Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Wait on the Lord Pt.3

Hallelujah! Amen. Well, now that the basketball season has officially ended, the real players are coming out this Friday night. We encourage everybody to come for the fellowship of the alumni game, as about 40 old people suit up to play, both the guys and the girls. It will be a good time of fellowship, and we encourage you to come and be a part of that. The names, the teams, will be listed after the service. There will be no complaining. I divided them up. We weren't going to let anybody load any teams up, so we've divided them as fair as possible and tried to preserve the life of the elderly. It should be a good time of fellowship together so come and enjoy that.

Let's see--game teams posted. Oh, let me share--got a good letter from Africa. A number of good reports that are going on. The church in Nairobi is continuing to grow. It looks like we've just about filled up all of the chairs in Nairobi. Between the adults and children now, I think we're somewhere between 60 and 70 people that are fellowshipping with us there now. Praise God for that. We do have, of course, the brother in Eldoret that's wanting to be a part of us--in fact, is a part. We just haven't officially recognized him. He's pursuing us. He was at the--paid his own way and made it to Nairobi to meet with Charles and Ron and Tony there. It's exciting to see what's happening there, so for all intents and purposes, we have a church in Eldoret that's going good. A good man that God's using there and then the church in Kakamega, so a number of exciting things that are taking place. I'll read one of the letters on Sunday from the guys that will bless you. Just continue to hold them up in prayer. A lot that is going on.

Charles responding here (Pastor reading from a letter), said that he's returned to Kakamega tired from the trip, blessed from the ministry that he had received from Ron and Tony. Said he came back "tired but relieved, strengthened and encouraged in the Lord. On Sunday, the Lord moved me to challenge the flock with faithfulness. I intend to continue teaching on this, trusting the Lord to move and touch lives and build His church of the faithful, the elect, the remnant. Express my greatest gratitude to the Apostle and all of the brothers and sisters in United States for their sacrifices toward our children in discipleship training." We sent them an offering sufficient to meet their needs at this time, so thank God for your faithful giving. We're trying to wisely balance out sending them what they need but requiring them to give all they can. They're so used to being a people taken care of, but this fellowship is different--a people that are doing it on their own and believing God, and thank God for our privilege of being able to assist them.

He goes on, and he says, "We've already embarked on the work of constructing extension for the classroom. The members of the church are doing the work. It's a blessing to see the spirit of unity and fellowship among the brethren. You can see the excitement and the gratitude on the faces of the children and the parents for your offerings. I'll keep you updated on the timing of God because the rains have just now started. There was an extremely heavy downpour on Sunday which drove the children to evacuate their shade." You remember the covering that they have out there, which is pretty good for most of the year. He says it drove them out of that area, "so they joined us in the p.m. service. As I'm writing this e-mail, the men are now putting up walls on that area to protect the children's church from the heavy rains that are coming here during the rainy season. We thank God for His timely provision through you all. May God richly bless you. I'll endeavor by God's grace to be faithful ambassador of Christ and representing the Apostle's vision. Continue to pray for me and help me to fulfill God's role in this noble task. Your servant, brother, Pastor Charles." Praise God. A great work that's going on there, and definitely feels like part of the family. We're excited about that. Continue to pray.

The circumstances with the land--it's very interesting--all of this that was going through, because of everybody who knew somebody, without a hitch. There has been a little hitch, and a number of people have been thrown into jail. It hasn't been Ron or Tony. We praise God for that. John, the young man who is assisting us with the music--it was very interesting to see how God opens doors. He was in a predicament--needed work permits. He was on the verge of having to leave the country, and to see what God has done. Here we are, as Americans, going down and getting a gentleman from the Congo registered in Kenya. God has done a great work. We were able to get his work permit, and things are going well for him to stay in the country--and just many things that are going on. Continue to pray; it's not without conflict.

As I told you--I believe I told you that there was almost a riot the other day in front of the mosque when Tony was preaching. Did I pass that on, or did I not? I thought I did. I won't be held responsible for remembering anything at this juncture. That was an exciting time, and those testimonies--if you weren't here, ask somebody about it--good testimony, praise God.

Let's turn to Matthew, chapter 26. We want to continue with our study. Thank God for your prayers. Janet's here tonight in the conference room. We're thankful for that. Her counts are very low at this time, so we're trying to be wise and keep her away from all you people that are hacking. We needed to keep her away from me; that wasn't possible. Thank God for your prayers. She is doing much better, praise God. We thank God for that.

Matthew 26--let's take a look down here at verse 36 following, of course, Peter's declaration that no matter what took place, he would never forsake the Lord. I'll die with You, he says in verse 35--I'll die with You; I will not deny You. And all of the other disciples said, Amen. You know, this is how we see ourselves. The interesting thing is this. They're making a declaration right here that they'll die with the Lord, and in a few verses, we'll see they can't even stay awake and pray for an hour. Where are we in knowing our own hearts and preparing ourselves to watch and pray that we don't enter into temptation?

Here's a man that said he was going to die, didn't know his own heart, and was not making significant preparation for what was at hand--when the Lord said, Men ought always to pray and not to faint. Jesus told them how to prepare for that hour, but instead of preparing, he was just boasting in his commitment and in his relationship. He saw himself sufficiently prepared when he should have been praying without ceasing--not understanding the hour that was facing him, not understanding what was going to come in the next 24 hours.

The fact of the matter is, we don't know what the next 24 hours is going to bring either, do we? Are you ready? "Yes, I'm ready; praise God. I'll die with Him, and I will not deny Him." "Likewise also said all the disciples," (verse 35). Then we come in, and we see that it tells us that "[Jesus came] with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder" (verse 36). The one thing that's interesting about Gethsemane--it wasn't just a Gethsemane for Jesus; it was a Gethsemane for the rest of them. Not to the magnitude that it was for Jesus, but it was time of trial. It was a time of exposing hearts and purposes that were eternal. Every one of us experiences Gethsemanes in our lives--different times when we're confronted with the reality of the condition of our heart, the magnitude of the purposes of God.

He tells them, "Sit here (verse 36), while I go and pray." We see the prayer life of Jesus. We understand, as you look at His life, the great times that He spent in prayer, all night in the Father's presence. We talked about that. You can see different significant times when Jesus prayed in His life. Just before choosing the twelve disciples, we find Jesus spending a significant amount of time in prayer. The Bible--we know that He prayed always. We know that He was always aware of the presence of God. We know that He said, "I didn't come to do My will, but the will of He that sent Me." That's a prayer life. I didn't come to speak My words but the words of He that sent Me. That's a prayer life. That's the fruit of a man that practices the presence of God.

Jesus prayed always. He was always aware of the Father's presence, and He knew that when He spoke, Father heard Him--perfect prayer life. Yet a man who had the perfect walk--I'm not talking about the Son of God here; I'm talking about the Son of Man (the perfect man). We're not talking about deity. We're talking about a perfect man--not God--a perfect man who had a perfect prayer life (practicing the presence of God, always aware of the presence of God), aware of the will of God, aware of the significance of everything He did, and yet He found it necessary at different times to pray specifically.

Hear the magnitude of what I'm saying. He practiced the conscious awareness of God at all times, and yet saw it necessary to spend times in prayer. He prayed always but needed to get away to pray. He needed to set apart times of prayer. At significant moments, then, He became more active and more diligent in His pursuit of God. And you and I need to do the same thing.

So you'll study His life, and you'll find out that before He chose the 12 disciples, He got apart and He began to pray. (God, what do You want Me to do? Who am I supposed to choose? Lead Me into the paths of these men.) He wasn't just relying on God bringing about His sovereign purposes. He sought God for the wisdom of who to choose. He sought God for the opportunity. (In essence, He said, Lord, move upon the lives of men. Bring them into my path. As the Apostle said, Lord, open up doors of utterance for me.) When you think you know the will of God, shouldn't you pray like Jesus did, even though you think you know what God's going to do? Even when you know what God's going to do? (God's going to send Me out. God wants Me to choose 12 men to ordain for ministry, so I'm just going to--God will do it.) You need to pray. You need to get apart and hear from God. You need to seal the moment with respect for the communion with God and the renewing of your awareness of your purpose and God's intent in whatever the incidents might be.

So He prays at the choosing of the disciples. Do you remember the time that they came to make Him king? He's moving in miraculous power. His popularity is on the rise. People are amazed at the visitation of God and the anointing upon Him, so they come and they want to make Him a king. He withdraws Himself from them, and at the time of His greatest success, at the time of His greatest popularity, what is it that He found it necessary to do? The perfect prayer--the man who was walking in the Spirit and never once in His life fulfilled the lust of the flesh (never once yielded to the flesh), and yet the draw of humanity and the draw of the world and the desire to lift Him up and tell Him how great He was and how successful He was, did what? It drove Him away to specific prayer. In the life of Jesus, you see one of the most important times--He prayed always, but the Bible takes the effort to tell us that at that time of greatest success, He found it necessary to do what? Pray more.

How are you doing right now? Things going well? You prospering more than you've ever prospered? Do you feel like you're doing pretty good spiritually? Things going along real good? I'd encourage you to pray more. I'd encourage you to realize this is the time to pray. Did you just cast out a few devils? Have you led a hundred people to the Lord this week? Did you walk on water? It may have been a frozen pond, but you walked on water, and you're feeling pretty good about yourself this week. That's the time to pray. The time to pray is when you're making those statements, "I'll die with You; I'll never forsake You. Don't worry about that; we've got this thing together. I'm doing pretty good right now." It's time to pray. So you see the significant times in the life of Jesus: the choosing of the disciples; the time when He was so popular, and they were wanting to make Him king.

You know when He went apart to pray? He went apart to pray at the time of the transfiguration when the glory of Himself was really made known and the purpose of God, and they saw who He was, the Messiah. He realized that the time was coming near. At that time, He was driven apart again to spend time with the Father.

I want to tell you something. Hear this very clearly. Jesus prayed--Jesus prayed with greater diligence at those times. You want to know why? Because though His--listen to me--though His flesh was sinless, it still had to be disciplined because it had not the nature, but the propensity for sin. If He then had to pray more at those times, with the propensity, how much do we need to pray, with the nature? If Jesus had to guard against His flesh, though it be perfect, what do we need to do? It's very important for us to understand, as you watch the life of Jesus, that there were times when He prayed more earnestly. Do you? Or is your prayer life just kind of generic? "I pray the same all the time. I'm just praying. I believe God. I believe that if you walk in the Spirit, you can just kind of quote the Word, and you believe. You just pray in faith. You confess and you say whatever you need to say in this prayer, and God will do it."

If Jesus needed to pray more earnestly, you need to pray more earnestly. If Jesus was aware of needing to many times intensify His prayer life because of these significant events, then I want you to understand something. There's significant events that you and I are going to face that we better be ready to put more time in prayer in. So don't be satisfied with where your prayer life is, and don't be deceived into thinking that your prayer life can remain on a constant plane. There's times when it's going to require more hours of prayer than other times in your life? Are you ready to make that kind of a commitment? Is that part of your lifestyle?

Then, of course, we find the fourth great and significant revelation of Jesus' prayer life is this time here in Gethsemane. So go over and study the prayer life of Jesus, and look at these four specific, significant occurrences in His life when He prayed more earnestly. Then ask yourself, Do I see that as a part and a need in my life? The praying more earnestly, then, is not just when the trials and the pressures are on you like they were in Gethsemane, but at the times of ease and popularity, at the times of significant decisions. All of these things require a diligent prayer life that brings us into the effectual fervent praying that God requires.

So with that in mind, we see that this isn't an isolated incident here in Gethsemane. It's a lifestyle. Jesus prayed more earnestly, and He prayed with great diligence based upon the need that He was facing. So He brings them into Gethsemane, and this is their Gethsemane also, not just His. Sit here, and I'm going to go and pray. "And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me" (Matthew 26:37-38).

I see another very significant thing right here. It's kind of interesting. He told the disciples, Hang out here; I'm going to pray. But look what He did. Then He took three guys with Him! I don't know about you--I want to be part of the three. I don't want to be the guys, Just go ahead and sit yonder. Are you satisfied with just sitting, or do you want to come into the fray? Do you want to come into the war? Do you want to watch with Jesus? Do you want to be someone that He, by His Spirit, will call you to prayer in the time of battle? Let me ask you a question tonight. Are you a warrior or a watcher? Where are you in your pursuit of God?

If you're satisfied with just the periphery, then that's fine, but I want you to understand something. If you're going to be part of the inner circle, you're going to pray. If you're going to be part of the elite, you're going to pray. There's going to be war. You're going to become one of the objects of satanic warfare. Satan will desire to sift you, but the good news is, praise God, the Lord is praying for us. Amen?

So it's exciting in this war that's going on, and the Lord is calling us into that. He tells the one group, Just sit here. He didn't even tell them to pray--Sit here; I'm going to pray. You sit; I'm going to pray. Here, why don't you guys--here's a video game. I'm going over here to pray--you guys come with Me. Now, we have three different groups. We've got the video group (the sitters). We've got the three guys that are brought this far. We've got Jesus going over here, and He's praying. He's under the warfare of this thing and the burden of it, and He turns to these guys. He doesn't go back to those guys (the sitters). He turns to these guys, and He says, I need some help, guys. I need you to intercede and to pray with Me; My heart is heavy. It's exceedingly heavy, man. Can you not watch with Me? Now, these guys are here in between and they're going (sleeping), and they hear these guys over here go beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep (sitters playing their video games), and Jesus is over here groaning in the Spirit. Which camp are you going to join? I'm exceedingly sorrowful to death. Watch with Me. We know the story, and, tragically, they weren't able to. The good news is, after Pentecost they were.

Have you been Spirit-filled? A number of you recently were Spirit-filled, talking in tongues. Big deal, you talked in tongues. Has it changed your prayer life? If that was the Holy Spirit that filled you, you're going to pray more. There's going to be a desire for the presence of God. There's going to be a hunger for the will of God and the knowledge of God in our lives as we're Spirit-filled believers.

So He's asking them to watch with Him. Then ". . . he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep . . ." (Matthew 26: 39-40). Now, if Peter was asleep, these other guys were probably in a coma. The three big wheels, the big-time guys, the spiritual dudes, the greatest among us, are asleep.

Jesus said, When I come, am I going to find faith on the earth? When Jesus comes, is He going to find us watching or asleep? He said, Don't let that day come upon you unawares. "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation." Can I tell you something? If you're not praying more, you're going to be asleep. This world will rock you to sleep. These circumstances will put you to sleep. The draw of humanism and hedonism will cause your spirit to atrophy. The lazier you get, the more you want to sleep. The less you work, the easier life is on you, the less energy you have. So we realize, then, that as God is speaking to us here, and He's saying, Look, here's My admonition to you. Watch with Me--watch with Me! And He finds them asleep. He comes, and He asks this question, verse 40. Can't you hear the heart of the Master at this time? He finds them asleep, and He says to Peter, "What, could ye not watch with me one hour?"

We get ourselves into trouble many times. One hour--so we think there's something magic about praying one hour. Just like people think there's something magic about fasting 40 days. You don't need to fast 40 days, and one hour is not some type of spiritual milestone. What He's basically saying here is, Why couldn't you do what was necessary for the moment? It was lacking in you to pray sufficiently.

We talked about it the other night. We're talking about the 7:30 hour on Tuesday nights and on Thursday nights, and at 7:30, the exodus that goes out. [Pastor is referring to the congregational corporate prayer time for prayer list needs.] We were just talking--in a way it's strange how the glory cloud moves to the foyer at 7:30. People asked some logistical things--"Well, you know, on Tuesdays and Thursdays during prayer, we have people that are watching the kids, and we have some of these different things." I was sharing with them that I understand all of the logistics, and I understand that's part of the process. I know that we bring little children, sometimes, in here. We don't want to in any way discourage our children and take your little ones and make them sit there, and they've got to sit still for an hour or 90 minutes. They're going to begin to resent being here, and that's not what we're saying to do.

We're saying be aware enough of what the Holy Spirit is doing that you don't become so programmed and bound by a schedule that you can't hear from God and pray sufficiently at the time that you need to pray. There's times when your flesh needs to be disciplined enough and your children's flesh needs to be disciplined enough that you can turn to them--and it's not going to be every time--but you turn to them and say, "God is doing something. The Lord is speaking to me. I need to hear from the Lord. You need to be quiet, and you need to sit here"--for another 30 minutes or 15 or whatever it might be, and cause them to be aware that this is to bring honor to God. The purpose is to encounter the presence of God, because I want to tell you something--and this is what we're going to talk about tonight. You haven't prayed until you've encountered God. You haven't prayed until you've encountered God. You have not prayed until you've prayed sufficiently to receive the purpose of God impressed upon your spirit.

We need to pray with this kind of an attitude at all times, and I'll comment on that. Jacob--I will not turn You loose until You've blessed me! Now, sadly, so many people in the church today have taken that into such a carnal approach that they think, "Bless, God! As soon as I see something that I really want, bless God, (like that new house), I'm going to hang onto God, and I will not turn You loose until You have fulfilled my lust!" That's not what that Scripture says. The blessing of God was the exact opposite of that. The blessing that Jacob got was a name change, from "selfish, deceitful, manipulative" to "a prince with God"--from Jacob to Israel.

Don't leave prayer until your name changes. Don't leave prayer until you stop--you come in here as a Jacob, and you need to leave as an Israel. You come in here influenced by the world (selfish, deceitful, a liar, warring the flesh), and you need to leave a prince with God. Until you can, you haven't prayed sufficiently. God is calling us to encounter Him. I want to tell you something. When you get a hold of God, or I should say He gets a hold of you, you will not leave the same! You will not leave His presence a supplanter (a Jacob). But when you come in just to put the time in so that you can run and do whatever the project is--"We've got to get out of here at 7:30; the movie starts 7:35"--why bother! Just go get some popcorn. Don't even stop here! Go directly, nonstop, to the movies; get in line; get some popcorn; and pray you don't choke on a Mike and Ike--because you don't sandwich the anointing, the revelation of God, in between your playtime!

When you come, and God chooses to speak to you--has it happened once? Has it even happened once? For some of you it has. But the question--has it even happened once? Have you come in for prayer and dinner is on the table, and you tell your wife, "I'm not coming home; I'm staying here till . . . God's doing something in my heart." "I'm not coming home to eat." "I'm not going to play basketball." "I'm not going to go to the movies." "I'm not--I need to be in the presence of God!" "Yeah. You know, that did happen once." It shouldn't just happen once in your life. So we realize, then, what prayer is all about.

Jesus is saying, Could you not watch one hour with me? Is your flesh so dominant that the time that I draw on you for My Kingdom, for the glory of the Kingdom . . . I wonder what would have happened if they had done this right. I wonder if Peter had prayed, if he had watched, if we'd find him with his head dropped as those eyes turned and looked at him as the cock crew again and Jesus' gaze upon him pierced his heart, and he realized that he had forsaken the Lord and denied him. Wonder what it would have been like to have had Jesus look at him at that time and the look be different, and Peter able to catch His eyes and hear the unspoken words of the gaze of Jesus that said, I appreciate you holding Me up in My hour of need. Thank you for watching with Me in Gethsemane. Thank you for your intercession that helps Me go to the cross, praise God.

Tragically, that's not what we're of, is it? But things change at Pentecost. Has Pentecost influenced you that way? Has there been a change? Have you been able now to deny the flesh? Have you been able to pray and watch that hour? That's what Pentecost is supposed to be about: to empower you to pray. Romans says we don't know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit prays through us with groanings which cannot be uttered--prays according to the will of God.

So we find Peter here being admonished by the Lord: You couldn't watch with me one hour? Now, I'm telling you something. Though you couldn't pray for Me, you better watch and pray for yourself because things are going to get rough. "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matthew 26:41). The spirit is willing; the flesh is weak.

The flesh--we've said it so many times--the flesh never gets better! It's not going to be easier to pray 20 years from now than it is right now. When I say easier, I'm referencing that to the flesh's desire to oppose your prayer life. Yes, easier in that as you mature, as your spirit man is fed, as you begin to grow in and walk in the Spirit and become spiritually-minded where you don't fulfill the lust of the flesh, there is a greater dominance and control over the flesh. The point that I'm making is this. The appetite of the flesh never goes away. You never get better in the flesh. Your flesh never comes to prayer without being dragged. There's no good in you! The flesh doesn't seek God! It has no appetite for God! It will oppose you every day of your life!

You need to be aware of that and make a decision that "I'm going to watch and pray." The more you pray, the more your spirit man is edified, the more your spiritual-mindedness sets its intent upon the things of God, it becomes a part of your life, a habit; and the prayer, then, is brought along much more consistently. But you give it one opportunity, just give it one opportunity--you can be victorious a hundred times and give it one opportunity, and it'll take you the wrong direction. It's just lying there waiting for an opportunity to mock God, to oppose the will of God, to kill you. Watch and pray, for the spirit is willing; the flesh is incapable. It has no spiritual strength. It does not seek the mind or the purposes of God.

So all I'm saying is this: Don't look for some kind of natural, "Oh, praise God!" It's from within. Your flesh wants to go play. It wants to feed its face. It wants to lie on the cot or do whatever it is, and you're going to have to crucify it daily. You're going to have to haul it into prayer. Once you get it in there, it's going to try to tell you the dinner's burning, you've got work to do, you've got a project at the job or whatever else, and you need to crucify it.

You need to realize that at that time, to entertain any of those carnal things is blasphemy, and it minimizes the blood of Jesus that causes us to enter into His presence with boldness! Here's the blood of Jesus to access you to the presence of God--you come in through the blood of Jesus--and you worry about that stupid project at work. How dare you. That's the attitude you ought to have. When you kneel down and that comes in your mind, you ought to turn over there to that flesh and say, "How dare you! Who do you think you are? Die in the name of Jesus!"

That's part of the warfare of prayer because the spirit is willing, but the what? Flesh is weak. It's always going to be there. Those thoughts have to be pulled down. That's why we've shared with you some of the practical things to do in prayer. Bring your notebook with you, and when all of those things come--you've got to go to the store, you've got to get some milk and bread (write down milk and bread), you've got to water the dog, got to do whatever it is (write it down). Finally, finally--and the mind's going to try to get you all distracted, all these things--just say, "I want to tell you something, flesh. The longer you got this list on me, the longer we're staying here. You keep bothering me with this list--as soon as we finish this list, I'm going to get down to some serious praying. Now, do you want to get home by 9:00 or 10:00?"

The flesh gets quiet because it was really looking forward to that sofa, and now it realizes it can't distract you. I'm not going to say, "Okay. We took 25 minutes on the list and five minutes in prayer." I'm going to watch for an hour. "Now, I'm staying here for an hour; I'm going to pray for an hour. I'm going to seek God, and if He begins to speak to me and there's other things, we may be here longer. How do you want to do this, flesh?" Now, don't do this audibly because we'll probably haul you off, but I'm talking about being aware of the warfare that goes on when we come into the presence of God. It doesn't change. It never gets easier. It's not easier because you're in the ministry. You come into pray. You're in full-time ministry. You kneel down, "I wonder if this project is going to be $400,000 or $500,000. I wonder, Is the county going to hassle us on these site plans that we're having to do. I wonder what this . . ." It doesn't get any different; it's no different. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Now, watch. He went away a second time and prayed, and He said, "O my Father, [if it's possible, but] if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done" (Matthew 26:42). Prayer is never finished until you've resigned yourself to the will of God. You know what it is, and you've resigned yourself to it. Now, you're ready to go. I don't know exactly how it's going to come to pass, but what I do know is this: I'm at peace with God's wisdom in my life. I'm at peace with His intentions. I don't know all of the details. I don't know how it's going to happen, but what I do know is God is for me; nobody can be against me. What I do know at this time is: I have absolutely subordinated my will to the will of God, and whatever happens, the name of the Lord be praised. Now, you're ready to go.

"And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy. And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words [thy will be done]" (Matthew 26:43-44). Came back again, and they were asleep. Woke them up from their sleep, said, Watch. The hour is on us, guys; you need to watch. He woke them up, and said, You need to watch. Be aware. Watch and pray. Couldn't you watch with Me one hour? He brings them reproof; He gives them instructions, and they fall back asleep.

Wonder why? I think it's probably because after His first admonition they didn't change anything. See, He woke them up. They were sleeping. They're back here. He's leaning up against a rock, and he's sleeping (Pastor sits down on a chair and stretches out like he is sleeping). Jesus wakes him up. (Pastor yawns and stretches as if he is waking up.) "You couldn't watch with Me one hour?" "Yeah, I was resting my eyes (Pastor acts like he is still drowsy with sleep)." "Watch and pray." (Pastor stretches out again and acts like he is going back to sleep.)

He should have changed things. Maybe they should have gotten up and started walking. Maybe the other brothers should have assisted him (James and John) and said, "We need to get up. We need to do something, man. Slap me around here; keep me awake. One of us needs to be the slapper." What are you doing to help your brothers and sisters finish this course? What are we doing? You can't do the same thing and succeed! I'm sure that's exactly what happened. They just sat there like they were. Nothing changed, and you got the same results.

So here we are; and He comes back, and He says, Just sleep on. That 45^th verse just amazes me. He finds them asleep. He goes back and prays some more. He comes back to His disciples and says unto them, "Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going . . ." (Matthew 26:45-46). He just told them to sleep on, and He woke them up and says, We're leaving. Sleep on; we're leaving. The sleep must be a spiritual thing. It must be a heart slumber. It must be an attitude. Sleep on; get up! We're going--but your opportunity is over; the course has now been set. I've been betrayed; you're going to deny me. Watch and pray.

So here we are with that admonition in our lives. Luke 18, as we saw Sunday morning, ". . . men ought always to pray, and not to faint" the 1^st verse says. Men ought always to pray and not to faint. 1 Thessalonians 5:17, "Pray without ceasing." It's that spirit. You see, that "sleep on" is different than "pray without ceasing." That admonition, "Just sleep on," is different than "men ought always to pray." Ephesians 6:18, "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit . . ." So what I'm asking tonight is, Do you have the heart for prayer? Or do you pray because we've set a schedule? Do you have a heart for prayer?

I was reading some of the stories, different incidents in prayer, and some great things. A great revival here in America in the mid-1800s broke out. It pretty much started in New York with two guys. I think one of them was a janitor at a church, and I can't remember the other guy. They decided they needed to get together and pray. As they began to pray, and then, finally, the prayer meeting really went downhill from two to one. The man just continued to pray, and then the other guy got caught back up and started praying with him again. Then the Spirit of God began to move, and at that particular time, the stories tell us that all throughout the whole of New York City and then finally into Philadelphia, prayer groups began to break out. Prayer was not something that--in the 1800s, people just didn't pray. They went to church on Sunday morning. They sat there. They went through all the liturgies, and they went home. That was it. Christianity was not a daily part of their lives. All of a sudden, people began to pray, and God began to be a 7-day-a-week, 24-hour-a-day awareness because prayer is practicing the presence of God. All of a sudden through Philadelphia, prayer groups began to break out, and all across America into the far West in the 1850s prayer meetings began to break out; and a revival came to this nation in the Great Awakening because a couple of guys decided to pray.

The great Welsh Revival with Evan Roberts--a hundred thousand saved in a year over there, and it all started out with two people who decided to pray. The prince of preachers, Charles Haddon Spurgeon in London--the thing that made that church great, the most significant church of its day, thousands and thousands would flock to hear the preaching of the Word of God. I so longed to go and look at that tabernacle as we were in London, and I found it years ago. The thing that made prayer a success, and it went on every day that man pastored that church: there were those right beneath the platform--it would be hard here because we've only got about 18 inches or whatever--but people would gather under where the preacher was preaching (Spurgeon) and they stood under there. During every service there were people praying just for that service that God would speak through the Word of God to the people's hearts, and revival broke out in London.

There's story after story that we can hear of the power of prayer, of introducing God into our presence, of coming together expecting a visitation of God. But it's through hearts of prayer; it's through an awareness of God's desire to visit us. It's not enough to come and hear about God; we've got to encounter Him. We've got to be touched. The coal needs to come from the altars and touch our lips and circumcise our hearts, but it can't happen if we don't come prayed up.

That's why the prayer 30 minutes before service--why do we do that? It's to give us all a structured time to come in and settle our hearts to pursue the presence of God. That's what it's all about. It's a structured time, but the purpose is for us to enter into His presence. We don't want to hear that word, Sleep on. We want to pray without ceasing. We want to be one of those that always prays and doesn't faint. We need to become those, as we're going to look at on Sunday, who can pray the prayer of faith, who can pray effectually and fervently because of our righteousness. You see, prayer, successful prayer, has to do with your standing with God, because His ears are not open to the sinner. Our standing with God in Jesus Christ--not our works, our standing, our righteousness, our legal relationship, and our universal need. You know all prayer is? Prayer is God's provision for our neediness. We're a people in need. We need Him. Without Him, we can do nothing. We're a needy people. We are a people bound by the power of sin, separated from a holy God, in need of a savior.

Thank God those of us who have experienced the grace of God have encountered that Savior. We've been regenerated. We now have hearts and minds that are renewed. We now have an appetite for the presence of God. Our spirit is willing, but our flesh is still weak. What's dominating your life? Which group are you in? The nine, the three? Why don't we start a new group to be found with Jesus? I want to be found praying with Jesus. He's given me a right, now. You see, they didn't have the right then to go pray with Jesus, but we have a right now to enter into His presence through His holy blood. Are we taking that privilege? How high of a privilege do we count it to come into His presence?

Father, we thank You for the Word of God. We just ask that in this time of warfare that we would be aware of the hour that's upon us, and that we would watch and pray that we would not enter into temptation--that we would be aware. Our natural tendency is to think we're doing okay. Lord, I'll die with You--and you can't even pray one hour? I want to tell you one thing, man. When the spirit of antichrist rises and that spirit that's coming that's going to cause men to accept the mark of the beast, when all that persecution comes where men are going to be beheaded--and I believe that the Rapture is going to take place prior to that, but the spirit of it, the oppression, the persecution, all of those things are going to precede that--and you think you're going to stand, and you can't even come and pray! You can't even discipline your flesh enough to watch one hour! You're lying to yourself.

So as we're looking at our heart, we're saying, How much of an influence does the flesh have on me? What is the world doing? How is it affecting my life? You need to get before the presence of God with the Word of God, and let the mirror of James be held very close and look; and don't forget what manner of man we really are. Watch and pray--not out of fear, out of privilege. Watch and pray--not out of an admonition and a commandment, but an opportunity to embrace your living, loving Father. An opportunity to look on His face, to encounter His embrace, to be infused with power to finish the race. That's what it's all about. I've been reenergized to subordinate my will to "Thy will be done." I came a supplanter; I leave a prince with God.

Let's stand before the Lord tonight. What a privilege. What an opportunity to come and be changed, praise God. Washed by the renewing of the water of the Word of God. Washed as we encounter the Spirit of God and we have fellowship with Him and His blood cleanses us from all of our sin. As you come into His presence and we commune with that shekinah glory and we're changed--and we're changed into princes with God.

I pray how long? An hour, two hours, ten hours, five minutes? Until I'm a prince with God. I pray until the flesh is no longer dominant. I pray until I'm no longer Jacob. That's how long I pray. I will not let You go until You bless me. It's not until I can "inflict" my will upon You. I will not let You go until Your will has been impressed upon me. The people that pray the most are the ones with the limp. You'll know who's encountered God. They're going through life with a limp. They're naturally lame. They don't march to the world's tune. They're out of step because of their wrestling match with God.

As we take a moment and the Spirit of God is speaking to us, have you been watching and praying? What's the Holy Spirit been saying concerning the weights and the sins? What's the Holy Spirit been saying, soldier of God, as it relates to the treasures of this world? How jealous are you to enter into His presence? Let's sing this together and just thank God for His presence. "My soul follows . . ."

Oh, we delight in You, Lord. Take just a moment and worship Him, and thank Him for the access that we have through the blood of Jesus. Hallelujah! Thank Him for the access. Thank Him for the Spirit that indwells us and empowers us to pray according to the will of God. Oh, Hallelujah! Make it real, Father. Cause us to come and to be changed. Reveal our hearts, and reveal Your will, we ask in Jesus' name. Hallelujah! Amen. Amen. Hallelujah!

Well, before you go, turn to somebody next to you. Say, "I like your limp." Praise God. Go in peace. God's love go with you.

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