1 00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:07,400 Good morning. You're so good to see you. 2 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:11,200 I hope your Bible just flops open to Romans chapter 8 because 3 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:14,080 you've been buried in that for the last few weeks like one 4 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:18,720 does. For those who are not familiar 5 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:20,720 with the fact that we're going through Romans 8, I'll give you 6 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:23,920 a chance to page your way there. While you do that, I do want to 7 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:26,800 have a little bit of a shout out to those watching online. 8 00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:31,160 There's a friend of mine, he was home injured last Sunday and he 9 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:33,600 was watching a live streaming. I don't know if you know, but we 10 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:36,000 we live stream our services in the mornings. 11 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:39,760 And his comment back to me, he said, But you won't believe how 12 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:44,080 many hundreds of people were watching and how many hundreds 13 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:46,240 of people stopped watching halfway through. 14 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:50,240 He said, you know, by halfway through the sermon, it was less 15 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:54,080 than 10% of those who started. And he mentioned it to his wife 16 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:57,440 and his wife made a most profound and insightful comment 17 00:00:57,440 --> 00:00:59,120 on that. She said, yeah, it's because we 18 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:01,440 don't like God getting into our business. 19 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:04,080 We don't like to be challenged by Scripture. 20 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:06,360 You know, come and pander to my needs. 21 00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:08,720 Come. And yeah, my itchy ears need to 22 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:11,520 hear what I want to hear. Don't challenge me. 23 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:13,760 Don't, don't challenge my worldview. 24 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:16,000 Don't confront the sin in my life. 25 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:20,920 So in light of that, I want to start a little differently today 26 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:25,800 because I want to remind you of who it is that is speaking into 27 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:28,440 our lives. It's not me, the one who gives 28 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:31,040 us his word. And I want to start by reminding 29 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:32,800 you I've shared it. If you if you knew you might 30 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:36,400 have missed it. But about six months ago, I 31 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:41,480 introduced you to a star called Beetlejuice and we'll pop good 32 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:44,800 old Beetlejuice up as such a stunning image. 33 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:47,880 But here's the thing, right? I want to recalibrate your 34 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:50,560 thinking. So if we were to take our our 35 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:54,240 sun and we had to shrink it down to the size of this golf ball, 36 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:58,360 now you've got to remember that this guy, our sun is, can fit 37 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:04,040 1.3 million earths inside of it. And if we had to shrink it down, 38 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:08,520 then that would be the size of Beetlejuice in comparison. 39 00:02:08,759 --> 00:02:10,680 All right, now that's staggering. 40 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:14,400 I love the universe. I love looking at this because 41 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:18,160 it makes me feel so small. But my son seems to carry the 42 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:21,000 same fascination with the universe, and he introduced me 43 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:24,520 to 10618. There's this photo that came out 44 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:27,080 now it's a little bit, it's meant to be blurry because that 45 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:28,680 was the picture that we got at first. 46 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:32,040 It's a black hole. And recently what they did was 47 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:35,400 they put it through AI and they managed to basically produce a 48 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:37,440 picture that will show you the dimensions. 49 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:41,000 If that is 10618, that's our solar system. 50 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:47,160 And you know what? Here's the craziest thing that 51 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:52,880 was put into the sky. It was created when God said let 52 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:58,800 there be. And He didn't just say let there 53 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:02,560 be. He said Romans 85. 54 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:06,360 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on 55 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:10,720 what the flesh desires. How pathetically piddly and 56 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:15,800 puny, but those who live in accordance with the spirit, with 57 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:22,360 the spirit, have their mindset on what the spirits desires. 58 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:27,600 The mind governed by the pathetic puny flesh is death, 59 00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:30,120 but the mind governed by the spirit is life. 60 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:33,640 Underline life. Circle it in your Bible. 61 00:03:33,640 --> 00:03:36,600 If if you don't have a pen, use your wife's lipstick. 62 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:42,280 Sir, life, the Spirit is life and peace, but the mind governed 63 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:45,920 by the flesh is hostile to that God. 64 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:53,640 It does not submit to that God's Lord, nor can it do so. 65 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:57,040 And those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please this 66 00:03:57,040 --> 00:03:59,960 God. Verse 10 But if Christ is in 67 00:03:59,960 --> 00:04:02,800 you, then even though your body is subject to death because of 68 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:06,600 sin, the Spirit gives life circle life again because of 69 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:09,120 righteousness. And if the spirit of him who 70 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:12,720 raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised 71 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:19,399 Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies 72 00:04:19,399 --> 00:04:23,360 because of his Spirit who lives in now if you've circled life 73 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:26,840 three times, you'll notice that he is talking about that. 74 00:04:26,840 --> 00:04:31,280 God is talking about coming into our life and giving life to our 75 00:04:31,280 --> 00:04:36,320 body, mind and soul. Body, mind and soul. 76 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:38,280 And over the last few weeks we've looked at soul. 77 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:41,360 Last Sunday Kai preached on our mind. 78 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:45,000 Today I want to preach on the spirit giving life to your body. 79 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:48,280 So the verse, verse 11. And if the spirit of him erased 80 00:04:48,280 --> 00:04:51,720 Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from 81 00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:56,920 the dead will also give life to your mortal body because of his 82 00:04:56,920 --> 00:05:00,600 spirit who lives in you. And so today I want to just 83 00:05:00,840 --> 00:05:04,840 simply touch on healing. Are you heard right? 84 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:06,880 Healing. I've never preached on healing 85 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:10,080 before. So there are some ground rules, 86 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:14,960 two of them. Firstly, you need to understand 87 00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:20,200 healing is complicated because suffering is real. 88 00:05:20,280 --> 00:05:23,720 Suffering hurts. And a lot of the time when we 89 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:29,080 are suffering, that's when we cry out to God for healing and 90 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:32,840 being healed or not being healed actually has an effect on your 91 00:05:32,840 --> 00:05:34,640 outlook of life. Actually, there's a quote. 92 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:37,400 This is 1 aspect that distinguishes healing from other 93 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:40,760 spiritual gifts that many people may respond to poor preaching 94 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:44,600 with a yawn. I've had that many times, but 95 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:47,560 they'll respond to an unmet request for healing by 96 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:54,320 redefining the God that pray to because healing is complicated. 97 00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:59,080 I'm preaching on healing today and we have a family staying 98 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:01,560 with us this weekend who's struggling with cancer. 99 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:05,400 I'm preaching on healing today and I said to Torsten in his 100 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:09,760 wheelchair walk and he's still in his wheelchair because 101 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:14,520 healing is complicated. The irony of ironies is that the 102 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:16,760 God preaching is struggling with knee issues. 103 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:20,120 Went in for an operation a few weeks back and the prayer that I 104 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:22,680 prayed the most and actually was prayed over me and most was Lord 105 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:26,640 pray that when they cut open his knee that the surgeon looks in 106 00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:30,920 and goes, there's nothing wrong. He's healed. 107 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:37,520 And instead, and my surgeon's here this morning, he opened up. 108 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:42,320 It's actually worse than I thought because healing is 109 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:46,160 complicated. Ground rule #1 healing is 110 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:49,840 complicated #2 healing is not complicated. 111 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:57,640 I I was going to use a hypothetical, but I'm going to 112 00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:01,200 tell a true story. Years ago, we were still in the 113 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:03,600 tent. I was preaching my guts out, 114 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:06,560 presenting the gospel as best as I knew how. 115 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:09,160 And then I did what every preacher loves to do. 116 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:13,960 Gave an altar call a few times because there was no response. 117 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:19,200 And eventually, just before I closed, there was his hand. 118 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:24,400 And he came forward all the way. No worse roar. 119 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:28,200 It wasn't my wife. He came forward and I got 120 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:29,600 everyone to stand and we all prayed. 121 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:31,600 The sinners prayed together. And I was so relieved. 122 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,360 I went and I looked for him afterwards and I said, listen, 123 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:37,000 we haven't made some, Steven, congratulations. 124 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:38,600 Listen, I'd love to buy you a Bible. 125 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:40,880 And he sort of took me by the army, walked me away. 126 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:44,040 He said, listen, actually I've been saved for a long time. 127 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:53,040 I just felt so bad. Look, I won't tell you where I 128 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:58,240 buried the body. Healing's not complicated. 129 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:02,680 If I was to say after that sermon, I'm going to preach 130 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:07,560 again, we don't stop preaching because there wasn't 100% 131 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:10,360 response. We don't doubt that God wants to 132 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:14,080 save because Kipi came forward and got saved again. 133 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:18,960 We don't abandoned the gospel because I didn't have 100% 134 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:24,520 salvation. And you know, the crazy thing is 135 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:29,640 preaching is a gift of the spirit, healing gift of the 136 00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:33,240 spirit. So healing is complicated, but 137 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:36,039 healing is not complicated. Actually this tension is held by 138 00:08:36,039 --> 00:08:42,320 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verse one that says earnestly desire 139 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:47,160 the gifts of the Spirit, and that earnestly is zealow. 140 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:50,120 And that's where we get the word zeal from, but it's zeal to the 141 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:52,360 NTH degree. He's basically saying when he 142 00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:56,000 says earnestly desire the gifts of the Spirit, he says burn with 143 00:08:56,240 --> 00:09:02,200 zeal. Strive for with a godly jealousy 144 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:07,680 to have the gift of healing, or the gift of prophecy, or the 145 00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:10,280 gift of praying in tongues, or the gift of preaching and 146 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:12,240 teaching or the gift of encouragement. 147 00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:19,440 Strive for. And so it's a shame on us that 148 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:22,960 we like to sidestep healing because sometimes there's not 149 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:25,920 100% hit rate. Three things I want to highlight 150 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:27,480 before we look at praying for the sick. 151 00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:30,720 Firstly #1 healing. Thanks for all. 152 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:33,080 Healing is grounded in God's Word and character. 153 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:38,920 Healing is grounded in God's Word and character. 154 00:09:39,680 --> 00:09:42,520 OK healing wasn't created by televangelists. 155 00:09:43,680 --> 00:09:46,080 We find it like right at the very beginning first few pages 156 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:50,040 of scripture you find Abraham praying for Abimele because his 157 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:54,600 wife was infertile, prayed for her Baroness and she got healed. 158 00:09:55,160 --> 00:10:00,720 You see in in one King's a larger lying on the widow's son 159 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:06,160 and raises him from the dead and two kings you find naman with 160 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:10,080 leprosy coming to Elisha. He says dip in the river 7 times 161 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:13,080 and he was healed of leprosy. You know, actually in the book 162 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:16,920 of Exodus, right at the very beginning of Scripture, you find 163 00:10:16,920 --> 00:10:23,480 God introducing himself as Jehovah Rapha, God your healer. 164 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:27,240 It's in the word and it's in his character so much so that it 165 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:30,000 just oozes out of Jesus everywhere he goes, right? 166 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:33,160 You know, Jesus prayed for the blind and they got to see the 167 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:35,160 sick and they were healed. The paralytic were running 168 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:38,680 around the the dead were raised. Hello Lazarus. 169 00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:43,840 And Jesus says, I only do what I see my Father do, because it is 170 00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:46,480 in his very nature and character to heal. 171 00:10:48,400 --> 00:10:52,000 And then of course you got the Acts of the Apostles and the 172 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:55,000 disciples and the church, Peter and John. 173 00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:58,640 Silver and gold. Have I none, said he, but that 174 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:02,440 which I have given unto thee. And what happened? 175 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:03,960 Walking and leaping and praising God. 176 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:06,440 Paul, the guy who wrote Romans 8. 177 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:10,880 He prayed for a kid who'd fallen out of the window and died when 178 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:12,840 he hit the floor. The boy was raised from the 179 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:16,520 dead, shipwrecked on Malta, prayed for the chief official, 180 00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:18,520 got healed. Peter. 181 00:11:18,520 --> 00:11:20,960 It seemed that there was so much healing going on in the book of 182 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:23,840 Acts that they would allow people out in the streets so 183 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:25,760 that his shadow would pass him by. 184 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:29,000 We don't do much of that at 3 CR. 185 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:38,000 But healing is grounded in God's Word and character #2 healing is 186 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:41,360 part of the church's ministry. I've actually written part of 187 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:43,880 the body's ministry. But some of us are unfamiliar 188 00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:47,000 with the terminology. See the body, you and I, we're 189 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:50,600 the body of Christ. It's not reserved for the head, 190 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:54,160 the Elvis and deacons and the holy people. 191 00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:57,160 Healing is part of the church's ministry. 192 00:11:57,160 --> 00:12:01,080 Some are so that when Jesus sent the disciples out to preach and 193 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:04,720 teach and declare the Kingdom of God is here four out of five 194 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:06,560 times. He also said, oh, and make sure 195 00:12:06,560 --> 00:12:09,840 you heal the sick. But that is that is an 196 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:12,680 understatement. His words were heal the sick, 197 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:17,240 raise the dead, cleanse the lepers. 198 00:12:18,040 --> 00:12:21,600 How's that for a Plumb line? You know it's not find that 199 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:24,560 auntie with a headache raise the dead. 200 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:33,080 The Bible doesn't shy away from healing like we like to do, but 201 00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:38,000 it also doesn't glamorize and glorify healing like we like to 202 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:41,040 do. There's not hush hush on one 203 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:45,360 side just in case you don't get any healings, but it also 204 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:47,760 doesn't make it some kind of extra special thing. 205 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:51,600 It just lumps it in there with the gift of encouragements and 206 00:12:51,600 --> 00:13:00,000 teaching and preaching. And thirdly, healing doesn't 207 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:04,040 follow a formula. I'm going to read it. 208 00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:06,440 It's a rather lengthy one, but Jordan Singh says the following 209 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:09,040 says one of the fascinating things about studying healing 210 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:12,200 ministry in scriptures, the wonderfully diverse way the many 211 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:15,640 stories of healing unfold. Peter's mother-in-law was healed 212 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:18,800 as soon as Jesus took her hand, but the 10 lepers didn't 213 00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:21,440 experience the healing until Jesus had sent them away. 214 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:25,520 Jesus healed A servant's ear by touching it, but the woman with 215 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:28,080 the issue of blood was healed when she snuck up on Jesus and 216 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:30,760 touched him. Jairus's daughter was 217 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:33,480 resurrected from death immediately when Jesus called 218 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:36,360 her, but the blind man in bed said and needed Jesus to touch 219 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:40,200 him twice before he saw clearly. Jesus ordered a man to stretch 220 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:43,040 out his withered hand, and the man was healed as he tried the 221 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:46,280 impossible, but the centurion servant was healed over a 222 00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:48,760 considerable distance just by Jesus word. 223 00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:53,120 The paralytic lowered down to Jesus through a roof, was first 224 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:55,360 forgiven of his sins and then healed. 225 00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:58,320 But when Jesus healed the man born blind, he assured his 226 00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:00,880 disciples that sin played no part in the affliction. 227 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:03,880 Jesus healed through touch, commands, declaration. 228 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:05,920 Sometimes he applied saliva, sometimes mud. 229 00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:07,840 Sometimes just touching a cloak was enough. 230 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:10,400 Sometimes one needed the touch of his hand and sometimes he 231 00:14:10,400 --> 00:14:13,200 required both, neither. And then it goes on to say a 232 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:15,120 little later on. And he says, if you're looking 233 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:18,480 for a step by step approach to supernatural healing, the Bible 234 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:21,600 is not the book for you. There is no formula. 235 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:27,240 It's almost like Jesus goes out of his way to break formula and 236 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:29,160 I hate that because I'm a formula guy. 237 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:33,440 Just tell me what to do. Tell me what I need to price the 238 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:36,200 magic words so that Torsen gets out of his wheelchair. 239 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:41,160 So the thing about elders is that the Bible says, you know, 240 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:43,200 if you sit, come to the elders, they'll launch you with oil. 241 00:14:43,400 --> 00:14:46,680 And then it's got this very condemning portion that says, 242 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:51,120 and the fervent pray of a righteous man availeth much in 243 00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:53,600 the King James Version. And so there was a time when we 244 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:56,360 were getting a lot of people coming through to be prayed for 245 00:14:56,360 --> 00:14:59,760 by the elders and we never saw one healing. 246 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:05,080 And so maybe it's lack of servant's pray or maybe it's not 247 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:08,440 that I'm righteous, but there was no availa thing of anything 248 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:11,240 to the point where eventually I said, Lord, I don't know. 249 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:13,160 I don't know what I believe about healing. 250 00:15:13,840 --> 00:15:16,040 I definitely know it's not a gift that I have. 251 00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:19,560 And I sort of talked it off until a friend of mine phoned 252 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:24,480 and said, listen, just come back from the Doctor, got cancer, 253 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:29,600 please can you come and pray? But that doesn't work. 254 00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:33,560 So of course, like a good friend, absolutely. 255 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:36,560 I'll be there, hang up. I'm like, oh Lord, I don't know 256 00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:38,840 what to do. And it was amazing because at 257 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:41,960 the time Rory was had, I had a conversation in Rory's office 258 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:44,320 because I'd noticed there was something different in Rory when 259 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:47,000 he was praying. And I was like, what, What is 260 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:48,960 this? I recognize there's a power 261 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:50,880 there. And he began to explain to me 262 00:15:50,880 --> 00:15:54,520 how he is praying Scripture. And so when I hung up from 263 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:56,680 chatting to my mates, that was the first thing I thought. 264 00:15:56,680 --> 00:15:59,240 I thought, Lord, I'm going to ask you for Scripture, that I'm 265 00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:01,680 going to pray for him and then pray over him. 266 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:05,680 And for about two weeks, just going through usual rhythms, 267 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:09,480 morning quiet time, and on a random morning, a random portion 268 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:12,920 of Scripture, I came across Ezekiel 37, which is the Valley 269 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:15,320 of Dry Bones. And what caught my attention 270 00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:19,040 there is God says to to Ezekiel, can these bones live? 271 00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:23,760 And he's like, probably not, but you know, Lord, which is a 272 00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:25,480 really great way to get out of jail. 273 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:29,320 So caught my attention because I'm like, yeah, Ezekiel also 274 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:33,800 didn't believe that God, but OK. But then I knew that I knew this 275 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:35,640 was the portion of Scripture. And so I went over that. 276 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:37,640 Now we prayed and it's weird. I don't know if you've read 277 00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:40,200 Ezekiel 37. Like he's calling the breath 278 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:42,720 from the north and the South and the east and the West and 279 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:45,440 speaking to the tendons and ligaments and muscles. 280 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:49,360 So I did that a few times and then I found and said, listen, 281 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:52,080 I'm ready to come pray. Went across there and I'm 282 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:53,760 thinking it's going to be him and his wife. 283 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:57,280 Turns out it was him and his extended family and the guy that 284 00:16:57,280 --> 00:16:59,520 they met at the cafe the week before and the neighbors. 285 00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:04,760 And he uses like, oh, and so we do what we do, praying little 286 00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:07,920 bits, anointing with oil. And then I grab my Bible. 287 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:11,280 I scoot up in front of him, sits on the coffee table, knees and 288 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:16,240 knees, and I go through Ezekiel 37, calling the breath from the 289 00:17:17,319 --> 00:17:19,440 But in the moment, something changed. 290 00:17:20,599 --> 00:17:26,359 I knew that God had done something only if it was just in 291 00:17:26,359 --> 00:17:29,120 me. I felt like I had discharged 292 00:17:29,120 --> 00:17:31,280 what I was called to do. Like I've been faithful to what 293 00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:34,080 God asked of me and that was it and I was happy with it. 294 00:17:35,120 --> 00:17:37,560 And it's also the reason why I wasn't surprised when six weeks 295 00:17:37,560 --> 00:17:40,520 later he found he says the doctor says I'm clear now. 296 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:42,840 Remember, it was you can clap enough for me. 297 00:17:44,360 --> 00:17:47,480 I was one of like 5000 people and stuffed into that room 298 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:51,400 praying for him at that time. But you can't say that that's 299 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:55,560 now the formula. There was something there that I 300 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:59,120 think is tied more to obedience than formula. 301 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:02,600 But there is is the power and praying Scripture? 302 00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:06,680 Absolutely. But the next person, I'm not 303 00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:09,040 going to go to Ezekiel 37 and pray that over because that's 304 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:12,280 the magic formula. Because if it was, then you 305 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:14,640 can't explain what happened to my knee about 3 weeks ago. 306 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:19,920 So those who here the evening service missed it. 307 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:23,760 But anyway, so had this knee operation of struggling with 308 00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:27,480 deep vein thrombosis and got a little bit of a scare because 309 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:29,960 when you when you go for the sonar, they start to run the 310 00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:32,760 groin and, and she said to me, she said, listen, if we find 311 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:36,440 anything, no sudden movements going straight to theater. 312 00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:38,760 I'm not thinking of this is scary stuff. 313 00:18:39,120 --> 00:18:41,080 Didn't find anything there. Went down to my knee. 314 00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:43,280 She's like, OK, if we find something here, it's still 315 00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:46,600 serious, but at least, you know, it's like you went down my 316 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:49,040 table. Yeah, she was a delight. 317 00:18:51,120 --> 00:18:52,560 So we didn't find anything at the knee. 318 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:54,520 We went down. We found it just below my cough. 319 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:57,840 Anyway, so we were medicating, looking after this. 320 00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:01,680 But about two or three weeks later, I'm sitting raw, was busy 321 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:03,840 preaching. And the Sunday morning I knew 322 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:06,360 something wasn't right. I was uncomfortable. 323 00:19:06,360 --> 00:19:08,600 I could feel my blood pressure was going up. 324 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:10,360 Eventually we had a meeting at lunchtime. 325 00:19:10,360 --> 00:19:11,840 I had to excuse myself from the meeting. 326 00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:14,880 I just had to get home. I wanted to tear the skin off my 327 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:16,200 knee. I was in so much pain. 328 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:20,840 And that evening and I started contacting my doctor wanted to 329 00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:23,440 find out, listen, what do I do? Because the best that I could 330 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:27,000 describe what was going on in my head was this this clot was 331 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:29,200 moving because it around my knee. 332 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:33,080 It felt like shards of gloss. So I'm busy and comes with him 333 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:35,600 because it's a Sunday night. It's like I don't have medical 334 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:36,720 aid to cover these kind of things. 335 00:19:36,720 --> 00:19:41,000 I'm thinking like this is just worst case scenario and like 336 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:46,080 that something changed. It felt like my knee had been 337 00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:54,560 wrapped in barbed wire like a like a almost said catheter not 338 00:19:54,760 --> 00:19:57,320 catheter barbed wire. Although it was about the same 339 00:19:57,320 --> 00:19:59,640 pain, just not there. Like it, Like it. 340 00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:02,160 Like a tourniquet. Yeah, that's it. 341 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:04,240 Yeah. It felt like this thing on my 342 00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:06,040 knee, and then it was gone. So. 343 00:20:06,360 --> 00:20:08,880 And the crazy thing was, in that moment, I thought to myself, I 344 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:13,600 wonder if someone prayed for me. And so I'd taken off my watch 345 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:17,000 because I was so irritable with everything. 346 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:20,440 So grabbed for my cell phone to see what the time was, You know, 347 00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:22,680 just in case you're having coffee with someone there. 348 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:24,440 Hey, how's your knee doing? Listen, I was praying for you. 349 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:26,360 Oh, we know it's Sunday. What time on Sunday? 350 00:20:26,360 --> 00:20:27,680 So I wanted to know what the time was. 351 00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:32,360 And it was 635. And as I picked up my phone, my 352 00:20:32,360 --> 00:20:34,280 phone buzzed. My son sent me a WhatsApp. 353 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:36,600 He was on camera, took a photo from the camera. 354 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:38,520 I said, hey, Dad, we're praying for you. 355 00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:42,520 Hands are three CR forward now, to be really honest, now we're 356 00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:45,760 talking about formula, right? I didn't even think to pray. 357 00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:50,760 I wasn't quoting any scripts over myself. 358 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:54,720 Rory thought to mention it had everyone and I was healed. 359 00:20:54,720 --> 00:20:56,760 Brilliant. Yeah. 360 00:20:56,760 --> 00:20:59,520 There's no formula. I want to tell you my favorite 361 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:04,240 story. My daughter had kidney failure. 362 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:11,240 We nearly lost about 18 months ago in ICU for many, many weeks. 363 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:15,320 And in that moment, of course, we're praying, man, are we 364 00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:17,200 praying or we prayed ourselves silly. 365 00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:19,560 And so you've got enough. No, you're left with no more 366 00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:21,360 words. People would. 367 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:23,800 They arranged parking lot prayer meetings. 368 00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:26,320 I think one of the teachers from his school and there were 369 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:27,440 hundreds of people that pitched up. 370 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:30,080 They were even strangers sort of walking into the hospital. 371 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:31,640 What's going on here? We're praying for a girl. 372 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:33,080 And they would join in on the pre meetings. 373 00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:35,960 So there was a lot of pre going on and a lot of messages, a lot 374 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:37,720 of support and a lot of love and care. 375 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:41,080 And in the midst of all of this, and I kid you not, no 376 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:45,400 exaggeration, I was getting about 1000 messages a week. 377 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:47,880 People wanting to know how she's doing, what can we do? 378 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:51,040 And in the midst of all of this, and my wife was getting probably 379 00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:55,360 as much, if not more because she's much nicer than I am, she 380 00:21:55,360 --> 00:21:59,520 got a message that seemed to pop out in between all the noise. 381 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:01,560 Can I please come and pray for your daughter? 382 00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:05,080 So she comes to me. She says, listen, let this 383 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:06,520 person wanting to come and pray for Jim. 384 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:12,840 And so I said what every pastor said, no, yeah, we are fighting 385 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:14,360 life and death here. Thank you. 386 00:22:14,360 --> 00:22:20,080 But but she can pray from home. And a few days later, Catholics, 387 00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:22,440 listen, I think, I think there's something in this. 388 00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:25,280 So I said, OK, wonderful, you go have coffee with her and she can 389 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:30,840 pray in the coffee shop. So Kath did and she comes back. 390 00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:33,080 She said, listen, she really wants to lay hands on Gemma. 391 00:22:34,360 --> 00:22:36,040 And when she said that, I don't know. 392 00:22:36,120 --> 00:22:38,840 I think it was could only be the Holy Spirit saying actually 393 00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:42,320 respond to this. And so I said, OK, she can come 394 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:45,280 and pray for Gemma. And Kath's like she said, we 395 00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:47,720 must go there. Like you've got to be kids. 396 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:52,480 Like, OK, OK, we'll go there against my better judgment. 397 00:22:54,360 --> 00:22:57,760 So we take my little girl to Rena's house. 398 00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:03,080 Lovely couple, elderly couple. She's been praying for Gemma 399 00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:06,480 ever since she heard. And she tells us the story of 400 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:09,000 how she's been praying and introduce, you know, gets to 401 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:11,600 know my girly and then lays hands on her and prays for her 402 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:13,040 There. Nothing happened. 403 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:17,360 There was no sparkles or sparks or, you know, the house didn't 404 00:23:17,360 --> 00:23:20,040 shake. But as we closed, as we said, 405 00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:22,920 I'm in sort of like, you know, you sort of bending over your 406 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:26,480 knees like this. I sit up and my eye catches 407 00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:28,880 something up on the wall and I look up and it's this horrible 408 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:31,520 dirty mark on the wall. I quickly divert my eyes and she 409 00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:33,640 sees that I've seen that they haven't cleaned the place. 410 00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:36,640 And she's like, oh, did you? Did you see that? 411 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:39,880 I'm like, what is that? She said, no, this room was 412 00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:42,920 struck by lightning. So when I looked more carefully, 413 00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:47,400 it looked like fingers like like roots growing through rock, 414 00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:51,720 these black lines across there said really says when was it 415 00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:54,440 set? No, just this week, she said. 416 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:57,320 And she told us her routine. She said every night since I 417 00:23:57,320 --> 00:24:00,000 heard about your daughter, my husband and I will come to this 418 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:01,920 room. It was their fancy lounge. 419 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:05,200 Come there, pray. They would start by having 420 00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:07,880 communion together. And then he would go to the to 421 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:11,000 bed and read and she would pray for about an hour for my 422 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:15,760 daughter. And she said this week that was 423 00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:18,880 her normal routine, but after having communion, she just 424 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:21,360 thought, you know, let me take the cup and the bread and 425 00:24:21,360 --> 00:24:23,760 everything, go put it back in the kitchen and come and pray. 426 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:26,520 She'd never done that before. She comes out of the kitchen and 427 00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:27,800 the house gets struck by lightning. 428 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:29,960 That room got struck by lightning. 429 00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:33,080 And she said it's like, you know, the movies where the IT 430 00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:34,960 hits you like in your hairs going back and everything. 431 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:38,960 But she said it was like this white, like Tron white wall of 432 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:41,520 power that just came straight through her like this. 433 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:44,480 She walked into the place and there were these tiny little 434 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:48,200 flower fires everywhere because the chandelier had exploded and 435 00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:50,440 there was molten glass just all over the room. 436 00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:53,040 You look at their furniture, these tiny little black burnt 437 00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:57,920 Bluffs everywhere. And she said that happened this 438 00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:03,400 week and I went cold because in the Bible in Revelation, it 439 00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:05,880 talks about the Angel of the Lord gathering the prayers of 440 00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:10,680 the Saints, filling the bowls with the prayers of the Saints, 441 00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:15,080 taking incense from the altar. And once that bowl is full, 442 00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:19,280 throw down the lightning and peals of Thunder. 443 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:22,520 It's like this visceral image of answered pray. 444 00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:27,800 That was on the Saturday she laid hands on my daughter with 445 00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:30,200 all your prayers and her prayers in that bowl. 446 00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:33,840 On the Monday we went to the doctor and she said, your 447 00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:38,920 daughter's in remission. So what is the formula? 448 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:44,200 There isn't my knee. There was no faith whatsoever. 449 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:46,600 I didn't even think to pray. Someone else did. 450 00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:51,240 Cancer in a place that can't be operated. 451 00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:57,800 Taps are from the Bible, Jim. It's every prayer you prayed, 452 00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:02,680 every scripture you quoted, and a little bit of lightning thrown 453 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:05,320 in between. But there's no formula. 454 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:08,400 So what do we do when it comes to praying for the sick? 455 00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:15,840 Three things. Pray with faith, pray simply and 456 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:18,880 pray persistently. Pray with faith. 457 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:25,200 Pray simply, pray persistently. Why pray with faith? 458 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:29,520 Well, somehow the Bible seems to link faith with prayer and onset 459 00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:32,120 pray. Specifically, in Mark 6, Jesus 460 00:26:32,120 --> 00:26:35,600 goes about healing the sick, casting out demons. 461 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:38,880 That goes into one town and he only does a few miracles and he 462 00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:42,960 says, and he observes that says he was amazed at their little 463 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:44,920 faith. So faith plays a part. 464 00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:48,720 And then a little bit later when he heals a blind man, he says 465 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:51,320 your faith has made you. Well, there's there's something 466 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:54,440 it's like God just wants to partner with us. 467 00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:58,560 And I've wrestled with this because in the past in three CR 468 00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:05,440 that has come like a stick. You don't have enough faith and 469 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:07,880 I was like, Lord, what do I do with this because I know it is 470 00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:10,200 important and no faith is a factor. 471 00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:14,800 I don't want to minimize it because of the God that we serve 472 00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:18,320 right, but I also don't want to put it up in a pedestal as a as 473 00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:22,800 a disqualification. And you know what I remember 474 00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:24,920 Romans 8 starts. There's therefore now no 475 00:27:24,920 --> 00:27:28,320 condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus for what the law 476 00:27:28,360 --> 00:27:31,160 could not do because it weakened by the flesh there where it says 477 00:27:31,360 --> 00:27:36,040 the law could not do or was powerless to do is it's a, it's 478 00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:43,800 a fertility word. It's like the law was infertile 479 00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:48,240 and it's, I felt like it was saying, you know what actually 480 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:52,880 what we are called to just to allow the Spirit of God to sow 481 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:57,600 that seed in our hearts. It's a it's not a performance, 482 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:02,040 it's a posture. It's becoming and saying, OK, 483 00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:05,840 Lord, I just want to remind myself that that's the God that 484 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:08,440 I serve, That's the God that I'm calling out to, but not only are 485 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:10,800 his ways higher than my ways, his thoughts are higher than my 486 00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:17,520 thoughts, but he's my father. And so I come with a posture and 487 00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:21,080 that posture is 1, where we receive not in a performance 488 00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:24,400 mode to achieve, but a posture to receive. 489 00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:29,240 And so the Bible says in Hebrews 11 says without faith we can't 490 00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:34,520 please God because we've got to acknowledge that he exists, that 491 00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:38,680 God exists, and that he rewards those who seek him. 492 00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:47,240 So firstly, we pray with faith. Secondly, pray simply, please 493 00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:54,520 pray simply. Matthew 6 says when you pray, do 494 00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:57,120 not keep babbling on like the pagans. 495 00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:03,320 If you're going to go into the office on Monday, I heard the 496 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:08,360 sermon sounded like you sniffed. Can you give me 13 minutes so I 497 00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:12,280 can pray? No, when you pray, do not keep 498 00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:14,920 babbling, unlike the pagans, but they think they'll be heard 499 00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:17,360 because of their many words. Do not be like them. 500 00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:21,080 I went and I looked at Jesus like what's our example here? 501 00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:31,200 Says to the leper, be clean. Says to Lazarus, come forth to 502 00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:34,880 the paralytic. Pick up your mat and go the man 503 00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:39,560 with a withered hand. Stretch out your hand when you 504 00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:41,080 pray. Don't keep babbling on like the 505 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:43,200 pagans because they think they will be heard because of their 506 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:44,200 many words. Don't be like them. 507 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:50,560 Toast and stand. And lastly, pray persistently. 508 00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:53,160 I think this is where we need to start. 509 00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:58,120 So for those who are visiting, those who haven't been in three 510 00:29:58,120 --> 00:30:01,960 CR for long, God is doing something here, something 511 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:05,360 unprecedented, which is why we mentioned the the salvations 512 00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:08,160 last week, 20 or 30 people coming forward and it wasn't a 513 00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:11,760 rah rah, come on you sooner you. It was just hey, listen, I just 514 00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:13,720 really felt and people responded. 515 00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:17,160 The Holy Spirit has been poured out in ways that I've never seen 516 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:19,640 before. Lives are being changed 517 00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:25,600 radically, and the gifts are we encouraged. 518 00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:29,000 And one of them, I believe, is praying for the sick. 519 00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:34,840 So you're going to pray for the sick, and they might be healed 520 00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:37,760 and they might not. But John Wimber came across the 521 00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:39,000 same thing. I don't know if you know John 522 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:40,520 Wimber. If memory serves correct, I 523 00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:42,520 think he actually started the Vineyard churches. 524 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:43,400 OK. Yeah. 525 00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:47,840 So he did so way back when. This was probably like 70s, 526 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:49,760 maybe even in the 60s, many, many years ago. 527 00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:53,240 And they had the same experience where they came to this point 528 00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:56,680 where it just seemed like God was leaning in like he had never 529 00:30:56,680 --> 00:30:58,760 done before through the history of the Vineyard Church. 530 00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:01,800 And so he allowed the Holy Spirit to lean in. 531 00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:04,480 And they were learning to lean into the Holy Spirit and the 532 00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:05,960 things in the ways of the spirit. 533 00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:09,240 And when they came to this thing of healing, they actually 534 00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:12,720 stopped. They felt God wanted to pour out 535 00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:14,240 the gift of healing in their midst. 536 00:31:14,520 --> 00:31:17,800 And so here's a quote. This is kind of where I think we 537 00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:23,000 might be at in our journey with Jesus, Said we prayed and prayed 538 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:27,800 and prayed for healing and we were disappointed and 539 00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:33,000 disappointed and disappointed. Said we kept at it for 9 or 10 540 00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:36,600 months and finally we got one. I did a thing. 541 00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:42,840 Then we prayed twice as much for twice as long until finally we 542 00:31:42,840 --> 00:31:46,200 got another. That's when the floodgates 543 00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:49,800 opened and the healing we prayed for persistently became 544 00:31:49,800 --> 00:31:55,280 ordinary. We prayed and prayed and prayed, 545 00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:58,720 disappointed and disappointed and disappointed, prayed twice 546 00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:00,840 as much for twice as long. That's when the floodgates 547 00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:03,160 opened. So I'm going to close now, but 548 00:32:03,160 --> 00:32:05,960 I'm going to close with this. We're not going to be praying 549 00:32:05,960 --> 00:32:08,960 for healing. I want to pray for healers. 550 00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:14,160 So I'm going to invite you if you feel stirred in any way that 551 00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:19,640 Lord, yo, you can use me or maybe like NASA, apparently, 552 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:24,000 who's said from a young age, I so long to have the gift of 553 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:26,240 healing. If that's you, would you stand 554 00:32:26,240 --> 00:32:31,360 so we can pray. It's not a better than a 555 00:32:31,360 --> 00:32:34,120 hierarchy thing. It's just if the spirit of God 556 00:32:34,120 --> 00:32:38,120 has said that to you. All right, where you are. 557 00:32:38,120 --> 00:32:40,200 Let's let's just open our hearts and our hands. 558 00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:43,960 Heavenly Father on behalf of everyone standing. 559 00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:47,280 We just want to, we want to present our hands to you. 560 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:52,640 We ask for your anointing. We ask that you to confirm your 561 00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:56,320 word with signs and wonders following that, that these hands 562 00:32:56,320 --> 00:33:00,840 when laid on the sick would see your power flow and that we'd 563 00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:03,600 see healing. Thank you Lord Jesus name. 564 00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:09,480 Stay standing. Those of you who are sitting and 565 00:33:09,480 --> 00:33:11,840 are sick, can you raise your hand? 566 00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:16,880 If you're sick here? Those who are standing, look 567 00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:22,360 around and please go pray. For those with hands, rest. 568 00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:26,160 If you're sick in any form or fashion, raise your hand. 569 00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:28,960 We'd love to come and pray. Those who are standing, go pray. 570 00:33:34,730 --> 00:33:36,210 Keep your hand up until you got someone. 571 00:33:37,850 --> 00:33:42,650 Pray with faith, pray simply, and pray persistently. 572 00:34:13,040 --> 00:34:18,040 I love that we've got people looking Heavenly Father, we just 573 00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:23,880 want to want to bring this word to you and we bring what you are 574 00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:27,920 doing in three CR with just a measure of outpouring of your 575 00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:29,239 Holy Spirit. And we pray. 576 00:34:30,840 --> 00:34:34,199 We pray that we would be those who are listening, who are 577 00:34:34,199 --> 00:34:36,560 looking, who are noticing a need. 578 00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:41,080 And we say, Father, if you can use us, use us to make ourselves 579 00:34:41,080 --> 00:34:43,880 available, we pray, Lord God, that you would anoint us. 580 00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:47,080 We pray, Holy Spirit, that you would flow through us. 581 00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:53,199 But also pray, Father, for the faith to pray persistently even 582 00:34:53,199 --> 00:34:55,360 though we might not see it immediately, that we would trust 583 00:34:56,480 --> 00:34:59,680 that you'd be faithful to Your Word, and that you would impart 584 00:34:59,680 --> 00:35:03,440 to us the gift of healing in Jesus name, Amen.