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What Christians Misunderstand About Corporate Prayers · The Landmark Church Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Why would that boy, you know, have that kind of reaction?
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's because they don't pray in their house.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: If they pray in their house, you know, praying in tongues will not be strange to a three-year-old or to a four-year-old.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's because they don't pray in their house, they don't pray corporately, you know.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: So it is in the context of family that we get our opportunity first to exercise ourselves and to show our children, you know, what it means to pray together.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: So that when we now come together as a body, as as in a church, then it's easier for us to pray together.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Alright.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: So, what are the examples do we have in the scriptures?
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: What are the examples do we have of corporate prayers in the scriptures?
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Louder?
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: The early church, the early church.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: We see them praying together in Acts chapter 1.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: We also see them praying to that together in Acts chapter 4.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: The church in Jerusalem prayed together.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: The church in Antioch also did what?
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Prayed together.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: And there was a roll call.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: There was there was a roll call.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: There was a roll call of those who were there, who were there in body, in spirit, and in their minds.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: They were engaged, fully engaged.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: When we're in corporate prayer, there's an expectation that we're fully engaged.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: You're fully engaged.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: That is how you generate the power.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: And we said in place of corporate prayer, what do we stand to gain?
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: That corporate prayer is a place where God has designed to move us where?
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: To move us forward.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: He has designed it for to move us forward.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: To move us forward.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: And corporate prayer is a place to discover our individual and what?
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Corporate purposes.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's a place where we discover our individual and corporate purposes.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: Very, very important.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Acts chapter 13, verse 2.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, as the ministers to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, He said there were certain prophets in the church at Antioch.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: There were prophets there, but these people did not consult the prophet privately.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: No, they did not consult the prophet privately.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: They they they prayed corporately, and it was in the midst of that corporate prayer that the Holy Spirit said.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: That is the Holy Spirit said, that's more important.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, you see, the ministry of of prophecy is is safer in the context of company.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: In the ministry of prophecy, prophecy is safer in company.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: In company.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: This is why going to going to going to somebody privately to to consult for you is very dangerous.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: I keep saying this.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: Expecting them to speak to you or divine for you.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: Smart time, you have the spirit of divination.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know, no, prophecy is safer in the context of company and community.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Prophecy is safer that way.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: Very, very important.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: So we this we discover our individual and corporate purposes in the context of corporate prayer.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: And then, number three, it allows you and I to what?
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: To receive encouragement, to receive inspiration, and to receive impartation of the spirit of grace and supplication.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: And then finally, it enables you to what to get personal and corporate answers to our prayers.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: You see, because there are certain things that you cannot carry by yourself.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: There are certain things that you may find it difficult to carry by yourself, certain loads, certain pressure, certain burdens that you may find it difficult to carry by yourself.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: When you come in the place of corporate prayer, you can tap into the strength, tap into the energy of other people.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: And then that that carries you on.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: That carries you on.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Number five, what did we say?
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: We said it enables you to receive what?
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: Power to do what?
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: Accomplish great things, accomplish great things.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: You want to accomplish great things for God, you have to put yourself in the context of corporate prayers.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Corporate prayers.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: You see, you will not find somebody in this kingdom of God, you will not find somebody in this kingdom of God that has made something significant out of their lives while neglecting corporate prayers.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: You will not find somebody in this kingdom that have made anything significant out of their lives while neglecting corporate prayers that did not prize the coming together of the saints to pray.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: You know?
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: And then finally, you see, as a born-again Christian, you can expect that your spirit will be stirred up to receive winning ideas.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: How many of us, how many of us did God speak to yesterday?
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe during the meditation or after?
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: Did you did God speak to you?
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: You see that?
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: You see?
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: God speaks to you, He tells you something, He ministers to you, He ministers grace to you, it He whispers an instruction to you, it gives you an idea, He tells you, Oh, this is what you should do, this is where you should go.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: In the context of corporate prayers, our spirits are stirred up and we can tap into greater frequencies that we may not be able to tap into by ourselves.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: If then corporate prayer is so important, if it's so important, why then do we, you know, um, why then do some Christians fail to participate in corporate prayers?
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: If corporate prayer is so important, if praying together as a body of believers is so important, why then do some believers avoid praying together?
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if we had a meeting of barbecue, if we had, you know, even a corporate meeting wherever there's gonna be, you know, breakfast, there's gonna be lunch, there's gonna be this thing, people will show up, you know.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: But why then do we see that sometimes, but why do we see that some Christians don't show up when you know we ask to pray for corporate prayer?
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: And why then do you, yes, you and I, why do we feel sometimes that reluctance to want to participate in corporate prayers?
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: You know, so this is not only um you know for now, this is also to fortify us for the future.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: This is also to fortify us for the future, fortify us against the spirit of error that might be going around in these days.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: Why do some Christians refuse to participate in corporate prayer?
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, people are not informed about the benefit of corporate prayer.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just going to share three and we'll be done for today.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: They are not informed about the benefits, you know, like the six benefits that I shared now with you.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I think that's and that's not exhaustive, by the way.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's ex that's not exhaustive.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: But with those six points, you begin to see the benefit of coming together with the saints to pray.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: Usaih chapter 6, Isaiah chapter 4, rather, verse 6.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: He says, My people are destroyed for what?
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: For lack of knowledge.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: They are not destroyed because the enemy is stronger.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: My people are not destroyed because the enemy is stronger.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: My people are destroyed why because of lack of knowledge.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: They are destroyed because of lack of knowledge.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: Isaiah chapter 5, Isaiah chapter 5, verse 13.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: Look at what it says.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: It says, Therefore, my people have gone into captivity because they have no knowledge.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: My people have gone into captivity because they have no knowledge.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: Their honorable men are famished because they have no knowledge, and their multitude dried up with thirst.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: Because they have no knowledge.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: They have no knowledge.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: You see, the land can be green, the land can be fertile, but if not, if you don't have the knowledge of how to put seed in the ground, and the knowledge that you have to wait for some time, and if you have that knowledge, you you you you will be thirsty and hungry.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: You can be living in a land that is flowing with milk and honey, but if you don't have the knowledge of how to till the ground, that land will not yield to you.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't have the knowledge of the principles you have to abide by, that land will not yield to you.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: My people are what?
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: Destroyed for lack of knowledge.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: Proverbs chapter 24, verse 5.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: Proverbs chapter 24 and verse 5.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: It says, A wise man is strong.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, a man of knowledge increases strength.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: Verse 10 of Proverbs chapter 24.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: Look at what it says.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: It says, If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: Let's read again.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Proverbs chapter 24 and verse 5.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: Look at what it says.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: It says, A wise man is strong.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, a man of what?
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: Knowledge.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: A man of what?
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: Knowledge increases strength.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: Verse 10 now says that if you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 24 and verse 5 and 10.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: You see?
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: So a man of a man, a wise man is what is strong, and a man of knowledge what increases strength.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: And then it says that if your strength, if your strength is small, if you faint in the day of adversity, that means your strength is small.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: That means knowledge gives strength.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: Knowledge is equal to strength.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: Knowledge is equal to strength.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: Knowledge is equal to strength.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: So when people don't know, if we know better, we'll do better.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: When people don't know the benefits of corporate prayers, when people don't know the benefits of corporate prayers, they do not participate in it.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: So we are trying to drum this into us so that every time you hear, oh, let us pray together in the context of church, you jump at it.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: You jump at it.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, they have an unbalanced approach to their Christianity.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: Why do people fail to participate in corporate prayers?
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: They have what?
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: An unbalanced approach to their Christianity.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: They have an unbalanced approach to their Christianity.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: You see, spirituality does not lead, does not mean that it has to be spooky or it has to be mystical.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: Spirituality must be practical.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, we know that God is spirit.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: John chapter 4, verse 24.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: God is spirit.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: However, we also know that the same God at the Spirit, in Genesis chapter 1, what did he do?
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: He created the earth that we see.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: God is spirit.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: We cannot see him, we cannot behold him.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: But the same God at the Spirit, what did he do in Genesis chapter 1?
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: He created the earth that we can see.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm trying to say that your spirituality, my spirituality, should lead to tangible things.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: Should lead to tangible things we can touch and we can feel.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, it should lead to tangible things.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: It should not just be in the realm of ideas.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: My spirituality and your spirituality, it should lead to what?
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: Tangible things.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: The Bible tells us in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 3, it says that this earth was framed by what we cannot see.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: This word that you can see, this word that I can see, how was it framed?
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: It was framed by what we cannot see.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: The spirituality of God led him to produce and to create the earth, which is physical.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: The question is, what has your own spirituality produced?
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: What has my spirituality produced?
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: What physical, what tangible thing has your spirituality produced?
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, you say you are spiritual, you we know you are spiritual, but what tangible thing has it produced?
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: What tangible thing has it produced?
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's very important.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: The more spiritual you are, the more practical should be the things that you are able to do.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: The more spiritual you are, the more practical should be the things that you're able to do.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: That is, you don't say you are you are spiritual and there is a difficult challenge at work, and you are not able to propose practical solutions to it.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's what we're saying.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: You see, when you are spiritual, you you should be able to propose what practical solutions to issues.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: You see, practical solutions to issues.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: This is Joseph's life.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: Joseph, it was spiritual.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there's no record in the Bible that Joseph prayed, actually.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: There's no record in the Bible that Joseph prayed.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: No record that he prayed.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: But the the practicality of a spirituality, you can't you cannot doubt it.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: You know, leading to practical results.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: This is the challenge of the territory, this is the challenge of the comp of the company, this is the challenge of the kingdom.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: This is how we are going to solve it.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: Practical solutions.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: Your spirituality, my never forget this.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: Your spirituality and my spirituality must lead to what practical solutions.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: Must do the practical solutions.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: Don't have the days that we that we shut God out of our work.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'm learning to do that better more these days.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like you just shut God out of work.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: Once once you are going to work, or once you are at your computer doing your work, you you think the Holy Spirit and God is no longer relevant.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: No, that is where they are most relevant.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: That's where they are most relevant.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: Because the one who created the heavens are there, he knows everything.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: If you are if you are doing nothing, if you are doing um policy, if whatever you are doing, the Holy Spirit knows everything about that space.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: And he even knows the future, he knows the challenges that are coming.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: And if you are if you stay close to him, he can whisper solutions into your ears that will separate you, that will that will make you different, that will stand you out in that place.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: Practical things to your spirituality.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: Spirituality must produce tangible impact on society and on the world around you.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: At least it must prove it must produce tangible impact in your neighborhood.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: So some people also some people feel like you know they're so spiritual, so you know the best place to pray is just to pray in their house.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: They just want to want to pray in their house.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: You know?
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: Just give me the prayer points.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: Just Pastor, just give me the prayer points.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: I'll pray it at home.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: You know, but there's a place for that.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: There's a place for praying by yourself, but there's also a place for corporate prayers.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody say corporate prayers again.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, there's a place for that.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: You see, in Christianity, one principle does not cancel another.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: One principle does not cancel another.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: So the same God that said you should pray by yourself, pray without season is is the same God that also commands or laid out the principle that we should come together to pray.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: For example, if you want to buy a car, let's say you want to buy a car today, because you say, Oh, I just want to pray by myself at home.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: I I don't have the time to come to that gathering, I don't have the time to pray with those people.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: Say you want to buy a car and the manufacturer tells you that they can only give you one pedal.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: You can either choose to get the brake or the accelerator.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: You know, so you want to buy a car now and the manufacturer tells you that um for this car now that we are you have to choose.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: You can only get you can only get one pedder, either a brake or the accelerator.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: Which one will you choose?
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: You said you would choose the brake.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: How would the car move now?
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't have accelerator, how would the car move?
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: Eh.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: I said you have a man, you have a man, you want to buy a car.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: You want you to pick one brake or accelerator.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: Which one are you picking?
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: You can't choose.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: You can't choose.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: You see, the the I I think my I've my illustration is I've made my point.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: Because why they seem like they are doing mutually exclusive and opposite things, the accelerator moves you forward, the break stops you.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: In that opposing thing is the balance, in that opposing thing is your safety.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: In that opposing, in that, in that opposing thing, in that in the fact that, oh, you need to accelerate and you need to break, you need both.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: You need both, you need to pray by yourself, and you also need to pray corporately.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I'm trying to say.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: You can't say that, oh you can't say that, oh, I'm just gonna do my I'm just gonna do my thing.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you need both.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: You need both.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: So while the peddles may do contrary things, things that are contrary to each other, therein lies your safety.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: Corporate prayer will never replace personal prayers, and personal prayers will never replace corporate prayers.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: Just as the accelerator will never make, will never replace the brake, and the brake will not replace the accelerator.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: It has to be both.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: It has to be both.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: It has to be both.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: So we must be balanced in our approach to Christianity.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: We must be balanced in our approach to Christianity.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: If you are doing something that is not changing your life, is not moving you forward, you must be open to reviewing it.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: If you are practicing something, if you are practicing a Christianity that is not moving your life forward, if you are doing something that is not that is not producing results, then you must be open to reveal it.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: You must be open to review it.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: You have to be open to reviewing it.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: If you are doing something, if you have if you have been practicing something for something for long, and you know it's not getting you where you want to go, then you have to review, you have to check, you have to ask yourself questions.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, what am I doing wrong?
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: What can I do differently?
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: What am I doing wrong?
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: What can I what can I do differently?
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: So some people have an unbalanced approach to their Christianity.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: They have an unbalanced approach, they lean on one end, they lean on one side, and they think that that will carry them.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: So, what what are some things that people who have this unbalanced approach to corporate prayer?
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: What are some things they say?
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: So that you know if you have said it one time or the other, or if you need to stop saying it, what are some things that people who have this unbalanced approach to corporate prayers?
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: What do they say?
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: You hear them say things like God hears prayers everywhere.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: They say things like God hears prayers everywhere.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: While that is true, that is an incomplete statement.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: Saying that God hears prayers everywhere is true, but it's an incomplete statement.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: God hears prayers everywhere when that prayer is prayed according to his will.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: God hears prayers everywhere when the prayer is what?
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: Prayed according to what?
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: His will.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: When the prayer is prayed according to his will, he spread, he's prayed according to his will and in line with the principles he has laid out in his word.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: You also you also hear them say things like, I can pray to God on my own.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: You say, I can pray to God on my own, I don't need anybody.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you can pray to God.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's the that's that's ignorance at best.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: Ignorance at best.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: Psalm 63, verse 2, Psalm 63, verse 2.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: So I have looked for you in the sanctuary to see your power and your glory.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: I have looked for you.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: It is I have looked for you in on my bed.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: It is I have looked for you on my bed.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: It says I have looked for you where in the sanctuary to see your power and your glory.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: So, yes, you pray on your own, but the same God has asked us to not neglect the gathering of the brethren, to not neglect the gathering of the brethren.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: So you claim to love God, but you cannot see.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: You cannot, you cannot, you cannot, you you claim to love the God that you cannot see, but you don't love the people that because some people they don't participate in corporate prayer because they cannot stand other believers.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: They are suspicious of other believers, they are suspicious of them.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_00: So you claim to love God, but you don't love the the believers and the Christians that you can see.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they can't they don't want to deal with people, you know.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: They they they they just and that kind of mindset is a mindset that guarantees that that person is going to be a loser, you know, because you're gonna have to deal with people everywhere, you know, you're gonna have to deal with people everywhere.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: You deal with people in church, you deal with people on your job, you deal with people everywhere.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: So knowing and understanding how to deal with people will set anybody up for a good life, all right.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: What do you what do you hear them say?
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: You hear them say things like, Oh, God answers prayers everywhere, or I can pray to God on my own.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: You also hear them say things like, I don't like the distractions of corporate prayer, and so I've decided to pray by myself.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: They don't like the distraction of corporate prayer, so they decide to pray by themselves.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: The noise is too much.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: No, what are you going to do in heaven if the noise is too much?
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there's a lot of noise in heaven, right?
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of noise.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: What are you going to do in heaven?
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: The Bible says that I mean it's thousands upon thousands, uncountable people of every tribe, of every tongue.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: What are they doing?
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they are praising God, they are praising God.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think that place is quiet, and you can't, you can you're not going to take um air morphs or whatever to the place, you know, you're not going to take that to the place.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: You're going to have to be at home with people praying and praising God.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: So our approach to Christianity must be what?
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: Practical.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody say practical.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, your approach to Christianity must be practical.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: You see, it doesn't have to be mystical, it doesn't have to be mystical.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: When you go through the Bible, particularly the gospels, you will see you will see practical questions that the disciples asked Jesus in Mark chapter 10.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: They asked him, We have left, we have left everything to follow you.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: What is going to be ours?
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: This is a practical question.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: I have left everything to follow you.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: What are you going to give me in return?
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: I left my.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: Don't be spooky and be no no no no no.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: Ask him real questions.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: Real questions.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: Real questions.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, the questions that Jesus did not answer in the scriptures are those that were a little bit philosophical.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, when are you going to return the kingdom?
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: Are you not going to return the kingdom to us?
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus, like, no, no, no, it's not, it's not up to me, it's not up to you to know when the kingdom is going to be restored.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's not important.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: Ask me practical.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: When they ask him questions about divorce and marriage, he answered them.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: He answered them directly.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: I told you yesterday, God does not speak much, but what?
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: He answers much.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: So you ask him practical questions about your life.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: God, this is what I this is these are the deficiencies in my life.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: These are the how am I going to fix this situation?
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: Practical questions.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: Our Christianity must lead to practical things.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus is not say they were being carnal.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: He didn't say they were being carnal when they were asking him those questions.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: No, no.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: He he answered them.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: He answered them.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: How did he answer them when he said, What is it going to be for us?
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: He said, He said, Anyone that has left brother, sister, houses, mother, and wife for the sake of the gospel shall in this life receive a hundred fruit, and in the age to come, eternal life.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_00: Practical question.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: In this life, you will receive a hundred fruit, and in the head to come, you have eternal life.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: Practical answers to what?
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: Practical questions.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: Very, very important.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: So let's take the time to ask your questions.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_00: Ask him questions.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Questions.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, God, I've been waiting on this thing for so long.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: When what do I need to change?
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: What do I need to do differently?
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: God, I mean, I want to get married.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: What do I need to change?
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: What do I need to change?
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: What do I need to do differently?
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: Ask him.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: Ask him.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: What is it that I need to change?
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: What is it that I need to change?
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: What is it that I need to move?
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_00: Do I need to look relocate?
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus was a very practical teacher.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: Very, very practical teacher.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: He said, These people have been have been with me for three days now.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: He said, if I send them away, they will faint on the way.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus did not say that I am God, I'm going to suspend the the pangs of hunger in their stomach.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: He didn't do that.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: What did he do?
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: He said, if I send them away, this is practical stuff.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: Your Christianity must be practical.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: You must look at it and say, okay, this is this is not going to work.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: This is not working.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: You know.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: If I send them away, they will faint on the way.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_00: Let's give them something to eat.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: Let's feed them.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: Let's feed them.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: Let's feed them.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: Let's let's give them something to eat.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus did not, he did not cover their face with religious jargon and religious.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it is well.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: It is well with you as you it is well.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it is it is well.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: No, that's no.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: How is it going to be well?
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: Show me how it's going to be well.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I want to know.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: Show me how it's going to be well.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I did.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: He didn't say, Oh, I will be praying for you as you go.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: I will be praying for you.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_00: Very, very practical.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus used his spirituality to turn what was available, the bread that was available, to something that will now feed the 5,000.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: He used the spirituality to do that.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: So let your spirituality, let your Christianity have practical impact.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I'm saying.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: Let it have practical impact on your society.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: And if that is too much, let it have practical impact in your own life.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: Let it have a practical impact in your own life.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: Be able to say that this is this is the impact, tangible impact that everybody can see of how my practice of faith and my practice of Christianity and my spirituality has led to.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, you must be able to say that.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: That this is what it has, it has it has it has led me, you know, to snatching defeat out of the jaws of death.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: Snatching victory rather out of the jaws of defeat.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, that is that is practical stuff now.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: It has it has enabled me to walk through fire.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: You see, it has enabled me to walk through fire, and I came out without any smell of smoke or fumes on my body.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: Practical stuff.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: This is practical stuff.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: My Christianity has a lot has sustained me in the time of infirmity.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: My Christianity has sustained my child in the time of infirmity.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's not that I'm just praying, uh you know, all we'll be well.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, no, no, no.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: Practical stuff.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: So we said people do not engage in corporate prayer.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: Because they are ignorant, they lack knowledge.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, they have an unbalanced approach to their Christianity, they have an unbalanced approach to their Christianity, and number three, pride.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: Pride is another reason why people don't engage in corporate prayers, they don't engage in corporate prayers.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: Because of pride.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: James chapter 4, verse 6.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: You see, pride, pride will rob you of many things in your Christian work.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: Pride, it will rob you of many, many things in your Christian work if you allow it.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, you cannot make the most of your Christian adventure, you cannot make the most of the resources that God gives if you are a proud person.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, that's just the way it is.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: Humility is required to interface with what God supplies.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: You need humility to interface with what God supplies.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: You need humility, a good dose of humility.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_00: James chapter 4, verse 6, what does it tell us?
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_00: It tells us that God resists the proud.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_00: What does it do to the humble?
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: He gives grace.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_00: James chapter 4, verse 6.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: God resists the proud, but then he gives grace to what?
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: He gives grace to the humble.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: Gives grace to the humble.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: So if you want to benefit, like worship, can you really worship in spirit and in truth if you are a proud person?
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_00: No, you can't.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: You can't.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: You can't.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_00: You need humility to interface with the things of the spirit.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: You need humility to interface with the things of the spirit.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: Humility.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: That you are coming to God, you are not coming to man.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, you are coming to God, you are not coming to man.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: He is God and you are not.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_00: You see?
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: We are not saying lack confidence.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: No, we're not saying you should lack confidence, but we are saying that you have to be humble to interface with the things of the spirit.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: Lack of confidence is thinking lesser than you are.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: You know, confidence in God is esteeming yourself the same way, seeing yourself the same way God sees you.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: Seeing yourself the same way God, if you say, if God says you are the head and you're not the tail, you see yourself that way.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: I bet you I'm the head and not the tail.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't owe you an apology for that.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: So we're not saying that you lack confidence in who you are in Christ, but we're saying that when you are interfacing with God, interfacing with the things of the spirit, you need to put your you need to you need to have a good um estimation of who you are.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: So many people just say that, oh no, no, no, no, no.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_00: I I don't have time for that.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: You see, anytime I go to a place, anytime I go to a place, I'm always ready to learn.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: Always ready to learn.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: At the very least, you will learn how not to do it.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_00: You see, you go to a place, you are always ready to learn.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: Whether you learn how to do it, but at the very least, you will learn how not to do it.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: You will learn how not to do it.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 24.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 24 and verse 30.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 24 and verse 30.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_00: The wise man that ever lived.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: See who Solomon learned from.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_00: He learned from a slothful man.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 24 and verse 30.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_00: He said, I went by the field of the slothful and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: Verse the next one.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_00: And lo, it was all grown over with thorns and nestles, had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_00: Let's look at the next verse.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: Then I saw and considered it well.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_00: I looked upon it and received instruction.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: Go back, go back to verse 30 again.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 24 and verse 30.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 24 and verse 30.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to show us that the wise man that ever lived, look at who he learned from.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 24 and verse 30.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: It says, I passed by the field of the slaughtered and by the vineyard of the man lacking sense.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_00: And behold, it was completely overgrown with thistus.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_00: It was completely overgrown with thistus.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_00: Its surface was covered with nestle and its stone wall was broken down.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: What did he do in verse 32?
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_00: He says, When I saw it, I reflected upon it.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_00: I looked and received instruction.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_00: He received instruction from the way a slothful man was doing his business.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_00: He received instruction from the way a slothful man was doing his business.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: So you learn, you are always open to learn.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: You are always open to learn.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: You are not recalcitrant.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_00: You are not, you are not like you are not like.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: Even if you are a PhD, you are a professor, there is more that you don't know than you know.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_00: How many of you understand what I'm saying?
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: There is more that you don't know than you know.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we must know that.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_00: We must be humble in that regard, that there is more that I need to learn.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not all even about God, there is more that I need to learn about God.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: There is more that I need to learn about God.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_00: And even if I learn everything, I read all the books that I want to read, and I learn everything that I want to learn about God, there will still be more to learn about God than I know.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm bringing it to our physical experience now.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_00: Even if you are a PhD in medicine, there is more that you don't know about medicine than you know about medicine.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_00: If you are a PhD in physics, there is more that you don't know about physics than you know about physics.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_00: That's just the way life is.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_00: So we must never get to that point where we are proud, where we are too proud to learn.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_00: Too proud to learn.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_00: They don't want to learn from others, they don't want to learn from you know how other people are praying.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_00: You just want to continue praying the way they have always prayed.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, the way you have always been praying has not led to a tangible change in your life anyway.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: So why not try something different?
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_00: Why not try something different?
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_00: So pride can be a reason, can be a reason why people don't engage in corporate prayer.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_00: You know, when I was in Nigeria, um when I came to study in the US from Nigeria, I had one of the one of the shocks I had was that they said to get a distinction, you need at least 90% to get distinction, to get an A in a course.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_00: And coming from Nigeria, if you get 70%, that's that's an A in Nigeria.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_00: Ah I was like, okay.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_00: Not only that, to get an A is 90%, they will now even tell us that individual work, individual work is maybe like 50%, and then group work is 30%, and then um attendance is 10% or 20%.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_00: So individual work is what?
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_00: 50%.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_00: Group work is 30%, attendance 10%.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_00: See, so no matter how good you are, no matter how smart you are, you do well in your individual work, all you can get is 50%.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_00: All you can get is 50%.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_00: So if you do well in your individual work, and then you fail to do well, as in a group, you miss that 30%, you cannot, you cannot get a distinction.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_00: You cannot get a distinction.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_00: That's the same way it is in prayers.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_00: So you can be you can be great, you can be good in your own personal prayer life.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: You can you can excel in it, you can know how to pray a lot in your own personal individual life.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you can be great in your own personal individual life, you can be great in your in your own intercession.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: But if you don't participate in the group work, in the group exercise, in the teamwork of prayers, you will still not have your distinction.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_00: You still not have a distinction.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_00: And like I said earlier, you will not find anybody in this kingdom that has made anything significant of their lives that's neglected the place of corporate prayers.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_00: Let me conclude.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to join us.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_00: If you're gonna make anything good out of your life, you're gonna make anything good out of a Christian experience, you must engage what in what?
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_00: In corporate prayer.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I pray for you today that whatever that spirit of deception, whether it's already you know hanging out around you or is waiting for you somewhere in the future, I pray that that spirit of deception will not take a hold in your life in Jesus' name.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_00: I said that spirit of deception will not take a hold in your life in Jesus' name.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_00: I take authority over it and I break the power of the enemy over you in the name of Jesus.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_00: Every area of your life, let the spirit of error is trying to sneak in.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_00: Every area of your life that where the spirit of error is trying to sneak in, I break the hold of it in the name of Jesus.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I release upon you today the ability to have right judgment on things in the name of Jesus, the ability to rightly discern in the name of Jesus.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_00: You will not fail in the name of Jesus.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_00: Every prayer that you pray henceforth, every prayer that you pray henceforth, whether corporately or individually, you will receive speedy answers to them in the name of Jesus.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_00: God will give you grace to pray according to his will in the name of Jesus, and he will give you speedy answers in the name of Jesus.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Father.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_00: We give you all the praise in Jesus' mighty name.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_00: We have prayed.