Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Wait on the Lord Pt.2

Prayer is about the intimacy that we have with Father. As we're studying and realizing what prayer is all about (practicing the presence of God), what we're really looking to do is to be able to spend that time like John the apostle, to where we can lay upon the Lord's bosom and come into that communion. It's not just coming to a knowledge of the will of God, but coming into a participation with the heart of God. You see, you can know the will and not have the character to effect the will. We can study and know what the revealed will of God is: the Bible. But until we spend that time in intimacy, we're never going to be able to have the supernatural gifts flow through us. We're going to be hindered by the limitations of our own understanding. Much learning does something. It makes you mad, the Scripture says; it can make you mad. The insanity is the dependence upon your knowledge. That's what the insanity is that's being spoken of there. It doesn't mean when you get smart, you get insane! The insanity is just the same as the foolishness. The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." The madman is the one who thinks that his wisdom is above the wisdom of God, or his comprehension of God is the limitation of God. God is far bigger than you can understand. God is far bigger than He's revealed Himself in His Word. That which is in the Word of God, that which He has revealed of Himself, was sufficient for redemption; but God is bigger than this. So, it's important for us to realize that what we need is relationship and not knowledge. This will help us in our prayers, because many of us seem to think that we need a greater understanding of the circumstances. "I need to know a little more about these circumstances so that I can pray effectively." Most of the time, we're just looking for more information to worry about, or more information so that we can look to another source. We need to (like Mary) learn the better part, and come and sit at the feet of Jesus.

In John's gospel, the 15th chapter, we read these words. "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you" (verse 7). The abiding factor: they that wait upon the Lord. If we are entwined, enmeshed with the heart of God, abiding in Him and His words abiding in us, then we can ask what we will, and it'll be done unto us; because what we ask, of course, is the will of God. We've touched His heart. We already know what God is desiring to do, and we're rejoicing in that, and worshiping Him in the midst of that revelation that He's giving of Himself. So, it's important for us to understand that perspective of coming into the presence of God, realizing His desire to confirm His Word with signs following.

Now how do we pray effectively? How do we know the will of God? Thank God it's not just based upon some type of an external impulse or intuitive knowing! But we have the revelation of the Word of God, the more sure Word of prophecy. As you spend that time of intimacy with Father in prayer, His Word will begin to become real to you. This is what we've talked about in the past concerning the rhema and logos application of the Word of God. Logos is the Word of God; Jesus is the logos, the living Word. The Bible is the logos and becomes rhema to us as it's expressed, as it's inspired, as it becomes personal, and as it becomes something that is contemporary and applicable in every one of our lives, as God speaks a word to us and says, "At this moment, this is how I'm going to express My will in these circumstances." We rejoice in that, and God watches over His Word, the Scripture says, and He performs it. So, we pray the Word of God because faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the rhema of God. We've shared with you that the word "hearing," as it's used in that passage of Scripture (Romans 10:17), talks about "an audience with God." The Word becomes dynamic. The Word becomes powerful and effectual in our prayer life when it's revealed to us--not in times of study, but in times of fellowship. It's when we have that audience with God, and in the midst of our prayer or in the midst of the opposition, the peace of God just comes over us as God has spoken. We have an audience with Him, and He says, "Here's what I'm going to do at this particular moment in your life. Here's what I want you to do." Many times in prayer, we don't know immediately what the end of this thing is going to be. God's going to ask us to do some interesting things at times.

We're all very familiar with the intervention of God and the deliverance of the children of Israel when Moses raised the rod and the Red Sea divided. How about the battle plan of God at Jericho? God spoke and told them to march around the city and just to remain silent. Then finally, after they had marched around the city seven times, God said, "Now I want you to shout." They began to shout praises to God and to declare His majesty. You notice He didn't say at that time, "What I want you to do is this: I want you to march around the city, and I want each of you to choose a brick and rebuke it!" It's not dependent upon you; God is the source, the cause. The very dynamic power that you and I are trying to tap into is the person of God--not the promises, but the person.

That's what we're wanting to look at as we're talking about the "abiding" or the "intertwining." I'm having trouble communicating this somewhat, but so many of us have begun to trust in prayer and not in God, or in. promises and not in God. In the chapter that we looked at this morning (Acts 12), prayer was made unto God. Prayer wasn't made just as a source of the solution. It's one of the vehicles, but it's not the source. God is the source.

So, as we go on into this study the first thing we want to do is reexamine our own personal relationship with our Father which art in Heaven. How much time are you spending with Him? I had someone come to me after service this morning and they said, "You know, the Lord's been convicting me along these lines." You get ready to go camping, or you're going to drive to Tennessee, or whatever it is, and you spend ten hours on the road. Can you spend ten hours in prayer? When you go camping, you can stay up all night to get ready to go. Can you stay up all night in prayer? You're fellowshipping and playing games, or you're practicing one of your skits, and you go until one or two in the morning. Can you do that in prayer?

So we begin to examine our own hearts as it pertains to the most important aspect of prayer, and that's the relationship aspect. And yet, many of us are relying on the technique and not the relationship. Many of us are relying on our own ability to pray and (as I mentioned this morning) we seem to think that if we pray harder or we study more--that's not where faith comes from. Faith that moves mountains comes from relationship, intimacy, an audience with God. It comes from the simple awareness that you can enter boldly into the presence of God because of the blood of Jesus. "I have a right to be here. I have been summoned to always pray and not to faint. I have been promised that if I abide in Him, and His words abide in me, I can ask what I will and it will be done."

And so, it begins with understanding God's desire to establish His will in His kingdom on the earth. Prayer will never be effectual if it is ever endorsing anything outside the kingdom of God or the purposes of God. You can pray all you want; God will not be a part of your selfish praying, of your prideful praying. Some of us pray selfishly--whenever we get in trouble, the enemy is attacking us, we're sick, or whatever. Sometimes the source is selfishness: we just want to have life easier; we'd like things to be a little less obtrusive in these circumstances. Sometimes it's prideful praying: we want God to bless us; we want God to endorse all of our activities; we want Him to exalt us in the midst of our enemies and in the midst of our contemporaries, so we ask the Lord to bless us. The Scripture speaks toward just the opposite, doesn't it? It says, "Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth" (1 Corinthians 10:24). The greatest in our midst is the servant of all. How much time do you spend praying for your brothers and sisters to be exalted above you? "Man, that never entered my mind! Oh, I want them blessed; I just want to be blessed more. Now don't misunderstand. I want them blessed. I'm not selfish, and I'm not prideful; but you know, life's about me!" Jesus came to bear the torment, the punishment, the justice of God, and to pray for our exaltation at His cost. There's a spirit that not many of us are aware of in our lives. Why could He do that? Because He was here to do the will of the Father.

So when we begin to pray, all I'm saying is this: once you touch the heart of God, you'll be surprised how it changes your prayer life. You'll realize that it has to do with eternal and not temporal as the main source of what you're attacking, what it is you're trying to become a part of, and God establishing His will upon the earth. He's made promises, but so many of us have misapplied the promises of God. Hopefully, we can come back to the original purpose of prayer. It's found, of course, in the Lord's Prayer: to establish His kingdom on the earth, and to cause His name to be hallowed--not only in our midst, but as we represent Him in the world.

So let's look at a couple of passages here and see if we can lay this foundation. I think it will be helpful for us. It's something that God has spoken through His Word that we need to grab hold of.

2 Chronicles 7:14--the American prayer. "If my people, which are called by my name ..." It's amazing how many Christians are looking for God to make a better America. I don't think there's any example I can use that would probably be easier for us to understand than this misapplication of the promises of God. The people who do this seem to be well meaning. We're looking for a more moral climate. We're hoping to have in our midst an establishing of justice. We'd like a liberty that would allow us to proclaim the gospel. So, we go to the Word of God and find a Scripture to base our prayers upon, and this one seems to be good. Looks like a pretty good Scripture to me. "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal [America]."

Well, is that what this promise is all about? Let's find out. First of all, we'll go back through this promise that so many people are using. But let's not limit it to this one. As we're going through this study, let's find out if there are some other passages that maybe you've pulled out of the Word of God and are using to establish your agenda, not understanding the bigger picture of what God's doing in His kingdom.

First of all, the land that's being spoken of here is a land that has to do with a covenant. It has to do with a covenant people. "If My people..." The American application of this is that somehow God is involved in politics, that somehow God is involved in earthly kingdoms. They've missed the point that the "land" God is speaking of is the land of covenant, a people that are called by His name. Now first of all, we have to apply this to the covenant that was cut with the nation of Israel. We realize that they are the apple of God's eye. But you read into Romans, and you see that not all Israel is going to be saved. So, it's not just made to a people in general who happen to have some physical bloodline hooked into Abraham; because not all of them that have been born of Abraham (Ishmael) are going to know the promises of God. And so, it's not natural Israel; it's spiritual Israel. It becomes the Israel of God, and not "seeds" as of many, but "seed" as of one, even Christ. All of the promises have to do, then, with establishing the kingdom and the covenant of God. Not all the Jews can claim the promises. Not all the Jews (natural) can expect the intervention of God and the miraculous deliverance of God, but only those who are of the seed (Christ). God, in His sovereignty, manipulated the natural to bring about the spiritual. He preserved a natural people to bring about a spiritual seed. He did it in His own sovereignty, and He did it because of the glory and the proclamation of His Word.

So we have to understand when we pray what this is all about. Can we take the verse in 2 Chronicles, then, and apply it to our lives as Christians in America? Yes. But we can't pray it generically for a geographical locale called "the United States of America." The proper application of this would be this way: My people (the redeemed, blood-bought, born-again Christians) can get their land (the kingdom of God, everything that we've put our hand to, every place that we've put our feet) healed; but the rest is under the curse and the judgment. One man can't repent for a nation. You can only repent for your land. This applies to you as an individual. You can get your land healed while everybody else around you is cursed, because it's based upon your own intimate relationship. So when we pray, we pray with a different perspective than the natural mind does.

Now look at the process here. He's talking to those who were under the natural covenant, and the same thing is applicable to you and me as we're going about our lives, seeing the kingdom established, having effectual prayer to get our land healed--not America, but 50214 Triple Seven Road--that's my land. [Pastor sings] This land is my land; this land is your land, from Triple Seven to Loews Island! There's a faith statement; some people just lost their property! God's wanting to bless us in the midst of adversity, and He's going to bless us as individuals. But it's not an unconditional promise.

In 2 Chronicles, God said, "What I'm requiring of you now, in the midst of these circumstances that you find yourself in, is to see the need to turn from your wicked ways." When God was addressing His people, and He talked about their wickedness, what did this usually have to do with? It had to do with their worldly involvement. We just got through with a study on that. If your prayer life is going to be effectual, you've got to repent of your wickedness. What is your wickedness as it relates to pure praying? It's depending upon your own abilities. It's depending upon the natural. It's looking to the arm of the flesh. It's looking to science. It's looking to your own ingenuity. It's looking to your own worth. It's looking to trying to somehow arrive at a justice. "This doesn't seem right, God. I mean, after all, we're doing all we can do to serve You; therefore, there ought to be some benefits. We shouldn't have to suffer like the rest of the world." All of this is wickedness in the eyes of God--when you're looking to get Him to answer to you, to justify His will in your life.

He says, "If you're going to see Me heal your land, you need to turn from your wickedness. You need to begin to turn from that double mindedness which causes you to be unstable--praying one minute, trying to con somebody the next. I want you to become single minded. I want you to realize that if I'm for you, nobody can be against you. I want you to turn from your wickedness. And in the process, I want you to seek My face. Seek Me early; seek Me while I may be found." What does that mean? It means He can't always be found; He's not always going to strive with men. Today is the day of our salvation. When you seek Him with all of your heart, the Scripture says, then you'll find Him. Do you think we can really be seeking Him with all of our heart when we have a plan "B"?

Now, don't misapply what I'm saying here about plan "B". We've talked about it time and time again. Plan "A": trust and reliance on God. We find a Scripture: "And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated" (Deuteronomy 34:7). We're believing God for our healing. So, some people (and we've seen it) take their glasses, and they throw them away, and they stomp them on the ground, saying, "I'm only going to trust in God!" Then as they're trusting God, they go out into the parking lot and run into your car on the way out. And now, Mr. Magoo is on the loose, believing God! Well, the fact of the matter is: you can believe God with your glasses on; but it's what you're really believing. The fact is that many of us lie to ourselves. We don't have the integrity to say, "Lord I believe; help my unbelief." We don't have enough belief to say we don't have enough belief. Have you matured to the place where you can say, "Lord help my unbelief?" Do you have an intimate enough relationship with Him to where now it no longer depends on your ability to believe, but it depends upon God's promises, His integrity, His love for you, and His relationship with you? So many are still bound in their prayer life to works and self-righteousness. So many of us are still bound by a legal relationship and not an effectual one, one that's really working, that has to do with our access, knowing "God talks to me, and I talk to Him." It's personal. It's not facts; it's not e-mails. It's face-to-face intimacy with God.

He said, "I want you to do something. If you're going to experience My promises, I want you to seek My face. I want you to come in and see My face. I want to be intimate with you. I want you to be able to look into My eyes, and see My heart, and know the love that I have for you."

Everything in our society is moving toward an impersonal existence. Everybody's sitting in their own little cubicles sending e-mails. God's not interested in just getting messages to us. He wants to touch us. He wants to embrace us. He wants us to feel His heart.

And so He says, "Seek My face. This can only be accomplished when you humble yourself." Now the method, of course, is the preceding word: "pray." Let's go through it in the sequence that we read it here: humble, pray, seek, turn. Prayer starts with humility. "Lord, I don't know how to go out or to come in." Prayer starts with, "Lord, we put this whole army together but it looks like we're outgunned. We don't know what to do; our eyes are upon You; we're in need. This thing is beyond anything that we're prepared for or anything that we can produce. If You don't come through, we perish. Our eyes are upon You." The humility aspect of prayer is so important, because it's an emptying ourselves of all self-reliance, which comes to the place of what true, pure faith really is. If you'll look at the word "faith," you'll see that it just means "trust or reliance." But what's the object of your trust and reliance?

We've made fun of Kenneth Copeland's statement about "object." "Object!? I don't know what you mean by object." To him, faith is a power in and of itself--something that you can build up and produce by your knowledge of the Word of God, by your awareness of legal contracts. Therefore, you can hold the Almighty to His contract, and He is contractually obligated to do what He said He would do, that you're reiterating and saying He must do because He promised it. In the process of approaching Father that way and approaching faith that way, we've limited God. We've limited Him to our understanding of His contractual obligations. How many of you know that God is sharper than any of the lawyers in existence today, and that He has not locked Himself into anything that would let man dictate to Him? He will not be dictated to. And not only will He not allow it, but He's offended when you would think somehow He's not seeking your good or what is just and right from the eternal perspective. So, those that want to hold God contractually obligated are assuming that somehow He lacks character and wants to get out from under His obligations. That's not the Father that I'm serving. God and His Word are one; but I want to tell you something: you don't know the Word of God until you know God. The Word is spirit and truth.

So, humility is being able to come and have absolute trust and reliance--not only in Gods ability, but in Gods intent. Of course He's omnipotent. He can do anything that needs to be done. He can cast mountains into the sea. He can divide the Red Sea. He can raise the dead. This is no problem with God. The problem we have is understanding what's best for us at this moment. What's His eternal perspective? Don't limit what God is wanting to do in your life by your own perception. Humble yourself and pray. Humble prayer is praying what we know, but just as Jesus did in the greatest example, we pray what we know and then, "If it's possible let this cup pass; but nevertheless, [say it with me] not my will but Thy will be done." Jesus is showing us that as man (He was the God-man: 100 percent God, 100 percent man), you will not be able to comprehend the Incarnation any more than you can comprehend the Trinity. It doesn't need to be comprehended; it needs to be apprehended. It is a declared fact, and I accept that without understanding it; because being able to comprehend it limits God to my intellectual ability, and we'd all be in trouble if that's all there is to our God.

So, what He's saying to us here is, "I want you to humble yourself. I want you to stop relying on the ways of the world, your own righteousness, your own strength; and I want you to pray." The word "pray" just means "to supplicate," It means to commune and, in this supplication, present the circumstances. In a spirit of humility, we present the circumstances, and then we declare His lordship and our desire to be instruments in effecting His will. We say, "Father, not my will, but Your will be done. Here are the circumstances, and I'm seeking You to be glorified in the midst of this. What is the best for the kingdom of God? Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven." Can you say that's the heart that you pray in, really? I know we say the words. We pray, "You know, Lord, I'm not looking for my will here. I want Your will to be done my way. Lord, I somehow want Your Word to be effected in these parameters, in this time frame, in this way." Can you say that your prayers are based upon true humility? Is it a prayer life that has to do with a wholehearted seeking of the glory of God?

The problem is that when you and I go in to pray, the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, and these two are contrary. How many of you realize that when you go into your prayer closet your flesh doesn't stay outside? That's that foul odor that's in there! You've been wondering what that is when you lock yourself up in that room, and there's that foul odor. You thought it was your tennis shoes! Take off your shoes; you're on holy ground. The flesh is ugly! How many of you can say that at least one time in your life, (we'll take a show of hands on this one, but we'll try not to expose too much) while you were praying, you caught yourself trying to manipulate God? One hundred percent. That's ugly, man! Did it finally dawn on you when you were doing it? And not only were you embarrassed, but did the stupidity of it register? "I'm just about to get this one over on Mr. Omniscience!" Who do you think it took longest to figure out what was going on? And the fact of the matter is: that's our tendency when we pray. We want things our way. The flesh wants things its way; it wants it easy; it wants it now.

You're flesh isn't crucified just because you decided to pray. That's why we need to wait upon the Lord--and I'm not talking about duration. As we pray, we need to get enmeshed with God. We need to take some time and think, "Okay now; I need to reckon myself dead indeed unto sin. As I'm coming into the presence of God here, boldly through the blood of Jesus, I have to realize what's going on now. And as I'm accessing the presence of God, I've got to realize that all of these tendencies are still in there; and in the process, I need to be washed by the water of the Word. I need to humble myself before I pray. I've got to come in here and lay it all out on the line. I've got to come in here and say, "Lord, here's the circumstances, and the fact of the matter is: I'm not prayed up. I would like to have been able to fast before I came, but I didn't. Now, last week I would like to have prayed more; but You see, here's what happened on Tuesday; and here's what happened on Wednesday night; and here's what happened on Thursday. And I would like to have prayed more." And we begin then to try to justify. There's no need for any of that. Come in boldly by the blood of Jesus, and humble yourself and say, "Here I am, the mess!" (No pretence) And if I had to make an evaluation of myself, Father, I'd say I don't have any right to be here. I have no right to be here in the presence of a holy God. I'm here because of the blood of Jesus." You don't have to be articulating any of this. I'm talking about coming to grips with coming into the presence of God and humbling ourselves. In prayer, probably more than at any other time, we should be aware of our need for the mercy and grace of God, and not what's just and what I deserve. How many of you are glad that God doesn't answer prayer based upon what you deserve, what you earned that week through your performances? Stop and think about it. None of us who ever lived could earn even access, much less any benefits. So, in humbling ourselves in prayer, we come to God because we're needy. We come to God because we're not able. We come to God because of our absolute dependence on His sustaining us.

Why am I even here? For His glory, the whole duty of man. So, what we need to make number one on our prayer agenda is this: the whole duty of man. What's the whole duty of man? To fear God and keep His commandments. How much time do you spend praying, "Lord, help me to love You more"? "I just want to love You more. I'm here asking You to help me to love You more; because frankly, Lord, I think I love me more than I love You. No, I know I love me more than I love You." Have you come to grips with that yet? How many of you know that you love yourself more than you love God? Let me see your hands. Every one of us. "Not me! I love God more than myself." Well, that's not you; that's the spirit in you. In me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. Now, there are two "you's" aren't there? But you (natural man) love you. And when natural man prays, he's going to pray about you and you pray for your good. He's going to perceive God as the Santa Clause or the genie in the sky. He's going to want to hold God contractually obligated. "You will meet my need; You are obligated." How dare anyone approach his Father that way when He willfully became flesh and died for us! He was made sin with our sin that we might be made righteous with His righteousness. And then we're worried that He's going to hold out on us somewhere down the line? I'd say the deal's already been done.

Humble yourselves. Realize when you go to prayer that most likely you're approaching this thing from a perverted perspective. Until you do what? Somewhere in this--and I don't know where it is. I don't know if it's when you walk in the back door, when you kneel down, after you've been praying five minutes; maybe it was on the way coming to prayer. But somewhere, the transition of humility has to take place to where when we're accessing the presence of God, we understand "In me there's no good thing." For me to pray effectually is going to require an absolute awareness of absenting myself from everything that's in the natural and tapping into the heart and mind of God. Once I know and can see from that perspective, I'll be able to abide in Him, and His words will abide in me. Now I can ask what I will, and it will be done unto me. Until you come to that transition, you're not going to be able to pray effectively.

"...ye have not, because ye ask not..." and when you ask, you ask amiss, desiring to consume it upon your own lust," James (4:2-3) says. Many of us find ourselves in that James situation. We don't ask. We're not asking God; we're not seeking God. "I've got this thing under control. Oops! Now I've got a problem. It seems to be bigger than me. Now I'm going to ask for something that's according to my own lusts. I haven't had God involved in the rest of the day. I didn't have God involved in whether or not I should eat that fourth quart of Haagen Dazs. I didn't seek Him about that; I can handle that. I didn't ask Him about whether I should leave an hour early and charge them for a full day. I didn't really need God on that one." You ask not about the things you should be talking to God about; and then when you do come, it's to effect your own lusts.

In the epistle of James, as he's speaking along those lines, he gives us some more insight about humility. For us to pray effectively, we've got to realize that one of the most important things we can do is get our own will out of the way. We've got to humble ourselves. We've got to wait upon the Lord, and then our strength will be renewed. The spirit man will begin to rise up. Now I can pray spiritually and the spirit will lust against the flesh so that it cannot do the things that it would do. You see, whichever one you prepare is the one that's going to be dominant in that conflict.

Let's end with this for this evening. Jeremiah speaks to us in this classic passage in chapter 29, verse 13. "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." It's interesting. It says, "You shall seek Me, and you shall find Me, when you search with all of your heart." "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matthew 7:7); "Seek Me early," the Lord says in Proverbs 8:17. Jeremiah gives us a little bit of insight here. When are we really seeking God? You're not seeking God until you're seeking Him with your whole heart. You see, many of us think we're seeking God when we begin to pray. "I'm really seeking God!" No; you're approaching God; but you're seeking Him when you're seeking His will. You're seeking Him when you're seeking His heart and His purpose. It's not just in the petitioning. It's not just in acquiring access into His presence. It's the subordinating to His purposes, doing all that's necessary in humbling ourselves, and quieting ourselves, and dying to ourselves. That's the seeking. Have you ever died to yourself in supplication, in seeking the purpose of God, just to find yourself resurrected the next hour? The same fears are there, and the same worries are there, and the same doubts are there, and the same lusts are there. And then you have to reckon him dead again, and crucify him again, and die again--that importunity of the knocking process, that aspect of a continual dying, of pulling down the strongholds and all of those things that try to destroy the seed of God in our hearts.

When Jeremiah speaks, he says, "It's when you search for Me with all of your heart that the true seeking process has occurred. And when that's occurred, you will find Me. You'll find Me faithful. I'll never leave you nor forsake you; I'm always there."

As we go on in our study, we'll find that even before we speak, He hears us. God's not dependent on your being able to articulate it. God's not going to be late because you didn't speak it in time. Before we speak, He hears us. All prayer that is effectual is birthed in God. His word doesn't return void, but it accomplishes that whereunto He sent it. There is no effectual prayer that doesn't originate in God. He sends the words to you to speak that will effect His purposes. Listen clearly: you will never be the origin; you are not the source; you are not the object. God is effecting His will. Without Him, we can do nothing. Every prayer that's effectual is uttered as a rhema having been dropped in your heart, initiated by God, His Words abiding in you; and you can ask what you will, and it's done. You're asking because He has initiated it.

When you're seeking with all of your heart, and you're humbling yourself, you become aware of that. So, we're looking to manipulate God. We're coming to find out, "Father what is it that You're wanting to do in these circumstances?" And it's difficult, because everything in us is wanting to dictate toward that. We already have an understanding of what we think should be done. This process of seeking God with all of our hearts, or with a humbled heart, is so vital.

Now turn to Psalm 145 for just a second, and we want to look at that in relationship to Jeremiah's proclamation. "The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. The Lord preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy. My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever" (verses 15-21).

When you seek Him with all of your heart, you find Him, when you realize that it's about His holiness, when you realize the great promise that He is nigh unto them that call upon Him in truth--not just the truth of John 17 ("...thy word is truth"). His Word is truth; but God and His word being one, I seek the truth of His lordship. I seek the truth of my absolute dependence. I seek Him based upon the truth of an imputed righteousness. I seek Him in fear, in humility, and believe (verse 19) that He will fulfill my desire. What is my desire? To be healed? To prosper? What is my desire? To love Him and to keep His commandments--that's my whole duty. The fear of the Lord keeps us from putting anything up and prioritizing anything temporal in prayer above the eternal. We approach Him first, based upon the eternal purposes for which we exist, our whole duty. And when we seek His kingdom, all of these other things are added unto us. We can never pray for daily bread without having prayed first for the establishing of His Kingdom.

Father, we ask that You'd make that real in our lives and cause us today to approach You from the eternal perspective. As we take these moments to fellowship at the table (the recognition of the finished work, the broken body, and the shed blood), we're humbled by the access that You've given us through the privilege of prayer. Help us to never see prayer separate from communion, the partaking of your life. For in reality, our entrance into the Holy of Holies is the fruit of what we recognize here tonight: the finished work, an imputed righteousness, children who can access the presence of a holy God. And for that, Father, we just say, "Thank You." We stand in awe of You. Never let there be a commonness. Never allow us to come into Your presence in prayer assuming we know, but purposing to find out what You would do in our lives. A prideful boasting of what You will do is not the spirit that's been placed within us, but a rejoicing in what You now enable us to do through death to self and a humbling of ourselves that You might be exalted. Your strength is perfected in our weakness, and we ask that You be glorified, in Jesus' name.

As the brethren come and you stand before the Lord tonight, we're going to just take a few moments and rejoice in His presence. The broken body and the shed blood. The Scripture makes it very clear that as often as we partake of these things, it's in remembrance of the finished work. There's no way that we can hold these emblems in our hands and then be fearful that something else still has to be done. It's finished. The victory's been won. We're free of our sins. We're free from the dominion of Satan. We're children of God. We have a right to His eternal promises, and every promise of God is yea and amen. That's our joy tonight. As Gary plays and we're served tonight, just hold the emblems, and we'll partake together as we celebrate the victory that's been won in Jesus' name.

Just take a moment now and fellowship in His presence. Thank Him for the work that's been done in your life. Thank Him for the privilege of accessing the very throne of God. Humble yourself as you acknowledge your misapplication of prayer, and repent of seeking privilege instead of presence. Humble yourself and ask Him to forgive you for trying to make Him the servant. He doesn't answer to us; He owes us nothing. We owe Him. What is it you think God owes you? "He owes me to prosper me. He said in His Word He's going to prosper me, and it hasn't happened." What does God owe you? Do you think He's a debtor because visible prosperity has not manifested? You think God's a debtor to you because the pain hasn't left your body yet? The price has been paid. He is Jehovah Rapha. He is Jehovah Jireh. He is Jehovah Tsid-Kenu. He is the Lord our righteousness. He is just. All of His ways are right. He is good, praise God! We owe Him worship. We owe Him to humble ourselves and say, "Lord, I don't understand it all. It doesn't seem to be the way I thought it would be; but I know this: You do what's right, praise God! You've done me good all the days of my life, and in due season there is reaping if we don't faint, praise God! So my boast is in You, Lord."

So as we come, Father, and we take these emblems in our hands, it becomes one of the most humbling times that we ever face in this flesh, in this life. We take into our hands the body and the blood of Jesus.

Now what are you going to do? We raise them in remembrance of the victory that's been won. As you partake of these emblems tonight, the subject of prayer is answered, because the victory's been won. All that God has promised has been fulfilled in Jesus; and so, all the promises will be acquired in your communion with Him--fulfilled possibly in this life, and definitely in the kingdom.

We declare that victory in Jesus' name. With thanksgiving and assurance, we acknowledge You as the only source of life. And with thanksgiving, we partake of this broken body, declaring the victory won, in Jesus' name. Amen. [Let's eat the bread together.] And with thanksgiving and acknowledging the inability to express our love, we take this cup and this blood, and all we can say is, "Thank You," in Jesus' name. Amen. [Let's partake together.]

Hallelujah! Rejoice in what He's accomplished in our lives tonight! Take a moment and rejoice in the victory that's been won. Delight yourself in the knowledge of God as He reveals Himself to you. Hallelujah! We celebrate, Lord! We celebrate Your pursuit of us. We didn't pursue You; You pursued us. No man seeks God. You've filled us with Your Spirit and He leads us into truth. We don't know how to pray, but the Spirit prays with groanings which cannot be uttered. The Spirit prays the will of God. Prayer in the Spirit never focuses on the self-life, but on the glory of God. Spirit-led praying always hallows Father's name, always embraces the glory of the kingdom and seeks first that righteousness. It then deals with daily bread, and sanctification, and the solicitation of the victorious life, as You lead us not into temptation, but You deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

Before you go, turn to someone next to you and say, "Seek the kingdom first." Go in peace, and God's love go with you.

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