Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Wait on the Lord Pt.1

Amen, good to see those that made it home safely from Tennessee. We thank God for the safe trip, the ministry that went forth there, and a great opportunity to go share the Word of God and the love of Jesus. We take every opportunity that's available and trusting that God is going to be glorified in it. Praise God.

Let's turn in our Bibles, if you would, to the book of Luke. I want to start a study here that we're going to be on for a good while. We want to be talking about the ministry of waiting upon the Lord. We're living in a day, as we've talked about, of spiritual warfare and we know that our weapons are not carnal, they're mighty through God. We've talked about the spiritual armor of God and that once we've adorned ourselves in the armor of God that we're to be about the ministry of prayer and spiritually doing the battle in the heavenlies that God has called us to, and understanding that in this day as the spirit of Antichrist continues to war for our lives, our family, that it's not going to be without battle; it's not going to be something that we just sit back and become spectators because of the sovereignty of God. God is sovereign, and God is sovereignly requiring of you and I lives that are diligent in prayer, and a pursuit of His face, and the knowledge of His presence.

So we want to talk about that somewhat, and in Luke, chapter 18, this very familiar passage that will start us off in this particular series, "And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray and not to faint" (Luke 18:1). Men ought always to pray and not to faint. So, we see the admonition that the Lord is bringing us here, two different things that He requires of us. Number one is to engage ourselves in prayer, and number two to continue in prayer. A lot of us, based upon circumstances, were motivated to prayer by adverse circumstances, were motivated by the promise of our annihilation as the enemy comes against us and threatens us with all types of different accusations and intimidations and in that particular environment people will begin to call upon the Lord. So often we've heard the different things that are said; somebody--they hear somebody praying under their breath and they say, "What are you doing?" And you say, "Praying." And they're saying, "Have things gotten that bad?" It's almost that thought process that so many people live by. And we find that men ought always to pray. That means we're to pray about everything. Let me ask you a question then this morning: Do you pray about everything or are there things "you can handle?" How much are you taking care of? And how much are we aware that everything we're doing, even those things we think we're taking care of, the wisdom and the strength is from God? Can you say amen to that? Because without Him we can do nothing. There's not a thing we can do that's pleasing to Him that doesn't originate in Him.

Men ought always to pray. We're to pray about everything. We're to pray without ceasing, the Scripture says. And we've talked about that aspect of prayer, we know that we don't constantly verbally articulate certain promises or petitions, but it's an awareness of the presence of God. And we coined that phrase that prayer is practicing the presence of God. I say coined that phrase, we may have, I may have--I'm not aware of it coming from anywhere else, but if it is it's so much a part of me I don't remember where it came from. Practicing the presence of God. So, in our study we're going to talk about that being the key, the core, to the power of God, the presence of God. We can't get caught up, then, in the mechanics of praying, and I think that's something that happens to many of us if we're not careful.

Turn over to the book of Acts for just a second, and let's look at a phrase there that I think is very important. Acts chapter 12, and it will speak toward that aspect of it. This is the story, you remember, of Peter's imprisonment. They had just killed James, and the people were rejoicing in that, and so Herod then, after having killed James and seeing that it pleased the people, decided that he would also take Peter into custody, and planned on killing him and delivered him, verse 4 said, into the hands of the soldiers to keep him. He was chained to these 12 men and put into the prison, but the Scripture says in verse 5, "...but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him." Prayer was made without ceasing, number one. Of the Church, number two. Unto God, number three. For him, number four. We want to talk a little bit about praying specifically. Prayer was made for him. The effectual fervent prayer of righteous men, the Scripture says, does what? It avails much. We're going to talk about praying effectually. With all prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, the Scripture says, we're to let our requests be known unto God--supplication, specific praying. We're praying for a purpose, we're praying for results, we're praying in such a way that when it comes to pass we know that it was answered prayer and not circumstances. You see, a lot of our prayer lives are so generic we wouldn't know if God answered or not. "Bless him, Lord. Heal him, Lord." We need to begin to pray specifically. We need to pray with purpose. And so, as we begin to look at how prayer was going up for Peter here, it's important that we understand the process of praying effectually.

The thing that I want to start with, though, is to see here that prayer was made unto God. Now, let's talk about that just a little bit. Prayer was made unto God. You go, "Well, yeah, obviously." Well, maybe it's not that obvious, because I think that even some of us here in this room are guilty of not praying unto God; we're praying unto the circumstances. How many of us in our prayers are more taken up with the circumstances than we are with God? Our minds are occupied with the circumstances. "What will happen if God doesn't answer? What are going to be the consequences?" Look at the enemy who has us surrounded here and has us outnumbered. We admire their weaponry, we're taken up with the size of our opponent in the case of a Goliath, as all Israel sits upon the mountains in fear and Goliath mocks the living God. And we're intimidated by the enemy that's before us and we're taken up with our own reputations. We're taken up with the consequences of what will happen if God doesn't intervene in our lives. "If God doesn't answer this prayer I'm going bankrupt. If God doesn't answer this prayer, my loved one is dying. If God doesn't answer this prayer I think I'm going to lose my mind." I want to tell you what's going to cause us to be victorious in our prayer lives: when we're not taken up with the opponent, but like young David we're taken up with a life that's been built in the presence of God, singing psalms in the wilderness, worshiping God and realizing that greater is He that is in us than he that's in the world, Praise God. So where are we in our prayer lives? When we talk about praying unto God, and not praying by rote--now when I talk about this some of us would begin to think, "Well, yeah, the Catholics, those guys really have--they're really messed up, man. They're not praying to God, they're praying to a formula. And they're praying in vain repetition." We know that it doesn't avail anything. And they pull out their little beads and they start doing "our Fathers," and our mothers, and aunts and uncles, or whatever else they're doing. And they're praying to saints, and they're praying to all of these different idols that have been established, and we say, "It's vanity." And it's so obvious that it is. But the Scripture says to us that those who come to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. That He is what? Those that come to God must believe that He is. That He is what He's revealed Himself to be. He's the Great I Am. He's all in all. There are no other gods like Him. Those that come to God must be in fellowship with Him in His lordship. To be in fellowship with Him in His lordship. This is going to help you in praying effectually, Because prayer is not about the changing of your circumstances. We hear it said so many times, "Well, you know, prayer changes things." Prayer changes people. Prayer changes the pray-er, the petitioner. If prayer is practicing the presence of God, then it's not our speaking that changes anything, it's our awareness. Prayer is a vehicle used to bring our awareness to the will of God. I pray until I know the will of God. I pray until I'm aware of the presence of God and the purpose of God. I don't pray until the circumstances change, I pray until I'm aware of the presence of God. He will change the circumstances to effect His will.

Listen, this is going to help you. Many of us pray until we've got everything about the circumstances out that we know about. "Lord, heal this person. Lord, make him--oh, Jesus, tomorrow at 12:15, oh, Lord." And we think that once we've got all the information out about the circumstances we're done praying. You haven't prayed until you're aware of the presence of God. You haven't prayed until your will is subordinated to the will of God. You haven't prayed until He's all in all and you can stand up and say, "I thank God that when I pray Father, you hear me." It's relationship.

So, in this study that we're going to get into we see this little phrase here in the book of Acts, and it says that prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him unto God. The awareness of His Lordship. "Lord, teach us to pray." "Pray after this manner; Our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:9-10). This whole prayer starts out, and we haven't asked for anything yet. So, prayer always begins with what? Worship, the acknowledging of the majesty of God, the fatherhood of God, that God has an eternal agenda that you and I are to become a part of. God is not an external force to accomplish your agenda.

So, when we begin to realize that, it changes our prayer. We're not coming to try to affect our will; we're not coming to get our agenda through. You know, many of us wouldn't outwardly say this, and we almost look with disdain upon those who try this, but how common is it to view God as that great genie, the Santa Claus in the sky? How many of us pray like God is our servant and then we're angry when He doesn't do things the way we thought He would or said He should in our prayers? And then, when our prayers aren't answered according to the way we've intended, if in fact we don't blame God, then we blame the formula. We blame ourselves that our works were not sufficient, "Maybe I didn't shout loud enough," as the mocking from the prophet went to the false prophets. "Maybe you need to cry louder. You know what your problem is? You know why your prayer didn't get answered? You didn't cut yourself, if you'd cut yourself a little more. Maybe you need to suffer. Maybe, like the Catholics, we need to crawl on our knees up the steps and bleed. Maybe there needs to be some kind of a penance that we involve ourselves in." You say, "God called me out of Catholicism." Then why are you still into works? Why is it that somehow in your prayer life you think that your prayers are based upon your own merit, your own strength, your ability to pray, how long your pray, how much Scripture you can quote when you pray, how eloquent, the oratorical ability, doctrinally correct, historically correct? You want to pray effectively? "Our Father. Dad, there's no one like You and I believe not only do You know what is best for me, but I believe that You love me, and I believe that everything that is done is subordinate to eternal purposes. Hallowed, holy, worthy is Your name. Now, Lord, if it's possible let the cup pass from me; this hurts." If it's possible, David prays, then raise the child up. "Lord, if there's some way deliver us from the armies of Pharaoh and maybe we'll see the Shekinah glory hold the enemy at bay. And maybe we'll see the Red Sea open and we'll walk across on dry land, and possibly we'll step our foot into the Jordan River and it will pile up in a heap. And maybe we'll experience, 'come and step out of the boat and walk on water.' But my prayer doesn't have anything to do with measurable responses; the confidence of my prayer life is in this: Thy will be done. Nothing can thwart Your will. I'm not moved by what I see. I'm not moved by the changing of circumstances, I believe those that come to God must believe that He is, I believe that Your will is being done. My Father which art it heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy Kingdom come. I don't know what is best for the Kingdom. You do, You're the King. I have an opinion and I want the pain to leave my body. I have an opinion, I'd like to see the sea part, but I have an awareness that I don't know what is eternally best for me or everybody else involved, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven."

Are you praying unto God or are you praying unto the circumstances? Are you seeking the glory of God? Really? We say we are, but an effectual prayer life based upon the presence of God, practicing the presence of God, and there is no greater example, of course, than the Lord. Now let's learn a few things about the Lord and His prayer life. Wouldn't you love to be able to make the statement, "I know that when I pray God hears me?" Now we all know He hears us, but what Jesus is basically saying is this, "not only does He hear me, He's aware of my prayer, He responds to my petition. Everything that I desire of Him, because I pray according to His will, His word." If you ask anything according to My will, My word, My promises, He says, "I'll hear you." And so we see the statement of Jesus, and He makes these statements, and He says, "You know, Father, I'm just so thankful that when I pray you hear me and I'm saying these things, not for Your sake, not for My sake, but for those that are listening here so that they can understand what's taking place." And so many of us read the Scriptures, we see these as some examples, and so we like to grab hold of these promises and put them into effect, and so we say, "Well, bless God, same here. Man, I know that when I pray my Father hears me." Wait a minute! Where does that bold statement come from? Well, first of all, He's the Word of God, He's in communion with Father. He's the perfect Man. Yes, He is and because of that, because He understood the sovereignty of God, the power of God, He was an able man. He was able to go out and play golf, lay on the beach, stroll through the malls. He was about Father's business. He was ordained of God, sent for an eternal purpose. What do you think He did all night in prayer? Why would the expressed will of God, God made flesh, the lamb slain from before the foundations of the world, have to spend all night in prayer? If He prayed all night, what kind of preparation are you making? "Oh yeah, I'm just not praying enough, I'm going to up it, man. I'm going to start praying more." Now wait a minute. Why? Are you going to pray more to pray more? Is it works or is it unto God? Are you praying more because of what you can get from it or are you going to pray more because of who you're going to fellowship with, who you're going to commune with? Do you pray more because of the environment of the presence of God or because of the privileges?

We have the schedule for our prayer here. We come, many of us, every night for prayer. We come and we pray, and then designated for the congregation on Tuesdays and Thursday, and we come in for that designated time. It never ceases to amaze me, I mean, it never ceases to amaze me, it's a phenomenon. It's amazing to me how God can--with so many people that are here, He just stops speaking to all of us--not all of us, many of us, right at 7:30, and we leave. I mean, it's just--I say, "Lord, what? It's a miracle!" As I'm in prayer and people are walking over me going out through this door, and all of the rush to the--it's like at 7:30 the presence of God moves to the foyer. What is it that draws us there at 7:30? What is that phenomenon that causes that presence to move? What is that that at 7:30 He says, "Okay, I'm done?" If Jesus spent all night in the presence of God, and His motives, of course, were correct, then how is it you can cut it off at 7:30? If Jesus had to pray more earnestly when confronted with the cup that He was going to have to drink of, then why are so many of us satisfied with our normative prayer schedules and lives?

So, we'll begin to analyze as we study prayer again and the need in our lives to always pray and not to faint. "Men ought always to pray and not to faint." Don't cave in. That's not just speaking toward the importunity of prayer, where we pray and we're just going to hold on, hold onto the horns of the altar. "I will not turn You loose unless You bless me." The fainting doesn't have to do with just the importunity, the fainting has to do with a continuing in prayer even after the last time we prayed it didn't turn out the way we thought it was going to. And so you don't faint, you return to prayer because you're returning to the presence of God. And we pray, not just to alter the circumstances but to enhance our communion with God, the real treasure.

You see, what it's all about--prayer isn't just about changing the temporal circumstances. We enter in boldly because of what? The blood of Jesus. Prayer is the partaking of the privilege of the presence of God. It's a privilege! There's no higher privilege ever given to man than to access the presence of God. We can enter in boldly by the blood of Jesus, the Scripture says. It's not some kind of a big type of formal occasion it's just breathing His name; it's the awareness that He's here, it's the constant under our breath, "Thank You, Father, thank You, Father, Praise You, Father. Help me, Lord. Help me to honor You. Give me a word to speak, help me to understand what's taking place here. Do I stop for this yellow light?" It could save your life if you'll listen to that voice.

So, we're talking now about the presence of God, we're talking about what real prayer is. We're looking at the life of Jesus and we're understanding that in the prayer life of Jesus, You don't see Him asking God for a lot of things, you see His prayer life being a communion process because He said, "I did not come to do my will but the will of He that sent me. I didn't come to speak my words." And you know, that didn't just have to do with His preaching; it had to do with His praying. Do you spend as much time being aware of the will of God in your prayer life before you even begin to articulate whatever the petitions might be? As the supplicants, as we come to God, has it entered your mind that maybe you don't know the best? That maybe we don't know what to pray for, as we ought? But how many of us seem to--"I've got this, I know exactly what needs to happen here?" And in our thinking, in the natural mind, in the carnal mind, let me tell you what will happen every time you approach it this way. "I know exactly what's going to happen. It should happen this way, and it should happen quickly. I have places to go, I have people to see, things to do. God wants us blessed. I know that He wants to do a quick work here in my life." Maybe patience is something that is trying to be worked.

As we've sought God, we're seeking the Lord in prayer in this trial that we're involved in personally with Janet, and one of the things the Lord spoke to me yesterday as I was praying--the Lord spoke to me very clearly and He said, "As you're praying, it's not about the healing, it's about the Healer. Don't lose sight of what My will is for your life. My will for your life is for you to be aware that I am Jehovah Rapha. I'm present, I have healed you. The price has been paid, the work is finished the victory is done. Do you believe that I am, and that I am a rewarder of those that diligently seek Me?" And so in the time of prayer, and in seeking God, and the ministry aspect of ministering unto the Lord, it's very important that this becomes a part of our lives.

We've entitled this study, "Waiting Upon the Lord." Keep your finger here in Acts 12--we're going to come right back to it--and go over to the Isaiah passage. Last week was an interesting week for us. Thank those of you that were praying. It got to that place of being humorous, whatever this flu is or whatever it is that was going around, I was battling that in my body, flu, fever, nausea, migraine type headaches, body aches, and in the process, Janet's bowels ceased to function and I had to take her to emergency and was just too sick to pray for her healing. And as I load her up, and we're going down there for this sonogram they wanted to do to see if fluid was seeping into these different areas. I'd been taking the last number of--I guess the last month to prepare for this study on prayer and getting ready, preparing for it, and it gave me some good opportunity to meditate on these particular aspects of prayer, and the Lord began to allow me to see some of these principles that I want to share with you about His presence in the midst of times of trial and adversity when circumstances aren't changing as rapidly as you would like. As I was praying for Janet and just asking the Lord--the pain is phenomenal when your bowels shut off, there's just not quite a pain, they say, exactly like it. And she was in excruciating pain and I'm praying and asking the Lord to relieve her of the pain and in the midst of that thing I thought, "Lord, this would be a good time for just an instant miracle here, we could really use some quick intervention here, if You don't mind." And got none.

Things got worse instead of better as the week went on. And the Lord directed me here into Isaiah and verse 29 through 31, of course, the passages that we're all aware of: "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:29-31). Very interesting word that's used here--waiting upon the Lord. The word here, "wait", the word in the Hebrew is very interesting. It really talks about a binding together or an intertwining. It's really the same implication as being fitly joined in Ephesians. It's talking about the intertwining such as we have in a rope. Those that are intertwined with God shall renew their strength. Those that will allow God, in the midst of adversity--now remember when Isaiah was speaking here, and the Lord was speaking to them. They were in Babylonian captivity; there was no immediate sign of any relief. They were under bondage they were under the chastisement of God. And as you look at these circumstances in their lives and we look at the circumstances in our own lives; as I've prayed and I've asked Father why we are where we are at this time, the Lord just said, "You're under My chastening. You need some things changed in your life." And as I've sought Father and I've looked, and I thought, "what's ahead for us? If this is a chastening process then there must be something good ahead, Praise God. I'm excited to see what's going to happen when we come out of this thing refined like gold. I'm excited that there's more to be done that God has something ahead that's bigger than anything we were capable of dealing with in the condition that we were in. And God says, "I want to make you more like Me; I want to empty you of your own strength. I want to empty you of your own processes, your thought processes. I want to shake up the ease at which you've found yourself and realize that there is more to be done." And as I've seen that and been trying to be aware of what He's doing in our lives there's an excitement, and at the same time there's a desire to have the cup, if possible, taken from us. But the one thing that becomes very real is this: there's something that I'm doing in your life that's bigger than you understand.

And so in the process, in our prayers, the key, then, to this whole thing is to assume the same spirit that Jesus had, "Not my will; I'm looking for Your will to be done." The same heart process, of course, that an Abraham and a Job had to where we can say the Judge of all the earth does right. Abraham trying to hold God to justice, and it's Abraham that needed purified. Job, who was more interested in justifying himself instead of God, finally learned and said, "Though He slay me I'm going to serve Him."

In times of trial in our lives, when we pray are we praying unto God? Are we praying for the will of God? Are we praying for the manifest presence of God, or are we praying because of the mandate to pray? Men ought always to pray. Christians, pray. Psychologists would tell us that we're praying as a defense mechanism against adverse circumstances and it's a way of alleviating the pressures, and so we pray to have some type of an internal peace to be able to cope. We're not really expecting anything to happen, we're praying for self-preservation. Can I ask you something this morning? In verse 31, are you waiting upon the Lord? Is our prayer life something that's external, or does it have something to do internally with having been entwined, made one with the will of God and the purpose of God, and we've become aware of why we are where we are? You see, in Babylon to have prayed for God's immediate response and deliverance wouldn't have been praying the will of God. God had purposed how long they were going to be in captivity. They were there for their disobedience. They were there because of their idolatry. They were there for a greater purpose and an eternal purpose. So, let's back off for just a moment this morning and ask ourselves a question. Whatever it is that you're facing in your life. Are you praying to establish your agenda or are you waiting upon God? Have you spent time to find out, "Am I living a life separate from God's will, wanting Him to bless my agenda, or have I been entwined into the purpose? Do I know that my steps are being ordered of God? Do I understand what God is doing in my life at this moment?"

Now, we're going to go on in this example here in the book of Acts in just a moment, and we're going to have to ask ourselves a very important question. Was Peter released because of the prayer of faith of these who prayed? It's a valid question. It should teach us a lot about our lives. God is wanting to bring power to us in the midst of our weakness, verse 29 says. Prayer is for that purpose of empowering us when trials are overtaking us. Prayer empowers us when our understanding is limited as to the direction, the will, of God. We may not be being opposed by circumstances, but we don't know how to go out or to come in and so we pray and we seek God, and He gives us wisdom and understanding. It empowers us with an awareness of the will of God. Prayer is for the purpose of encountering His presence; it's practicing the presence of God. Prayer is, by faith, taking the bold access by the blood of Jesus and walking out of ourselves into the presence of God and saying, "This is for Your glory. I live, and move, and have my being for the purpose of glorifying You." He brings strength to us in our weariness. The youths, it says, will fail in their strength. All this is saying is that your natural strength will fail. However strong you were at your strongest is not sufficient; that's all He's saying here about the youth. Whatever you can do in your natural condition isn't going to be sufficient to finish this course. Men ought always to pray and what? Not to faint. You can't do it in your own strength; it's not going to be by natural resolve. Now they tell us that eagles live fairly long lives among the fowl, that there's a molting that takes place as they get older and there's a regeneration in their feathers, a reinvigorating. And so as this takes place, as there's this renewing, then, that takes place in their lives, they're strengthened again in their old age and in their weakness. And if that's the analogy that the prophet's drawing upon as the Spirit is leading him, then this 31st verse says it's going to take a waiting upon the Lord that will renew your strength.

Let me ask you a question, then. Are you spending time praying about the circumstances or are you spending time praying about being more entwined with God, as the utterance that came forth this morning said? Are you becoming more sensitive to His holiness and your vileness? What is your prayer time taken up with the temporal or the eternal? You see, when Jesus was praying all night, He wasn't praying about new houses and cars and job opportunities and investments. It's all about communion with the Father. Are you waiting upon God in your prayer life? Is your prayer life about being more entwined with our Father which art in heaven? Now, there's a time to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread;" but I would say that the majority of professed Christians are daily bread pray-ers rather than our Father. It's more about wants than worship.

And so, as the prophet speaks to us here He said as He renews your strength you'll not faint. Men ought always to pray and not to faint. Fainting becomes a big subject, then, as we're going to talk about prayer. Fainting, being overcome in the endurance process. Fainting in your mind, being double minded, and resorting back to natural means. Fainting, losing focus and going on to something new. "Well, I prayed about that, nothing happened, let me try this." How quick are you to give up on the will of God? How quick are you to give up on what God is trying to accomplish in our lives?

Well, something is taking place there in Jerusalem. Let's go back to the 12th chapter of Acts. There's persecution that's coming on the church. James dies. "Well, he should have prayed. If he had prayed he wouldn't have died. Well, maybe the church should have prayed. Well they didn't have time to pray, they got him and killed him before the prayer meeting could start." Some people would tell us that's the way prayer works. "Man, I mean unless we're actively involved in this thing, unless there's a twenty-four hour prayer chain going on..." Nothing wrong with that--those are some things that are in the spirit of it. Very, very vital that we're always to pray. The most continuous prayer chain I'm aware of is the one that Cho and they started over there. Goodness, I don't know how long that's been going on now, thirty-five, forty years--twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week praying. But it's not the mechanics. It's not just the actual articulation of the promises. What I want you to see here, what I want you to understand, is how prayer works in relationship to the sovereignty of God. Nobody could kill James whether he or they were praying or not if God didn't allow it. "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done" is the spirit that we're to pray after. Men ought always to pray. We pray because we're commanded to pray. We pray because of the privilege of accessing God and trying to find out what God is doing. Prayer is more about finding out what God is doing than changing what God is doing. Prayer will not change God's will; prayer will change your perspective. "Well, God changed. I mean, Moses prayed and God repented." You'd better get a better understanding of that. God's repenting doesn't mean God changed. Moses changed, and God was able to effect His justice in another way. God always looks for our good first from the eternal, secondly from the temporal. When God changes, it's based upon man's repentance and God able to now redirect His righteousness, His justice, as it pertains to lives that are involved.

And so, in the sovereignty of God we find that James now killed, Peter now in prison, and prayer is made without ceasing of the church, unto God, for Him. The next morning he's supposed to be executed. The church is praying, Peter is sleeping. Verse 6, look at it. Well, don't you think this would have been a time that Peter should have been up all night? I want you to learn something from this beloved. The crisis is not the time to be up all night. If you haven't already been up all night, it's probably not going to make any difference. It doesn't have to do with a merit system; it has to do with the effect on our lives from a habitual exercising the presence of God. Find time to get away. Now don't fall into the works thing. I'm not talking about the fact that you necessarily have to spend "x" number of days in the year up all night, but it's obvious that we have to find time to get apart with God, and it's obvious that there's to be prolonged times apart with God. And that prolonged time can be at one time or it can be over a period of time. But I want to tell you something you need to increase the amount of time you're spending with God. Just quiet, hearing what God is saying, fellowshipping, communing. And you need to ask yourself, "Is there that appetite?" And when you're given that opportunity, like on a Tuesday or a Thursday--isn't it interesting how--it's 7:30, man, the switch is thrown and we're down the road. You know, I could understand it if a lot of you were stampeding home to eat. At least it would be a good flesh justification. But it seems to be just hanging out, which tells me you'd rather hang out with folks than God, given that opportunity. Don't misapply what I'm saying. I'm just asking you to search your hearts. I'm asking you what example we're giving to our children. You say, "Well I don't do that. Those are my kids that are leaving. I stay for another three and a half minutes." Well, what are we teaching our kids? "We're going to prayer. Sit there, pray, 7:30, yeah, go party." What are we teaching when we're putting together a rote time? You might as well give them a rosary. Let's bring them into formalized praying. "Well hey man, we're not rote praying our fathers. What was it you said? Okay, 12 our father's, 7 Hail Mary's." Is it going to be a limitation by how many "our fathers" we pray, or is it going to be a limitation by what time the clock strikes 7:30? Same thing.

And so, we look at this passage in Acts, and we'll finish with this for this morning. Peter is sleeping, folks are praying. And we know the story. Then the angel comes and smites him on the side and says, "Gird yourself and put on your sandals." He rises up, and the chains fall off, and he thinks maybe he's having a dream or a vision, or something is going on, and then he realizes that this is the Spirit of God, and he's following the angel and the gate opens of it's own accord, the Scripture tells us. And he finds himself out on the street [verse 10] and the angel departs from him. "And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath sent His angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod..." (Acts 12:11). And when he considered what was going on he said, "I'm going to go down to the prayer meeting." See, this wasn't just a special called prayer meeting. It was their life to pray. "He came to Mary's house, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark, and where many were gathered praying..." (Acts 12:12). And this is the part I think is pretty interesting. Mary is there, and Rhoda (Morganstern), Mary and Rhoda. And the Scripture says that when Peter knocks, Rhoda comes. And when she knew Peter's voice she got so pumped that she runs--she doesn't let him in--she runs back and tells them Peter's at the gate, and they rejoice that God had answered their prayers. "Praise God, man! We've been praying with all prayer and supplication, 'Lord deliver him.'" Somebody had just been praying there, "Lord send your angel to smite him on the side and let him rise up and his chains fall off, Praise God, and the prison door open before him. And draw him to this place, let him know that we're here praying for him. Holy Spirit of God, as the Lord is speaking to us here, we believe that Father is directing you now." They said, "You're mad." Well, so much for the prayer of faith. Some commentators would tell us that the only one that had any faith in the whole joint was Rhoda. I don't necessarily accept that. It doesn't seem that she was aware of it until she had heard his voice. She happened to answer the door. There are some pretty big hitters in here. Could have been that Barnabas and Saul were praying. "You're mad." "...But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, it is his angel [It's a spirit.] (Acts 12:15)." So they're in there debating theology and Peter's still knocking. "And when they had opened the door and saw him they were [What? Did you ever have God do stuff that astonishes you?] astonished" (Acts 12:16). I want to tell you something: God will answer beyond your faith. God will answer beyond your awareness. God will astound you if you'll pray.

I don't know that they were praying the most effectively, but they were praying. I don't know how much faith they had, but I do know that you can pray "help my unbelief." I don't know that some of them hadn't sinned that day and maybe were in the process of repenting. There were people praying that didn't feel like it. There were people praying that didn't feel worthy to pray. There were people that were praying and they were fearful that they were going to be the next ones incarcerated. There were people in there that were praying, and they were praying for one reason, and that's because everybody else was praying and they didn't want to seem unspiritual. And some people would tell us, "Yeah, but at least one person in there prayed the prayer of faith and touched God, and that's why Peter was delivered." No, somebody had already touched God. "Peter, Satan desires to sift you, but I've prayed for you." I want you to understand something. He that ever lives to make intercession is praying for you this morning. And you say, "Well praise God, if He's praying I don't need to." You ought always to pray and not to faint. But it's not about the circumstances, it's not about your ability, it's not about your worth, it's about "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Praying to allow us to embrace the will of God

Father, we thank You for Your word this morning, and we ask that You would strengthen us, cause us to understand the need to be intertwined with Your glory and Your presence. As we wait upon the Lord, as we're entwined in Your presence, as Your will is unfolded before us, and we become aware of Your eternal purposes and we embrace them and say, "Not my will, Thy will be done." James dies, Peter lives, the Judge of all the earth does right. As we wait upon the Lord, You renew our strength. Cause us to mount up on eagles' wings, renewed strength based upon the pursuit of Your presence. Not our worthiness, not our methods, but Your presence, the source of our strength, the source of our joy. Prayer was made unto God, for him. "We're praying for him, Lord, but we're seeking Your face, and Your will. You've already made some proclamations concerning him, Lord. You said that he was to feed your lambs, that he would be a feeder of your sheep. The enemy has raised up against him a mighty foe, but You said You'd never leave us nor forsake us, and greater is He that's in us than he that's in the world." Can Herod's opposition negate the feeding of God's sheep? No, the will of God will be done. Put yourself in prayer in remembrance of the promises of God. Remember who you are and what God has called you to do, and rejoice in the greater one, that men would see the works and glorify our Father. We ask it, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Let's stand before the Lord. Hallelujah! Father, we delight ourselves in You. We will seek You early, Lord, and we will seek You often, because men ought always to pray and not to faint. As privileged supplicants we come, because of the blood of Jesus. We come because You've commanded us. We come because You've made provision for us. We come because we have a need, Father. We need Your strength, we need Your wisdom, but most of all we need You. We need to know that we're intertwined and one with you. We need the awareness of our acceptance in the beloved. We hunger to be instruments used to implement the will of God. We long to be free from the vaunting of ourselves and self-exaltation and submit to being placed in the body as it best glorifies You. We long to be married for Your glory, we long to be single for Your glory. We long to be healed for Your glory, we long to be faithful in our sickness for Your glory.

Natural man's eyes were opened and he hid from the presence of God. A lack of prayer is hiding from the presence of God. A lack of prayer, the walking in darkness of natural wisdom and strength; but to the man that has been renewed, the man that has accepted the covering of God, he runs into His presence because there isn't life or peace anywhere else. Success has nothing to do with the natural, the temporal. It has nothing to do with our accomplishments, with our physical prowess. But success is embracing the presence of God. As we prepare to sing this and we ask God to increase our appetites for Himself, it has to be His spirit. No man seeks after God. There's no natural desire for Him whatsoever. That which is in you that's hungering this morning is the fruit of the Spirit of God, it's the evidence of the lordship of Jesus Christ. You've tasted and you've seen the goodness of God, and nothing else can satisfy you.

Let's sing this this morning and just worship Him. He's worthy of praise. "In your presence...." Thank You, Jesus, thank You. We wait upon You, Lord. Sing it one more time. We delight in You, Lord. We thank You for the joy that You've given us in Your presence. We love You, Jesus. We love You, Lord. Just rejoice in His blood this morning. Rejoice in the presence of God and the provision, the access, that's been given to us. Prayer is knowing that access. Hallelujah! Before you go, turn to somebody and say, "Wait on the Lord." Amen. Go in peace, God's love go with you.

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