1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,440 This morning, if you will, and turn over to the book of James 2 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:04,560 Chapter 5. James Chapter 5. 3 00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:12,080 It was great to be able to take our young people and go up to 4 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:15,440 the mountains for a few days. And we met Pastor Andy Almanza's 5 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:17,840 church, their Gospel Light Baptist Church and their young 6 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:20,080 people. And what a great group of young 7 00:00:20,080 --> 00:00:22,680 people between the two churches. And I'm so thankful that, that, 8 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:26,200 that we have young people who still want to live for the Lord. 9 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:30,600 And I, I believe that all of our young people do I, I don't see 10 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:32,759 anybody in their church that doesn't want to live for the 11 00:00:32,759 --> 00:00:35,800 Lord either. It's a great opportunity for our 12 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:38,320 young people to get together iron sharpening iron. 13 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:40,720 And that's why, by the way, that we're very, very careful about 14 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:42,560 the churches that we have fellowship with. 15 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:46,000 I know it makes us sound a lot of times like isolationists, 16 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:48,160 like we're, we're better than you and whatever else. 17 00:00:48,160 --> 00:00:51,880 That's, that's certainly not the the intention behind it at all. 18 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:54,920 But I'm not going to allow our young people to be influenced in 19 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:57,440 the wrong direction just because we want to have fellowship with 20 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:00,680 somebody else. We, there's too much at stake. 21 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:03,720 This, this generation of young people is what's going to carry 22 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:06,760 on Christianity and, and true Christianity and strong 23 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:09,600 Christianity. And if we want to have some more 24 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:13,520 friends, So we, we, we drop all the standards and let them, let 25 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:16,000 them be influenced by a lot of young people who don't want to 26 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:18,000 live for the Lord. It's not helping us at all. 27 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:21,560 I would rather have 23456 churches that we can fellowship 28 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:24,200 closely with and know that when our young people get together, 29 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:26,680 they're not talking about the world's music and the world's 30 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:30,160 movies and boys and girls and all of those kind of things. 31 00:01:30,160 --> 00:01:32,400 But they're talking about, you know, things that are wholesome 32 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:35,000 and uplifting. And we get them together around 33 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:36,280 the preaching of the word of God. 34 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:39,360 And it's just, it's just a wonderful time together. 35 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:41,880 And so appreciate you sending your young people and allowing 36 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:44,720 them to be a part of that. And you're the ones that are 37 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:47,640 doing the hard work. We're just here to help you out 38 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:51,000 with it and maybe give you some direction and some guidance with 39 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:53,320 those things. But the, the real work is done 40 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:56,760 in the home and what happens in the home is what is, is what's 41 00:01:56,760 --> 00:01:58,800 going to happen with your kids. You can't just bring them to the 42 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:00,800 church and expect that the church is going to fix them. 43 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:04,640 You got to be doing it at home and don't have anything to do 44 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:06,680 with the message this morning. But I thought I'd just throw 45 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:10,639 that in there for free as part of your as part of your tie this 46 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:12,200 morning. How about if we call it that, 47 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:16,560 James Chapter 5, and I'm just going to read one verse here and 48 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:19,200 we're going to look at a couple other verses in this passage. 49 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:22,880 But just by way of getting started here, verse #16 is a 50 00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:25,440 pretty familiar verse to most of you, I would say. 51 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:28,400 But the Bible says this. Confess your faults one to 52 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:31,800 another and pray one for another that she may be healed. 53 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:38,200 The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. 54 00:02:38,640 --> 00:02:42,360 I think every Christian needs to be as involved as they possibly 55 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:45,320 can be in their local church. But every every Christian is not 56 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:46,840 going to be called to be a pastor. 57 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:52,360 Every Christian does is not physically able to canvas their 58 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:55,880 neighborhood and knock on every door and and talk to every 59 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:58,240 person about Christ. Every Christian is not able to 60 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:00,080 do that. Not every Christian can sing. 61 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:02,480 Not every Christian can play an instrument. 62 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:05,760 Not every Christian can take part in the music service of 63 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:07,040 their church. But I'll tell you this. 64 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:11,640 Every Christian can pray. Every Christian not only can 65 00:03:11,640 --> 00:03:15,280 pray, but should pray. We ought to strive to have more 66 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:18,080 than a prayer life. We ought to strive to have a 67 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:20,880 fervent prayer life. We ought to have a hunger for a 68 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:23,520 fervent prayer life. And if I ask you to raise your 69 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:25,720 hand this morning, how many of you think you can pray more? 70 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:29,240 Every hand would go up because we're going to always pray more. 71 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:33,520 We always, we, we should have more of a prayer life, but it's 72 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:35,480 more than just that. It's not just praying for the 73 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:37,760 sake of praying. It's not just praying for the 74 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:40,120 sake of being able to say that you did it or praying to be able 75 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:42,240 to say, I prayed this much this morning. 76 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:46,320 It's to try to get a hold of God, to try to try to move 77 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:50,800 heaven by our prayers. In our text this morning, I want 78 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:55,480 you to notice that word availeth the effectual fervent prayer of 79 00:03:55,480 --> 00:04:00,120 a righteous man availeth much. That word means to be strong or 80 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:03,320 to have power. It means to have strength to 81 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:05,920 overcome. What a desire it ought to be for 82 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:08,840 every single one of us to have an availing prayer life, a 83 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:12,320 prayer life with power and strength to overcome. 84 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:15,360 If there was ever a time in our in our history, the history of 85 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:18,760 our country, the history of our churches, we need powerful 86 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:21,920 prayer warriors who know God more than any time that we've 87 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:25,440 ever needed them in our history. We need powerful prayer warriors 88 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:28,320 in our church. We need powerful prayer warriors 89 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:31,240 on behalf of this nation. Our country is in a mess 90 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:33,760 spiritually. Leave out the politics. 91 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:36,600 We're spiritually destitute as a nation. 92 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:39,560 We need to get a hold of God, but that's only going to happen 93 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:41,440 through effectual, fervent prayer. 94 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:46,000 We're in desperate need of a building right now, and that's 95 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:47,840 very important to the destiny of this church. 96 00:04:47,840 --> 00:04:50,080 Where we end up is probably where this church is going to be 97 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:52,800 planted and where it's going to be until Christ comes back. 98 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:56,040 We need it. We we, we've been praying for. 99 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:57,400 It's an important decision in this. 100 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:01,240 This building that we're looking at needs serious prayer. 101 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:04,480 We need God to move. God has to move. 102 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:07,400 God has to answer in a big way. But that's only going to happen 103 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:11,000 through fervent availing prayer. Charles Spurgeon said take no 104 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:13,600 rest from prayer and give prayer no rest. 105 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:15,640 That's the only way that we're going to have that happen. 106 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:18,080 The Bible says pray without ceasing. 107 00:05:18,840 --> 00:05:21,360 Pray without ceasing, and I know that you've heard this said many 108 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:23,400 times, doesn't mean that you got to walk around on your knees 109 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:25,880 with your hands, folding your eyes closed and driving down the 110 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:28,040 road and you're praying with your eyes closed. 111 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:30,520 That's a dangerous thing to do, right? 112 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:32,840 But pray without ceasing means that we ought to be in a 113 00:05:32,840 --> 00:05:36,320 constant attitude of prayer. We ought to be having a constant 114 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:39,320 conversation with God all day, every day. 115 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:41,320 That ought to be what that ought to be. 116 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:43,040 What characterizes your prayer life? 117 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:45,880 And yes, there will be times when we get on our knees before 118 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:49,600 God and we we specifically focus on the different needs that we 119 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:54,440 have to bring before him. But we ought to pray without 120 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:59,200 ceasing and we ought to have a a effectual fervent prayer life. 121 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:01,840 Do you know how to get ahold of God? 122 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:07,160 Somebody says, hey, this, this big issue is happening right 123 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:08,160 now. Will you pray? 124 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:10,560 Do you know how to get a hold of God? 125 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:15,360 Do you think that God's listening when you stop and 126 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:18,160 pray? Do you think that God stops to 127 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:23,040 listen when you pray? Well, he wants to. 128 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:26,600 We know that there's a lot of verses in there about prayer and 129 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:28,560 a lot of verses about answer to prayer and everything else. 130 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:30,480 But I'm not talking about prayer, I'm talking about you. 131 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:33,040 Do you know how to get a hold of God? 132 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:35,760 Do you have a fervent prayer life? 133 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:41,560 Do you have, as we had we talked about here, an availing prayer 134 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:44,400 life, a powerful prayer life with God? 135 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:49,960 What about you? I hope you want that. 136 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:54,840 I want to have power with God. So what I want to share with you 137 00:06:54,840 --> 00:06:58,520 this morning is a message that's simply entitled Attributes of an 138 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:03,160 availing Prayer life. Attributes of an availing prayer 139 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:04,480 life. And let's take a few minutes to 140 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:08,720 dive deeper into this verse and see what we need to do to have 141 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:11,920 God's power and God's strength through prayer. 142 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:13,480 Let's pray. Father, again, we thank you so 143 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:16,880 much for your goodness and thank you so much for an opportunity 144 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:18,960 we have to get here together this morning. 145 00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:21,560 May you use the message in our hearts. 146 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:24,320 May you help us to become people of prayer. 147 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:27,240 May you help us to be men and women who have an availing 148 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:31,120 prayer life, who have that effectual fervent prayer that 149 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:34,320 knows how to get a hold of you. May the message help us this 150 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:36,520 morning. We thank you again for all you 151 00:07:36,520 --> 00:07:41,400 do for us in Jesus name, Amen. The first thing that I want to 152 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:44,760 give you this morning is the prerequisite of an availing 153 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:47,400 prayer life. James chapter 5 and verse #16 154 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:50,360 the beginning of that verse says confess your faults one to 155 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:53,560 another and pray one for another that you may be healed. 156 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:56,440 Now, obviously, if you go back to verse #13 it's talking about 157 00:07:56,440 --> 00:08:00,120 prayer for somebody who is sick and the prayer of faith. 158 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:02,640 The Bible says healeth the sick. And I believe that with all of 159 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:06,520 my heart, I believe that that that we can see great answers to 160 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:08,880 prayer. We can see people healed through 161 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:10,760 prayer. God has to do that work. 162 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:13,040 It's not some Shazam kind of power. 163 00:08:13,040 --> 00:08:15,520 It's not some I breathed on you and you were healed. 164 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:17,200 It's not, it's not those kind of things. 165 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:19,000 It's, it's God that has to do that work. 166 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:21,160 But God can't heal through prayer. 167 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:25,520 The forerunner of success in the matter of an availing prayer 168 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:30,440 life is the confessing and removal of any sin, any 169 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:34,480 shortcomings, any spats that you might have with somebody else 170 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:36,240 that may be present in your personal life. 171 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:40,480 Psalm 66 and verse 18, the Bible says if I regard iniquity in my 172 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:43,120 heart, the Lord will not hear me. 173 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:46,640 We're told here to confess our faults one to another. 174 00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:49,400 That's, that's not just the big sins before God. 175 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:52,640 Oh, you should be confessing those big sins before God. 176 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:55,480 Those are things that you better get right if you expect God to 177 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:58,840 listen to you when you pray. Because if you regard iniquity, 178 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:01,600 if you have sin in your heart when you're coming before God, 179 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:06,440 the Lord will not hear you. He is actively turning out, 180 00:09:06,560 --> 00:09:10,600 tuning out your voice if you have sin in your life. 181 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:14,000 And this certainly I think has a tendency to humble us before we 182 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:16,960 come before the throne of God. By the way, that cuts out a need 183 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:19,720 for a priest. Confess your faults one to 184 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:21,880 another and pray one for another that she may be healed. 185 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:24,040 I don't need to go to a priest and get confession. 186 00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:27,400 He's a man just like I am. I'm a man just like you are. 187 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:29,840 I can't. I can't forgive your sins. 188 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:32,280 Who am I? I'm a Sinner too. 189 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:34,240 I don't have any power to forgive sins. 190 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:35,840 Only Christ can forgive our sins. 191 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:37,560 He's the only one that was sinless. 192 00:09:38,560 --> 00:09:39,880 I don't have any ability to do that. 193 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:43,480 Neither does any other man, and I'm not one that's in a position 194 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:45,200 to judge. But what wisdom here? 195 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:48,520 In the words of James, We're told to pray for one another, 196 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:51,320 and the two could not go hand in hand any better. 197 00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:54,480 If we prayed more for others, we would blame less. 198 00:09:55,920 --> 00:09:57,920 We'd be far more tolerant of other people. 199 00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:02,280 We would do, we would not do nearly as much wrong in their 200 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:03,600 life. And there's nothing that makes a 201 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:07,240 man so loving as that which he has himself suffered. 202 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:10,000 You go through something that somebody else is going through 203 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:12,840 and you can talk about that to somebody else. 204 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:15,440 You understand what they're what they're dealing with. 205 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:19,240 It's like a, it's like a, an old veteran that's gone through 100 206 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:22,400 battles and some new guy gets out in there and first time 207 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:25,040 bullets start flying, real bullets start flying around 208 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:27,280 them. He starts shaking like a leaf 209 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:29,040 and he forgets everything that he knows. 210 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:33,640 And some old veteran that's never been out in a, in a real 211 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:35,680 battle might think what in the world's wrong with you? 212 00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:39,680 Get out there and fight. No but a but a, but a veteran 213 00:10:39,680 --> 00:10:42,360 who's been there, who's been in the battle, who has heard those 214 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:45,520 bullets whiz over his head, can go to that guy and say, hey, I 215 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:46,840 know exactly what you're going through. 216 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:50,080 I was there before too. I made it through it and you can 217 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:52,960 make it through it too. That's you know that there is 218 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:56,320 nothing like sympathy, which is created by our own experience. 219 00:10:56,320 --> 00:10:59,200 There's nothing like coming alongside A fellow Christian and 220 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:01,680 saying, I've been there too. I know what that feels like. 221 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:04,000 Here's how God helped me gain the victory. 222 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:07,240 And by the way, we are not to be afraid to come to each other for 223 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:11,520 help. Oh, so many people, so many 224 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:14,120 people struggle with these things in silence because 225 00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:18,960 they're too proud to admit that they have a problem, too proud 226 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:21,440 to admit that they need to work on something. 227 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:24,080 And I'll tell you what, one of the big things and, and we had 228 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:28,440 AI had a conversation about this in Australia with Dan Western, 229 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:31,360 pastor Dan, he's one of the, the assistant pastors and they're 230 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:33,920 actively dealing with a lot of these things, proactively 231 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:35,480 dealing with a lot of these things in their church. 232 00:11:35,680 --> 00:11:38,480 Pornography is a huge issue that people deal with. 233 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:40,760 It's a huge thing that people face. 234 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:43,960 And so many times people get, get wrapped up in these things 235 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:46,840 and they, they think that, well, if I, if I say something to 236 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:49,600 somebody else about it, they're going to think way worse of me. 237 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:53,000 That's just pride. They're going to think worse of 238 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:54,120 me. That's pride. 239 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:57,440 So you would rather sit there and I'm not even saying suffer 240 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:00,360 in silence because it's not suffering when you're living in 241 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:04,080 sin, the only suffering that comes as a result of your sin. 242 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:07,080 But you're going to sit there and, and try to go through these 243 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:09,560 things in silence because you don't want somebody else to know 244 00:12:09,560 --> 00:12:11,920 what you're suffering or what you're struggling with. 245 00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:14,960 And you'll allow that to hinder your prayer life. 246 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:16,800 You'll allow that to hinder your marriage. 247 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:19,640 You'll allow that to hinder your relationship with your kids. 248 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:22,400 You'll, you'll allow it to hinder your effectiveness for 249 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:25,480 Christ in ministries and in the church, All because you're too 250 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:28,800 prideful and too proud to say that I've got a problem that I 251 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:31,520 need help with. And I'm not saying that we ought 252 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:33,560 to stand up in church and tell everybody, hey, I've got a 253 00:12:33,560 --> 00:12:35,960 problem with this or I've got a problem with that, or I've got a 254 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:37,920 problem with this thing. I'm not saying that it ought to 255 00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:41,480 be that way, but you ought not to be too prideful to come and 256 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:44,080 ask for help to get victory over those things. 257 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:46,360 There's probably other people who have gone through the exact 258 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:48,200 same thing that you've gone through, and God gave them 259 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:51,680 victory over those things, and you can have the victory too. 260 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:56,520 Confess your faults one to another and pray one for another 261 00:12:56,520 --> 00:13:00,320 that you may be healed. That's the prerequisite. 262 00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:03,760 By confessing our faults to one another and praying for one 263 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:07,560 another, we learn humility on one side, but on the other side, 264 00:13:07,560 --> 00:13:11,400 that large charity that covers transgression, that hides a 265 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:14,760 multitude of sins. And let me remind you, and you 266 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:18,560 may be struggling to forgive somebody who's wronged you, but 267 00:13:18,560 --> 00:13:22,280 let us remember every day what Christ is obliged, obliged to 268 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:25,160 bear for us. Oh, I just can't. 269 00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:28,640 It's like you think about the the guy who had a massive, 270 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:33,400 massive debt, billion dollars in debt in today's money. 271 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:38,200 And he went to his master and he said, I can't, there's no way 272 00:13:38,200 --> 00:13:41,160 that I can pay this back. They said, well, you know, I can 273 00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:43,760 put you in prison and you can spend the rest of your life 274 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:46,240 paying this debt off, but I'm going to forgive you. 275 00:13:46,920 --> 00:13:50,520 And he went to the guy who owned owed him thousands and he 276 00:13:50,520 --> 00:13:52,840 grabbed him by the collar and he said, you pay me what you owe 277 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:55,960 me. And when that master, when that 278 00:13:55,960 --> 00:14:00,880 king got word of what this man did, he said that debt is back 279 00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:03,120 on your head. Everything that you owe me, 280 00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:06,080 you're going to pay back. I forgave you a great debt, and 281 00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:09,960 you won't forgive somebody that little debt that they owed you. 282 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:14,440 Oh, you think about how foolish it is when we harbor bitterness 283 00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:16,160 in our hearts against somebody else. 284 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:18,600 Well, you don't understand what he did to me. 285 00:14:18,680 --> 00:14:20,920 You don't understand how they treated me. 286 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:22,880 And here again, we're back at pride. 287 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:27,200 You don't understand how it made me feel. 288 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:30,400 Hey, how do you think it makes Christ feel when you sin against 289 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:33,520 Him every single day? How do you think the heart of 290 00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:36,600 God feels when you sin against this Son that He sent to die on 291 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:41,720 the cross for you, and yet yet He's willing to forgive you 292 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:43,240 every single time you come to Him? 293 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:46,960 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us 294 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:49,280 our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 295 00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:53,000 He'll do that for you, but you won't do that for somebody else. 296 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:55,160 How do you think that you're going to have a prayer life 297 00:14:55,160 --> 00:14:59,760 that's effectual with God if you're harboring those things in 298 00:14:59,960 --> 00:15:02,160 in your heart against somebody else? 299 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:06,000 We'll never be for God in prayer what He wants and needs us to be 300 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:09,520 until we possess that humility that's necessary to confess our 301 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:13,680 sins before Him, and if need be, to the others that we've 302 00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:17,120 wronged. Can I also adhere? 303 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:19,720 It almost goes without saying that you cannot have an availing 304 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:21,000 prayer life if you're not a Christian. 305 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:24,760 If you don't know Jesus Christ as your Savior, you cannot have 306 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:28,440 a prayer life with Him. If you're not born again, if 307 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:30,600 you're not a child of God, then your sins have never been 308 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:32,600 forgiven. And that iniquity that you have 309 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:36,320 in your heart keeps God from being able to hear your voice. 310 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:39,760 He's waiting for the cry of a sinful soul who's crying out for 311 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:41,960 a Savior, reaching out for mercy. 312 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:46,600 Then and only then can your voice reach the ears of God. 313 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:50,360 And so we see the prerequisite of an availing prayer life. 314 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:53,160 But I want you to see this number 2, the Passion of an 315 00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:57,040 availing prayer life, James chapter 5 and verse #16 it says 316 00:15:57,040 --> 00:16:02,680 the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. 317 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:06,120 That's the passion. An availing prayer life is much 318 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:10,320 more than a cold or a casual approach to the throne of grace. 319 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:12,960 Availing prayer is fervent and effectual. 320 00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:19,280 You think about if you had a business idea and you had all 321 00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:23,280 the, the whole plan put together and it was ready to go and you 322 00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:26,800 were going to be going in front of a millionaire who had money 323 00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:31,480 to invest, how do you think you'd approach it? 324 00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:35,600 You come up there and you say, well, got this idea. 325 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:39,080 It's not, it's not great, but just wanting to see if maybe 326 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:41,920 you'd be willing to invest $1,000,000 in this project. 327 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:44,920 I mean, you know, if you don't, that's fine. 328 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:47,400 I mean, whatever, but just thought it'd be nice if you 329 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:49,000 could give me $1,000,000 for this thing. 330 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:50,360 You think he's going to be motivated. 331 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:54,560 Not very much, Woody, But if you come and you say I got this 332 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:58,200 great idea and listen, if you could just put only $1,000,000 333 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:01,600 into this thing, this thing would take off like crazy and 334 00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:03,960 you'll make so much more money. And here's how this is going to 335 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:04,960 work. And here's how that's going to 336 00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:06,280 work. And this is the whole plan that 337 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:08,599 we put together. Oh, you're going to come. 338 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:11,480 You're going to come fervent. You want that money, right? 339 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:13,400 You need it. If this thing is going to work, 340 00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:16,160 you need it. And how much more should we be 341 00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:19,480 approaching a throne of God? I tell you, part of the problem 342 00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:21,400 is that we have such a low view of God. 343 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:25,119 We think we're just going to casually stroll in, stroll into 344 00:17:25,119 --> 00:17:28,119 the throne room and sit down and prop our feet and start cracking 345 00:17:28,119 --> 00:17:30,720 some peanuts and eating them and cracking jokes with God and 346 00:17:30,720 --> 00:17:32,840 everything else. That that's the mindset that 347 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:36,200 most people have when it comes to approaching God's throne. 348 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:40,560 This is the God of the universe. This is the King of kings and 349 00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:42,880 the Lord of Lords. This is the one who, who, who 350 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:45,240 the earth, the Bible says is his footstool. 351 00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:50,040 All of heaven is at his command. The throne of God is a powerful, 352 00:17:50,160 --> 00:17:52,880 powerful place. We don't approach the throne of 353 00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:55,200 God carelessly. We don't approach the throne of 354 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:57,280 God recklessly. And by the way, when you're 355 00:17:57,280 --> 00:18:00,200 approaching it with sin that you know you have in your life, you 356 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:02,800 are approaching the throne of God recklessly and carelessly. 357 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:07,560 You know that God cannot hear you if you've got sin in your 358 00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:10,200 life. You know that God cannot answer 359 00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:11,960 your prayers if you have sin in your life. 360 00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:17,680 And yet you're going to, you're going to just take the mercy of 361 00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:24,280 God as if it's nothing and come before the throne of grace with 362 00:18:24,280 --> 00:18:27,120 sin in your life and ask God to do something great for you. 363 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:30,760 You know why you don't really approach the throne of God with 364 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:33,760 any kind of fervency? Because you know, He's not even 365 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:36,280 listening. It's like, it's like some little 366 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:38,760 guy standing off in the corner that nobody even knows he's 367 00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:41,120 there and he's talking to the king on the throne. 368 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:43,040 King doesn't even know he's there. 369 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:45,920 That's exactly the way that it is when we approach the throne 370 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:48,600 of God with sin in our lives. And I don't mean to go back to 371 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:52,200 that point and keep hammering on that, But if we're going to have 372 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:55,200 a fervent prayer life, it's a passionate prayer life and we've 373 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:58,160 got to approach the throne of God in the way that He wants us 374 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:00,400 to approach His throne. If we're going to be fervent in 375 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:02,880 our prayers, it's going to take more than just callous 376 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:04,560 repetition. It's going to take more than 377 00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:07,760 just half hearted words to get to the ear of the Almighty God 378 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:11,560 and move the hand of God. Why pray if that's not why we're 379 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:15,640 going before His throne? The Greek word for effectual 380 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:19,440 refers to that which has power. What is the point of praying 381 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:23,560 without power? What is the well, it's it's not 382 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:26,400 enough to just say a prayer. We must pray in power. 383 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:29,120 The prayer itself must be fervent prayer. 384 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:32,440 It must be a pouring out of the heart to God, must be prayed 385 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:36,160 from a heart of absolute faith that God can do whatever it is 386 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:38,280 that the child is bringing before him. 387 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:42,480 We have an example of that in verse #17 there in James chapter 388 00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:50,520 5, Elijah, as the Bible says in this verse, Elias, same man, Old 389 00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:53,160 Testament translation versus the New Testament translation. 390 00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:55,400 But he prayed earnestly. The Bible says that it would not 391 00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:58,160 rain. Verse #17 Elias was a man 392 00:19:58,160 --> 00:19:59,920 subject to like passions as we are. 393 00:19:59,920 --> 00:20:01,920 And he prayed earnestly that it might not rain. 394 00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:05,360 And it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and 395 00:20:05,360 --> 00:20:07,240 six months. And he prayed again, and the 396 00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:09,320 heaven gave rain and the earth brought her fruit. 397 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:11,960 When we're, when we're telling that story or when we're talking 398 00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:15,520 about that story, many times we skip right over that part, 399 00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:19,040 right? He came before God. 400 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:21,120 He prayed. He asked God to shut the heavens 401 00:20:21,120 --> 00:20:24,640 up, and God shut up the heavens. And then he prayed again later 402 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:28,320 and God opened the heavens back up 3 1/2 years, right? 403 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:30,440 No rain. Look what the Bible says about 404 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:33,840 Elijah. How did he pray that it might 405 00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:39,080 not rain earnestly? He prayed earnestly that it 406 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:41,760 might not rain. He knew who he was talking to. 407 00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:44,080 He knew that this was a powerful God. 408 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:47,840 And I don't know if if Elijah had just said God make it stop 409 00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:50,320 raining, I don't know if God would have answered that or not. 410 00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:54,720 I don't know, but the Bible says that he prayed earnestly that it 411 00:20:54,720 --> 00:20:58,280 might not rain. He knew that God had the power 412 00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:00,320 to do it. He knew that he was on God's 413 00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:01,840 side. He knew that they were going 414 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:04,720 against God, and that God very easily could stop up the heavens 415 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:08,480 from raining if he wanted it to. And yet the Bible says he prayed 416 00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:10,360 earnestly that it might not rain. 417 00:21:11,120 --> 00:21:13,240 That's a man with a fervent prayer life. 418 00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:16,400 God heard him in his pleading against an idolatrous, 419 00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:19,040 persecuting country. So it rained not, the Bible 420 00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:22,000 says, for the space of three years and six months. 421 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:24,600 And again he prayed, and the heavens brought their reign. 422 00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:28,400 God never says to any of His children, Seek my face in vain. 423 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:32,280 Now we see the commands and the promises in prayer over and over 424 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:35,400 and over in the Bible. And if Elijah by prayer could do 425 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:38,720 such great and wonderful things, surely the prayer of no 426 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:44,320 righteous man shall return void. The words effectual and fervent 427 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:48,440 give the idea of energetic supplication. 1 commentator said 428 00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:52,280 such a prayer as is suggested to the soul and wrought in it by a 429 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:56,720 divine energy. When God designs to do some 430 00:21:56,720 --> 00:22:00,040 particular work in His church, He pours out on His followers 431 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:03,120 the spirit of grace and supplication, and He often does 432 00:22:03,120 --> 00:22:05,560 it when he's about to do something special for His 433 00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:09,120 church. When a church gathers in an 434 00:22:09,120 --> 00:22:13,520 attitude and in the mindset of prayer, and earnest, fervent 435 00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:16,960 prayer at that, I believe God's about to do big things. 436 00:22:17,360 --> 00:22:20,480 The spirit of prayer is proof that the power of God is 437 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:25,080 present. A church that is not a praying 438 00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:27,920 church does not have God's power. 439 00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:33,640 A life that is not a praying life does not have God's power. 440 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:38,120 Isn't that exactly what we need in our church right now? 441 00:22:38,120 --> 00:22:40,680 Isn't that exactly what we need in our nation right now? 442 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:44,680 We could continue, but we must develop a passion in our prayer 443 00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:49,040 life if we are going to gain the attention of heaven with our 444 00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:51,480 prayers. I want you to see this number 445 00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:52,360 three. We talked about the 446 00:22:52,360 --> 00:22:56,560 prerequisite, the passion #3 the person of an availing prayer 447 00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:59,680 life. Verse 16 of James, chapter 5, 448 00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:05,560 the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man. 449 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:09,440 We touched on this already in the first point, but it must be 450 00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:16,000 the prayer of a righteous man. It's the saved, separated sin, 451 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:19,440 avoiding Christians that get a hold of God. 452 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:21,960 Those are the ones that are going to witness the wonderful 453 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:24,280 results from their time on their knees. 454 00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:28,720 The person of an availing prayer life is a righteous man. 455 00:23:30,120 --> 00:23:33,200 All you sit here and think, I, I want to be a person of prayer 456 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:36,200 and I don't know how you can sit and listen to a message on 457 00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:38,200 prayer and not think I want to get a hold of God. 458 00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:40,320 I want to have that power in prayer. 459 00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:41,800 I'll tell you how it's going to happen. 460 00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:47,040 It only happens to righteous people so often you see people 461 00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:49,080 sending their thoughts and prayers. 462 00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:53,520 All right, something happens and somebody posted on Facebook and 463 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:57,920 sending thoughts and prayers or, or we do this a lot and I'm 464 00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:01,120 praying for you. I'll be praying for you, right? 465 00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:03,600 And I do believe that most people mean well, but those are 466 00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:06,640 the same people that in the same Internet session will view 467 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:08,360 things that they shouldn't be looking at as they're talking 468 00:24:08,360 --> 00:24:10,280 about their thoughts and prayers or as they're talking about, I'm 469 00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:12,640 praying for you. Sitting there scrolling through 470 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:14,840 and looking at things that they shouldn't be looking at online. 471 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:18,640 They their view gossip about other people and they'll unleash 472 00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:22,080 their anger and their, you know, and voice their opinion and 473 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:24,600 they'll watch movies filled with things that are not pleasing to 474 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:25,720 God. But they're more than happy to 475 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:26,880 tell you that they're praying for you. 476 00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:31,640 No, thank you. I'd rather just not have you 477 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:35,600 praying for me at all than to have it be from some unrighteous 478 00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:38,560 lips that are trying to approach the throne of God. 479 00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:44,520 They mean well, but it's that prayer that's not coming from 480 00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:47,680 the lips of a righteous man. It's not making it any higher 481 00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:49,400 than the sound waves bouncing off the ceiling. 482 00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:52,600 And sadly, I think that's the way that most people's prayers 483 00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:57,840 are. Most people, most people do not 484 00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:01,720 know how to get ahold of God. Most people, most Christians 485 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:04,280 have never seen a direct answer to prayer. 486 00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:08,480 When's the last time that you prayed something specific and 487 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:13,320 God answered your prayer? When's the last time, can you 488 00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:16,760 remember the last time that God answered a prayer of yours? 489 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:22,080 Because if you can't, then you don't have an effectual prayer 490 00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:26,760 life. Oh, I prayed that, that all the 491 00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:28,640 lights would be green. And what do you know, all the 492 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:30,840 lights were green down the down the down the road. 493 00:25:31,360 --> 00:25:33,360 Now, if you're, if you're right with God and you're praying for 494 00:25:33,360 --> 00:25:37,640 that and you need it, God can give you that, But don't blame 495 00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:39,880 God because some engineer got it right. 496 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:42,080 And you made it down Broad Street with all the green 497 00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:45,960 lights, right? That's what the Hindus do, 498 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:48,920 right? I talked to Brother Nitin and 499 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:51,480 when we were over there in India and there's there's thousands of 500 00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:55,640 gods in India. How do you pick which God is the 501 00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:57,600 one for you? Well, they, they pick a God. 502 00:25:57,600 --> 00:25:59,600 They prayed to him. And once, you know, I got 503 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:01,760 blessed by this God, he answered my prayers. 504 00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:03,120 So that's the God that I'm going to go with. 505 00:26:03,120 --> 00:26:05,360 And they have a little statue of him sitting on the dashboard of 506 00:26:05,360 --> 00:26:08,200 their car and they have a thing set up in their house where they 507 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:10,680 put food and all these other things out there for him. 508 00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:13,760 That's how they pick their God. That's the God that answered 509 00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:17,360 their prayers. Oh, the effectual fervent prayer 510 00:26:17,360 --> 00:26:20,440 of a righteous man is the only one that's availing much. 511 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:23,840 Not only is the prayer of an unrighteous man not powerful 512 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:26,480 before God, but as we already talked about, God can't even 513 00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:28,960 hear it regarding iniquity in your hearts. 514 00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:30,880 The Lord will not hear you. What are you hiding that you 515 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:34,960 think is unknown to anyone? But you see those those things 516 00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:38,200 are not hidden from the eyes of him that walks to and fro on the 517 00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:41,920 earth. The Bible says those sins scream 518 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:46,360 out before an almighty God. Unclean, unclean. 519 00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:51,160 And you come before God as an unrighteous man. 520 00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:53,680 Don't expect that you're going to have a prayer life that's 521 00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:56,080 going to get a hold of God. Don't expect that God's going to 522 00:26:56,080 --> 00:27:00,480 answer your prayers. And oh, the sadness of the 523 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:04,160 futility of a man who pretends to be righteous and to others 524 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:07,480 may seem to be so, but who has no power with God because of 525 00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:11,280 hidden sin. But oh, the effectual fervent 526 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:14,360 prayer of a righteous man availeth much. 527 00:27:14,360 --> 00:27:17,920 Whether he's praying for himself or for others, his prayer is 528 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:20,280 effective. Again we see the example of 529 00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:22,600 Elijah. Elias, the Bible says in verse 530 00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:25,680 17, was a man subject to like passions as we are? 531 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:28,800 And he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it rained 532 00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:31,240 not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. 533 00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:33,040 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth 534 00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:37,560 brought forth her fruit. The man who prays must be a 535 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:42,000 righteous man, not perfect. Elijah was not perfect, he was 536 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:44,000 made to be an example for us, right? 537 00:27:44,360 --> 00:27:47,440 A man subject to like passions as we are. 538 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:52,360 But the power of prayer is proved from the success of 539 00:27:52,360 --> 00:27:54,720 Elijah. Elijah was a righteous man. 540 00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:58,280 You want to know what sets people apart? 541 00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:02,720 How can how can you see answers to prayer like that? 542 00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:05,160 How can God do great things for you? 543 00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:09,040 You're a righteous man, bringing those petitions to God. 544 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:12,200 What an encouragement to us. Even in common cases, if we 545 00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:15,440 consider that a, that Elijah was a man of like passions. 546 00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:20,160 He had a zealous, he was a zealous, good man, very great 547 00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:24,280 man, but he had his infirmities and was subject to the passions 548 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:28,560 the same way that we are. Oh, Elijah was not on some whole 549 00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:32,200 plane by himself where he wasn't tempted by the same things. 550 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:35,880 Even Christ was tempted with the same things that we're tempted 551 00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:38,640 by. Elijah was tempted by the same 552 00:28:38,640 --> 00:28:41,520 things that we're tempted by. The success of the prayer does 553 00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:43,920 not depend on talent and depend on learning. 554 00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:46,960 It doesn't depend on rank or wealth of the man who prays, but 555 00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:52,520 the fact that he's a righteous man that puts us all in the same 556 00:28:52,800 --> 00:28:55,880 playing field before God. You know, I think there's 557 00:28:55,880 --> 00:29:00,760 probably people in churches all across the country who know how 558 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:05,440 to get ahold of God way better than their pastor does because 559 00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:07,320 it doesn't, it doesn't matter who's the one standing behind 560 00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:10,600 the pulpit, doesn't mean that because I'm behind the pulpit, I 561 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:12,160 can get a hold of God and you can't. 562 00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:14,760 You know, everybody has that option. 563 00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:18,480 Everybody has that opportunity, but it's the effectual fervent 564 00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:21,600 prayer of a righteous man that availeth much. 565 00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:27,520 I want to show you this. Lastly, not only do we see the 566 00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:31,160 prerequisite, the passion and the person of an availing prayer 567 00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:34,560 life, but lastly, I want you to see the promise of an availing 568 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:38,240 prayer life. The Bible says the effectual 569 00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:43,400 fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. 570 00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:47,480 Availeth much that prayer avails much. 571 00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:50,840 It's a great advantage to us and may be very beneficial to our 572 00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:53,000 friends. And we are assured of its being 573 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:55,880 acceptable to God. Availeth much means it's strong, 574 00:29:56,080 --> 00:29:58,520 means it has efficacy. It prevails. 575 00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:03,160 The idea of the word availeth much is strength that overcomes 576 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:05,520 resistance and secures the object. 577 00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:07,600 That's the kind of results that I want in prayer. 578 00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:10,920 If I'm going to take the time to pray, I want it to be worth it. 579 00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:14,360 If I'm going to take the time to pray, I want to have the power 580 00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:16,160 in prayer. If I'm going to take the time to 581 00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:18,560 stop and pray for somebody because God brings them to my 582 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:20,840 mind, I want to be able to get a hold of God. 583 00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:24,680 I want him to hear me. I want to be fervent and I want 584 00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:27,360 to be effectual in those prayers, and I want it to avail 585 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:30,280 much God. We need a building availeth 586 00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:33,960 much. God, please save this person and 587 00:30:33,960 --> 00:30:37,480 it availeth much God, please. This is an answer to prayer that 588 00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:40,560 I've got to see availeth much God. 589 00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:43,720 We need revival, A veiling prayer. 590 00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:47,680 It's been said that prayer moves the arm that moves the world. 591 00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:52,440 Oh, God's God has the ability to do it, and certainly faith is a 592 00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:55,360 part of that. Believing that God can do it is 593 00:30:55,360 --> 00:31:00,320 a part of it. But prayer, How true. 594 00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:02,880 If there's anything that can prevail with God, it's prayer. 595 00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:06,080 Humble, fervent, earnest petitioning. 596 00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:08,720 We ought to become people of prayer. 597 00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:10,480 You ought to do a study on prayer. 598 00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:13,200 Figure out what prayer is all about. 599 00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:15,440 There's so much more to prayer than just God. 600 00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:17,520 Thank you for this day. Give me this. 601 00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:20,120 Give me that. Give us a good day. 602 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:22,480 Amen. That's that's, that's the depth 603 00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:27,080 of most people's prayers. And prayer ought to have praise. 604 00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:29,240 Prayer ought to have Thanksgiving. 605 00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:31,520 Prayer ought to have supplication. 606 00:31:32,040 --> 00:31:35,800 There's so much to prayer that we ought to, that we ought to be 607 00:31:35,800 --> 00:31:37,320 doing if we're going to get a hold of God. 608 00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:40,560 We have no power to control him. We cannot dictate to him. 609 00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:43,640 We can't resist him in the execution of his will, but we 610 00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:48,240 can ask him for what we desire. Boy, I'm reading through the the 611 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:51,160 first five books of the Bible right now and you see the the 612 00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:56,160 availing power that Moses had with God. 613 00:31:56,920 --> 00:32:00,840 How many times God said I'm done with these people, I'm done with 614 00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:02,400 them, can't handle the complaining. 615 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:05,000 I can't handle their, their, their bicker and I can't handle 616 00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:07,680 the fact that they, they don't even acknowledge me as God. 617 00:32:07,840 --> 00:32:11,200 I'm done Moses, I'm I'm destroying them. 618 00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:15,200 I'm going to start over with you and Moses went to God and said, 619 00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:18,800 God, please don't do that. Think about what it would do to 620 00:32:18,800 --> 00:32:21,760 your name in Egypt. Think about, think about how it 621 00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:24,600 would have an effect on all the people who are afraid of us 622 00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:26,160 getting ready to go into the land. 623 00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:28,200 They're not going to be afraid of you anymore. 624 00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:30,960 They, they, they've all heard about what you did in Egypt. 625 00:32:33,080 --> 00:32:38,400 And if you kill all your people here right now, then not only is 626 00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:41,400 Egypt going to not fear your name, but all the people that 627 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:43,800 are in the land that you promised to us aren't going to 628 00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:46,800 fear your name either. And God said, all right, Moses, 629 00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:51,360 all right, all right, I'll give you what you're asking for. 630 00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:54,200 I won't destroy him, but I'm going to kill some of them. 631 00:32:56,840 --> 00:33:00,600 But the power that Moses had in prayer, don't you want that kind 632 00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:03,600 of power with God? Don't you want to be able to 633 00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:07,040 say, hang on, God, please, I can't tell you what to do. 634 00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:11,200 You're the God of the universe. And I'm, I'm just, I'm, I'm a 635 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:14,200 nobody. But God, please, this is 636 00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:17,200 something that we really need. This is something that I'd 637 00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:22,400 really like to see you do. God says OK, but only because 638 00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:25,440 you're asking me, wouldn't you like to have power like that 639 00:33:25,440 --> 00:33:31,000 with God? It availeth much, but it has to 640 00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:34,320 be fervent. It has to be effectual and from 641 00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:37,840 a righteous man. And God says it will avail much. 642 00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:40,240 What a promise. What a promise. 643 00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:44,680 The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. 644 00:33:45,840 --> 00:33:48,400 Nothing has been more clearly demonstrated in the history of 645 00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:53,160 the world then that the prayer, that prayer is effectual in 646 00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:57,880 obtaining blessings from God. It's effectual in accomplishing 647 00:33:57,880 --> 00:34:01,240 great and valuable things. There is no intrinsic power in 648 00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:06,640 the words. Power comes from God. 649 00:34:07,120 --> 00:34:13,120 DL Moody spoke with a man who had a mother who practiced 650 00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:16,000 prevailing prayer. This is what DL Moody said in a 651 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:17,520 message that he preached one time. 652 00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:20,719 He said I remember being in the camp and a man came to me and 653 00:34:20,719 --> 00:34:23,120 said, Mr. Moody, when the Mexican War began I wanted to 654 00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:25,320 enlist. My mother, seeing I was 655 00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:28,120 resolved, said if I became a Christian I could go. 656 00:34:28,719 --> 00:34:31,040 She pleaded and prayed that I might become a Christian, but I 657 00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:33,719 wouldn't. I said when the war was over I'd 658 00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:35,280 become a Christian, but not till then. 659 00:34:36,040 --> 00:34:38,600 All her pleading was in vain. And at last when I was going 660 00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:42,040 away, she took out a watch and she said, my son, your father 661 00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:44,679 left this to me when he died, Take it. 662 00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:47,639 And I want you to remember that every day at 12 O clock, your 663 00:34:47,639 --> 00:34:51,040 mother will be praying for you. And she gave me her Bible and 664 00:34:51,040 --> 00:34:53,320 marked out passages and put a few different references in the 665 00:34:53,320 --> 00:34:56,199 flyleaf. I took the watch in the Bible 666 00:34:56,199 --> 00:34:57,960 just because my mother gave them to me. 667 00:34:58,480 --> 00:34:59,920 Never intended to read the Bible. 668 00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:03,320 I went off to Mexico and one day, while in a long weary 669 00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:05,800 March, I took out my watch and it was 12:00. 670 00:35:06,320 --> 00:35:09,880 I've been gone for four months, but I remembered that my mother 671 00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:14,000 at that hour was praying for me. Something prompted me to ask the 672 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:16,320 officer to relieve me for a little while, and I stepped 673 00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:20,040 behind a tree away out of those out on those plains in Mexico 674 00:35:20,040 --> 00:35:22,320 and cried to the God of my mother to save me. 675 00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:26,440 Deal, Moody said. My friends, God saved him and he 676 00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:30,160 went through the Mexican War and now he's enlisted again to see 677 00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:32,200 if he could do any good for his master's cause. 678 00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:35,600 We've only scratched the surface this morning. 679 00:35:37,160 --> 00:35:41,040 We have so much to pray for. I believe that God has great 680 00:35:41,040 --> 00:35:44,040 things in store for this church. I believe that God has great 681 00:35:44,040 --> 00:35:47,120 things in store for this country, but it's only going to 682 00:35:47,120 --> 00:35:52,840 happen as we confess our sins to Him and as we become holy and 683 00:35:52,840 --> 00:35:55,840 righteous. Men and women who have learned 684 00:35:55,840 --> 00:36:00,520 the power of effectual fervent prayer, How was your prayer life 685 00:36:00,520 --> 00:36:03,960 this morning? Is it non existent? 686 00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:09,280 Is it non effectual? Perhaps you've never laid your 687 00:36:09,280 --> 00:36:13,240 burden of sin down at the foot of the cross and felt what it's 688 00:36:13,240 --> 00:36:17,680 like to have all of your sins forgiven and to know Jesus 689 00:36:17,680 --> 00:36:22,160 Christ as your Savior. But perhaps for those who are 690 00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:23,640 saved, that's what you need to do. 691 00:36:23,640 --> 00:36:26,880 Again, you want to be effectual in your prayer. 692 00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:29,680 You're not going to do it unless you are righteous man. 693 00:36:30,960 --> 00:36:32,560 You want God to hear you. You're not going to do it with 694 00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:37,720 sin in your life. Take the burden of all that sin 695 00:36:39,080 --> 00:36:41,400 and go do what you did when you met Christ the first time. 696 00:36:42,720 --> 00:36:49,800 Lay that sin down at the foot of the cross and look up and see 697 00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:51,800 the eyes of the one that died for you. 698 00:36:53,400 --> 00:36:56,720 See the eyes of the one that has the ability to answer any 699 00:36:56,720 --> 00:36:58,360 request that you bring before Him. 700 00:36:59,840 --> 00:37:03,400 See the eyes of the one that can help you become a person and a 701 00:37:03,400 --> 00:37:11,160 man, a woman of prayer, and ask Him to help you because there's 702 00:37:11,160 --> 00:37:13,800 a prerequisite. You're never going to get a hold 703 00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:18,160 of God unless you're clean before Him. 704 00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:27,960 There's a passion that comes with true prayer, fervent 705 00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:33,120 prayer. There's a person that can bring 706 00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:34,880 that to pass, and that's the righteous man. 707 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:38,760 And there's a promise. It avails much. 708 00:37:41,600 --> 00:37:44,360 Maybe it's because you have a life that's full of sin that 709 00:37:44,360 --> 00:37:46,200 needs to be made clean by the blood of Christ. 710 00:37:46,560 --> 00:37:49,440 Perhaps you've allowed prayer to just become something that you 711 00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:55,920 do because you know you should. The effectual, fervent prayer of 712 00:37:55,920 --> 00:38:01,480 a righteous man availeth much. How's your prayer life this 713 00:38:01,480 --> 00:38:07,160 morning? Is it accomplishing anything, or 714 00:38:07,160 --> 00:38:09,800 is it just there? Or is it not there at all? 715 00:38:10,760 --> 00:38:17,080 The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. 716 00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:19,360 Let's pray. Father, again, we thank you so 717 00:38:19,360 --> 00:38:23,280 much for your goodness to us. Thank you for such a wonderful 718 00:38:23,280 --> 00:38:26,720 promise. A promise that I think if we 719 00:38:26,720 --> 00:38:32,200 were to know all the statistics from all of history is probably 720 00:38:32,200 --> 00:38:38,160 the most underused promise in all of the Bible, but one that 721 00:38:38,160 --> 00:38:40,640 carries so much potential with it for those who will get 722 00:38:40,640 --> 00:38:44,040 serious about this matter of prayer. 723 00:38:45,400 --> 00:38:50,120 And even if the message was just for one person, may it help that 724 00:38:50,120 --> 00:38:54,280 one person to become powerful in prayer. 725 00:38:55,560 --> 00:38:58,600 You helped me to be powerful in prayer. 726 00:39:00,040 --> 00:39:02,840 May help our church to be powerful in prayer. 727 00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:07,360 We thank you for all that you do for us in Jesus name, Amen. 728 00:39:07,360 --> 00:39:09,120 If you stand at your seat through the heads bowed and your 729 00:39:09,120 --> 00:39:12,000 eyes closed this morning, I'm going to give you an opportunity 730 00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:14,480 to respond to the message. So as the piano plays, if God 731 00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:16,040 spoke to your heart, you come.