Latest / Max Lucado Daily Sermons / Special Preaching Pray Audacious Prayers - Minister Max Lucado
Transcript
- 0:01Speaker 1: So so Thank you.
- 1:02Speaker 2: God is the God of fresh starts and new beginnings
- 1:04Speaker 2: and second chances. And if you're ready for some, then
- 1:08Speaker 2: you're in the right place as we're looking at the
- 1:10Speaker 2: story of Joshua, the book and the life that tells
- 1:14Speaker 2: us how God led the children of Israel into the
- 1:16Speaker 2: greatest era in the history of the nation, glory days.
- 1:22Speaker 3: And if you're in need of some glory days, you're
- 1:24Speaker 3: going to love the story of Joshua.
- 1:26Speaker 2: Before we begin, Joshua chapter 9 and 10, the words
- 1:30Speaker 2: of our declaration are going to appear on the screen.
- 1:34Speaker 2: I want you to push your shoulders back, sit up straight,
- 1:36Speaker 2: fill your lungs with air and say.
- 1:39Speaker 3: It like you mean it. You ready?
- 1:41Speaker 2: These days are glory days. My past is past. My
- 1:46Speaker 2: future is bright.
- 1:47Speaker 3: God's promises are true and his word is sure with
- 1:52Speaker 3: God is my helper.
- 1:54Speaker 2: I will be all he wants me to be, do
- 1:58Speaker 2: all he wants me to do, and receive all he
- 2:01Speaker 2: wants me to receive.
- 2:03Speaker 3: These days are glory days.
- 2:05Speaker 2: Yes, Lord, right now we receive you in the midst
- 2:09Speaker 2: of this moment. We welcome whatever it is that you
- 2:13Speaker 2: have to say to us, and we bless you. We
- 2:16Speaker 2: ask that you'd please forgive the sins of our speaker.
- 2:19Speaker 2: There are so many. And grant that we could see Christ.
- 2:23Speaker 2: And just Christ. And through his name we pray. And
- 2:27Speaker 2: all the church said.
- 2:28Speaker 1: Amen.
- 2:30Speaker 3: So we send a greeting to the gathering at Fredericksburg.
- 2:33Speaker 2: West side. Outer west. North central. Journey fellowship. And all
- 2:37Speaker 2: of you watching online.
- 2:39Speaker 3: We're so glad that you are here.
- 2:42Speaker 2: Many of you look at the bottom of your outline
- 2:44Speaker 2: each week. To see what the passage is going to
- 2:46Speaker 2: be next week. So you can come having read the passage.
- 2:51Speaker 1: Nope.
- 2:51Speaker 2: That's not a misprint you see there. It does say
- 2:54Speaker 2: next week, Joshua chapters 11 through 22.
- 3:00Speaker 3: 11 chapters in one sermon. You better bring a lunch.
- 3:07Speaker 3: It's a bit of a tedious read.
- 3:09Speaker 2: It describes the distribution of the land to the children
- 3:13Speaker 2: of Israel. And so I think we can cover it
- 3:16Speaker 2: all in just a couple of weeks.
- 3:18Speaker 3: And again, it's a bit like reading.
- 3:22Speaker 2: Deeds and warrants and going down to the courthouse and
- 3:26Speaker 2: reading files. But there's some truths in that that we
- 3:29Speaker 2: will mine over the next couple of weeks. And so
- 3:32Speaker 2: if you want to come back having read it, we'll
- 3:35Speaker 2: look at those chapters. But for today, we're in Joshua
- 3:40Speaker 2: chapter 9 and 10.
- 3:42Speaker 3: Remember the context.
- 3:43Speaker 2: We're following the children of Israel as they inherit Israel.
- 3:47Speaker 2: The land that God has given to them, looking at
- 3:50Speaker 2: these seven.
- 3:50Speaker 3: Years of unparalleled success.
- 3:53Speaker 2: Why did they receive such favor? And what can we
- 3:59Speaker 2: learn so that we too might enter into our promised land?
- 4:04Speaker 2: Today's takeaway point is simple. Pray audacious prayers. When Martin
- 4:13Speaker 2: Luther's co-worker became ill, the reformer prayed boldly for his healing.
- 4:19Speaker 2: He later wrote, I besought the Almighty with great vigor.
- 4:25Speaker 2: I attacked him with his own weapons, quoting from scripture
- 4:29Speaker 2: all the promises I could remember that my prayer should
- 4:33Speaker 2: be granted and that God must grant my prayer if
- 4:37Speaker 2: I was.
- 4:37Speaker 3: Henceforth to put faith in his promises.
- 4:42Speaker 2: On another occasion, Martin Luther's good friend Frederick Myconius was sick,
- 4:50Speaker 2: and Luther wrote his friend saying, I command you in
- 4:53Speaker 2: the name of God to live because I still have.
- 4:56Speaker 3: Need of thee in the reforming work of the church.
- 5:00Speaker 2: The Lord will never let me hear that thou art dead,
- 5:03Speaker 2: but will permit thee to survive me. For this I
- 5:06Speaker 2: am praying, this is my will, and may my will
- 5:09Speaker 2: be done. because I seek only to glorify the name
- 5:13Speaker 2: of God. When John Wesley was crossing the Atlantic Ocean
- 5:19Speaker 2: by ship, a great storm came upon the sea. Wesley
- 5:23Speaker 2: was in his cabin when he became aware of some
- 5:27Speaker 2: confusion on board. When he learned that the storm was
- 5:32Speaker 2: knocking the ship off course, he responded in prayer. We
- 5:36Speaker 2: know the nature of his prayer because Adam said, Clark,
- 5:42Speaker 2: a great scholar in his own right, was there to
- 5:44Speaker 2: record the prayer in his diary. John Wesley prayed, Almighty
- 5:50Speaker 2: and everlasting God, you have sway everywhere, and all things.
- 5:54Speaker 3: Serve the purpose of your will.
- 5:56Speaker 2: You hold the winds in your fist and sit upon
- 5:58Speaker 2: the water floods and reign as king forever. Command these
- 6:02Speaker 2: winds and these waves that they obey you and take
- 6:05Speaker 2: us speedily and safely to the harbor where we would go.
- 6:11Speaker 2: Wesley stood up from his knees and he took up
- 6:13Speaker 2: his book and he continued to read.
- 6:16Speaker 3: Dr.
- 6:17Speaker 2: Clark went up on the deck and he found calm
- 6:19Speaker 2: winds and the ship was on course. When he reported
- 6:25Speaker 2: the answered prayer to John Wesley, Wesley made no remarks.
- 6:28Speaker 2: So fully did he expect to be heard, wrote Clark,
- 6:32Speaker 2: that he took it for granted that he was heard.
- 6:38Speaker 3: How bold are your prayers? Boldness in prayer is a
- 6:45Speaker 3: new thought for many.
- 6:47Speaker 2: We think of speaking softly to God, humbling ourselves before God,
- 6:53Speaker 2: having a little talk with Jesus. But agonizing before God,
- 7:00Speaker 2: storming heaven with prayers, pounding on the door of the
- 7:03Speaker 2: Most High, wrestling with God, isn't such prayer irreverent, presumptuous? Well,
- 7:11Speaker 2: it would be had God not invited us to pray
- 7:14Speaker 2: as such. So let us come boldly to the very
- 7:20Speaker 2: throne of God and stay there to receive his mercy
- 7:27Speaker 2: and to find grace.
- 7:30Speaker 3: To help us in our times of need.
- 7:36Speaker 2: Our hero Joshua did this, but not before he didn't.
- 7:42Speaker 2: His example teaches us how to pray as well as
- 7:46Speaker 2: what happens when we don't pray. If you like to
- 7:50Speaker 2: fill in the blanks, let me tell you about a
- 7:52Speaker 2: time when Joshua did not pray. In the days immediately
- 7:57Speaker 2: after the Shechem gathering that we studied last week, a
- 8:01Speaker 2: group of strangers entered Joshua's camp at Gilgal. They told him,
- 8:07Speaker 2: your servants have come from a far country. They presented
- 8:12Speaker 2: themselves as hapless pilgrims from a distant place, and everything
- 8:16Speaker 2: fit their story. Their grain sacks, their sandals, their clothes
- 8:20Speaker 2: were worn out. Even their bread was moldy and dry.
- 8:25Speaker 2: They claimed to be allies of Joshua. Even more, they
- 8:28Speaker 2: praised the accomplishments of God, and they asked Joshua and
- 8:32Speaker 2: his men to make a covenant with them. Joshua consulted
- 8:37Speaker 2: his advisors, and he weighed the options together.
- 8:40Speaker 3: And eventually agreed.
- 8:42Speaker 2: Three days passed before Joshua realized he had been hoodwinked.
- 8:49Speaker 3: He had been tricked. These men were not from a
- 8:52Speaker 3: distant land. They were from an.
- 8:55Speaker 2: Enemy tribe just 10 to 20 miles away, Gibeon. They
- 9:02Speaker 2: wore weathered clothing as a disguise. They brought props of
- 9:09Speaker 2: stale bread. to fool Joshua. They pretended to be foreigners
- 9:15Speaker 2: because they knew what Joshua had done to the people
- 9:17Speaker 2: of Jericho and of Ai. They may have also known
- 9:22Speaker 2: that God's law made a special provision for cities outside
- 9:26Speaker 2: of Canaan. So being afraid, they resorted to deception. And
- 9:33Speaker 2: we wonder why didn't Joshua and his men pick this up?
- 9:38Speaker 2: The scriptures tell us They did not ask the counsel
- 9:45Speaker 2: of the Lord. Scripture slaps Joshua's hands here.
- 9:51Speaker 3: He didn't pray.
- 9:52Speaker 2: The practice of the Hebrew people was supposed to be
- 9:56Speaker 2: pray first, act later.
- 9:59Speaker 3: They were saved.
- 10:00Speaker 2: Supposed to stand before Eleazar, the priest who shall inquire
- 10:05Speaker 2: before the Lord. Joshua did everything but this. He and
- 10:12Speaker 2: his elders asked careful questions. They investigated the story of
- 10:16Speaker 2: the newcomers. They investigated the evidence, but they didn't pray.
- 10:21Speaker 2: And they entered into an alliance with the enemy because
- 10:25Speaker 2: they did not seek the counsel of God.
- 10:28Speaker 3: This alliance quickly proved to be troublesome.
- 10:33Speaker 2: The other kings of Canaan saw the Gibeonites, the ones
- 10:37Speaker 2: who had disguised themselves as traitors. And these five kings
- 10:42Speaker 2: set out to attack the Gibeonites, five armies against one nation.
- 10:47Speaker 3: They were outnumbered.
- 10:49Speaker 2: But since they had an alliance with Joshua, they turned
- 10:54Speaker 2: to the Hebrews to help. And because he had given
- 10:57Speaker 2: his word, Joshua had no choice but to come to
- 11:02Speaker 2: their rescue. So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, that's their encampment.
- 11:08Speaker 2: He and all the people of war with him and
- 11:11Speaker 2: all the mighty men of valor.
- 11:13Speaker 3: And the Lord said to Joshua, do not fear them.
- 11:19Speaker 2: For I have delivered them into your hand, not a
- 11:21Speaker 2: man of them shall stand before you. Joshua therefore came
- 11:26Speaker 2: upon them suddenly, having marched all night from Gilgal. These
- 11:33Speaker 2: five kings, they never stood a chance.
- 11:36Speaker 3: They retreated before they had a chance to advance.
- 11:39Speaker 2: Apparently they did not expect Joshua to respond with such fervor.
- 11:45Speaker 2: They turned and they ran with the Hebrew army hot
- 11:48Speaker 2: on their heels. And as Joshua thundered behind them, the
- 11:53Speaker 2: clouds began to thunder over them. If you read the text,
- 11:57Speaker 2: you noticed in verse 11 that large hailstones began to
- 12:00Speaker 2: fall from the sky like carpet bombs.
- 12:05Speaker 3: It was midday.
- 12:08Speaker 2: Joshua saw the hailstones falling and he anticipated the sun
- 12:13Speaker 2: setting and he realized, I need more time. This day
- 12:17Speaker 2: is passing too quickly. He had the upper hand. Yet
- 12:21Speaker 2: nightfall would give the enemy time to regroup if he
- 12:25Speaker 2: just had a few more hours of daylight. He could
- 12:28Speaker 2: win the battle. He could strike a decisive blow at
- 12:31Speaker 2: the defense of the Canaanites. And so he began to pray.
- 12:36Speaker 2: He had failed to pray about the Gibeonites, but he
- 12:40Speaker 2: didn't make the same mistake twice. Let me tell you
- 12:45Speaker 2: about when Joshua did pray. Reading from the message translation.
- 12:52Speaker 2: The day God gave the Amorites up to Israel, Joshua
- 12:56Speaker 2: spoke to God with all Israel listening. Stop, sun, over Gibeon. Halt, moon,
- 13:06Speaker 2: over Agilon Valley.
- 13:10Speaker 3: And sun stopped. Stopped.
- 13:11Speaker 2: Moon stood stock still until he defeated his enemies.
- 13:16Speaker 3: You can find this written in the book of Jasher.
- 13:20Speaker 2: The sun stopped in its tracks in mid sky, just
- 13:23Speaker 2: sat there all day. There's never been a day like
- 13:28Speaker 2: that before or since. God took orders from a human voice. Truly,
- 13:34Speaker 2: God fought for Israel. Then Joshua returned all Israel with
- 13:38Speaker 2: him to the camp at Gilgal. Joshua's victory that day
- 13:42Speaker 2: was complete. The Hebrews defeated the five enemy kings in
- 13:47Speaker 2: one fell swoop. The conquering of the promised land was
- 13:51Speaker 2: all but guaranteed. What made the difference?
- 13:54Speaker 3: The audacious prayer of Joshua. Joshua called out to God.
- 14:01Speaker 2: He asked the maker of the heavens to press the
- 14:03Speaker 2: cosmic pause button. I think it's interesting that the narrator,
- 14:10Speaker 2: knowing that his readers would be shocked at the story,
- 14:13Speaker 2: referred to the book of Jasher, an extra biblical volume
- 14:19Speaker 2: that just contains stories, a history of the Hebrew people.
- 14:23Speaker 2: He was stating, in essence, if you find this hard
- 14:26Speaker 2: to believe, check out the history book. The verse I
- 14:30Speaker 2: think that deserves your highlighter is verse 14.
- 14:34Speaker 3: God took orders. From a human voice. God in his. Providence.
- 14:43Speaker 3: Chose to hear. And heed. Joshua's request. Does he still.
- 14:52Speaker 3: Would he still. Might he still. This is the question.
- 15:02Speaker 3: Does God listen when we pray. Like Joshua, you face battles.
- 15:10Speaker 3: Five kings are bearing down upon you right now. Discouragement, deception, defeat, destruction,
- 15:17Speaker 3: and death.
- 15:20Speaker 2: They roar into your world like a hell's angel motorcycle gang.
- 15:24Speaker 2: And their goal is to chase you back into the wilderness.
- 15:27Speaker 3: And you have two choices.
- 15:29Speaker 2: You can either turn away and run or you can
- 15:31Speaker 2: turn to God and pray.
- 15:37Speaker 3: Respond in prayer.
- 15:39Speaker 2: Respond in bold, honest, continual and audacious prayer. God's there
- 15:49Speaker 2: listening for all who pray, for all who pray and
- 15:52Speaker 2: mean it. The Lord is not far from each of us.
- 15:56Speaker 2: Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.
- 15:59Speaker 2: God will give.
- 16:00Speaker 3: Good things to those who ask him.
- 16:05Speaker 2: Walk away with a couple of lessons from Joshua's prayer life.
- 16:08Speaker 2: Number one, consult God in everything. Consult God in everything.
- 16:19Speaker 3: You see, you need God's guidance.
- 16:22Speaker 2: The Gibeonites disguised themselves as impoverished pilgrims. Your enemy disguises
- 16:27Speaker 2: himself as well. Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
- 16:34Speaker 2: Your enemy comes disguised as a harmless dinner with a
- 16:37Speaker 2: married man or a fun night with the guys at
- 16:39Speaker 2: the men's club or an opportunity to make a profit
- 16:43Speaker 2: by shaving the expense account. He's crafty, but you're not
- 16:47Speaker 2: alone in your defense. Seek God always, immediately, quickly. Live
- 16:56Speaker 2: with one ear toward heaven. Here's your promise. Trust in
- 17:03Speaker 2: the Lord with all your heart. And lead not on
- 17:06Speaker 2: your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him. And
- 17:11Speaker 2: he shall what? Direct your paths.
- 17:15Speaker 3: You know what?
- 17:16Speaker 2: You cannot talk to God about too much. Other people
- 17:20Speaker 2: will get tired of listening to you. But God never will.
- 17:23Speaker 2: Other people will say that's too much detail. Too much information.
- 17:27Speaker 2: God says bring it on. I want to hear it.
- 17:29Speaker 3: If it matters to you, it matters to God.
- 17:33Speaker 2: Because you see, our relationship with God is exactly that.
- 17:36Speaker 3: It's a relationship. And his invitation is clear and simple.
- 17:43Speaker 2: He says, come and talk with me, oh my people.
- 17:47Speaker 2: And our response, Lord, I'm coming. It's that simple. We
- 17:53Speaker 2: abide with him and he abides with us.
- 17:57Speaker 3: And as we.
- 17:58Speaker 2: Journey through life, he begins to tell us, turn here,
- 18:02Speaker 2: turn there, step here, step there. He doesn't give us
- 18:07Speaker 2: everything we need all at once. He gives it to
- 18:10Speaker 2: us as we need it. I tried this level of
- 18:15Speaker 2: guidance with my wife, Dinalyn, once. We were using the
- 18:19Speaker 2: GPS on my smartphone to locate a particular destination.
- 18:25Speaker 3: Deanland was driving.
- 18:26Speaker 2: And I was riding in the passenger seat, holding the phone,
- 18:30Speaker 2: watching on the phone, the map. And just for the
- 18:35Speaker 2: fun of it, I muted the volume on the voice.
- 18:39Speaker 2: And I told Deanland that I.
- 18:40Speaker 3: Would share the direction at the moment she needed it.
- 18:46Speaker 3: Don't worry.
- 18:47Speaker 2: She, I told her right when you need to know,
- 18:49Speaker 2: I will tell you, but not a second sooner.
- 18:53Speaker 3: She did not like that plan.
- 18:56Speaker 2: She wanted to know the entire itinerary at once. She
- 19:02Speaker 2: preferred to have all the information rather than bits and pieces.
- 19:05Speaker 2: But I told her, honey, this is good spiritual training.
- 19:10Speaker 3: God works this way.
- 19:12Speaker 2: And she was quick to say, but you're not God.
- 19:17Speaker 2: So I gave her the entire itinerary.
- 19:20Speaker 3: But God doesn't. God doesn't.
- 19:22Speaker 2: He will give you what you need now. for today's
- 19:27Speaker 2: questions today. His word is a light unto your feet,
- 19:36Speaker 2: not a spotlight into the future.
- 19:39Speaker 3: He will give you what you need today for today.
- 19:43Speaker 2: He will help you against the devil. He will disclose
- 19:46Speaker 2: the craftiness of Satan, but we must consult him.
- 19:51Speaker 3: In everything.
- 19:52Speaker 2: Glory days are such because we learn to hear God's
- 19:57Speaker 2: voice telling us, turn this way or turn that. Scripture
- 20:03Speaker 2: says your own ears will hear him. Right behind you,
- 20:07Speaker 2: a voice will say, this is the way you should go.
- 20:11Speaker 2: whether to the right or to the left. Do you
- 20:15Speaker 2: want some glory days?
- 20:17Speaker 3: Then you refer every decision to the tribunal of heaven.
- 20:22Speaker 2: You do your best to wear heaven out with your
- 20:24Speaker 2: requests and questions. You never turn your ear away from God.
- 20:32Speaker 2: In response, he will bend low, the psalmist said, and
- 20:37Speaker 2: hear my whispered plea.
- 20:41Speaker 3: Wait until God speaks before you act.
- 20:43Speaker 2: Be patient. Check your impulse. If you feel a check
- 20:46Speaker 2: on your heart, heed it. Stop.
- 20:49Speaker 3: Ask God again.
- 20:50Speaker 2: Don't move until you sense the green light from God.
- 20:54Speaker 2: This is the only way to outmatch the devil's deceit.
- 21:00Speaker 2: Consult God in everything and call on God.
- 21:04Speaker 3: For great things. Call on God for great things. Imitate Joshua.
- 21:10Speaker 3: Ask God to defeat.
- 21:11Speaker 2: The enemies of the promised land. If that means the
- 21:14Speaker 2: interruption of earthly rotation, so be it. You see, when
- 21:18Speaker 2: it comes to advancing the kingdom, no request is unrealistic.
- 21:24Speaker 3: Remember who you are.
- 21:26Speaker 2: This is the big message of Joshua.
- 21:29Speaker 3: You are inheriting, not earning the promised land. This is
- 21:34Speaker 3: your land. You were made to be here.
- 21:37Speaker 2: You are God's child. You're an heir to God's fortune.
- 21:41Speaker 2: You have obtained an inheritance. The will has been executed.
- 21:47Speaker 2: The courts have been satisfied. Your spiritual account has been funded. Paul,
- 21:53Speaker 2: the apostle, says this resurrection life you received from God
- 21:58Speaker 2: is not a timid, grave, tending life.
- 22:03Speaker 3: It's adventurously expectant. Greeting God with a childlike, what's next, Papa?
- 22:11Speaker 2: God's spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are.
- 22:17Speaker 2: We know who he is. And we know who we are.
- 22:23Speaker 2: Father and children. And we know we are going to
- 22:27Speaker 2: get what's coming to us. An unbelievable gift. You can
- 22:34Speaker 2: pray bold prayers because you are God's child. You can
- 22:42Speaker 2: pray bold prayers because you're not just a run-of-the-mill person
- 22:47Speaker 2: on this planet. You have been bought by the blood
- 22:51Speaker 2: of Christ and you have been placed into his family.
- 22:55Speaker 2: So you come to God not as a stranger, but
- 22:58Speaker 2: as an heir to the promise of You approach God's
- 23:01Speaker 2: throne not as an interloper, but as a child in
- 23:05Speaker 2: whom the spirit of God dwells. You don't swagger into
- 23:11Speaker 2: God's presence, but neither do you sneak and creep into
- 23:15Speaker 2: God's presence.
- 23:16Speaker 3: You're not cocky, but neither are you mousy.
- 23:20Speaker 2: You step into the throne room of God having been
- 23:25Speaker 2: invited into And when you step into the throne room
- 23:29Speaker 2: of God, all the angels step back and they say, oh,
- 23:32Speaker 2: we recognize you.
- 23:35Speaker 3: You're one of his children and you are welcome here.
- 23:39Speaker 2: Having been invited by him, escorted by his son, accompanied
- 23:46Speaker 2: by his spirit, you can earnestly make your requests known
- 23:51Speaker 2: to him, knowing he will do.
- 23:53Speaker 3: What is right.
- 23:56Speaker 2: Not because of what you have achieved, but because of
- 23:59Speaker 2: what Christ has done.
- 24:02Speaker 3: Jesus spilled his blood for you.
- 24:04Speaker 2: Consequently, you can spill your heart before God. Now, maybe
- 24:11Speaker 2: you don't need the sun to stop, but boy, you
- 24:13Speaker 2: need the temptation to leave. You need the fog of
- 24:18Speaker 2: fear to lift. You need the cancer to vanish. You
- 24:23Speaker 2: don't need a longer day, but you likely need a
- 24:26Speaker 2: deeper faith.
- 24:29Speaker 3: A stronger resolve or a higher call.
- 24:32Speaker 2: Your first response when temptation or trouble comes.
- 24:36Speaker 3: Pray audacious prayers.
- 24:38Speaker 2: Pray against the pornography that plagues your husband. Pray against
- 24:43Speaker 2: the guilt that burdens your wife. Pray against the violence.
- 24:49Speaker 2: In our city. The evil in our neighborhoods. And the
- 24:51Speaker 2: corruption in our streets. God hears the prayers of his people.
- 24:57Speaker 2: And he is partial to his children. He hears the
- 25:02Speaker 2: prayers of all people. But he especially hears the prayers
- 25:05Speaker 2: of those who have trusted.
- 25:07Speaker 3: His son to save them.
- 25:08Speaker 2: This is your privilege and your responsibility. And he will
- 25:15Speaker 2: hear when you speak. During the season I was working
- 25:21Speaker 2: on this sermon, I had the opportunity to lead a
- 25:24Speaker 2: group of 500 people to Israel. One morning we had
- 25:27Speaker 2: a Bible study on the southern steps of the Temple Mount.
- 25:31Speaker 2: This precious ascent remains much the way it appeared 2,000
- 25:35Speaker 2: years ago when Jesus and his disciples gathered there. Our
- 25:40Speaker 2: group sat with the eastern sun on their left shoulder
- 25:44Speaker 2: and the temple wall to their backs. And behind them,
- 25:48Speaker 2: there was the Dome of the Rock, the third holiest
- 25:51Speaker 2: site in the Muslim faith. For my lesson, I chose
- 25:57Speaker 2: a phrase out.
- 25:57Speaker 3: Of John 3, 16, one and only.
- 26:02Speaker 2: Since we were standing where Jesus himself stood, it seemed
- 26:06Speaker 2: only right to consider the claim that Jesus himself made,
- 26:10Speaker 2: that he was the one and only Son of God.
- 26:13Speaker 2: And the fact that we sat there in the shadow
- 26:16Speaker 2: of a mosque dedicated to Muhammad, only accentuated.
- 26:23Speaker 3: The contrast.
- 26:26Speaker 2: A few minutes into the message, a mysterious voice began
- 26:29Speaker 2: to mock my words.
- 26:33Speaker 3: It was high-pitched. It was eerie.
- 26:38Speaker 2: Each time I said, one and only, it parroted, one
- 26:43Speaker 2: and only, Each time I said the name Jesus, a
- 26:50Speaker 2: voice from somewhere heavy with accent would mimic Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.
- 26:58Speaker 2: The interruption had all the earmarks of a spiritual conflict.
- 27:02Speaker 2: Christ being again proclaimed in a holy place in the
- 27:06Speaker 2: holy city where he stood.
- 27:08Speaker 3: Christ being mocked where he was mocked then.
- 27:12Speaker 2: Jesus's authority declared, Jesus's authority belittled.
- 27:17Speaker 3: I could tell that the.
- 27:18Speaker 2: Voice came from back behind the people, but I just
- 27:21Speaker 2: couldn't see where. I searched the walls, but saw nothing.
- 27:25Speaker 2: People began to turn and look for the origin of
- 27:29Speaker 2: the voice, as did the guides and the.
- 27:32Speaker 3: Guards, but no one could isolate it. The more I preached,
- 27:37Speaker 3: the more it parroted.
- 27:40Speaker 2: For fear of conceding defeat to this odd force, I
- 27:44Speaker 2: decided not to stop.
- 27:48Speaker 3: The second point in my message was Christ, the one
- 27:51Speaker 3: and only ruler.
- 27:54Speaker 2: And rather than preach the point, I decided to pray
- 27:58Speaker 2: the point. Jesus is the supreme authority of this place,
- 28:03Speaker 2: any place, and every place, I prayed. Which by the
- 28:07Speaker 2: way includes you demons. You servants of hell. And you
- 28:11Speaker 2: Satan himself. If you're the one issuing this voice. You
- 28:15Speaker 2: are not welcome in this gathering. And I repeated the
- 28:20Speaker 2: declaration several times.
- 28:21Speaker 3: And the.
- 28:23Speaker 2: Group began to shout amen. And applaud and stand. And
- 28:27Speaker 2: within moments the voice was suddenly silent. It stopped completely
- 28:34Speaker 2: as if a switch had been flipped. We finished the
- 28:38Speaker 2: Bible lesson in peace.
- 28:41Speaker 3: Afterwards, I asked the tour leader, I said, you must
- 28:44Speaker 3: have found the culprit. He said, we never did. We tried,
- 28:50Speaker 3: but we could not find him.
- 28:54Speaker 2: Now, a person might chalk the sudden silence of the
- 28:57Speaker 2: scoffer up to coincidence.
- 29:00Speaker 3: I choose not to. I chalk it up to prominence.
- 29:06Speaker 2: That when the authority of Christ is proclaimed, that when
- 29:11Speaker 2: a child of God declares the presence of God, that
- 29:17Speaker 2: Satan has to turn and leave.
- 29:21Speaker 3: Resist the devil.
- 29:22Speaker 2: He will flee from you. This is the authority that
- 29:26Speaker 2: you have.
- 29:27Speaker 3: Been given as a child, as a son or daughter
- 29:30Speaker 3: of God.
- 29:33Speaker 2: And this includes any voice, any force that is seeking
- 29:37Speaker 2: right now to drive you out of the promised land.
- 29:39Speaker 2: remember god fights for you so you will not have
- 29:45Speaker 2: to fight this battle take your position stand firm and
- 29:49Speaker 2: see the deliverance the lord will give you church call
- 29:55Speaker 2: on god call on god declare the name of jesus Ask,
- 30:01Speaker 2: it will be given to you. If you believe, you
- 30:04Speaker 2: will get anything you ask for in prayer. You are
- 30:09Speaker 2: not without hope because you are not without prayer. You
- 30:17Speaker 2: are never on your own. You may think you are.
- 30:23Speaker 2: You may feel like you are. But I want to
- 30:26Speaker 2: tell you, you are one person. Prayer away from a
- 30:30Speaker 2: new day. You just keep praying. You just keep talking.
- 30:35Speaker 2: You consult God in everything. You keep an ear toward heaven.
- 30:39Speaker 2: And you call on God for great things. And you
- 30:45Speaker 2: might bring a little extra sunscreen. Because this day of
- 30:50Speaker 2: victory that awaits you is going to last a long,
- 30:54Speaker 2: long time.
- 30:56Speaker 3: You receive it?
- 30:58Speaker 4: Amen.
- 30:59Speaker 2: Thank you, Lord, for the promise that you give us.
- 31:02Speaker 2: That our prayers are heard and heeded by the God
- 31:04Speaker 2: of heaven. And today we stand upon this promise, Father.
- 31:08Speaker 2: We stand upon this. That we are not impotent. We
- 31:13Speaker 2: are not without power. We are not without resources. We
- 31:16Speaker 2: are not without strength.
- 31:19Speaker 3: Because we have prayer. Forgive our prayerlessness.
- 31:22Speaker 4: Grant us strength.
- 31:26Speaker 2: Hearts of vigor and prayer. We pray this in the
- 31:30Speaker 2: name of Jesus Christ, our King.
- 31:34Speaker 3: And all the church said, Amen. Thank you.
- 33:20Speaker 1: So so We'll be right back.
- 35:20Speaker 2: Thank you.
- 36:42Speaker 1: Thank you.
- 37:54Speaker 4: As long as you're somewhere out there, that's enough for me.
- 38:06Speaker 1: I don't need to hold you near me.
- 38:13Speaker 4: Don't need promises to keep.
- 38:17Speaker 5: Just the thought that you are breathing Somewhere in this
- 38:21Speaker 5: world I see Even if I'm not beside you Even
- 38:27Speaker 5: if you never know There's a quiet kind of comfort
- 38:33Speaker 5: Just in knowing you still glow.
- 38:38Speaker 4: I don't need forever I just need you to exist.
- 38:49Speaker 6: You don't have to stay with me.
- 38:52Speaker 5: You don't have to feel the same.
- 38:55Speaker 4: Just as long as.
- 38:56Speaker 6: You're still out there.
- 38:59Speaker 4: Calling softly through my days.
- 39:02Speaker 1: You don't have to look my way.
- 39:05Speaker 5: You don't have to be my home. It's enough to
- 39:10Speaker 5: know you're living in a world I'm not alone.
- 39:19Speaker 4: I won't chase you through the distance.
- 39:22Speaker 6: Won't disturb your chosen life.
- 39:26Speaker 5: I'll just keep you in my silence like a star
- 39:29Speaker 5: that shines.
- 39:30Speaker 4: Shines at night through the dark and through the blue.
- 39:40Speaker 5: I still think of you me you don't have.
- 39:48Speaker 6: To feel the same just as long as you're still
- 39:53Speaker 6: out there calling softly through my days you don't have
- 39:58Speaker 6: to look my way you don't have to be my
- 40:03Speaker 6: home it's enough to know you're living in a world
- 40:09Speaker 6: i'm not alone.
- 40:26Speaker 4: I don't need to be your light.
- 40:30Speaker 5: I don't need to cross your mind All I need is.
- 40:33Speaker 4: Just the truth That you're somewhere Still alive.
- 40:42Speaker 1: You don't have to.
- 40:43Speaker 6: Stay with me You don't have to feel the same
- 40:48Speaker 6: Just as long as you're still out there Calling softly
- 40:53Speaker 6: through my days You don't have to look my way
- 40:59Speaker 6: You don't have to be my home It's enough to.
- 41:03Speaker 3: Know you're living
- 41:08Speaker 4: In a world I'm not alone.