Shownotes
Do signs, wonders, and miracles still happen? Listen as Pastor Kevin shares what miracles are, what they are really about, and the greatest miracle of all.
Scriptures Referenced
John 9:1-34; Acts 2:42-47; Ephesians 2:1-2, 4-5; Hebrews 11:6
https://springhouse.captivate.fm/episode/signs-and-wonders
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Gathering Times
- Sundays, 9:00 AM
- Sundays, 11:00 AM
- Thursdays, 6:00 PM
Contact Info
Springhouse Church
14119 Old Nashville Highway
Smyrna TN 37167
CCLI License 2070006
Transcripts
(upbeat music)
Speaker:- Springhouse family events of the summer,
Speaker:so take note of those.
Speaker:If you're joining us on live stream,
Speaker:thanks for being here today.
Speaker:Guys, it's a good day to be in the house.
Speaker:And like Shari said,
Speaker:Thursday will be our last midweek gathering.
Speaker:Did you enjoy Father Ray Kasch last week?
Speaker:Yeah, just such a timely, wonderful word,
Speaker:and God is always seeming to lead
Speaker:to be in the business of saving the very best for right now.
Speaker:And so we're gonna continue our series,
Speaker:His Church, and Pastor Justin's gonna bring the word.
Speaker:Would you welcome Pastor Justin.
Speaker:(congregation applauding)
Speaker:- Thank you guys.
Speaker:Thank you, kind sir.
Speaker:Good morning.
Speaker:How's everybody doing today?
Speaker:Good, good?
Speaker:It's a lot of energy right here, so.
Speaker:Just get ready.
Speaker:If you came in and you're chill, introvert,
Speaker:I'm gonna give you all you didn't know you needed today, okay?
Speaker:Or wanted, that's what you get, okay?
Speaker:I got a couple of announcements
Speaker:that I would like to personally make.
Speaker:This is a continued family fun.
Speaker:What a great day to be in the house of the Lord, is it not?
Speaker:My gosh, what a rich day, man.
Speaker:This is exactly why I'm like, I'm gonna come to church
Speaker:'cause I have no idea what's gonna happen today.
Speaker:I have, and I'm preaching today.
Speaker:I have no idea what's gonna happen.
Speaker:That worship and baptism and prayer,
Speaker:that could have tarried the whole time.
Speaker:And I just close this book and we go home.
Speaker:But the Lord has something to say through me today,
Speaker:so we'll do that too.
Speaker:Couple of things I wanna announce,
Speaker:if you can go ahead and put that first slide.
Speaker:This Saturday, yes.
Speaker:June 1st, this is the real kickoff this summer, okay?
Speaker:This is for the guys, Pursuit Men's Ministry.
Speaker:This is our fourth annual Whiffle Ball Home Run Derby.
Speaker:It is exactly what it sounds like.
Speaker:It is a Whiffle Ball Home Run Derby, okay?
Speaker:And we have our very own Brian Wellsant,
Speaker:who's going for a three-peat this year.
Speaker:And I need, nah, ain't no woo, okay?
Speaker:(congregation laughing)
Speaker:Well, I'm tired of putting, look, we just go to the place
Speaker:and be like, same name as last year,
Speaker:just put it up there, change the date, right?
Speaker:He's going for a three-peat this year.
Speaker:And it's 10 a.m., two p.m.
Speaker:You don't even have to swing a bat.
Speaker:You can come and make fun of the people
Speaker:that think they can swing the bat, okay?
Speaker:There's gonna be food, everything,
Speaker:all the main dishes gonna be provided if you come.
Speaker:If you're a guy and you wanna come,
Speaker:then just bring a side dish or dessert.
Speaker:We'll have drinks, burgers, all that stuff.
Speaker:And also, don't bring your kids, okay?
Speaker:Just bring, I'm serious.
Speaker:Some people are like, can I bring my son?
Speaker:Is your son 18?
Speaker:Then you can bring him.
Speaker:(congregation laughing)
Speaker:And then this next thing, so Saturday at my house,
Speaker:see one of my leaders, or you can get on the app
Speaker:and get my information about where I'm at, I'm in Smyrna.
Speaker:This is the big one I'm really excited to announce.
Speaker:I don't remember us having a men's retreat
Speaker:since I've been here.
Speaker:And it's not a slide at the church.
Speaker:It's just this is where we're at.
Speaker:We have been praying and seeking God for the last four years
Speaker:and we're finally ready to do a men's retreat,
Speaker:a men's weekend, and we're gonna do it this year.
Speaker:So it's gonna be August 16th through the 18th.
Speaker:We're going to Pisgah, Alabama.
Speaker:You have to register via the church app
Speaker:and the cost is $250.
Speaker:I'm inviting you personally, every man that's in here.
Speaker:I want you to honestly, if you're a wife,
Speaker:poke your husband, okay?
Speaker:I really think that God wants to continue to do something
Speaker:with the men of this church.
Speaker:I can give you statistics from here until,
Speaker:we can just close this and I can give you statistics
Speaker:about what happens when men start leading in the kingdom,
Speaker:how it affects children, how it affects wives,
Speaker:how it affects the community
Speaker:when men embrace the kingdom of God and advance it.
Speaker:So money's never gonna be a reason why you don't go.
Speaker:So if money is your reason why you can't go,
Speaker:then you come see me or one of my leadership team.
Speaker:We have funds set aside so that finances
Speaker:is never an excuse for you not to be able to go.
Speaker:Registration's gonna be up in the app
Speaker:August 16th through the 18th.
Speaker:I'm really inviting you guys to come.
Speaker:Now, let's get into the word that we have for this morning.
Speaker:Are we ready?
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:We're continuing our series.
Speaker:If you would, go ahead and stand with me if you're able.
Speaker:And we're just gonna read a short passage.
Speaker:Are we ready, James?
Speaker:Okay, here we go.
Speaker:Together.
Speaker:And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching
Speaker:and the fellowship, the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Speaker:Father, we thank you for your word.
Speaker:We thank you for the life that it brings.
Speaker:God, I ask that your anointing would rest and reside on me,
Speaker:that through the power of the Holy Ghost,
Speaker:I would convey your message clearly to your people today.
Speaker:I pray for our hearts to be open to an encounter with you,
Speaker:that the name of Jesus would be magnified
Speaker:and glorified through the Holy Ghost
Speaker:and that your kingdom would be advanced here in earth
Speaker:as it is in heaven.
Speaker:Father, we love you and we consecrate this time
Speaker:for you today.
Speaker:It's in Christ's name I pray, amen.
Speaker:And amen, you can be seated.
Speaker:We're continuing our series, His church,
Speaker:and it's an examination of the first century believers
Speaker:and how the things that we understand
Speaker:about the first century church apply and carry over
Speaker:and transcend and we're a continuation of that.
Speaker:And we've been specifically looking at Acts 2 42
Speaker:for the last few weeks.
Speaker:Last week was not a one-off.
Speaker:It was not just like, oh, here's Father Ray.
Speaker:There's some things that he really said that resonated
Speaker:and it shows me that God knows what he's doing
Speaker:when he sets things in place.
Speaker:I'm gonna share something about,
Speaker:something I posted on Facebook,
Speaker:but you had to promise not to go back
Speaker:on my personal Facebook and look,
Speaker:because it don't matter who said what they said,
Speaker:so I don't want you being nosy.
Speaker:Besides, you're gonna have to weed through
Speaker:a lot of playoff basketball posts and Tennessee baseball.
Speaker:You'll give up long before you find this post, okay?
Speaker:Long before you find the post.
Speaker:Look, I swear, I guarantee there's gonna be three people
Speaker:that go on my page, he's lying,
Speaker:and be like basketball, basketball, basketball, basketball.
Speaker:Jesus, basketball, basketball, basketball.
Speaker:It's the playoffs, I get a game every day.
Speaker:So what he said was I posted on prayer,
Speaker:you know, and I feel like this sometimes,
Speaker:I posted, I said, you know, sometimes you feel like
Speaker:that the dumb questions your kids ask you
Speaker:are the dumb questions that you ask God.
Speaker:And I know they say there's no stupid questions, right?
Speaker:But my kids ask me things like this,
Speaker:Dad, is this a weird dance?
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:And you know the answer before you ask me the,
Speaker:yes, that's a weird dance, right?
Speaker:I got another kid to ask me obvious questions.
Speaker:He says, I'm cooking eggs.
Speaker:He's like, Dad, what are you doing, cooking eggs?
Speaker:Flip, you a fish.
Speaker:What do you mean, am I cooking eggs?
Speaker:And sometimes that's how I feel when I'm talking to God.
Speaker:What are you doing, am I cooking eggs?
Speaker:Yes, Justin, I'm cooking eggs, right?
Speaker:So I posted this on Facebook and somebody responded
Speaker:and they said, if you're asking things for God
Speaker:when you pray, you're doing it wrong.
Speaker:And I was like, what?
Speaker:That's what I said, what?
Speaker:I'm like, where do you get that?
Speaker:Okay, and it wasn't so much that I'm saying this guy's crazy
Speaker:and although it is something biblical,
Speaker:where have we gone that this is what we think about prayer?
Speaker:Where have we gone wrong that we think that we can't come
Speaker:and ask things of God?
Speaker:Now, the Bible will tell you, hey,
Speaker:sometimes you're asking for the wrong thing
Speaker:or you're asking in the wrong way
Speaker:or you're asking with the wrong motive.
Speaker:But what he was saying was,
Speaker:you shouldn't even be asking things of God.
Speaker:And I'm like, absolutely not, disagree.
Speaker:There are, it's true, there's around 650 prayers
Speaker:that are recorded in the Bible.
Speaker:There are 25 recorded prayers of Jesus.
Speaker:The ESV uses the word pray or prayer 322 times.
Speaker:The first mention of prayer is in Genesis 4 26
Speaker:and it says this, to Seth also a son was born
Speaker:and he called his name Enosh.
Speaker:At that time, people began to call upon the name
Speaker:of the Lord.
Speaker:Before this, all other dialogue was initiated by God.
Speaker:So Adam's grandson is technically the founder
Speaker:of public prayer in the line of Adam.
Speaker:And so the believers in Acts chapter two
Speaker:that devoted themselves to prayer
Speaker:are the amen to these original petitions.
Speaker:Now, it doesn't say that they prayed,
Speaker:but I don't know what you would call prayer
Speaker:if not calling upon the name of the Lord.
Speaker:(congregation murmurs)
Speaker:The other church was no stranger to prayer.
Speaker:It wasn't like, now we have a church
Speaker:so we need to start praying.
Speaker:That's not the case.
Speaker:But something was different now.
Speaker:Something was different with these believers
Speaker:and through Jesus our high priest,
Speaker:we have been granted access to commune directly
Speaker:with the most high through his indwelling Holy Spirit.
Speaker:This is a game changer.
Speaker:I heard a story and I guess it's like a little story
Speaker:or joke that the guy was like, when we get to heaven,
Speaker:we can't wait to talk to all the old heroes of the faith
Speaker:and ask David, man, what was it like to go up against a giant
Speaker:like a real life Nephilim?
Speaker:Or Moses, what was it like when you split the sea
Speaker:and then a million people started complaining
Speaker:30 days later, you know?
Speaker:Like, what was it like?
Speaker:Right, and we all these heroes of the Bible
Speaker:and the Old Testament, he said, and I'll say back to you,
Speaker:what was it like to have God's very spirit
Speaker:living inside of you?
Speaker:What was it like?
Speaker:What was it like to have the spirit of God inside of you?
Speaker:This was a game changer for the people.
Speaker:So the prayers at the first century church were praying,
Speaker:were prompted by an indwelling Holy Ghost that was different.
Speaker:This was new, this was fresh.
Speaker:But if you really think about it,
Speaker:there's always been some level of access to God.
Speaker:The main difference other than the Holy Spirit
Speaker:indwelling the people was now we have the opportunity
Speaker:to apply the blood directly to our lives.
Speaker:Whereas before, the priests would make
Speaker:an atoning sacrifice for you,
Speaker:but our Passover lamb, Jesus, has died for once,
Speaker:once for all our atoning sacrifice.
Speaker:The Old Testament's full of stories
Speaker:where men and women have cried out to God and he answered.
Speaker:Think about the priestly prayers of Moses and Aaron.
Speaker:Think about Hannah's prophetic prayer over Samuel.
Speaker:I read Hannah's prayer the other day,
Speaker:hadn't read it in a long time, and this was transcendent.
Speaker:This is full of prophecy.
Speaker:You're like, that lady's not praying in her own accord.
Speaker:Gideon's fleas, here's another opportunity
Speaker:where you see stupid questions, right?
Speaker:My kid's doing stupid questions.
Speaker:God, listen, I believe what you said, kinda,
Speaker:but if you're really telling me this,
Speaker:then make the ground dry and my fleas wet.
Speaker:And then make the next day, you say,
Speaker:okay, you answered that prayer.
Speaker:Well, make the fleas wet and the ground dry.
Speaker:Did I say that backwards?
Speaker:It's in there, okay?
Speaker:You know what I'm saying, okay?
Speaker:God's like, yes, I'm cooking eggs, Gideon, okay?
Speaker:And then you have stories like this.
Speaker:This one really trips me out.
Speaker:This is in 1st Kings, I'm gonna set the stage, okay?
Speaker:Elijah has been in a showdown with the prophets of Baal
Speaker:and these prophets are arguing against whose God is greater,
Speaker:Baal or Yahweh and Elijah's by himself
Speaker:and there's all these prophets and they're worshiping Baal
Speaker:and they're cutting themselves and bloodletting
Speaker:and screaming out to their God
Speaker:and Elijah's making fun of him
Speaker:and he calls down fire from heaven
Speaker:and it licks up the water around the altar and burns it up
Speaker:and then Elijah goes on a killing spree
Speaker:and kills all the prophets of Baal
Speaker:and then this lady gets word of it and says,
Speaker:I'm finna kill you and Elijah just has to come apart,
Speaker:right there, ah, gosh.
Speaker:That's what happened.
Speaker:And here's where we're at, read it.
Speaker:I just read my Bible and it's in there, okay?
Speaker:It says, "Then he was afraid and he arose
Speaker:"and ran for his life and came to Beersheba,
Speaker:"which belongs to Judah and left his servant there
Speaker:"but he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness
Speaker:"and came and sat down under a broom tree
Speaker:"and he asked that he might die saying,
Speaker:"It is enough now, oh Lord, take away my life
Speaker:"for I am no better than my fathers."
Speaker:His prayer was, God, I just wanna die.
Speaker:Please, I wanna die now, God.
Speaker:I don't wanna live no more.
Speaker:And this is what God says to him.
Speaker:You're gonna love this, this is what he does.
Speaker:And he lay down and slept under a broom tree
Speaker:and behold, an angel touched him and said,
Speaker:arise and eat.
Speaker:Basically, he woke him up and said,
Speaker:eat a Snickers, Elijah.
Speaker:(audience laughing)
Speaker:You've seen the commercials where you're not yourself
Speaker:when you're hungry.
Speaker:Where do you think they got it from?
Speaker:Next time you see a Snicker commercial,
Speaker:you're like, that's biblical.
Speaker:That is biblical.
Speaker:You're gonna start carrying,
Speaker:you're gonna start carrying them in your pocket
Speaker:for benevolence, right?
Speaker:You're gonna pray for somebody and hand them a Snicker bar.
Speaker:Look, you need a Snickers, lady.
Speaker:And look, look, and it says,
Speaker:and he looked and behold, there was at his head a cake
Speaker:baked on hot stones and a jar of water
Speaker:and he ate and drank and lay down again.
Speaker:I love it, I love it.
Speaker:Pastor Jonathan has a little sign in here
Speaker:for his worship team.
Speaker:You guys don't get to see the backstage stuff,
Speaker:but there are snacks and waters and a sign
Speaker:that has this exact Bible verse that says,
Speaker:never underestimate the power of a snack and a nap, okay?
Speaker:Never underestimate the power of a snack and a nap.
Speaker:This guy was like, I wanna die.
Speaker:And guy was like, shut up and take a nap and eat something.
Speaker:(audience laughing)
Speaker:You're acting out of your flesh.
Speaker:You need to rest, you need to rest and replenish, okay?
Speaker:So with all the wit and humor that's involved in this,
Speaker:see what God's saying.
Speaker:Sometimes my answer to this prayer
Speaker:is you need to stop doing too much.
Speaker:You're crying and whining about the wrong thing.
Speaker:I just moved in your life.
Speaker:Who do you think set the fire
Speaker:that you called down from heaven, right?
Speaker:You called it down and I obliged and now you're tripping
Speaker:'cause this lady's trying to kill you.
Speaker:They're always gonna be trying to kill you.
Speaker:The enemy's here to steal, kill and destroy.
Speaker:So why should it be a surprise that you run into adversity?
Speaker:And sometimes the answer to your adversity is calm down,
Speaker:sit down, take a break and have a snack.
Speaker:Praise God, I love, I love it.
Speaker:So many types of prayers.
Speaker:So many types of prayers that we see in scripture, okay?
Speaker:If you look at all of the different prayers
Speaker:that have been uttered and given and recorded in scripture,
Speaker:you can kind of start to group them together a little bit.
Speaker:So if you're taking notes here,
Speaker:some types of prayer that we see in scripture.
Speaker:The first one is we see,
Speaker:and these are not like in order of appearance, okay?
Speaker:These are just like, these are the types.
Speaker:The first one is a prayer of faith.
Speaker:And this reaffirms our faith in God's sovereign will.
Speaker:And every time I talk about God's will,
Speaker:I also talk about the difference between his sovereign will
Speaker:and his desired will, because there is a difference.
Speaker:If you say God's will,
Speaker:you should really specify what that means, okay?
Speaker:Because God's desired will gives you a choice in the matter.
Speaker:Okay?
Speaker:It is not God's will that any should perish,
Speaker:but that all come to repentance
Speaker:and the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Speaker:Well, guess what, that's not gonna happen.
Speaker:It's his desire that you wouldn't perish,
Speaker:but you would repent, but he gives you the choice in that.
Speaker:The beautiful thing about God's sovereignty is
Speaker:he knows the chess game,
Speaker:but he gives you the ability to move to pieces.
Speaker:He knows it, but you still get to move to pieces.
Speaker:That's his desired will.
Speaker:His sovereign will, you don't have a choice in the matter.
Speaker:God said it and it's gonna happen
Speaker:and you don't get to complain about it
Speaker:'cause it's gonna happen anyway.
Speaker:Prayers of faith, prayers of faith,
Speaker:what they do is they say,
Speaker:"God, even if this don't turn out the way I want it to,
Speaker:"I'm trusting you."
Speaker:What happens when you pray and you don't get healed?
Speaker:When you pray and you still lose your job,
Speaker:when you pray and it still goes against you,
Speaker:can you trust in God's sovereignty?
Speaker:That's a prayer of faith.
Speaker:That's a prayer of faith.
Speaker:Then we have prayers of agreement.
Speaker:This is more than one person believing together, okay?
Speaker:Perfect example, right?
Speaker:Pastor Kevin said, "Stretch your hands out.
Speaker:"I'm gonna pray you're gonna agree
Speaker:"that what I'm praying we're gonna petition God for."
Speaker:We all just participated in prayers of agreement.
Speaker:We agreed, yes, Lord, we're all on the same page
Speaker:with this prayer.
Speaker:Then you have petitions, bringing a request to God.
Speaker:If I've ever prayed with you down front here,
Speaker:more than likely you've heard me share Philippians 4.6.
Speaker:It says, this is one of my favorite verses
Speaker:and I don't come down like,
Speaker:"This is what I'm praying and this is what,"
Speaker:it just happens.
Speaker:It's like one of those when you know the word,
Speaker:you can go back and stand on it, okay?
Speaker:And this is one of those where I'm like,
Speaker:"I can't get away."
Speaker:I'm like tethered to this word,
Speaker:which I think is a good thing, right?
Speaker:The word says that, his word is an anchor for our soul, right?
Speaker:An anchor, the boat can still float a little bit,
Speaker:but it's got a point it's tethered to, okay?
Speaker:And so if we're tethered to the word,
Speaker:I may be able to drift a little bit,
Speaker:but my anchor and my hope is in this
Speaker:so I don't get too far, so that I don't get out of bounds,
Speaker:so I don't get up against the rocks,
Speaker:so I don't end up drifting places I'm not supposed to be.
Speaker:And so this word Philippians 4.6 basically says,
Speaker:this is Justin speak,
Speaker:"Be anxious for nothing, be anxious for nothing,
Speaker:"but in everything with prayer and thanksgiving,
Speaker:"make your requests known to God."
Speaker:And here's what it says will happen.
Speaker:"And the peace of God that passes all understanding
Speaker:"will reign and rule in your hearts and minds."
Speaker:He didn't say nothing about I'll answer it
Speaker:the way you want it to go.
Speaker:He didn't say anything about I will hear you from heaven.
Speaker:He says, "You bring your request to me
Speaker:"and what I'll give you in exchange is a peace
Speaker:"because you'll know I'm in control.
Speaker:"You're offering your petitions to me with thanksgiving."
Speaker:Thank you God on this side of the Jordan,
Speaker:on this, we need to cross over,
Speaker:but I'm thanking you on this side
Speaker:and asking you to help me cross over this.
Speaker:And even if I never get to go over, thank you now
Speaker:and God's peace resides on you.
Speaker:That's a prayer petition, okay?
Speaker:With thanksgiving, who knew I would put that in that order.
Speaker:Thanksgiving is gratitude for God's hand upon us.
Speaker:This could be provision, this could be protection,
Speaker:this could be wisdom, this can be any number of things,
Speaker:right, that you're thankful for.
Speaker:What are you thankful for?
Speaker:I'm doing a challenge with the men's group
Speaker:and part of the challenge is every single day,
Speaker:you have to write down three things you're thankful for
Speaker:and they can't be the same as what you were thankful for
Speaker:the day before.
Speaker:You think you know what you're thankful for
Speaker:till you gotta get challenged every day.
Speaker:And then I even go a step further,
Speaker:it's never I'm thankful for my wife, I'm like for what?
Speaker:No, we're not gonna listen.
Speaker:What are you thankful for in your life?
Speaker:Why can't you write it down and tell it to God
Speaker:and share it with somebody else?
Speaker:And in your prayer time, instead of us coming with a need
Speaker:or a petition or request all the time,
Speaker:what about prayers of thanksgiving that we pour out to God?
Speaker:God, thank you for waking me up today
Speaker:and keeping me in my right mind.
Speaker:And then I wonder, am I crazy the way the day goes on?
Speaker:And then I remember, no, right?
Speaker:God has not given me a spirit of fear, but what?
Speaker:And a sound mind and I'm tethered to that word.
Speaker:So no matter when I drift, I'm like, I'm crazy.
Speaker:Why would you say that to a person?
Speaker:God's like, no, you're not, you're not crazy.
Speaker:You're acting crazy, right?
Speaker:Your behavior is following your belief,
Speaker:so get your mind right.
Speaker:That was free.
Speaker:It ain't in here, I swear.
Speaker:Then there's prayers, don't laugh, I get tickled.
Speaker:Then there's prayers of worship.
Speaker:This is recognizing and acknowledging God's power
Speaker:and His greatness.
Speaker:Recognizing and acknowledging God's power and greatness.
Speaker:When we were here and we were singing and praising together,
Speaker:we are speaking phrases of adoration,
Speaker:recognizing God's power and His greatness.
Speaker:This is an act of prayer.
Speaker:This is an act of prayer.
Speaker:Then we have consecration.
Speaker:Consecration is when you set apart something
Speaker:for holy use and service unto the Lord.
Speaker:The priests in the temple will often pray
Speaker:for the tools and the things that were to be used
Speaker:that they would be consecrated, set apart for holy use.
Speaker:Joshua said to his people, consecrate yourselves today,
Speaker:for God will do amazing things among you tomorrow.
Speaker:He didn't say, consecrate yourself today
Speaker:'cause you got a lot of stuff to do today.
Speaker:He said, consecrate yourself before you even know the task,
Speaker:before you're even used.
Speaker:God will often give you things that you did not know
Speaker:you needed way ahead of time before you knew you needed 'em.
Speaker:And I'm gonna take it a step further.
Speaker:God will give you things that are not even for you
Speaker:half the time.
Speaker:Perfect example.
Speaker:If I say I have the gift of healing, okay,
Speaker:and James needs healing and I pray for James
Speaker:and he gets healed, who was the gift really for?
Speaker:- James.
Speaker:- Thank you, Mary Sue.
Speaker:It was for James.
Speaker:The gift was for him, it was not for me.
Speaker:I am a conduit and sometimes we like to claim the gifts
Speaker:as our own personal possession.
Speaker:When it was not for you or about you,
Speaker:I gave that to you not because you needed it,
Speaker:but you needed to give it to somebody else.
Speaker:A gift is meant to be what?
Speaker:Given, not hoarded, put up on a shelf.
Speaker:Intercession, prayers of intercession.
Speaker:This is on someone else's behalf or well-being,
Speaker:God's intervention.
Speaker:There's been many times where people have,
Speaker:we've come to these altars and we've prayed on behalf.
Speaker:We pray for you.
Speaker:We've interceded on your behalf.
Speaker:There's been many tears back there in that back corner
Speaker:from my life.
Speaker:Pastor Ronnie's interceded for me and Barbie
Speaker:and Hal and I've interceded for other people.
Speaker:Anytime you go to God on somebody else's behalf,
Speaker:you are interceding.
Speaker:Jesus interceded for his disciples
Speaker:while he was sitting at the table with him.
Speaker:Talk about an awkward moment,
Speaker:but a beautiful one as well
Speaker:to get to hear somebody praying for you.
Speaker:What if you could be a fly on the wall
Speaker:to hear all the prayers that somebody's prayed for you?
Speaker:Man, that just hit me, dude.
Speaker:That just hit me right now.
Speaker:I mean, think about, you might not even be a believer
Speaker:and there's people that's been praying for you.
Speaker:What if you could hear all the phrases and blessings
Speaker:that have been given to God on your behalf?
Speaker:What would that change in your life?
Speaker:How would that humble you and make you feel loved
Speaker:and important and seen?
Speaker:I know it make me feel good, right?
Speaker:Got me crying right now.
Speaker:(audience laughing)
Speaker:And then there's prayers from the Holy Spirit
Speaker:and these are prayers when we don't know what to pray,
Speaker:when we don't even know what to pray.
Speaker:Some of that, sometimes it looks like tears.
Speaker:Sometimes it just looks like sitting with your friend
Speaker:when they cry and y'all are praying
Speaker:and you don't even know it.
Speaker:Sometimes it just looks like, ah, ah, ah, right?
Speaker:Anybody ever been there?
Speaker:(audience laughing)
Speaker:And I'd rather you do that than say a whole bunch
Speaker:of cuss words and then you're gonna be praying
Speaker:about what you just said.
Speaker:I know God would rather you do that too.
Speaker:Prayer language, tongues, private tongues.
Speaker:Romans 8, 26 and 27 says the Spirit helps us
Speaker:in our weakness when we don't know what to pray.
Speaker:I know what I wanna pray about but I don't know
Speaker:what I need to be praying about sometimes, right?
Speaker:So the Holy Ghost is like, I know what he said.
Speaker:I know he said he wanted to die but what he really said was,
Speaker:he's hungry and tired.
Speaker:(audience laughing)
Speaker:Y'all didn't see that earlier.
Speaker:You see it now, don't you?
Speaker:You got, that went right over your head
Speaker:but now you're like, ah, here we go.
Speaker:The Lord's Prayer, as we commonly refer to it,
Speaker:I call it the disciples' prayer, that's just me.
Speaker:I can't change it.
Speaker:But in Matthew, at the very beginning,
Speaker:his disciples say, hey, teach us how to pray
Speaker:and this is what Jesus said and he pretty much encompasses
Speaker:all of these types of prayer into this one prayer.
Speaker:So if you're ever looking for a model,
Speaker:it's a disciples' prayer and here's what Jesus tells them.
Speaker:This is how you should pray, guys.
Speaker:Our Father in heaven and that is such an important phrase
Speaker:to start with because two things happen.
Speaker:If you're calling somebody Father,
Speaker:that denotes a father-son relationship,
Speaker:father-daughter relationship.
Speaker:You're starting off by acknowledging,
Speaker:I have a relationship with you.
Speaker:I have the ability to talk to you and speak with you
Speaker:and commune with you.
Speaker:Father in heaven, it also says you're somewhere
Speaker:that is high above me in my understanding.
Speaker:There is an awe and reverence in a relational aspect
Speaker:with the opening line of that prayer.
Speaker:Our Father in heaven, holy is your name.
Speaker:Your name is above every name.
Speaker:Your kingdom come, your will be done in earth
Speaker:and on the earth as it already is in heaven.
Speaker:God, I'm asking that whatever you have planned,
Speaker:bring it here.
Speaker:Give me this day my daily bread and God,
Speaker:if you're gonna have your kingdom walked out here on earth,
Speaker:I need the carbs, fats and proteins
Speaker:that are gonna sustain me to do this every day, right?
Speaker:That's my daily bread, what is that?
Speaker:Carbs, fats and proteins, okay?
Speaker:God, I need you to sustain me,
Speaker:take care of my physical needs
Speaker:so that I can fight this spiritual battle.
Speaker:Provide for me, take some of the worry off my back, God.
Speaker:I don't wanna be focused on this temporary
Speaker:but necessary need so that I can have my eyes fixed
Speaker:on your kingdom.
Speaker:Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth
Speaker:as it already is in heaven.
Speaker:Give us this day our daily bread
Speaker:and forgive me my trespasses
Speaker:as I forgive those that have trespassed against me.
Speaker:That is a proper perspective.
Speaker:Understanding people have wronged you
Speaker:but guess what, big boy, you have wronged people too.
Speaker:So put some grace in your pocket when you get up today.
Speaker:That's what that says is God, look,
Speaker:people are gonna tick me off
Speaker:but I remember I have ticked people off too.
Speaker:So let me get a couple of pocketfuls of grace
Speaker:and walk around with so maybe I don't respond so quick
Speaker:and so sharp and have a little bit more understanding.
Speaker:But you don't just get that in and of yourself,
Speaker:you're going to God and asking for it in prayer.
Speaker:Forgive us our trespasses, love us your trespasses.
Speaker:And lead us not into temptation, right?
Speaker:That's a specific, hey, please God,
Speaker:keep temptation from me and deliver us from the evil one.
Speaker:I recognize there's an enemy and I'm in a battle
Speaker:but please let temptation not creep all the way up
Speaker:on my doorstep, protect me.
Speaker:Give me a hedge of protection.
Speaker:For yours is the kingdom, yours is the power,
Speaker:yours is the glory forever and ever.
Speaker:This is a prayer of faith, agreement, petition,
Speaker:thanksgiving, worship, consecration, intercession
Speaker:and the Holy Spirit.
Speaker:This is all this, this is a great model.
Speaker:But also we see some postures
Speaker:and a posture is how you position your body.
Speaker:There's several postures, okay?
Speaker:And they denote reverence and awe.
Speaker:Prayer is a mighty vehicle for us
Speaker:and where are my postures?
Speaker:I think I put it somewhere else.
Speaker:That was a different note.
Speaker:Postures, okay.
Speaker:I'll just go through them here.
Speaker:Sitting, okay?
Speaker:Second Samuel 7, 18 describes Daniel
Speaker:as sitting before the Lord.
Speaker:He changes his posture, right?
Speaker:In Exodus, Moses' reference is bowing before the Lord, right?
Speaker:In Daniel, Daniel knelt three times a day
Speaker:in prayer to the Lord.
Speaker:He changed his posture, okay?
Speaker:He changed his physical body and knelt in reverence
Speaker:and awe of God as he petitioned him.
Speaker:In complete rebellion to the king, by the way.
Speaker:Lifting hands, Paul talks about lifting hands to the Lord.
Speaker:And finally, Nehemiah, Ezra was mentioned
Speaker:as laying prostrate.
Speaker:This is putting your body face down on the Lord.
Speaker:So I want you to see these.
Speaker:So if you see this in a worship service
Speaker:or a corporate setting, don't be alarmed.
Speaker:This is a biblical opportunity
Speaker:and we don't know where everybody's at
Speaker:or the reason for it, okay?
Speaker:It was right here in front of me the whole time.
Speaker:(congregation laughing)
Speaker:So dumb.
Speaker:Prayer is a vehicle for us.
Speaker:It can increase our faith and ministry.
Speaker:It can boost the harvest, heal the sick.
Speaker:It can drive out demons.
Speaker:We pray so we can lead, so we can work,
Speaker:so we can find freedom, preach the gospel
Speaker:and accomplish God's desired will in the earth
Speaker:as it is in heaven.
Speaker:We pray to commune with God and so we can hear from him.
Speaker:All right, I'm gonna say something right now.
Speaker:So go ahead and get your ears ready.
Speaker:This is a trigger warning.
Speaker:Okay, and I'm gonna give you a side note, okay?
Speaker:There's a difference between saying something offensive
Speaker:and being offended by something somebody said.
Speaker:There's a difference between saying something offensive
Speaker:where you're intending to hurt somebody
Speaker:and being offended because there might've been some truth
Speaker:that you're not walking in, okay?
Speaker:So now I'm not saying what I'm saying
Speaker:is about to be offensive, so don't get offended.
Speaker:I'm just saying, if this bothers you,
Speaker:I'm just saying, I'm just saying,
Speaker:if it bothers you, don't get offended
Speaker:and then pray, God, why am I offended by this?
Speaker:Okay?
Speaker:It is not prayer or a life of prayer that bring us power.
Speaker:It is a God to whom we pray who has all the power.
Speaker:And here's what I'm saying.
Speaker:Last week, Father Ray said, "Is your trust in your trust?"
Speaker:Is your faith in your faith or the fact that you have faith?
Speaker:Or is your faith in the God of heaven and earth?
Speaker:When I pray, is it the fact that I'm praying
Speaker:or is it fact of who I'm praying to?
Speaker:What about all those prophets of Baal
Speaker:that was over here cutting themselves and praying?
Speaker:Did their prayers amount to anything?
Speaker:And they were a lot more intense with their acts of worship.
Speaker:Some of us are in here like statues every day.
Speaker:Okay?
Speaker:And this ain't a shot at you.
Speaker:I'm not saying everybody's needs to be demonstrative
Speaker:in their worship because a head bowed
Speaker:and a quiet and sincere heart in reverence
Speaker:to an almighty God is a lot of times more powerful
Speaker:than somebody running down in the altar.
Speaker:So that's not what I'm talking about.
Speaker:It's a heart that is still a stone.
Speaker:Okay?
Speaker:Is it the God?
Speaker:It is not prayer or a life of prayer that changes anything.
Speaker:It is the God to whom we pray
Speaker:that has the power to change things.
Speaker:We really don't have any idea how prayer works.
Speaker:Okay?
Speaker:You can read the Bible and not know how this works.
Speaker:But I wanna share two stories with you.
Speaker:Okay?
Speaker:A lot of times it don't make sense.
Speaker:A lot of times this don't make sense.
Speaker:Okay?
Speaker:But prayer somehow works.
Speaker:So there was a study that I came across
Speaker:in the National Library of Medicine.
Speaker:Don't ask me why I'm there.
Speaker:I know I shouldn't be studying
Speaker:the National Library of Medicine archives,
Speaker:but I was perusing.
Speaker:Okay?
Speaker:And there's a study that I came across concerning prayer
Speaker:and people who had a blood issue such as sepsis.
Speaker:So here's what they did in this study.
Speaker:It was a double blind randomized study.
Speaker:Okay?
Speaker:So what they did was they took almost 4,000 sepsis patients
Speaker:and they randomly divided them into two groups.
Speaker:Okay?
Speaker:Are we with me?
Speaker:Group A, group B.
Speaker:Then they flipped a coin
Speaker:as to which group would get prayer.
Speaker:Completely random.
Speaker:Okay?
Speaker:There was a group of people who were the prayers
Speaker:and they were given a sheet
Speaker:that only had a first name on it.
Speaker:Okay?
Speaker:And they prayed a simple prayer.
Speaker:God, would you heal this person?
Speaker:Would you bring comfort in their life?
Speaker:Would you minimize the effects
Speaker:that they are feeling right now?
Speaker:Their symptoms?
Speaker:Would you work in their life and heal them in Jesus' name?
Speaker:Would you be with Susan?
Speaker:Would you be with Thomas?
Speaker:Whatever it was, right?
Speaker:And what they found was that the group
Speaker:that had been prayed for showed significantly,
Speaker:significantly less symptoms and hospital stay
Speaker:than the group that had not been prayed for.
Speaker:And their conclusion was that prayer
Speaker:should be applied as medicine.
Speaker:(audience murmuring)
Speaker:No, we knew that right.
Speaker:Here's where it gets trippy.
Speaker:The people had sepsis in the 1990s.
Speaker:The prayers were offered up in the year 2000.
Speaker:Are you following what I just said?
Speaker:These people had either been sick and recovered
Speaker:or sick and died anywhere from four to 10 years
Speaker:before anybody even prayed for him.
Speaker:Now why is that crazy to understand
Speaker:that a God that is outside of space and time
Speaker:can know a prayer that's uttered now
Speaker:and go back into the past and bring healing
Speaker:so you can have peace in your present
Speaker:and hope for your future?
Speaker:There's a story in the Bible where Joshua says,
Speaker:"God, please let the sun stand still,"
Speaker:he prays, "Please let the sun stand still
Speaker:"until I kill all my enemies."
Speaker:And God says, "Done."
Speaker:And if the 24 hour day is based on the cycle of the sun,
Speaker:right, and the sun stands still, does time stop?
Speaker:I'm just saying, does time stop?
Speaker:No, because Joshua kept fighting in real time
Speaker:and they killed their enemies
Speaker:and then the sun started moving again.
Speaker:What?
Speaker:This is in the Bible, okay?
Speaker:What I'm saying is, why is it so crazy
Speaker:to believe that God doesn't know a need
Speaker:and finds a way to meet it long before a prayer
Speaker:he knows is gonna be uttered is lifted up to his ears?
Speaker:Why is that so wild to believe?
Speaker:Anytime somebody comes down to the altar, right,
Speaker:and says, "I have so much in my past
Speaker:"I need to be set free from," right,
Speaker:we act like everything up until this point
Speaker:is just magically gone.
Speaker:Wrong.
Speaker:God has the ability to go back and fix things
Speaker:so that your now and forward are different.
Speaker:We don't understand how that works.
Speaker:And here's the beautiful part, you don't got to.
Speaker:You don't have to.
Speaker:I'm not supposed, I don't, I have no,
Speaker:it's in the National Library of Medicine.
Speaker:Why, I don't know.
Speaker:But it's there and it shows that God is sovereign
Speaker:over all space and time.
Speaker:So the first and most important aspect of prayer
Speaker:is faith and trust and listen,
Speaker:ha, ha, I don't know what's happening
Speaker:but I'm trusting you, God.
Speaker:I don't know what it's gonna look like
Speaker:but I'm trusting you.
Speaker:And it's also not crazy to ask him to do something crazy.
Speaker:Every now and then he might wanna roll up his sleeves.
Speaker:Let him cook, as the kids say, right?
Speaker:I hope that's not irreverent, please Lord,
Speaker:don't let that be.
Speaker:I'll get an email.
Speaker:I'm telling you right now, I don't know.
Speaker:I don't know if it's irreverent.
Speaker:Second story from my personal life, okay,
Speaker:me and my dad go on a fishing trip
Speaker:and I like to bring buddies with me and stuff
Speaker:and we went down several years ago
Speaker:and there was a lady on the boat, okay,
Speaker:which might seem a little weird
Speaker:but she's on a fishing boat and she's the deckhand.
Speaker:Okay, not that ladies can't do it.
Speaker:I'm just saying it's not like something you'd normally see.
Speaker:You get on a bunch of dudes on a boat
Speaker:and there's a girl say, hey, here I got the bait
Speaker:and she's cutting bait and rigging lures
Speaker:and we're like, fine, you do your thing.
Speaker:We don't know what we're doing.
Speaker:We're from Tennessee, okay.
Speaker:(congregation laughing)
Speaker:We have a fantastic time.
Speaker:She loves us, we're praying for people.
Speaker:We're just having a big old time, right.
Speaker:Well, then we go down the next year
Speaker:and she's not on the boat.
Speaker:We're like, hey, where's our girl at?
Speaker:And the captain said, oh man, something happened with her.
Speaker:She was gonna captain another boat
Speaker:but some things happened and she didn't get to do it
Speaker:and so she's not here and was, oh dang, man.
Speaker:We texted her and let her know, we were asking about her.
Speaker:So we go back into the dock and she's standing on the dock
Speaker:like Forrest Gump waving, okay.
Speaker:Waving at us and she's got her camera.
Speaker:She's filming us as we come in, right.
Speaker:And she's got her camera up and we get into the dock
Speaker:and we're talking for a few minutes.
Speaker:So what happened, why were you on the boat?
Speaker:She said, man, so I was gonna go out
Speaker:and captain a boat with a guy and he tried to buy
Speaker:a silencer for his pistol from Russia and the FBI,
Speaker:I don't, I'm just telling you what she said.
Speaker:And the FBI flagged him and chained his boat to the dock
Speaker:for 45 days while they investigated, okay.
Speaker:He didn't, it wasn't illegal.
Speaker:They was just like, this looks sketchy.
Speaker:We're not doing this, right.
Speaker:So they chained, I'm literally chained the guy's boat
Speaker:with a lock to the dock like you,
Speaker:it's like something you'd see in a movie.
Speaker:And she said, and because I had already declared
Speaker:with this guy, all the other boats filled up
Speaker:and so I don't have a spot, I can't even work.
Speaker:I don't have a boat, this is what I know how to do.
Speaker:All the spots have already been filled.
Speaker:This was my only hope.
Speaker:And we're like, dang, that stinks, can we pray for you?
Speaker:And so we huddled around her and we prayed for her
Speaker:and we said, God, we just asked that whatever happened
Speaker:45 days ago back here, God, that you would do a work
Speaker:back here so that she would know your power now
Speaker:and that moving forward, she would be able to walk out
Speaker:the plans that you have for her.
Speaker:We prayed for something way back here that will affect now
Speaker:that she would be able to then walk into.
Speaker:Simple prayer, wasn't dramatic or anything, demonstrative.
Speaker:We just prayed for her and believed in God.
Speaker:We interceded, we came into agreement,
Speaker:we petitioned God with thanksgiving
Speaker:and put our faith in Him, simple.
Speaker:That's what we just walked through.
Speaker:She texts me 30 minutes later and says,
Speaker:you're not gonna believe this.
Speaker:I said, I bet I would.
Speaker:And I'm like, try me.
Speaker:I'm like, you don't know my guy.
Speaker:I got stories, lady.
Speaker:I got stories.
Speaker:She said, the owner of the boat just called me and said,
Speaker:the FBI emailed him at nine o'clock on a Friday night.
Speaker:The government, when does the government work
Speaker:at nine o'clock on a Friday night?
Speaker:And she said, they were releasing his boat.
Speaker:They're sending an agent down to unchain it.
Speaker:I'm going on my first charter tomorrow morning.
Speaker:And I've got men in here that'll testify to God's goodness.
Speaker:Now, why am I telling you that?
Speaker:I don't know how that worked.
Speaker:But I know we prayed for something in the past
Speaker:that would be affected in the present
Speaker:and give them a hope and faith for the future.
Speaker:We have no idea how prayer works,
Speaker:but we don't need to.
Speaker:We just need to know that it works
Speaker:because it's communing with God.
Speaker:We are talking to and with and listening to
Speaker:the creator of the universe.
Speaker:And the first century church grabbed a hold of this.
Speaker:It says they devoted themselves to prayer.
Speaker:Pastor Kevin said a few weeks ago,
Speaker:devotion infers priority.
Speaker:When you devote yourself to something,
Speaker:that means it's a priority in your life.
Speaker:They devoted themselves to breaking bread and to prayer.
Speaker:It was important.
Speaker:It was a part of their life.
Speaker:Got one more thing I wanna say though,
Speaker:and you guys can play, but I have to say this.
Speaker:If we're gonna be praying and believing together
Speaker:at the church, I'm gonna need a rota.
Speaker:I'm gonna need a rota.
Speaker:Some of you don't know who rota is,
Speaker:but you're gonna find out.
Speaker:Acts chapter 12, 12 through 16, okay?
Speaker:James had been martyred.
Speaker:Peter is locked up.
Speaker:He's fixing to get killed.
Speaker:And they all get together like they had in Acts two
Speaker:and they start praying.
Speaker:And guess what?
Speaker:God's answers their prayers.
Speaker:And Peter shows up knocking at the door.
Speaker:And the only one who went and answered the door
Speaker:was a servant girl named rota.
Speaker:And she went back and told everybody,
Speaker:hey, Peter's at the front door.
Speaker:And they said, get out of here.
Speaker:You're tripping.
Speaker:That's his ghost.
Speaker:And she went back and said,
Speaker:I'm telling you, he's knocking at the door.
Speaker:And finally they go let him in.
Speaker:They're like, Peter, right?
Speaker:Here's what's so important about that story.
Speaker:I hope the answer to my prayer knocks long enough
Speaker:for me to go answer it.
Speaker:The answer to the prayer, they're praying.
Speaker:God, please let Peter out of jail.
Speaker:Please save him.
Speaker:And Peter's at the front door and they don't believe it.
Speaker:So when I say I need a rota,
Speaker:if we're praying and believing together,
Speaker:which one of y'all are gonna believe
Speaker:in the hope that we're praying for?
Speaker:Cole, are you gonna act on what we're praying about?
Speaker:Are you gonna go to the door and check on it?
Speaker:And when Cole come back and says,
Speaker:hey, God told me this.
Speaker:I know we've been praying about this.
Speaker:Here's what God was revealing to me.
Speaker:Am I gonna say, come on rota, let's go.
Speaker:I'll go answer the door.
Speaker:If we're talking about they, they, they
Speaker:devoted themselves to prayer.
Speaker:There was an individual aspect and it was a corporate aspect.
Speaker:But if we're gonna do this together, I need a rota.
Speaker:I need a rota.
Speaker:Are you gonna be that rota?
Speaker:There is so much to prayer
Speaker:and it's sometimes hard to understand.
Speaker:We usually treat it like a tool.
Speaker:If we need prayer, we go get our prayer hammer
Speaker:out of our toolbox and we go use the hammer
Speaker:for what the prayer hammer needs to be done
Speaker:and then we put the prayer hammer back in the toolbox.
Speaker:But what if prayer is not the vehicle
Speaker:that brings us to our destination?
Speaker:What if prayer is the destination?
Speaker:Let me say that a different way.
Speaker:Prayer is not just a step in our journey.
Speaker:Prayer is the journey.
Speaker:Communion with God, that is the journey.
Speaker:Every single day.
Speaker:It's not just an item I go grab when I have a need,
Speaker:although there is occasion for that.
Speaker:It is a part of our every day lives.
Speaker:From our waking, our sleeping, our coming, our going,
Speaker:our eating, sleeping, walking around lives
Speaker:laid before God as an offering in communion.
Speaker:So I'm gonna ask my prayer people
Speaker:to come down here this morning.
Speaker:I don't know what better day to come for prayer
Speaker:than a day where we're talking about prayer.
Speaker:You might think you don't need nothing.
Speaker:And you might get down here to agree with somebody
Speaker:and the Holy Spirit get all over you and say,
Speaker:"You know what?
Speaker:"You think I don't see you.
Speaker:"You think you're alone.
Speaker:"You feel like you're not enough.
Speaker:"You feel like I don't think you're enough,
Speaker:"but I wanted you to know I love you and I see you
Speaker:"and I haven't forgot about you."
Speaker:You might come down here and say,
Speaker:"I don't know what I'm supposed to pray for."
Speaker:And the person that's praying with you
Speaker:knows what to pray for.
Speaker:There's been many occasions.
Speaker:I used to be scared to go to Fred Jones.
Speaker:He'd tell me everything that I didn't wanna hear.
Speaker:There's an opportunity here for us
Speaker:to come and commune with God in joy and laughter
Speaker:and tears and sorrow, standing and kneeling,
Speaker:bowing, sitting, you ain't even gotta get up.
Speaker:You ain't even gotta get up, but what I ask is,
Speaker:wherever you're at, if you need to come, come.
Speaker:If you need to sit, sit.
Speaker:If you need to stand, if you need to lay prostrate
Speaker:in that back corner, let's do it.
Speaker:They're gonna worship as an act of prayer.
Speaker:They're gonna agree as an act of prayer in faith
Speaker:as you bring your petition to God with thanksgiving,
Speaker:trusting that His sovereign hand
Speaker:that knows the answer you need,
Speaker:regardless if it's the one you want,
Speaker:will hear you and meet you in this space.
Speaker:Let's pray.
Speaker:[Music]
