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