Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 562 | Requirements for a fruitful prayer life, Part 2

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562 | Requirements for a fruitful prayer life, Part 2 · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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  She's a happy girl. Hello, friends, and welcome back to another podcast of Woman
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  at the Well Ministries, where we believe that all of us have to come to Jesus
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  like the woman at the well in John chapter 4.
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  Our highest priority is making God real in your life.
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  Whether you are listening in our app, in your favorite podcasting app,
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  or on our website at watwm.org,
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  we invite you to sit down with us as we look to the scriptures to learn more
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  about God and to strengthen your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
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  Are you having problems with your prayer life? Join us in this broadcast of
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  Woman at the Well Ministries as Kim continues in this program to look at Samuel's
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  words to the house of Israel concerning what is required of them in order for
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  God to answer their prayers.
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  God promises that He never changes, and He promised in Jeremiah 33.3 that if
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  we call unto Him, He will answer us.
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  So if you're not getting answers to your prayers, then the problem lies within you.
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  In one simple verse, Samuel gives us the recipe for a powerful and successful prayer life.
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  Follow these instructions and have your prayers answered.
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  Hello, and thank you for joining us again at Woman at the Well Ministries as
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  we continue to look at 1 Samuel 7, beginning at verse 3 and continuing to verse 13.
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  In our last lesson, we spent the entire lesson showing what Samuel tells the
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  house of Israel is necessary for them to get their prayers answered.
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  And he tells them very early on that they need to return to the Lord with all their heart.
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  He needs to be priority tops in their life.
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  He needs to be the thing that everything else revolves around,
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  that they need to put away the strange gods, the things that are getting between
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  them and the one and true only God.
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  In John chapter 14 and verse 6, he says, I am the way, the truth,
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  and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by me. So let's be very sure on this point.
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  Jesus is the only way to God the Father.
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  And all other things lead to hell and lead to destruction.
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  And the devil places many things in our lives that get in our way.
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  And so Samuel says to the house of Israel, turn back to God,
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  make him your all in all and put away the strange gods.
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  Prepare your hearts to receive the Lord.
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  And serve him only. Then he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
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  That's what he says we need to do to have those prayers answer.
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  To turn back to the Lord and make him our all in all. Put away the strange gods.
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  Prepare our hearts to receive the Lord and his blessings.
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  And to serve him only. Shall we pray?
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  Our kind and most gracious dear heavenly Father, Lord, Lord,
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  we just thank you that you've allowed us time and opportunity to come back to
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  this passage of scripture and to spend time learning what you have for us,
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  that we might model our lives and our prayer lives after what Samuel has spoken to the house of Israel.
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  And Lord, we ask that you would just prepare our hearts right now to receive
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  the words that you have for us.
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  Lord, that we might be a better Christian for having studied as you promised
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  that your word would not go void.
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  Lord, that we might be more in tune with you as we spend time in your presence
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  and as we hear the words that you've given to us.
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  Lord, we pray that you would charge people's hearts with your love and your mercy and your grace.
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  Lord, we pray that people would be motivated, including me, Lord,
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  to spend more time in your presence praying and hearing what you have to say.
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  And Lord, may I always be found doing what you'd have me to do.
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  And Lord, prepare me to be the person that you designed me to be.
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  Lord, I thank you for who you are. And I thank you for whose I am.
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  And I thank you that you loved me so much that on the cross of Calvary, I was on your mind.
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  I thank you, Lord, that when I confess my sins, that you will forgive me.
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  Lord, I pray that you would just be with us over the next few moments,
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  that you would just show yourselves in great and mighty way.
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  Lord, I pray that you would walk with us and talk with us.
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  I thank you that you said you'd never leave us nor forsake us.
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  And you said if we'd call unto you, that you'd show us great and mighty things that we don't know.
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  Lord, we're calling unto you to enlighten us in the scripture,
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  to reveal to us the intricacies that you would have us to know.
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  We thank you for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
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  We ask that you would just Be with us.
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  In all these things we ask in Thine most precious and holy name we pray.
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  And all of God's people said, Amen.
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  1 Samuel chapter 7 and verse 3. And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying,
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  If you do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange
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  gods and Astaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord,
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  and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
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  Then the children of Israel did put away Balaam and Ashtroth and serve the Lord only.
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  And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpah, that I will pray for you unto the Lord.
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  And they gathered together to Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before
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  the Lord and fasted on that day.
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  And said, There, we have sinned against the Lord. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpah.
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  And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together
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  to Mizpah, the lords of the philistines went up against israel and when the
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  children of israel heard it they were afraid of the philistines.
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  And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the Lord our
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  God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines.
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  And Samuel took a sucking lamb and offered it for a burnt offering holy unto the Lord.
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  Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel, and the Lord heard him.
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  And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near
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  to battle against Israel.
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  But the Lord thundered with a great thunder on the day upon the Philistines.
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  Discomfited them and they were smitten before
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  israel and the men of israel went out of
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  mizpah pursued the philistines and smote them until they
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  came into bethkar then samuel took a
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  stone and set it between mizpah and shin and called the name of it ebenezer
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  saying hitherto hath the lord helped us so the philistines were subdued and
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  they came no more into the coast of israel and the hand of the lord was against
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  the philistines all the days of samuel what i want you to see here is that But
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  Samuel is speaking to the house of Israel.
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  And there's a revival going on. He's speaking to them.
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  He's telling them about what God requires of them in order of them to be delivered
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  from the hand of the Philistines. Because that was their major prayer.
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  That was what they needed to have taken place.
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  And so then the children of Israel, they did that.
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  And they put away those false gods. And they got rid of them.
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  And so Samuel says, okay, let's all gather in celebration.
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  Because he realized there had been a turning away of sin and repentance.
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  My friend, when the heart is changed, there's an outward appearance.
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  There is evidence that something's taking place when you get a new heart in Jesus Christ.
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  In 2 Corinthians 5, 17, he says, Old things are passed away.
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  Behold, all things are become new.
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  We're new creatures in Christ Jesus.
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  And my friend, if your want-tos haven't changed, and you can't tell anything
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  different now that you're white as snow than when you were black with sin,
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  I think you better go back and check again.
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  Because you haven't been face-to-face with the God of the universe who cleansed you.
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  It's a repentance of the heart and not
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  the mind i grew up with a youth pastor who
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  always made the statement that most people are
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  18 inches away from hell because he assumed that's how far it was for most people
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  from their head to their heart and he was saying that so many people believe
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  there is a god the bible tells us in james that even the devil believes there's
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  a god and he trembles in fact the devil we're told in job has meetings with
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  god talking about god's saints,
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  And then Jesus intervenes and says, hey, that's mine.
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  See the blood? I'll pass over you.
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  Friends, there's a celebration going on here in 1 Samuel chapter 7 because there's
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  been a genuine repentance.
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  There's been a movement towards God. And you better believe the devil isn't
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  happy because the devil doesn't want any of us to move close to God.
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  He doesn't want any of us working for God. So what he sees is he sees this gathering
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  of people coming together to celebrate the repentance and the cleansing of God.
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  And so then what happens is they poured
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  everything before the lord as they began to
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  draw water at this celebration because that was symbolic
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  of cleansing and they were celebrating jesus
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  when's the last time you just celebrated jesus
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  for no apparent reason you just started praising
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  his holy name and you just started listing the wonderful
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  things that he does in your life and the wonderful things he's done for you
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  and you begin to start confessing your sins that's a true revival you don't
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  have to have a revival at your church you need to have a revival in your life.
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  And these folks in the house of israel here that samuel speaking to are are enjoying this.
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  And so then what you see is that they repent they see they've sinned against
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  the lord and then the philistines their enemy hears this and they get wind that
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  all these people are going They'll be hanging out over at Mizpah.
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  And they're a huge army.
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  And they're equipped. They're daunting.
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  And by themselves, the house of Israel doesn't stand much a chance.
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  Oh, but they've got something else in the equation.
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  When God comes on the scene, nothing's equal about that.
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  Because nothing can compare to God. So these people have repented of their sins,
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  and they're together in a celebration.
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  They hear of this thing that's going to happen. And the first thing they do,
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  the first thing they do is they seek the man of God.
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  Now, friends, this was before the cross.
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  This is before the day of Pentecost. This is before the Holy Spirit had come
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  to dwell in the hearts of believers.
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  And so the Holy Spirit was upon certain prophets and Samuel was one of them.
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  And so they went to the man of God so that he could go to God and ask for the deliverance of them.
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  Oh, but my friend, we need to do the one thing they did, which was to seek God.
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  And they sought him the only way they knew how, which was through another man of God.
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  But today he says, come quickly to the throne.
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  He says the call unto me, he invites us.
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  We have access to the father because Jesus Christ is our heavenly father.
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  And we have access to God the father because Jesus prays for us daily.
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  And we can come straight to God.
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  We don't have to go to another man. We don't have to have an intercessor. God is our intercessor.
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  Jesus is our intercessor. The Holy Spirit, he prays groanings and moanings that
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  God understands because he prays for us.
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  We have access to the throne through Jesus and the Holy Spirit that dwells inside of us.
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  But just like those house of Israel people, we need to be seeking God first.
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  And so they seek God first, and then look what the man of God does.
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  He takes a sacrifice, holy unto the Lord.
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  You see, when I come to God, I come with a sacrifice.
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  I come with the holy lamb of God, slain from my iniquities,
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  bruised from my iniquities, ripped apart from my sins, beaten beyond recognition that I might go free.
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  And each time I come to the throne of God,
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  I come dripping in the blood of Jesus and I have the holy sacrifice of the Lamb
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  of God covering me and gaining me entrance into the throne of God and access to the holy heart of God.
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  And Samuel comes with the burnt sacrifice and he cries unto the Lord.
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  The lord hears him you see he came with the holy sacrifice when i come into the throne room of god,
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  covered in the blood of his son jesus christ bought with the price of his precious
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  son i come holy when i have come to jesus and confessed my sins.
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  And I come righteous in his righteousness. You see, because he imputes his righteousness in us.
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  Christ makes us holy because he is holy.
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  But we have to shun the world. And we have to fall in love with Jesus.
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  We have to follow all the things that Samuel told the house of Israel.
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  And as we stand there, as Samuel did that day, we can ask and receive, seek, and find.
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  Knock, and have it open to us, just like Matthew 7-7 says, because his word cannot fail.
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  And as we stand there, prepared hearts, put it away, the things of the world,
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  falling in love with Jesus and serving him only, then we come as Samuel did, and look what happened.
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  As samuel was praying god thundered
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  with a great thunder i don't know whether that was an earthquake i don't know
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  whether that was a thunder that split the sky i don't know whether it was a
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  deafening noise i have no idea what it was but i know it was effective and it
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  was exactly what he wanted it to be and it was great,
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  And it totally confused the boys. They never heard or seen anything like it.
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  And then suddenly this little house of Israel, the underdogs.
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  Totally pursued what was once their enemy and smote them because you could do
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  all things through Christ which strengthens you.
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  And he'll supply all of your needs according to his riches and glory.
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  Philippians 4, 13 and 19 is clear that in him we can do all things.
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  Do you remember little David, the same guy that brought us, that he's not going
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  to hear us if you have iniquity in your heart, also said the battle's not mine, it belongs to the Lord.
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  And Samuel shows us exactly what we need to do to fight the devil that speaks
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  of us in Ephesians 6 about the wows of the devil, the principalities,
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  the spiritual world, all these things that we can't see that we're fighting is the devil.
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  And he says, just stand and put on the whole armor of God.
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  David says, the battle is not ours, it's the Lord's.
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  Samuel said, hey God, this is my problem. He stood in right standing with God,
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  and God delivered the miracle.
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  And they even chased him. I love it.
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  It wasn't that they all stood still, but when God came on the scene,
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  and the house of Israel had done their preparation,
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  and they were living in the center of God's will, they were victorious in Jesus
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  and brave and courageous in him.
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  They were like, Paul, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.
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  When you find someone who is living in the center of God's will,
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  they're not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, and they'll pursue the devil with
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  a vengeance, trying to be the gulf that spans heaven and hell for all those they're burdened for.
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  Buddy samuel knew what to do but the
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  house of israel did too they went to
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  the man of god the man of god prayed god sent the
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  thunder they saw god they understood god
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  they followed god and they chased their enemy they
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  smote him then they came to a
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  place that's between mezpa and shen and
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  he called it ebenezer saying hitherto hath the lord helped us
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  and he made a little memorial these people weren't worshiping this memorial
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  they weren't worshiping this stone they were commemorating the victory jesus
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  gave them victory in jesus i heard an old old story how a savior came from glory.
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  I heard about his moaning and I heard about his groaning and his precious blood
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  atoning. Victory in Jesus.
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  Oh, friend, that same victory can be yours.
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  You can have victory over hell, death, and the grave and live forever by receiving Jesus as Savior.
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  You can be victorious over the struggles, as I call them, struggles and troubles
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  of this life by living a life filled with faith in the presence of God,
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  resting upon his strength.
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  Taking the supply of his resources that he gives you and forgetting about trying
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  to take care of your own things you're a god you belong to god and he said hey
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  i'm never gonna leave you nor forsake you i've got a plan for you i'll give
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  you all the things you need why bother to worry,
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  why bother to try to fix it all the fixing you can do is just gonna get you
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  you need to just Turn around and say, Lord, let me be out of your way so your will can be done.
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  God, my footsteps, open my heart.
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  Thank you, Lord, for including me in your plan. This poor, feeble person.
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  And you want to choose me to be an instrument of your love and your grace and your mercy.
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  Lord, clean me up. Here I am.
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  Help me, God, to remove those things that don't need to be there.
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  And so the situation was this. It was desolate.
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  And God turned it into a celebration. They were surely gonna die.
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  The big bad Philistines had found them all in one place.
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  Celebrating and praising God.
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  Some of you may be going through some harassment because of your faith.
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  Look up for your redemption draw.
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  They were celebrating Jesus when the Philistines said, oh, it was crazy.
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  People, they're not paying attention. They've lost their mind.
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  They don't know anything.
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  We'll get them there. They came there.
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  They came to the presence of God. What happened?
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  Down they went. No one can beat Jesus. No one can take God.
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  So don't lose hope. If you're celebrating Jesus and you're praising him,
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  it tells us in the Bible, a pastor tells me all the time, it says that God inhabits
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  the praise of his people.
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  The Bible's clear that he inhabits the praise of Israel.
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  He's around. It's the safest place you can be.
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  They may laugh now, but judgment day is coming.
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  And it's your job not to convince others by argument.
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  But to present biblical truth explained by the Holy Spirit and to live it in front of them.
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  Friends, this is an opportunity for you to clean yourself, not that of your
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  works of righteousness, but of righteousness that he does, and to come to him
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  and allow him to just clean you right up and make a memorial because,
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  friends, the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.
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  Samuel didn't have to worry about his enemy because God had taken care of him.
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  I have great news. I read the back of the book and we win because the devil
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  will be cast into the lake of fire.
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  You'll not see him in heaven. You'll not have any of his effects in heaven.
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  I read the back of the book and we win.
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  Oh, friends, come back to your first love. Put away the gods of your fathers and of the world.
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  Prepare your hearts and serve him only.
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  Thank you for joining us in today's podcast. You can visit the show notes for
• 21:52
  quotes from today's podcast and scripture references.
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  We pray today has been a blessing and we encourage you to reach out to us through
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• 22:20
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• 22:38
  Thank you to the Gospel Group Fudge Creek for letting us use their hit song, Happy Girl.
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  Remember that God loves you. You are loved.