Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Pray With Purpose Pt.4

Those of you that haven't gotten your statements from the year's giving, it's in the foyer. Make sure you stop and avail yourselves of that. Again, it's just a blessing always to see the honor that goes to the Lord in the giving. The tithe is the Lord's and we honor Him with the first fruits of all of our increase. It's a hallmark of your faithfulness, and a blessing not only to the kingdom but it's effective in the heavenlies. You'd be surprised the power that that obedience manifests in the heavenlies. Talking about that, there's fruit beginning to manifest as some of us have really made a doubling up effort in our intercession and praying for doors of utterance to be opened, and things are going ahead with speed in Africa right now. Can you say praise God for that? For things to go ahead with speed in Africa is a miracle so that is something that is manifesting. We thank God for it. Talked to Ron just this evening just as he was sacking out and he had called. Some great things that are going on, as I shared. The attorney there for the government is actually wording everything that has to be given to the minister, and so he said, "I do this all the time, this is my job." He said, "I'll write it up." And he said it's just a formality. He said we believe that it will go in and go right through, so we say, "Yeah, we've heard that before. Our trust is in the Lord, amen?" So we're praying that God will open those doors and it's very interesting that as this door began to open--and we should know something on this by Friday--at the same time then there seems to be an open access to where Ron might be able talk personally to the president sometime here in the next couple of days, and so the other door is opening. Don't you like the way the Lord works? That would suit me just fine that that which is impossible is opened twice, praise God. Can you say amen to that? The enemies can't believe God's going to do exceeding abundant above anything that we could ask or even think.

Let's turn to Matthew. We'll look our text again and then we want to deal with another principle this evening. In Matthew chapter 6, of course, the Lord's admonition to us about our prayer lives. The Scripture says "that men ought always to pray, and not to faint" (Luke 18:1). The Scripture talks to us about the fact that we're to pray without ceasing. The Lord speaks to us in this sixth chapter of Matthew and He makes it very clear that we're not like the heathen. We don't pray with vein repetitions, and try to somehow wear God out, or plead our case before Him, because verse 8 says, "...your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him." So God is aware of our needs and our Lord is touched with the feelings of our infirmities, the Scripture says, and He ever lives to make intercession for us. So the Lord is praying for us; Father knows what we have need of, and the Scripture says that it's his good pleasure then to give us the kingdom. So when you pray, don't go approaching the throne of God thinking that God's holding out on you, but if you ask it will be given to you, if you seek you'll find, if you knock, the Scripture says, it will be opened. If you being carnal know how to give good gifts to your children how much more then will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those that ask of Him? So pray after this manner, verse 9, "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen."

We've been talking about praying then according to that spirit of "not my will but thy will be done" that Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, and as the utterance came forth this evening--what a blessing for the Spirit of God to minister to us, I'm so thankful that some come into our midst preparing their hearts ready to speak as the Spirit gives them words to speak. It is a preparation of heart and the Spirit speaks in harmony with what's been spoken, and been taught, and that's how the gifts of the Spirit work. So we've been talking about praying "thy kingdom come, thy will be done." What we want to look at tonight is why we pray that way because when we pray that way "thy will be done," what we're really talking about is, "God, what's really at issue here is You being glorified." There's no prayer that you and I are going to pray that's going to have the anointing, the effectualness behind it if there's a selfish motive. You have not because you ask not, and when you ask you ask amiss, James says, desiring to consume it upon your own lust. The motive always has to be the glory of God, the purpose of God, the good of the kingdom or you might as well just save your breath. So when we're praying thy will be done and we're coming before the kingdom without an agenda, the motive is not just the fact that we are looking to see God's purposes established, but we're looking for God to be glorified in the process. So we want to talk some about that. Turn over if you would to John 17. In the 17th chapter of John, the Lord's prayer. What we just recited in Matthew is really the disciples' prayer, and John 17 is the Lord's prayer. We all know that they call that the Lord's prayer but it's really not, it's the disciples' prayer. Here is the Lord's prayer. If you really want to get next to the heart of the Lord, and wonder what He was praying about when He slipped away and prayed all night. He would depart from them, and go a distance into prayer when they were doing whatever they were doing on some of those evenings that they were traveling together. I don't know, they make have been turning in and watching the playoffs, we don't know. They may have had some video games. They were sitting around seeing who could get the most points and kill the most aliens or whatever people do today. We don't know what it was that the disciples were doing, but what we do know was they weren't praying. Actually, it fascinated the disciples that the Lord would continually go apart and pray, and that's what provoked that thing. "Lord, teach us to pray." And He says, "Okay if you really want to pray, here's the purpose of prayer." The performance of prayer really isn't going to affect anything if the purpose isn't pure.

So He says you've got to pray after this manner. Pray with this kind of a heart attitude and here's what you pray about. So we saw the disciples prayer that was given. Now we really get to eavesdrop on the Lord Himself praying in John 17. I love this chapter. Over all of these years to embrace this chapter, and with my imagination trying to somehow envision myself there, and actually hearing Him speak these words. You know there are a lot of words that as Christians we would like to hear the Lord speak, and of course in the end we want to hear "well done, thou good and faithful servant." But if we had walked with Him in those days, there were some things that we would have liked to have seen or heard, and many of us would have liked to have been there during the time that the Lord spoke, and prayerfully made this kind of a declaration. How many of you think you would have liked to have been there when the Lord stood and said, "Peace, be still" and that storm ceased, the wind and the waves obeyed? And they looked at one another and they said, "What manner of a man is this that even the wind and the waves obey him?" It's amazing! Some of us would have loved to have heard the Master speak those words in John, the 11th chapter, "Lazarus, come forth" and watch that mummified individual come doing the bunny hop out of that tomb. And as they unwrap him, he declares the greatness of God and Jesus reveals Himself as the resurrection and the life, and we say, "Man, look at that!" To have heard that prayer, "Lazarus come forth." What a payer! How many of you know that's a prayer? It's not a command; it's a prayer. Jesus was here representing Father. I'll show you tonight that everything that He decreed was a prayer because it was the power, the ability of God that was doing the works. Jesus said, "I don't do the works; my Father does the works. So everything I do and everything I say is by the power of God and for the glory of God." That's really what prayer is all about. So prayer is not just petitioning. Prayer is declaring, speaking the purpose of God, whether it's speaking and saying "Peace, be still," "Sun, stand thou still," "Lazarus, come forth," it doesn't make any difference, but it is the power of God that's working in us, and that's what our prayer life is to be like. Now how do we come to that kind of a prayer life? Well you're not going to see those kinds of things until you come into the relationship part of it.

While you're in John 17 there, just jump back real quick to John 11. To me, "Lazarus, come forth" of verse 43 isn't the most spectacular thing in that chapter. How many of you think that's pretty spectacular? How many of you have seen the dead raised? I'd say it's pretty spectacular, isn't it? I've been privileged to see the dead raised on a couple of occasions and it's an exciting thing but it's never a surprise because you know it before it happens, because the agent, the source has already declared it. You know it's going to happen and so it's not a big surprise. Others sometimes get surprised. I remember Mel Torrey and there was some doubt about the validity of some of the testimonies that took place during part of the Indonesian revival but I met Mel Torrey years ago, and in talking with him, heard him sharing these testimonies. They had seen this one individual that--it was kind of interesting--people had gone into the bedroom and they were all praying, and nothing was happening, and very much like the Lord did, he said, "Look." He put them out, their unbelief, and a few that stayed behind as they sought the Lord's presence, and power, and God raised this individual up from the dead, and Mel Torrey said, "You know, it would be interesting just to send him out there, and not even announce it." And sure enough they did, and he came out and said, whatever he said, "I'm back" or whatever, (maybe that's the wrong phrase). The testimony goes something like this: the people were so overcome by it that some were diving out the windows, and there was a lot of the voodoo and different things, and a lot of superstition, and here's this guy back from the dead, and it freaked some of them, and guys were literally bailing out of that little room in that hut there, and diving out the windows. They were surprised. I'd say if you dive out the window in terror that you probably weren't praying in faith.

But it's an exciting thing to watch when God's power manifests, and you see the dead raised, and you watch the power of God, and you watch the miraculous. But as you're moving in this great privilege that we call prayer, it's never a surprise. To me the most spectacular thing of this whole chapter is found in verses 41 and 42. I love this. I embrace this. I've spent so much time wanting this to be able to truly be the testimony of my life. "Father, [verse 41] I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always." How many of you want that to be your testimony? When I pray, I know that you hear me. "This is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: and if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, then we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him" (1 John 5:14). Father, I know that when I pray, you hear me. Is that your testimony tonight? Is that something that you walk in confidence in? Here is a man that's dead and Jesus is standing there and declaring and saying, "Father, I thank You that You've heard me." He hasn't even prayed yet. "Father, I thank You that I'm here as Your representative. I thank You that You've heard me." I think that this is one of the interesting things about prayer look at it. "I thank you that you've heard me. I've prayed so that I might pray." "I thank you that you've heard me. I've spent time with You. We fellowshipped, I have Your heart; You know my heart. I'm here as Your ambassador. I thank You that You have heard me so that when I speak, You will hear me." That's basically what Jesus is saying here. You see, a lot of us don't want to spend any time with Father, don't want to pray, don't want to change our course in life, and all of these different things, and then we want to come and make this kind of a statement. "I thank God that when I pray, He hears me. I thank the Lord that He's going to hear this prayer. Somehow, surely, He'll hear me in my desperation!"

Oh beloved, our prayer lives are changed in that secret prayer closet. When we're praying in secret and God is rewarding us openly. You see, a lot of people like to pray openly and want to have that be their testimony. If you're going to have a prayer that's done publicly--and we're going to talk about that now, some of the great spectacular prayers that God answers publicly--I want to tell you what, that's the fruit of a secret prayer life. It's the secret prayer life, it's the intimacy that you build with Father so that when you go public and you declare a thing, God honors His Word with signs following, and men see the good works, and glorify our Father which is in heaven. "I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me" (John 11:42). So the Lord is here and showing us some of this that necessitates a productive prayer life, and that's the intimacy of relationship with Father. So we see it over in chapter 17. Turn over there and let's look at the Lord for just a moment, and this relationship that we're talking about. He's talking about the persecution that's going to come on us from the world. "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33), and then He starts off into this 17th chapter and says, "These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee." Man, there have been a lot of prayers of Christians spoken in so many different ways but that's why they're saying. "Glorify thy son. Bless me, Lord. Cause me to stand. Make me victorious. Bless me, Lord. Preserve me, Lord. Give me speed, Lord. Make me strong, Lord. Give me peace, Lord. Heal me, Lord." There are times for all of those prayers. The Word of God gives us the right to expect those things that we were speaking of. But look what the Master says here, "Father the hour is come; glorify thy Son, [why?] that thy Son also may glorify thee." What are you going to do with what God gives you? Strength, wisdom, power, what are you going to do with it? What's it being used for?

"As thou hast given... [the Son, the Lord, the Ambassador, Emmanuel] As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou has given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth. [Verse 4] I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. [The Lord said] And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." I have glorified thee. Now glorify me that I might glorify thee, so that you would glorify me, that I might glorify thee, so that you would glorify me, that I might glorify thee. I wonder how long we can do this. That's really what it's all about. Now watch. As it goes on it's fabulous to see the heart and what real prayers about. I want you get a feel for this now as we're trying to give a little commentary through this it breaks it up. But as we're looking at it, I want you to just hear this flowing from the Master's heart as He's communing with His Father, and see it for what it is, this relationship that's pouring fourth. This is a prayer based upon relationship. It's a prayer based upon purpose.

Jesus knew why He was here and what God wanted to do through Him, do you? Have you discovered yet after all of this time, some of you, twenty years being believers or more? Do you know what you're doing? Do you know why you're here? Do you know why God has gifted you with the certain gifts that you have? Do you understand why God has placed you in the body the way He's placed you? Do you understand? Has it come now to your reason to where you can sit back and say, "I finally stopped playing all the games and trying to manipulate things, and I really understand, and believe that God is ordering my steps for His eternal purposes? I know the will of God for my life." I'm not talking about every intricate detail. But you finally stop praying about all those thing you realize were things you wanted, and not for His glory. You've stopped seeking what elevates yourself and what you're looking to be able to minister as it's been ministered to you that men could see the good works, and glorify our Father which is heaven. All of that wasted effort of self-exaltation is finally dying and you're here being able to pray, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." Do you see that in the heart of the Master as He's praying here? Glorify me that I might glorify you, and I have glorified you, and I've finished the work that you gave to do (verse 4). "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self... I have manifested [verse 6] thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee." They've come to understand that all that I have, You've provided Me and that You're their source. For I've given unto them Your words; I've represented You accurately. I've made myself totally dependent upon You. The Son of God, the Creator of heaven and earth. All things were made by Him and for Him, and without Him was nothing made that was made. In Him is life, the source of all things, putting Himself in total dependence, and making that the example to His disciples. I've taught them these things, they've known this. "For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine."

Dear Lord, how many people are spending their time praying for the world. Praying for unsaved Aunt Millie, and Uncle George, and governor so and so. The Scripture does tell us to speak toward those things but whether you're praying for those that are in authority, the Kings and the Princes, or you're praying for the unsaved, you're praying one thing for them for them, you're praying that they might come to the knowledge of God. If you'll study and summarize all that God speaks of toward praying for the unbelievers whether they are those in authority or whatever, it's always that they might come to the knowledge of God. One is that you and I would live peaceably. God is interested in His church; He's interested in His children. He wants us to be blessed and to prosper and to be at peace. So as He's speaking toward this relationship with Him and that which we're to rest in, the promises, and the presence of God, He says, "And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou has given me, that they may be one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name; those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost." Can you say praise God for that? "Those that thou gavest me... none of them is lost." We're praying for individuals, they're backslidden, "O God, somehow, O Lord God, save them. God, save them. God, save them." "Don't try to plant what I've plucked up," the Lord said. "Of those that God has given, none are lost." So what do we pray? We say Father, "I don't know what's going on here. I'm just asking that You would be glorified in this situation. I'm asking, Father, that they would return to you because the Scripture says You're not willing that any should perish, and You know--I don't--who is to be saved, who isn't, so I'm praying for that one. Lord, I'm asking for their salvation. Thy will be done." But I want to tell you one thing, beloved, of those that should be saved none are lost. "Those that thou gavest me," He gives an example and He says, "but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled."

Now we begin to see. Well here's a guy that apparently was called, but he was lost. Why was he lost? "That the Scripture might be fulfilled." The Scripture speaks of many different reasons why people are lost who've come to the knowledge of God, and backslidden, become haters. In His sovereignty we pray Thy will be done, and we declare the Judge of the earth does right, and that's how we can pray in faith. We don't have to figure it out. We don't have to say, "Okay, now I understand the eternal purposes" and I can speak toward this issue. We speak of God's integrity, we speak of the infallibility of the Word of God, and we declare what God declares in every given situation. You want to pray for healing? I'll give you something to pray about, praise God. The Scripture says that by His stripes we are a healed people. The Bible says the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise them up, and we believe, and we pray that, and all of the other issues are left up to God. But we can pray in faith His will because it's declared, and those things that we don't see, that we don't understand, we leave to His character and His integrity because we know the Judge of all the earth does right. So in our prayer lives as Jesus is speaking here, He's speaking toward that same confidence that He's walking in and He says, "Of those you gave me I didn't lose any. The son of perdition got lost, scripture fulfilled. And now I come to You, Father, (verse 13) and I want to talk to You about the rest of the children so that they could have joy fulfilled in themselves. I've given them Your Word and the world has hated them." You want to know if the Word is alive in you or not? You want to know if you're a man or woman of the Word of God? The world's got to hate you. Ask Mr. Ashcroft. We're different. We don't compromise standards. We speak the Word of God, and the world system hates it.

Without getting into politics, I think it's very interesting. If you'll watch and listen to the news media, it will tell you what the hour is that we're living in. They're trying to use the hot buttons of what moves political parties, but I want to tell you something. What's really at stake here--and I say "at stake" I'm just talking about from our perspective--is this, what you're looking at is a post-Christian view in American politics and ideology. The worldview has changed. Surely they are calling good evil and evil good. That's the day that we're living in, and Jesus is praying about this very situation for you and me, and when He speaks toward this He says, "I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." "I pray that thou shouldest take them out of the world." Is that what He said? We left out a word, what was it? Oh, you mean He doesn't want us out of the world? No, He wants the world out of us. "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil [that's in the world]." Is this going along with the Lord's prayer, do you think? "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen." I'm praying, Father, that You keep them from the evil. If this is the prayer that Jesus is making for us, how many of you think we ought to be praying that He keep us from the evil? Do you understand that we're living in an evil world? Do you understand how vexed we're getting every day we go to work? Every day you listen to anything that's of this secular worldview that I'm speaking of. Those who are proclaiming the majesty of man and the sovereignty of man's own will, and we stand with the Word of God, and speak the truth, and the world hates us for it. Oh beloved, how easy it is to compromise because of the pressure the world begins to put, and the hatred that begins to manifest itself toward us from the camp of tolerance. You need to be more tolerant of everything but the Word of God. So we're living in that kind of an hour, we need to understand this prayer, and we're talking about what you pray about. You want to spend some time in prayer, spend some time praying about being kept from evil. Not getting blessed, how much more can I get, how much better can I feel, how much freer can I be from the world's system, their thought processes.

Now you remember we've said that none of those other things are wrong. Biblical praying out of that 6th chapter of Matthew is this; "I seek not the kingdom of darkness but the kingdom of light. I don't seek what the world seeks. They have a god. I don't pray as the heathen pray, but I seek first the Kingdom, His righteousness, and all of these other things then are added to me." Father these that are mine are not of the world as I'm not of the world, therefore, verse 17, "Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word." I like that part, don't you? That thing spanning two thousand years, twenty centuries. This prayer is still coming right into this room, and Jesus is praying and saying, "I'm not praying for these alone but for everyone that's believed on me through their words. Sanctify them through the truth. My prayer is that they might be unified and "that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou has sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one; even as we are one."" Now what is that glory for? We talked about it earlier. I repeated it about six times. That we might what? Glorify Him. "The glory which thou gavest me I have given them." I want to tell you something, beloved. If it's the glory that Jesus gave, it will glorify Father and not self. It won't glorify man. People aren't going to look and say, "Oh, what a great institution that is! What a great man of God that is!" They're going to understand that's God working in them. Oh, the vessels get acknowledged periodically but the glory and the excellence, the Scripture says, is of God, and it's not of us. Men don't seek the glory of men who've known the glory of God. Men don't seek the glory of men who've known the glory of God.

Ronnie was just sharing that he was talking to one of the fellows who is actually going in. This is the guy that supposedly led the President to the Lord, and he's got one of the biggest ministries in Kenya, and he's a spirit-filled man, and he was telling Ronnie, "God has blessed me and some of the things." He was giving part of his testimony and he said, "I was even invited to preach at Cho's church and I went and preached in the biggest church in the world." And how God had opened that door of utterance. Ron told me this afternoon he said, "I told him, 'Yeah, my Pastor was invited--has a standing invitation--to preach there, too, but he's chosen not to.'" You don't get the glory of God when you're seeking the glory of men.

That time, beloved, when all that men have afforded you, and all of the works of the flesh, and all of the great programs that people put together, when they all collapse, there is going to be remnant of integrity that will know the supernatural power of God, and a man's righteousness will deliver him. I'd rather know and preserve that one visitation of the real glory of God than to have all of the glory of men that's going around as counterfeit in the hour that we're living. Keep yourself pure. Don't look for what men are offering you, but what God has promised you. Seek the kingdom, His righteousness, and in the days of adversity, and the day when you need a miracle, God will confirm His Word with signs following. So the Scripture speaks to us here and the Lord says "[I've given them the glory that they may be one as We, Father, are one.] I in them, thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they might behold my glory, which you've given me... [I want them to see the finished work. I want them to know the fruit of obedience.]" As Jesus closes this prayer, He says, "O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love where with thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." What a great prayer! To sum this up, what are we talking about? We're talking about the heart of Jesus saying, "Father, I finished the work that You sent me to do. I've come to lay down My life as a living sacrifice, as the agent of Your love being expressed back into humanity, of Our eternal plan to reconcile men back unto Us, and to free them from the power of sin, and death, and the lordship of Satan. I've come not to do My will but the will of You who have sent Me. The glory that comes from it, I refuse to accept." Didn't they want to make Him a King? "I'm only in it for Your glory, for the purpose of magnifying Your name."

Look back a couple of chapters. It's really interesting. As you look through chapters 14, 15, and 16 that are leading up to this great prayer, you see some great promises. Chapter 14, we all know chapter 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh to the Father, but by me." Very famous verse. Then He starts in verse 10 and says, "Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." Are you catching the secret to the power of God that I'm talking about? Jesus is not out vaunting himself. "Look at me, the man of faith, the man of power." Jesus is not taking any credit for anything that's being done. He's recognizing the purpose of God and the fact that God is the source of all that's being done. "He doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake." No man can do this; it's the Father. Beloved, when we get ourselves into positions to where we can make these statements, we just very clearly say, "Look, man, I'm not here out of my own strength or my own ability. God has put me here. The words that I'm speaking to you, He's put in my mouth. The circumstances have been orchestrated by Him. This is all for His glory and He's going to manifest that which is absolutely supernatural."

Oh, how so many times we cower away from the things that are not natural. We get into that area where we should be most comfortable and yet we're uncomfortable. We've lost control. I can't do anything about this. Oh, beloved, that's the greatest place we can be--in the Spirit, amen? The place that we ought to feel most comfortable, most of us start getting antsy. "Oh Lord, it's out of my control. I don't have enough money. I don't have enough time. I don't have the ability. It's going to take a miracle." What a great place to be to be able to pray and say, "I believe in Jesus. I believe that the Lord has placed me here. I believe God has ordered this. I think we need to be quiet and listen to what God has to say." Isn't that what Paul declared in the time of the storm? "Who's this nut over here talking about God, we've got to come up with a plan." "I've got a plan; I'm trusting God." What is impossible with men is possible with God when it brings Him the glory. Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father" (John 14:12). How many of you have ever heard that verse? Have you heard that one before? How many of you have ever quoted that verse? Let me see your hands? How many of you have ever quoted that verse? Isn't it interesting that verse 12 follows verse 10? "The Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." "And if you believe on me, the works that the Father did through me, He will do through you." Isn't that what's being said here? "If you believe in Me, My glory, you're a partaker of My glory (John 17) then that same glory that you've partaken in believing in Me puts you in the same position I was in representing the kingdom of God, and what I did, you will do and greater than these shall you do because I've gone to the Father." In other words the plan has been finished. It is finished. I've destroyed the powers of darkness. Sin's power has been broken. The price has been paid. Man has been reconciled and what I did, you will do, and greater things than these because I've gone to Father. But what again is the reason for all of this? That Father might be gloried. Look what He goes on to say. We love to read that passage, "greater works than these shall he do." Why? So that Father can be glorified in our good works. Men shall see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, [Jesus says] that will I do, [say it with me,] that the Father may be glorified in the Son. And whatsoever you shall ask in my name that will I do." People stop right there. "Whatsoever you ask in my name that will I do." "I want six of those, five of these, red, blue, yellow. The Word of God has promised it, the Bible says that whatever I ask in the name of Jesus, He'll do it!" That the Father may be glorified in the Son.

So what are we doing here? We're making Jesus the agent, Father the source. He's the vine, we're the branches, we abide in Him, His words abides in us, we ask His will, and He does it. He prunes us that we're able to have greater revelation, ask more, ask in greater faith, see greater power, that we might produce, what? More fruit and what does the fruit do? Glorifies God. The whole purpose of prayer is to get God glorified in the earth so that men could see the majesty of our God, the love of our Heavenly Father, the ever-present Spirit dwelling within us, the eternal plan of God reconciling us in our lost state, of living in a hostile environment that could kill us in a moment, and yet prayer preserves us every day of our lives. Every moment we live as we pray without ceasing, as we breathe in faith that we're here for a reason, the purpose of God, the glory of God. If you shall ask anything in My name--now let me insert here a parenthetical phrase--if you shall ask anything in My name (that glorifies the Father), I will do it. Is that the context? So we realize then that God is speaking to us here and Jesus is making the declaration of why He was here and what His purpose was, and that same glory has been given to us. Then He makes this statement in verse 15, following this in the context, He says, "If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father and he shall give you [the Holy Spirit to abide within you] even the Sprit of truth; whom the world cannot receive... [But, verse 18] I will come to you. [And if I do, I'll bring eternal life, as we read in the other chapter] because I live [verse 19] ye shall live also." So we've got to be careful that in these prayer verses we don't pull these things out of context, speak half-truths that are based upon our own lusts, and miss the whole principle of the Lord teaching His disciples how to pray, "Not my will, but thy will be done." For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory belongs to God, forever, amen.

We come over to chapter 15--the great vine and branches chapter--and the great tremendous truths. Verse 7 says, "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." That's a dangerous verse if you just pull that one out of there. How many of you have seen people pull that out of there? It's got six verses preceding it and a whole bunch following. Herein is my Father glorified that you bear much fruit by asking anything that you will that brings glory. Herein is my Father glorified that you bear much fruit, and then if my Father is glorified, you shall be my disciples. So we see again that the glory of God is the real issue here and He's ever wanting us to understand that it's the reason we were called and chosen. You go into chapter 16, and here again we have some of those verses that are so many times misused. The Scripture says in verse 13, "when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, [the words of Jesus, the Word of God] that shall he speak, and he will shew you things to come. [And] He shall [say it with me] glorify me." The Holy Spirit's job is to speak what He's seen. The purpose is in declaring the stated will of God. It will glorify Him, for He shall receive of the Lord's, and show it unto you.

Then He goes on and makes this statement verse 23. "And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. [Truly, truly] I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you." Oh, there's another good one. There's another one of those verses. Love those things. They're absolutely true, and they're just as powerful as they sound, and they work. The Master goes on and says in verse 24, "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." Verse 26, "At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, [If we love Him, we'll do what? Keep His commandments.] and have believed that I came out from God." If you believe that He came out from God then you believe that He came for the purpose of glorifying God, we saw in chapter 17, and it becomes the same foundational principle of prayer. What a great promise that we can come in that day and whatever we ask the Father in Jesus' name, Father will give it to us. Father, I come in the name, in the same spirit, for the same purpose that Jesus came. I stand before You with the testimony that when I pray You hear me, because I'm not here to ask my will but Thine be done. I come now knowing that I have a mediator, knowing that the access is bold because of the blood of Jesus, but I come also knowing that that's already been put into effect, and so I can come directly to Your heart because You love me, because I love You, and He that You sent. The intimacy that comes through prayer of that understanding moves mountains into the sea, causes Lazarus to come forth, and calms the storms of life. But until there's this relationship, don't expect the power.

Father, we thank You for the Word of God, and we just ask that as we continue in Your Word, and understand these great promises that have been given to us, that every one is based upon absolute reliance on Your ability, and the manifestation for Your glory. There must be death to self. Oh beloved, we're not going to pray effectually in the spirit of the world. It's not going to happen when the motivation is self. "I've got to get out from under this pressure. I've got to get rid of this pain. I've got to somehow advance myself in the eyes of men and in the world's system." That has nothing to do with prayer. The more you study this topic, the more you see that the reason God has given us that great name of Jesus, and the ability to appropriate the benefits of the finished work, or that men would see the glory of the resurrected Christ, believe that He was sent of the Father, and in receiving the free gift of salvation in that faith, glorify his name. God does miracles so that people can be saved. God does miracles that we in our unbelief can believe and be more like Him, and rely more greatly upon Him. You'd think that after all of the years that so many of us have studied, and have been taught, and have lived, that the fruit of it would be more evident in our lives, and yet how many of us here tonight can say I know this doctrine; I just don't live it. I know the doctrine. I know this is all true, but under pressure I start praying, "Oh God, deliver me, heal me, bless me" and I want to be able to pray, "Father what will bring You the most glory?" Give me the faith to stand under the pruning process that you might be glorified in the fruit that comes forth. I have a preference, Father, if it be possible. I have a preference, in my limited perspective would say if it be possible, but nevertheless, not my will, Thy will be done. It's our heart's desire, Father, in Jesus' name, amen. Let's stand before the Lord tonight.

As Gary plays for us, we realize then that we can pray in all faith and believe for healing, and the deliverance, because He bore our pain and our sickness on His body on the tree. You're supposed to pray for those things. You're supposed to believe for healing. You're supposed to believe for the pain to leave, that the Father might be glorified in the Son. We're supposed to see the dead raised, and blind eyes opened that the Father might be glorified in the Son. We're supposed to be preserved and not die like the masses, for a thousand will fall at our side and ten thousand at our right hand, but it doesn't come nigh us. We stand against the principalities and powers, and we resist them in the name of Jesus, and the enemy flees, and our enemy comes in one way, and flees from us in seven that the Father might be glorified in the Son. The enemy comes to destroy us, the wind and waves rise, and we say, "Peace be still" and people say, "What manner of man is this?" You say, "Don't look on me as though by my own strength and faith I've done this thing, but that the Father might be glorified in the Son. I'm here about my Father's business. I have meat to eat that you know not of. I want the glory of God. I will not compromise for any counterfeits. I will not receive the cheapness of man's glory and praise. I want to know the glory of God. I'm going to do it His way. I'm going to do it without compromise. God's my source. I will not bow my knee. Bring all of your prophets up here on this mountain and let them pray to their gods, and I want to ask you a question--you that profess to believe in the living God--how long halt you between two opinions? If God be God, then I think it's time to trust Him and let the one that answers by fire, let the one that answers with signs following, let the one that's able to bring peace and strength and joy when everything around us is vanity, let Him be God. I'm not going the cheap way. I'm not going to pray prayers and then make them come to pass in my own strength, self-fulfilled prophecy. I'm not going to go get it with my own hands and then say, 'Look what God has given me.' I can stand in peace and say I know that Father hears me, because what I have has only come from Him!"

Let's just sing it together and just thank the Lord for his presence. "Let Me Be a Sacrifice." Oh, thank You, Jesus. Hallelujah, Jesus! As our lives are presented to Him as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service, that offering of obedience and death to self, He's glorified in the Son. What a testimony! Ron said that as he stood before the congregation last week, and he told them that in the time of these trials, and there were some opportunities to compromise some with the system, and "everybody will understand because it's always done that way." Ron went before the congregation and he said, "I was talking to my Pastor and he told me that he would have us come home rather than bring you an impure gospel. That for us to speak anything to you but the Word of God, and to use God's methods would be just as damning as everything else you've heard preached over here to this day. We will not compromise the Word of God. If God doesn't provide it, we will not have it, and if we leave you without having obtained what we were looking for, you'll still have heard the gospel of pure truth in trusting God, and know there's a way that brings glory to God, and not to men." That's how we live our lives. If God doesn't provide it, I don't want it. When you can pray that way, then you'll be praying the prayer of faith, and you'll know the power of God. Hallelujah! Before you go turn to somebody next to you and say, "We can ask for anything, praise God." Amen. Go in peace, God's love go with you.

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