it and you
just
you know you're like well i'll just
it'll it'll work i'll i'm settled with
this
but uh if you don't
feel in your heart that god's in it that
this is god's plan for you or this is
what
the route god wants for you then there
can be a lot of
hesitation there can be uncertainty and
if you're just trying to plow through
that
you know well i'm not you know you're
overriding your conscience in a sense
where
well you know you're thinking well i'm
not even really sure about this but
oh well i'm just going to ask anyhow
then
the confidence won't be there and then
of course
you know just time goes on and on and on
uh not that
you know some prayers can't be answered
over a lengthy period of time because
sometimes god does that to develop
faith and patience in us uh
and that's okay but there are some
prayers there they're never going to get
answered because they're wrong
and they're there there is something
that is being asked for
that is not in the will of god so
this is the confidence that we have in
him that if we ask anything
according to his will he hears us and
that's why we also need to
balance scripture with other scripture
you can lift
some verses out of context in the area
of teaching about prayer
where it would give the impression if
you didn't have these other verses to
balance it
it would give the impression that you
can ask god for anything
and he'll do it almost like god has a
blank checkbook
and just ask anything and yeah you know
he'll he'll fill it in and he'll do it
for you
but it doesn't work like that and i
would say this to you
if there is something that perhaps
you're asking god for but it is not
his will for your life then
you should be willing to relinquish that
and let that go and really have an
attitude
of where lord if this is not for me then
may my hands never touch it and really
even going deeper
may my heart just disconnect from that
let it not be something that i i'm
pulled towards
now i'd better clarify this for those
that are young in the faith
when we're talking about asking god for
things
that would be according to his will
those are things that would line up and
agree
and harmonize and
it's all in harmony with what god's word
reveals
belongs to us so i'm not trying to say
don't ask god for healing no because
healing belongs to you
who praise the lord well pastor stephen
i'm not going to ask the lord for a long
life
no longevity belongs to the people of
god
and it also belongs to those who
meet certain biblical conditions
there is one condition that has a
promise attached to it which
is honor your father and
mother now those that do that it says
it says that it may go well with them
okay that's the first part of that
promise and the second part
that they may live long on the earth
so living long on the earth or longevity
is a blessing that can come to those
who are walking with the lord and of
course honoring your parents now if you
dishonor them
uh you know you're going to put yourself
uh on some very unstable ground there
that that's a direct
uh regard to god's word that's being
disobeyed and we want to really be in
agreement with god's word so if it's out
of bounds of scripture
then we realize let's not ask for that
but there are so many things that god
has for you god has prosperity for you
god has strength and blessing and
anointing for you
god has you know provision and grace god
has
every good thing that you need so there
is a lot on the table
that you can reach for and i would say
if we kind of look at the overall view
of the body of christ
i would have to say there's very few
probably that are asking for things that
would be considered biblically unlawful
because your own heart your own
conscience which is the voice of your
heart or the voice of your spirit
is going to convict you if you're asking
for something
that you know is unbiblical immoral
uh illegal unlawful or something like
that you just know hey
why in the world would god do that
that's this is wrong so god's not going
to
uh ever honor something that is
disobedient he can't
that would be a contradiction of his own
character nature so we want to ask
according to his will
but i would have to say again coming
back to this
that most believers
are leaving a lot on the table that they
never touch that
totally belongs to them it totally
belongs to them so
in the sense of reaching for something
that does belong to you
you want to reach for your portion
with the children of israel with the 12
tribes
each tribe had their own special
allotment of territory and that
territory
was theirs at the same time
there were other nations
that would come up to the boundaries of
the
israeli tribes and the lord said to the
children of israel
uh that does not belong to you that that
belongs to the people of you know this
or that
uh nation you know moab or whatever it
would be
so that's their land leave their land
alone you can't have
uh even one sandal size footprint size
of land that belongs to them
and not only that you don't need theirs
you've got your own
so you have to reach for your portion
and
i would say with great confidence that
what god has for you is more than enough
it's big enough it's it's uh
got enough blessing in it to put you
over for an
entire lifetime and even a lot more than
that the things that god has for you
are enough to keep you busy should you
live to be 120.
so if there are some things that the
lord says
hey you know that's good but that's not
for you
then you should be willing just to say
okay that's cool because
something about the time that we are
living in and i realize
that for decades now we have understood
that we're in the last days
and you know the days keep rolling by so
we're getting
deeper and deeper into the end time
scenario
that will soon be unfolding
that is all uh recorded in the book of
revelation
it's it's so amazing to have uh you know
the the final chapter revealing who wins
and everything
already written down already
pre-recorded
but we're living in a time where you
certainly don't want
to be hindered with something that god
looks at and says you know it's not that
is
wrong or sinful it's just that if
if you have that you're going to really
get tangled up into that and uh
it would be best for you not to do that
we all have 24 hours in the day
but you know you're going to need some
time for sleep
some time for food some time for work
sometime for you know family
relationships and
and good friend relationships and things
like that and then you're gonna have
some free time you're gonna have time
left over that maybe you call it
me time you know to do the things that
make you happy
and it's during those times that
you have the ability of how you spend
that
me time that allows you to either pull
closer to the lord
and really lock into his eternal plan
for your life and be involved
in the kingdom of the lord that is ever
expanding now the kingdom is within it's
within the hearts of men
eventually one day it will be also
manifested in the natural with the
natural type kingship
with jesus as king ruling over all the
earth but for now
i think it's really good to stay light
on your feet
and to be in a place where you're mobile
and should the lord have need of you you
can respond
instead of bogged down because you have
taken on
all kinds of responsibilities and all
kinds of hobbies and all kinds of
commitments
that the lord never asked you to get
involved in
now we all have something on the inside
of us
that needs uh an area
that i would call recreation but a lot
of times
this area of recreation has been so
enlarged
particularly in american culture that we
have so many options of
entertainment and so many options of
things to reach for
and some of these things that you could
reach for they all require
a learning curve you can buy it but the
manual to understand how to do it
is this thick or it takes a year of
training or
you know on and on it goes and you only
have so much of your
24 hours of the day that you can uh
you know explore these various things
and uh
anything really that you also explore or
get into
it's it's just like anything else in
life if you want to get good at it
you're going to have to put time into it
so if you take up golf
you know you don't really have fun in
golf until you actually start to get
kind of good at it
but golf is one of those games that it's
not based on brute strength or anything
like that it's all technical
and the only way that you get good at
things that have technical skills is
repetition
over and over and over so in other words
it takes time
so anything really that you pick up
you just uh you're gonna have to put
a lot of time in it if you really want
to get to a place where
you kind of like or you know good at it
or something like that but
i think those are things that we have to
consider because you can only
get good at so many things uh you really
want to have just your your main thing
that you excel at
and you don't want to be as they call it
you know the jack of all trades
master of none uh i don't think that's a
good way to live your life you do want a
balanced life a color for life you
you will have a a life that has various
portfolio
elements of it this that you know
relationships friendships you walk with
god this that and the other
but i would encourage you in your asking
things of god
to don't go over into areas where
you're asking for stuff that even if you
have the money to buy it
this might not be the best idea praise
the lord
because money does create new
options it does create new opportunities
and
it really is a it's an element of power
you can do things and step into things
that previously you couldn't do so
just because you can do it though that
doesn't mean that you should do it
you know there's a lot of ministers uh
that
you know this whole thing with covet and
a lot of things closing down there's a
lot of filtering and shifting and
shaking
going on right now and oh my goodness i
it is amazing how many ministers
uh are right at a place where they're
saying you know i've
been in some things that i shouldn't
have been into and the reason i've ended
up in this place is because
i have gotten so involved in so many
things i've gotten so busy
that i neglected my devotional life
and my prayer shield went down and i
find myself now
uh in scenarios that i'm having to
publicly
uh apologize for and repent for and i
tell you what those are
those are not fun places to be that's a
that's a place no man or woman of god
would ever want to be in
but there's a lot of exposure and i
believe it's all necessary because in
many ways
pride comes before destruction a haughty
spirit before a fall
and you have to really kick over a lot
of hurdles
and be a very prideful person for a lot
of these things to go public
because often god would so often would
rather deal with it in
in private and uh so that the ministry
can go forward
but some people who they think the world
revolves around them
and it's not till later they find out it
revolves around the lord praise god
but sometimes they they suffer a lot of
loss
you know what when you have greater
flexibility
it doesn't mean that you need to always
use it
one of the greatest runners in the world
he has the world record
for the men's 800 meters that's two laps
around the track
and uh his name is david rudisha from
kenya
i think he's technically retired now but
he said
he set a time that um it's going to be
really really hard for anybody to ever
beat that time
you know because the 800 is a very
difficult race because you have to have
extreme speed
almost sprinter level type speed but you
have to have endurance because it's the
half half of a distance of a mile
so it's uh it's kind of like what they
call the thoroughbred race
it's like the you know the highest
quality runners
are going to be in that field so he ran
a time that was so fast and just
a couple of olympics back and and set
the world record
that was in the london olympics but you
know what
even even with all of the the fame that
he had
and all of the wealth that he had and
the big shoe contracts and things like
that
you know you could find david rudicia
still back there in kenya
sitting under a tree eating carrots now
he could go out and eat steak and stuff
like that but
you know his body and his physiology
and his ability to have this super high
you know oxygen content ability to uh
you know run like a racehorse he's just
like why would i change things
even if i can't he said i'm happy with
my life i love my life
and i like you know eating what i eat
living where i live and uh yeah he had a
nice car
he had he had a few nice things in life
but he didn't go crazy
and because he didn't go crazy he was
able to maintain
that very high streak of winning and
super fast times
much much longer when than what normal
people do
you know you think about these
championship teams think about a
championship football team
they win a super bowl the next thing you
know they're all doing commercials
together
the moment you see that happening stuff
like that happening you already know
they're starting to go down
and sure enough the next year they don't
win it again why too much partying
too much too many open doors too much
too many opportunities and uh
and uh you know and they lose that edge
they lose that edge so in the
in the end times don't lose your edge
even as the lord blesses you uh really
be a person that stays in prayer daily
and also you can get real good in prayer
when you really iron out this detail of
asking
according to his will god
does know best he really does um
i i was asking the lord about something
uh
a little while back and uh i felt really
good about it
but then uh i i just said well lord i'm
not really sure and i kind of left it
hanging
i left it hanging for about three weeks
and um
a couple of days ago the lord came to me
in a vision
and he he said something to me that
answered
what i what it well i kind of paused on
something didn't know which way to go
yes or no
and he came to me and basically told me
to go ahead and go it was
very pleasing to him but
i could also tell that
there are there are certain things you
can do see the closer you get to the
lord
if you really know him and uh
you have to understand there's so many
christians they love the lord but they
don't walk with the lord in the sense of
really being like hey my life is laid
out to you
i'll serve you and do anything for you
that's rare now
you may think it's not trust me that
that's rare there's a lot of christians
they want to go to heaven they love the
lord
and they are saved but nobody's going to
tell them how to live their life
not even god and so when the lord sees a
man or a woman
even a child that that is like lord i'll
do anything that you want me to do
then the lord has somebody special he's
going to work with them in a special way
so you have to understand that when you
come into a relationship like that
it's different uh because you get yoked
to the lord
but remember he said my yoke is easy my
burden is light
so the closer you get you actually get
more freedom
uh you know people sometimes uh how can
i say
casual christians they look at
missionaries they think oh that poor
missionary who's
uh you know squandering his life by
having to go overseas and he's missing
out on all thing
you know the thing is no he's not
missing out on anything he's the one
that's blessed
he looks at you and realizes you don't
get it
you don't you don't see it and he's
actually happier in his heart or her
heart and
uh you know it's it's just the thing of
the heart
so these things are are very fascinating
you have to ask according to god's will
because you're a representative of him
on the earth
and if we know that he hears us whatever
we ask we know that we have the
petitions
that we have asked of him now even when
you get the thumbs up
from the lord even when you get the
green light from the lord
in other words you know he's heard and
you ask you know he's heard
that doesn't mean that you never pray
about it again
i would say that you don't really need
to ask for it again from the sense of
like um you know you're
originally asking for it again but i
would say it's totally fine to keep
praying about it because you're you're
you're bathing that
in prayer you're not saying lord i'm
back and i'm asking for that again
i don't think you heard me the first
time no you actually know
he heard you why you're asking in
agreement with his will
you know that this is good between you
and the lord everything's fine
and you're very confident that he's
going to do it that confidence again
comes from knowing that you've asked
according to his will
and so i would say just keep bathing it
in prayer
stay with it stay with it and it'll just
it'll just
pop right out praise the lord it'll
happen so often it can even happen
sooner than you think easier than you
think
but this thing of really getting the
will of god
ironed out is so important
it's more important than money it's more
important than the very manifestation of
what it is you're asking for
it's just knowing lord is this okay
with you and me um i have a book here
this is called the autobiography of
george
mueller this is available online uh you
know you could pick up one of these at a
used bookstore or probably
a new bookstore for you know five or
seven dollars you can probably get it on
the internet for about the three dollars
but um uh george muller
you know raised up there in england that
beautiful orphanage with all of these
children
and he really trusted the lord for the
provision
the feed and care for all of these
young people who had no father or mother
and
you know he had to take care of the kids
and that's clothing them
feeding them housing them he has to have
teachers for them
and you know everything else that goes
along with that
and the lord provided over and over and
over again
so he was a really a man that had a
really good understanding about faith
but he also learned that the lord
required involvement in all of the major
decisions and oftentimes as mueller said
even the very small decisions concerning
anything to do with that orphanage so if
he was going to expand
and needed a new place lord is it okay
that if we
is it okay if we buy land or do we buy a
building and
the lord would reveal his will to him
and sometimes the lord would say i want
you to buy land
and so he would believe god for the
money for the land he would buy the land
and then he'd like then he'd be the next
stage well lord if i'm going to build i
need an
architect so he would pray for god to
give him up
you know a building designer and then
somebody highly skilled as an architect
would show up and say i you know i just
feel led to render my services to you at
no charge
to design a building for you do you need
that he'd be like yes that's exactly
what i need and uh he would just have
answers to prayer
over and over and over again and it was
because he was praying
according to god's will and i want to
read a
just a very short little example that he
gave because he kept a journal
and that's basically what this little
book is it's an autobiography
and also his journaling notes of the
many answered
prayers that god did for him so here's
one
from january the 12th 1841
that tells you when he lived and this is
when his uh
ministry was doing very well and so let
me read a day in the life of george
mueller to you
praise the lord okay january the 12th
1841 this is what he said today
i received a letter from a brother who
gave me the right
to draw upon his bank account during
this year
up to one thousand pounds now that was a
lot of money
back then it may be used for any brother
or sister
who have it in their hearts to serve as
missionaries
in the east indies and whom i consider
called for this service
as far as i am able to judge all right
so a rich christian brother said look
i got i have a bank account and uh you
find any missionaries or any
missionaries show up that
any people that tell you hey we want to
be missionaries to the east indies
uh in a sense they're already funded
before they even ask because this guy's
got the money in the bank and he's given
mueller permission
to pull from that account up to a
thousand pounds
now mueller said this power or the
this blessing you know to have access to
that account
lasted only for that year okay so he's
writing about this in january so he has
a whole year
you know for somebody to walk in a
couple or an individual to walk and say
hey i want to be a missionary
and they may not know it but mueller's
already got the money to fund them
completely
okay this power lasted only for that
year
but no suitable people offered
themselves for this service
this is what he said finances can be
obtained
much more easily than suitable
individuals when he's talking about
suitable individuals
he's talking about believers who are
qualified to go
who are qualified to do something that's
where the real challenge is not the
money
it's finding the qualified people who
want to go who are prepared to go
and are willing to make that sacrifice
to go
now this is what he said indeed in all
my experience
i have found that if i could only settle
that a certain thing to be done was
according to the will of god
the money was soon obtained to carry it
into effect now
that doesn't mean that just because you
know the perfect will of god and you
pray about it
that all you know money for any project
or anything
you're believing for is going to show up
real soon he had some large faith
projects
usually those were the building projects
that he really had to pray on it
and stay in faith and keep believing god
for the money
but eventually it would all come in some
some of the big projects that didn't
happen overnight
but again i i agree with him 100 he said
i have found
that if i could only settle that a
certain thing to be done was according
to the will of god
the money was soon obtained to carry it
into
effect so it's not so much about needing
the money or
god i need this uh lord is this okay
with you
it's all it's all in the eyes of god
revolving around this one question is it
god's will for your life
if we ask anything according to his will
he hears us
what you're asking is it according to
his will praise the lord
and that's something that i can't answer
for you unless it was something
scriptural you know pastor stephen i'm
asking god for this well that that's
fine that's
that's that's perfectly uh you know uh
biblical to ask for that
so so if it's something biblical then i
could answer that just by based upon the
what up the teachings of god's word
would instruct us is right and what's
wrong but other
questions that get into areas of
your own personal walk with god and
god's path for you and god's direction
for you and uh
you know his plan for your life those
are things that you have to iron out
just between you and the lord and just
because god said yes
to somebody else doesn't mean that god
would say yes to you
you're gonna have to go before the lord
see
israel really wanted a king they looked
at all of the other neighboring
nations the other nations had their own
kings
and the kings would raise an army and
lead their people off into battle
and the israelites were like well you
know we want that
and they they told samuel the prophet we
want a king
and he said oh no no don't don't do this
and they kept pushing and pushing and
pushing it
and eventually the lord spoke to samuel
and said look
that they're they're not rejecting you
they're rejecting me
as their king so um the lord
allowed to israel to have a king and you
know what the israelites got
they got a king that was just like them
stubborn
and carnal and difficult to
work with and it was like a mirror image
of them
now the lord did honor their request
but the whole timing was off everything
was off and the whole kingship
of saul was really just all in all
a big mess and you know what once they
got into the mess it's not like uh
god said well now that you realize
you've made a mistake just they all
cried out oh we've made a horrible
mistake and samuel was like yeah
you really did but it wasn't like god
jumped in there and bailed him out
and said okay let's just call off this
experiment let's let's call it off no
no the lord's like well you got what you
wanted and uh
so he's yours
and so you know the next thing they knew
they're
they're now they're getting taxed they
never had those types of taxations
before but oh now you have a king in a
royal court
and so where's the money gonna come to
pay for all of that well it's gonna come
out of your own pocket and so
everything else and just like samuel
said he said hey you want a king well
he's gonna take
your sons from you whether you want to
keep your son or not too bad he's going
to come and take him he's going to
add them to the army and he's going to
start taking a portion of your food and
a portion of your crops and on and on it
went
to the point where when solomon was king
he was taxing the daylights out of
people and it was not good
it was not good so uh there is a place
for righteous government
uh it's never gonna be right until the
lord comes
and rules and reigns over the whole
earth from jerusalem now
david will be king over israel the
twelve apostles will
govern over each tribe but the lord
himself during the millennium or
the one thousand year reign of christ he
will be governing
over the whole planet praise the lord
and he'll show the world finally
how it's supposed to be done the right
way
praise god thank you jesus so ask
according to his will
and then stay on that just lord i've got
it i'm dialed in and stay on it and just
pray it in believe it in
praise it in thank god for it uh
put works to that faith you know
one of the best things of giving
evidence that you believe you've
received it
just praising god in advance for it
thanking him for it
but yes continue the pray over not from
the sense of you're asking for it over
and over again
but just you're just praying lord i
thank you for it i praise you for it i
know you've heard my prayer
lord i just continue to pray on that i
thank you that it's coming in i thank
you that you're touching hearts or
whatever the situation might be
concerning that thing that you're
believing god to do
praise god wild some of these things you
can have
brought into your life out of your own
selfish nature god do this for me god do
this for me
and the next thing you know you have the
ability to do it and you go out and do
it
and then you're like israel with assault
you're like oh what have i just done
but you can't get out maybe you signed a
contract
or maybe you bought something then you
can't give that back they're not going
to give you a refund on that now you're
stuck with it now what do you do with it
[Laughter]
praise the lord oh
my goodness these things can be very
interesting
while one minister talked about how he
wanted a zebra
uh for some strange reason he was
reading the travel brochure and
saw an african travel brochure and saw a
picture of a zebra
and he thought oh i would love a zebra
and he got a zebra
uh wasn't god's will for him but he got
a zebra and uh
that they had uh whoever he bought it
from had put it out into a special pen
that he made
and so uh he comes home one day and sees
that the zebra that he ordered is there
out in the pen
so he opens up the door and you know the
gate to the pen
goes out into the pen to greet the zebra
and that thing looked at him and
fire flashed in the eyes of that animal
and it came after him
and it wasn't coming after him to greet
him it was coming after him to trample
him and he
saw what was going on and he got out of
that gate just as fast as he could and
by the time he barely got that gate
closed that animal was right up on it
ready to take him apart so
he said he sold the zebra to two cowboys
and man was he ever glad to get rid of
that zebra he said about three days
later those cowboys came back and said
man
he said what in the world is up with
that zebra he said they said that thing
tried to kill us
he said i know he said that's why i sold
it to you it tried to kill me too
so you know hey this thing of asking for
uh you know all all these different
things and uh the next thing you know
you have a problem or you're just like
oh wow um there's a lot of stories i've
heard of
you know some people i i won't go into
this one thing but
uh two things let me touch this area
two things that anybody who's ever owned
them
say that there's two days that were the
greatest days of their life
one the day they bought it number two
the greatest day of their life the day
they got rid of it
okay and that would be a yacht or motor
home
praise the lord and they're so happy the
day they
the day that they get it but then you
get into it and you start to use it you
realize oh
wow this needs maintenance and oh this
broke and uh
oh how do we fix that oh now now we have
to haul it to here or there to get it
fixed and uh whoo
you know years later there's they sell
it and they're like
goodbye good riddance and uh i've seen
i've seen countless people go through
that
they have their happy moment and then
reality hits
oh some of these things we learned but
at the same time we should learn
we should learn and we should be like
you know i'm going to be very selective
on my asking
especially when you have a god that is
well able to answer prayers and so we
want to ask
according to his will and he loves us
and he doesn't want us to be
tangled up in weird goofy things that
that now they've uh
they've complicated their lives um
praise the lord maybe i should add time
shares into that you know you have
you have motor homes and you have boats
and uh yachts and
but i you know i see people they get
into these time shares i can't believe
people are crazy enough to do it
but you know there's some really good
salesmen out there they could literally
sell
anything and uh so people buy these
timeshares
and they make all these crazy payments
for 20 or 25 years
and uh you know and the great day is
when they
they go to their timeshare but the
greatest day is like oh it's finally
over we got out of it thank god
because the truth is most people never
use those or if they do use them
uh it's never what it was promised so
these are all things that are learned
but i think that if we really will weigh
god's word
and ask according to his will and when
you get a check in your spirit
or sometimes a direct answer from the
lord
that's that's not going to work out good
while i think we
should really put on the breaks praise
god now at the same time
there are so many things that the lord
says yes that's okay that's okay
and uh and it is okay and you'll get
you'll get that
that peace that inward witness of the
holy spirit
that you know it's okay hallelujah and
you'll feel joy
in your heart and the whole process will
be blessed
i think that's what's so good is that
when god is in it
it's smooth and it really is true
happiness
you can really enjoy the moment and you
know even a couple of years later
it's still a pleasant experience
anything with god the entire thing will
be a pleasant experience
praise the lord let's uh
connect this with first john chapter 3
and this would be the classic verses
here in
verse 21 uh and 22. beloved if our heart
does not condemn us we have confidence
toward god
again this confidence is amazing the
confidence of being
in right standing with god knowing that
because of who you are in christ
brings you into that position
before the father of being in right
standing
verse 22 and whatever we ask
now you know and now some people have
run wild with that but you can't go wild
on it just because of what
uh he said in chapter five uh verse 14
and so forth so you have to keep that in
balance
and whatever we ask we receive from him
because now this is very important
because we keep his commandments and do
those things that are pleasing
in his sight so i really do believe that
if we break god's commandments just
continually maybe even purposely
and we do those things that are
displeasing in his sight
it really does short circuit faith even
if you say the right thing is in your
head
and even if you intellectually think
well you know i you know this is all
okay
um if you're just breaking god's
commandments all the time
then uh your heart is not right with god
and you have to really have a clean
conscience
between you and the lord and as much as
possible between you and others
so that you can go before the lord with
a clean heart and a clean conscience and
ask
god in prayer knowing that there's no
unforgiveness in your heart
knowing that you're not practicing
habitually some type of
thing that would dishonor the lord and
it brings a great confidence
praise the lord thank you lord jesus
whatever we ask we receive from him
because we keep his commandments
now you can be a sinner
and do certain biblical things
that are principles and because you
are following biblical principles such
as
financial principles of saving and you
know
looking for good deals and you see some
of these large corporations that
they are secular in nature you know
nobody's up there in those corporate
board meetings praying
but you know they have run their
business so well
with biblical principles and godly
you know business ethics that uh they
may have so much money that they
buy another business for you know three
or five million dollars
excuse me billion dollars sometimes
because they're doing so well
so those those principles will work
even for an unbeliever but not in the
area of prayer
because prayer is only for
the children of god but even as a child
of god you want to obey
the commandments of god because there is
blessing
associated always with obedience praise
the lord
so if there's any area in that
department where certain commandments
of god's word are being violated just
continually over and over
then i would say yes that can affect
your prayer life you want to
clean that up and spend time with the
lord in prayer and say lord you know
this is something that
maybe has defeated me before but i'm
here today just to draw strength from
you
and to overcome that and if you walk
close with the lord
absolutely you can overcome any
besetting
sin absolutely praise god god's grace
and power is there for you
but you must draw upon it you must draw
upon it
that's why some are bogged down i i know
some christians they love the lord but
they have been bogged down not just for
a few years
for a couple of decades and they're
they're just never going to draw near
are they saved are they going to heaven
yes but do they really
seek after god no not not really they
seek after the the sporting event and
they're not going to miss that for
anything
but but that's also why they can't throw
off those besetting sins
because they're not near enough to the
lord to receive
that impartation of his strength and of
his power
and of his beauty so that they could
rise up and really begin to soar with
him
and of course along with that comes
answered prayers
wow and it is it's electrifying it's
electrifying
when god answers your prayers i think we
would all admit that
that it is always a very beautiful
sacred thing praise god but just um keep
that element in there
of god's will lord i want to pray
according to your will
thank you jesus thank you jesus
hallelujah glory to god
hallelujah praise the lord um
one good prayer that will help you now
you could always meditate on the word
because the word gives god standards
against god's commandments his
principles so you can meditate on the
word
and you can pray over that but here's
also just a direct
prayer that just hits directly
that questioning of god of wanting to
know his will
and since it's inspired by the holy
spirit you can pray it every day
it's still my favorite prayer in the
bible and i really like it because it's
a new testament
or prayer found in the new covenant so
we know that it's for
us it's for the believers paul wrote to
the believer that would be you and me
and it's colossians chapter 1 verse 9
which begins this prayer by saying for
this reason
we also since the day we heard it do not
cease to pray for you
and to ask that you may be filled with
the knowledge of his will
now watch this this is critical
it's not that you're just praying to
know
god's will god fill me with the
knowledge of your will okay
you're already going to be ahead of 90
of the others in the body christ
who don't even really care they're just
they're just going through life
but when you want to know what god's
plan for your life is or his will for
your life is
you can pray that god fill me with the
knowledge of
your will but here's the icing on the
cake
that you need to also include in this
prayer
fill me with the knowledge of your will
in
all wisdom and spiritual understanding
so you can begin to get
a good picture of god's will
for your life but some of the things
that you're picking up on
some of the things you're sensing or
maybe even seeing
you need to also have the wisdom and
spiritual understanding in other words
wisdom and spiritual understanding will
question is that for now
or is that for later what we're picking
up on
yes it's from god and yes it's for us
but should we focus or push on that now
or is that an assignment that we can put
more weight on that later
praise the lord so that's where you want
to just incorporate that prayer
father fill me with the knowledge of
your will in
all wisdom and spiritual understanding
praise the lord and that will help you
not just to know
god's will but how to apply it when to
apply it where to apply it
and things like that
thank you jesus but my friends just take
it before the lord
i would say definitely bring the big
things of your life before the lord
but the closer you get to him
even even the smaller things now i'm not
going micro level okay we're not talking
about lord should i
uh lord what is your will for me the
coke or pepsi lord what is your will for
me the
the bag of m m's uh candy or the
snickers bar
uh you don't really need to get into all
of that um
you know unless unless you're about to
you know
there's certain things you can eat uh
that
can do it can hurt the complexion of
your skin
and i know before i do recordings
particularly for television
don't eat don't eat the you know reese's
pieces candy you know or stuff like that
but it'll do a number on your skin
uh certain things you learn that in life
as you get older hey that's not good
so it could be if you're about to eat
something it could be the holy spirit
would be like that that's not god's will
for you don't eat that
maybe some other time sure don't eat
that right now
that's not going to be that's not you're
going to regret that by tomorrow when
you have to go in front of the camera
because makeup can do a lot but
sometimes uh there are some things that
make up could struggle to cover praise
the lord so
why why why do that why eat that when
you can just get something else praise
the lord
but usually you don't have to go micro
level but i would say
other times on some things that you may
think oh that's not that important
maybe to the lord it is because the
closer you get
uh the more involved he doesn't get
in these various chambers of your heart
so i would just say
cover on cover it all in prayer anything
that the holy spirit is bringing up to
you
into your thought life while you're
praying uh just go ahead and cover it
you know sometimes i'll i'll take my pen
and my my journal
or not so much a journal but like a
notepad and i'll just write it out you
know because i've got like four or five
things that pop up
and so i'll just write them all out now
lord what do you think about this
is this a good idea is or this you know
like what do you think about this and
kind of cover it and uh
sometimes the lord also will speak
through other people not directly where
they start saying thus saith the lord
but they'll maybe bring up something
that you've actually been thinking about
or wondering about they'll bring it up
or they'll discuss it or
god will send somebody your way that
maybe has knowledge of that or is an
expert in that area
and they'll just kind of come in and
start talking and uh
and you're thinking wow that's pretty
that's pretty cool well that's the lord
helping you
sometimes some of the decisions we have
to make
it's more than just the lord giving you
an answer it's also acquiring
the necessary knowledge so that you can
be informed
and sometimes just that information
alone is enough you can get your answer
it's not like you need a voice out of
heaven to speak to you
you can make a decision on that now
based upon the information that you have
but the lord is very helpful just bring
it all before him in prayer
get a good sense of
what is god's will for your life what is
not and i would kind of drift back to
this thing again
like don't get your life all cluttered
up not right now there's too much going
on
i mean this might be heavy for some of
you but paul writing to the church in
corinth
said hey i would even recommend that if
you're single
and you you can like keep your cool you
know in other words like you
you can like uh maintain your singleness
paul even said i would encourage you to
stay single
i wouldn't encourage you to get married
mainly because of the times now
uh culture and things like that have
even deteriorated
but uh and we're plus we're a lot closer
to the lord's return
but i would just say i would say you
know
ask the lord about these things ask him
you know
lord what is your will for my life in
this area
praise the lord the lord doesn't always
say yes and you know what it's okay
you'll find out that eve
if he says no there'll be happiness in
the in that no
the reason i'm teaching this message is
because when the lord
appeared to me a couple days ago he was
wearing
the crown of thorns now you you and i
both understand that he wore the crown
of thorns
uh 2000 years ago when he was there
uh being uh you know just really
worked over by the roman soldiers and
they stuck that on his head and
crucified him with it uh and so forth uh
so he's not in heaven right now walking
around with the cro
with a crown of thorns uh but he
he can do things that uh give a
prophetic symbolism so when he appeared
to me he
uh he actually had the crown of thorns
on his head and when he spoke to me he
he had to speak through the the anguish
that
that that pain was causing him and i
knew what he was also saying to me
you don't always get everything that you
want in life and it's not that the
lord's trying to not bless you or hold
back on you
it's just that for your life uh there
may be some things that are not on the
the platter maybe they are for somebody
else that's fine that's great i'm not
envious or jealous of them
but with your life uh it could be that
the lord
um you know would say no on certain
things
and he certainly had to understand that
with his life
uh his life was um it had a
very it well it had the highest purpose
okay so
that meant because of that there were a
lot of other things he had to say no to
uh it just wasn't on the agenda so when
you get closer to the lord
sometimes you identify that because it's
there can be some anguish in that
some anguish like oh lord how come i
can't go out and play like all the other
kids can you know that's what a child
says you know who's got to
stay at home and finish his homework but
you know of course then that child later
grows up to be the genius or grows up to
uh you know have something extra or
special because while all the others
were doing what they wanted
he was doing something that had more of
a long-term
planned effect that paid off later so
god knows what he's doing
you know embrace uh all that he has for
you it's all good
even when it's related to the cross and
it would seem like this is a difficult
thing to carry praise god but it's
it's what god has for you it is all good
praise the lord there is joy
in serving the lord there's joy in
serving the lord
praise god praise god i i can't help but
think of uh
one catholic priest
his name i've talked about him often was
joseph of cupertino
uh from uh ossimo italy
now he was born in cupertino that's why
he was associated with that village
and um he lived from 1603 to 1663
he was known in church history as the
flying monk
although i could i could uh probably
list at least 50 probably more
at least 50 very easily 50 people that
also were known for levitating and just
being flown all over by the holy spirit
physically i'm talking physically going
up
not just in the catholic circles but
even in evangelical
circles and i've got pictures i've got
i've got pictures on my phone even of
pentecostal ministers off the floor
while they were preaching
suspended in the air by the holy spirit
so this this is a
body of christ thing this is not just a
catholic thing but
um the thing with joseph of cupertino of
course was that you know he was just
up you know so often they said he
probably spent more time in the air than
he actually did on the ground
praise the lord so that's why he was
known as the flying monk
but you know he had a situation one time
because
of his unique calling um you know
any you know how can i say he served
under various
popes he did go to rome once and he met
the pope that was
pope at that time and he was so excited
when he met the pope that he started you
know
uh up he went in the air all over the
place
and the pope even said you know what
when this guy passes away if
if you need a witness in this
canonization he said i'll certainly give
testimony i've seen him flying before my
own eyes
but because of all of that flying around
and the holy spirit lifting him up
whenever joseph would go into a trance
the catholic leadership was very wise
and the pope
and the leaders that you know his
adviser said
you know we've got to take this guy and
put him in the most
remote monasteries of italy because
uh he's he's different he's special this
is not something for the masses to you
know
this is not something for you know
journalists to come out and write about
this is something holy
so they put him in the most remote
monasteries and uh
while he was in one of those monasteries
um
he so badly wanted to go out
and join a like a
a parade that was you know every year
the the little
village would have a parade and
everybody would come out all the
citizens would come out
and all of the priests and the monks
would go out they would march uh
through the city and uh uh you know
carry statues and
glorify the lord and it was some kind of
special feast day or something like that
uh it is a catholic church every day is
a feast day
which is wonderful praise god and so um
but joseph couldn't go he was never
allowed ever
to go outside of the monastery ever and
so
he was there in this little bitty you
know sale where he would pray and he
told the lord he said lord um
he said can i go would you maybe give
the
you know the abbot the father of the
monastery give him permission for me to
get out and go
and uh but you know they would never let
him out not
he hit the ruling was from rome the
headquarters there in rome
uh from the vatican no never let him out
so it was always a no no no so he was
there lord
he was praying lord is there any way you
could let me out i would just love to be
in that parade with my brothers
and the lord took him into a vision
and showed him many of the brothers the
monks that were marching in that parade
and he the lord showed joseph that
many of them that were marching even
some of the ones carrying the cross and
even quoting scriptures they marched the
lord showed that some of them did not
particularly the ones that were being
vocal carrying the cross and uh
readings verses they did not have their
hearts right with him they had
they had areas of strife areas of
jealousy you know jealous
jealous of their brother or stuff like
that and when he saw
all of the discord that was in that
group
he said lord thank you for not allowing
me to go now i actually don't want to go
and the lord didn't want him in that he
didn't want him in in that you know all
that jealousy and competition and uh
just like in a corporate arena that can
get into a church i've seen it get into
ministries or you could get into a
monastery
and uh those things can
really grieve the holy spirit so
sometimes
uh you know you have to realize if the
lord says no it's not like he's trying
to dampen your fun
he's he's guarding you he's protecting
you and the closer you get
he can he can be very very um
uh there's a righteous jealousy there is
a righteous jealousy
and the lord wants you for himself
hallelujah you're not a uh
you're not a commodity for you know
everybody to just uh eat up and devour
praise the lord and there are there are
those who are called to public ministry
i'm called the public ministry you know
that's why i'm sitting here
and that's why i you know talking to you
and i go out and do meetings and things
like that
but there are some things there are
times when god says turn the camera off
this is not for public consumption
there are some stories there are some
things don't tell it
when jesus came off of the the mountain
where the transfiguration took place
the first thing he said to peter james
and john
don't tell this vision to anybody until
after
i have been raised from the dead and of
course they really wondered what he
meant by
being raised from the dead what all that
meant but they did get the point
don't tell the story this is not for us
to come down and tell everybody
uh to do it to tell would do more harm
than good it would just confuse people
so there are some things you can share
there are some other things uh
no you can't share them at least not in
this setting or perhaps during this time
or amongst this group so now later
they could talk about it and that's why
we have
uh those stories recorded in the various
gospel accounts of the transfiguration
experience
but at that point jesus said when it
happened don't tell this to anybody
praise the lord and so my friends the
lord you get close to him
things are different even with the way
you pray even with what you
ask for and it's been said before but be
very careful
what you ask because if it's all good to
go
you're going to get it you're going to
get it if you really hang in there keep
praying stay on it in faith
you're going to get it so you really
need to
know up front is this what you want
before it shows up because
it's coming praise the lord so
you know we are all made in a in a way
where we have a maximum capacity
even your your soul from the level of uh
the ability to you can only have so many
conversations in the day
before your mind gets tired and you and
you're like
i can't do one more text i can't do one
more phone call i
am totally emptied out you have a place
we all have a place where you hit that
maximum level
so the last thing you want to do is so
stack your life
so full that uh you're just like now
being pushed into overload
all the time that's not good that's not
good praise the lord my friends the
the the throne of heaven is open right
now
i'm getting this very strong in my
spirit the
the very court room of god is open
go before the lord and tell the lord
what your supplication or petition is
say lord this is what i want
lord but i also want to make sure that
this is okay with you
lord what do you think about this and
talk it over with the lord don't rush in
don't rush out enjoy
your time with god and give the time
give the lord time to respond he may
respond in that prayer session he may
not
but just talk it over gently with the
lord and bring it before the lord he
would really appreciate that
he wants to be involved in every every
major decision of your life
and even and even in some ways even in
the smaller areas
you'll find out he would love to get
into that area be involved in that too
and he would like for you to seek his
wisdom on that so heaven's wide open
go before your father in prayer pray to
him in the name of jesus
talk to him like you would talk to a
best friend
pour your heart out to god yes we
understand we'll keep the element of
reverence and respect there
because he is our heavenly father but he
wants to you want you to talk to
him from your heart
don't go before him with all kinds of
theological terms
like you've got to be you know talking
like that
that's not the real you uh a lot of
theologians
uh could sometimes be real dry and their
teaching on god is almost like the same
they might as well be teaching on
dinosaurs they're they're teaching about
something that they have
book knowledge of but they do not let me
say it like this they've never met a
dinosaur
so in the same way they've never had
intimate encounters with the lord
so the last thing you want to do is like
use these
long words or you know start saying thee
and thou and stuff like that you don't
need to do that just go before
the father and talk to him from your
heart
and he'll be very happy to see you there
in his throne room
heavenly father i pray for your people i
pray you bless them
let them be on target with their request
thank you
thank you father god it's going to be
good some prayers are going to get
answered real quick
others yes there will be that faith
development
but they're going to be encouraged
because some things are going to come
lightning fast
literally even on the same day father
we give you praise for it we thank you
we ask this in the name of jesus
we agree and pray and say amen praise
god
if you've watched today's program but
you do not know
god as your father and you don't know
jesus his son
or the holy spirit today can be your day
of salvation
if you would like to get your life right
with god
or if you're a backslidden christian and
you're away from god and you've
you're in all kinds of sin and darkness
it's time for you to come back too
if you're watching and you want to get
your heart right with god pray this
prayer after me
say lord jesus come into my heart
wash my sin away
give me your newness of life
give me that new life of yours of your
own
life lord thank you jesus write my name
in your book of life i give my heart to
you now
thank you jesus for saving me thank you
for saving me
right now i receive you as my lord and
savior
thank you jesus amen if you prayed that
prayer he has now become the lord of
your life now look for him and serve him
hallelujah praise god and if you have
prayed that prayer
email me i'd love to hear from you you
can email me at contact
stephenbrooks.org praise god
now let's take holy communion together
and if you've just become a christian
you can do that
with us and the other believers that are
gathered around the internet right now
just grab some unleavened bread i use
these little wafers you can buy them in
any christian bookstore
you can buy them online or just use a
little cracker that's all that you have
and you can use grape juice that's
that's what i use praise the lord
hallelujah praise the lord
thank you father let's pray father we
thank you for the bread
and the juice we pray over it and we
pray a prayer of
sanctification and set this apart
as holy this is a prayer of consecration
this
is set apart as something sacred and
holy this is now the body
and the blood of jesus father when we
look at it with our physical eyes we
still see
a little wafer and juice but we thank
you
that the body and the blood of christ is
veiled or hidden
through this grape juice and this little
piece of bread
father we thank you that when we receive
this we are receiving the flesh of jesus
hallelujah thank you father that all of
your promises are yes and amen
help us to jump in there and pray
through them and take what rightfully
belongs to us
and move forward in the unique callings
and path
that you have for each and every one of
us as individuals
and also as a corporate body collective
body of believers
thank you father we receive the lord's
body now
in his name amen let's partake
hallelujah father thank you for the
blood of jesus
we thank you for the blood of jesus
flowing and cleansing us continually
from all sin
from all unrighteousness and we thank
you also for this
amazing blessing of the new covenant of
having a clean conscience
before you where all of our sins are
washed away
forgiven and even forgotten
thank you oh god we receive that and we
receive the blood of jesus
and we thank you for answering our
prayers
and helping us to pray according to what
is your will for our lives
glory glory praise god
praise god father in the name of jesus
let us always bring it before you for
your blessing
and for your approval in jesus name amen
let's
let's receive the blood of jesus
praise the lord could you imagine being
a christian
and you're going to get married and you
don't even ask god what he thinks about
your
potential spouse hello
somebody's been out to lunch thank you
jesus
wow but yet christians do it all the
time
um and and then when it doesn't turn out
good god
it's your fault for giving me this this
wife or this husband
god's like i think that's your own doing
i tried to tell you
but you never even asked me can i share
a tip
uh that i've learned through personal
encounters with the lord
that's not in any commentary or any
theological book that you're going to
read
can i tell you something right now worth
more than gold
for those of you that stuck around all
the way to the end of this message
even after the communion here it is
there are some things that the lord
knows
now you you and i both know he knows
everything right
okay he's god but let me say it like
this
there are some things that god knows
about you that he will not tell you
unless you ask him even if it's
imperative that you know
even if it's extremely important that
you know
there are some things he just flat out
won't tell you
unless you ask him so i would highly
encourage him
i would highly encourage you say lord
hey
if there's something that i don't know
that i need to know lord i'm all
ears now pastor stephen why wouldn't
somebody
pray a prayer like that because they're
loaded with pride just like a baked
potato
loaded with butter and sour cream and
chives
and uh there are some christians so
loaded with pride
they're like a baked potato they think
they know more than god they wouldn't
ask him for anything
they've got all the answers or so they
think
that's why their life is so dry and
cooped up
and goofy and unspiritual because they
are excluding god from their life
not from the area of salvation but from
the area of laying their life down and
being led by him
really god just wants his best for you
he knows what's best
if you'll let go and let god he'll lead
you into pastors
that are so green that are so pleasing
that are so happy
praise the lord he's the original
manufacturer of you he knows
how you tick he knows what makes you
work
[Laughter]
praise god praise god so there are some
things that god knows
that he won't tell you unless you
ask him even even if it's extremely
important that you know them
and he can stay you can have a
visitation from jesus
he can stand right in front of you he
won't say a word about it
i've had this happen before but because
i've asked
while he was there he answered me and
later i thought my goodness what if i
had not have asked that of him
now you may not have a vision but you
can go before your father in prayer
and still get the same result you can
still find out if you really want to
know
heaven is open right now the throne is
open go before your father
he's waiting for you thank you for
joining me today i'll see you back next
time till then stay
richly blessed