1 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:13,720 If you have your Bibles, turn over to Jude. 2 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:16,480 We're going to be in, we're going to start out in Jude. 3 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:20,200 There's only 1 chapter in Jude and we'll go to the verse 20. 4 00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:22,600 And so once you get there, if you would stand for the reading 5 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:25,840 of the word, again, we're not doing this out of a tradition. 6 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:27,640 We're doing it because we're trying to have an 7 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:32,200 acknowledgement that in heaven our Father sits on the throne, 8 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:34,640 right? And that his Son Jesus is seated 9 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:37,680 at the right hand. And you know, the word of God is 10 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:40,560 God speaking to us. And so we're just showing some 11 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:44,000 reverence because we want the atmosphere where we're saying, 12 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:48,120 Lord, we acknowledge you, you're in the room, and that we need 13 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:50,000 you and we want to receive your instruction. 14 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:53,120 Amen. And so it says in Jude 120, it 15 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:57,920 says, but you beloved, building yourself up in your most holy 16 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:02,160 faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, you can be seated. 17 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:04,400 Aren't you glad you can pray in the Holy Spirit? 18 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:07,640 I see. It's interesting here in this 19 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:11,440 passive scripture, which I love, he says building yourself up on 20 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:13,720 your most holy faith. Now we know faith comes by 21 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:15,400 hearing and hearing from the word of God. 22 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:19,160 And it's very important that in order for us to have access to 23 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:21,800 faith, we have to be able to hear God's Word. 24 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:26,080 And as you study God's Word, you keep God's Word in front of you. 25 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:29,840 Then it it has the ability to build your faith itself. 26 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:33,920 It has this context to where your faith can grow, right? 27 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:36,880 And again, it's not just hearing alone, but it's becoming a doer 28 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:40,000 of that word. Yet praying in the Spirit will 29 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:43,560 help build that as well. And that's really powerful 30 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:47,240 because there is this element that you can continue to 31 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:52,840 strengthen faith in you so that it it energizes you to to 32 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:57,520 continue to be firmly persuaded by praying in the Holy Spirit. 33 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:01,160 I'm thankful that when I pray in the Holy Ghost, it reminds me 34 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:05,680 I'm not just a natural man, that our life on this earth is not 35 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:08,960 just natural. We're not just natural people. 36 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:12,440 We're in a natural body for sure, but we are supernatural 37 00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:15,680 beings. We have been purchased with the 38 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:19,080 blood of Jesus. We're now the spirit that's been 39 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:22,920 placed in US is in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit comes in and 40 00:02:22,920 --> 00:02:25,840 bears witness with our spirit. We're children of God, and then 41 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:31,400 when He comes upon us and dues us with power, we can pray in 42 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:36,120 the language of the Kingdom. And it is a powerful tool to 43 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:39,760 help build us because in the natural world, there's going to 44 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:44,360 be a lot of things that we can look at, see, hear stuff, you 45 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:46,280 know? And those things can be really 46 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:49,560 discouraging. However, when we begin to pray 47 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:54,080 in the Spirit man, it's does something not only to you 48 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:57,280 personally, but it does something to your faith, right? 49 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:01,440 Acts chapter one, verse 14. I want to show a couple examples 50 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:05,000 real quick of how prayer activated some things. 51 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:10,280 Because you know, we have said this in the past and it's 52 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:13,800 obvious that it's, there's a level of this that when it comes 53 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:17,240 to corporate prayer, it doesn't technically have the same 54 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:19,360 attendance as just coming to service. 55 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:22,720 And you know what, coming to service, what's, what are people 56 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:24,920 here and they're hearing the preaching of the word, right? 57 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:28,520 They're participating in that. They're singing songs unto the 58 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:30,800 Lord, right? And so having those, that kind 59 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:34,040 of interaction, you know, it's pretty easy for us to do those 60 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:35,680 things. But then when we get into 61 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:39,120 prayer, sometimes you know, it's not as well attended, right? 62 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:43,080 And it's, it can either be won because we, we don't know how to 63 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:45,320 pray, right? Maybe we've had some 64 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:47,960 disappointments, particularly maybe in prayer. 65 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:52,240 But we're going to show here in a few examples of how prayer 66 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:56,120 activated some things. Reading the word, being under 67 00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:59,160 the teaching of the word is absolutely necessary. 68 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:02,520 Praising the Lord is absolutely necessary. 69 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:05,200 But you know what? God can do some really amazing 70 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:09,080 things and does some really amazing things in your time of 71 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:12,200 prayer. And you, you want to be able to 72 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:16,160 say, you know, I don't want to miss any aspect of God because 73 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:20,880 I'm limiting my prayer time or that I'm not putting as much 74 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:24,960 emphasis on prayer because there's some very powerful 75 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:28,720 things God can do in prayer. In Acts chapter one verse 14, it 76 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:32,080 says these now this is after the death, burial, resurrection of 77 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:35,200 Jesus. Jesus is letting them know, you 78 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:39,120 know, that he's leaving and they just happened to see him ascend 79 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:40,400 to heaven. He said, now you're going to 80 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:43,880 receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, right? 81 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:46,280 And he said, then you're going to be my witnesses and they've 82 00:04:46,280 --> 00:04:50,440 witnessed this event. And it says these all with one 83 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:52,680 mind. What were they one mind were 84 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:56,040 what? Continually devoting themselves 85 00:04:56,320 --> 00:05:00,240 to prayer along with the women and the Mary, the mother of 86 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:04,880 Jesus and with his brothers. So they developed this custom 87 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:08,920 because Jesus, when I say custom, this routine that Jesus 88 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:13,360 said, now the Spirit's coming, the promise of the Father's 89 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:16,520 coming, and don't go anywhere till you receive it. 90 00:05:16,840 --> 00:05:18,400 OK? Now they didn't know when. 91 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:21,400 So you know when they're coming together. 92 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:25,480 First of all, they don't even know what that is, right? 93 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:28,200 They don't understand that technical experience. 94 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:32,400 This is about to be poured out for the, you know, the Holy 95 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:36,520 Spirit coming upon them and and has it done this event in the 96 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:40,480 earth up to this particular juncture right now, Adam 97 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:43,360 obviously had the Holy Spirit. Jesus had the Holy Spirit 98 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,560 without measure. But now that man is born of God 99 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:48,360 into the spirits in him bearing witness. 100 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:51,040 They're fixing to receive something that man that 101 00:05:51,280 --> 00:05:54,120 humanity's not had. Now that doesn't mean the Holy 102 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:57,320 Spirit didn't come upon the prophet, the priest, the king, 103 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:00,480 but it left they're fixing to have some him come upon them and 104 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:03,600 he doesn't go anywhere. Hallelujah. 105 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:08,960 And so here they are coming together with no, like, let's do 106 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:13,520 it for a couple days. There was this idea he's coming, 107 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:15,560 he's coming, right? He's coming. 108 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:18,880 And since he's coming, you know, let's be. 109 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:22,680 But there was a devotion they had, you know, and I, I, it 110 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:26,920 doesn't say that they were pulling out, you know, you know, 111 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:30,080 scrolls from the prophets or from the law and reading those 112 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:31,560 things. And I'm not saying they didn't. 113 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:33,640 It just doesn't say that. But we do know they were 114 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:38,520 actively doing this praying. And at this point they're 115 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:41,040 praying based upon what they know in the natural. 116 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:44,080 There are things they're saying because at this point the Holy 117 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:46,840 Ghost hasn't come. Jump over to chapter 2, verse 118 00:06:46,840 --> 00:06:50,600 one, and it says this. It says and when on the day of 119 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:55,400 Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 120 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:57,440 Aren't you glad they were together in one place? 121 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:00,800 And it went on to say, and suddenly there came from heaven. 122 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:03,760 Came from where? Where did it come from? 123 00:07:04,320 --> 00:07:07,680 Came from heaven. So prayer activates heaven. 124 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:12,120 You know, a lot of times people say, well, I want to hear from 125 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:14,640 God. Well, prayer will activate 126 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:18,040 heaven. And it says suddenly there came 127 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:21,600 from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it 128 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:24,080 filled the whole house where they were sitting. 129 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:26,000 Man, that had to be something, right? 130 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:32,240 And there appeared to them as of fire distributing themselves, 131 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:35,360 and they rested on each one of them, and they were all what 132 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:40,120 filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other 133 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:42,760 tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. 134 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:47,280 Now Jesus had breathed on his disciples and John and said, 135 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:50,000 receive the Holy Ghost. So there was already the new 136 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:52,520 birth experience with these individuals. 137 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:57,600 However, here the Spirit of God now has come upon them and it 138 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:02,040 gives them a language, not only a language that their mind 139 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:07,000 doesn't understand, but also it gave them access to languages 140 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:10,960 known within the earth, earth, although they did not go to 141 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:13,400 language school to learn it, right? 142 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:17,120 Like O Rain and his wife Simone, they're currently taking some 143 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:20,560 Spanish lessons, right? So they're, you know, I'm sure 144 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:22,360 they like Holy Ghost. Just give me the language. 145 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:24,480 Wouldn't that be amazing? Because then, you know, you 146 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:27,240 wouldn't have to study. You just bam, here you go and we 147 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:29,400 can speak Spanish. I, you know, honestly, as long 148 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:31,920 as we've been in Nicaragua, kind of wish the Lord would do that 149 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:34,200 for me, right? I like, let me just show up at 150 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:39,000 Nicaragua or Anchor Bay churches and then, you know, you know, 151 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:41,159 and here we go. We're we're just tearing it up. 152 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:45,360 Espiritu Santo, right? No, we're not doing it. 153 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:47,640 It could happen. It hasn't. 154 00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:51,280 Now, I will say this, there have been times when I've prayed in 155 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:57,120 the spirit that I began to pray. And all of a sudden it seemed to 156 00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:01,040 me that what is it wasn't my unknown tongue. 157 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:05,080 It wasn't that prayer language. I'm, you know, accustomed. 158 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:10,240 It moved over and I'm like, I, I sense I'm speaking in some kind 159 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:17,160 of Asian language and I still didn't understand it because, 160 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:19,040 you know, you can speak Spanish to me and I've been in the 161 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:20,720 country and won't understand everything you're saying. 162 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:27,040 But I just had a sense I, I, if I was in front of this person, 163 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:30,560 this, this nation right now, they would know what I'm saying. 164 00:09:30,560 --> 00:09:32,680 Now. I didn't need to know because 165 00:09:32,680 --> 00:09:36,320 the Lord wanted me to say it. He was releasing whatever that 166 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:39,400 was, which was God's perfect will in the earth concerning 167 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:40,920 that. And you know what? 168 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:45,720 When I got a release, then it left and I didn't have that 169 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:48,880 language, whatever it was anymore. 170 00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:51,440 And so here they are. They're filled with the Holy 171 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:54,040 Ghost and they're filled with the Holy Ghost. 172 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:56,800 This encounter of the outpour in the spirit came because they 173 00:09:56,800 --> 00:09:59,920 were in a prayer meeting. And what I love about this is, 174 00:09:59,920 --> 00:10:02,840 you know, there's a lot of church planting strategies, but 175 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:05,960 the church that Jesus first launched, you know, when he 176 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:09,560 said, I'm going to build my church, his first church plant 177 00:10:09,680 --> 00:10:13,280 came out of a prayer meeting. And it was powerful. 178 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:16,600 And that prayer, because of whatever that time frame that 179 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:22,360 they were devoting themselves to prayer before the day of 180 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:27,680 Pentecost, it created such an atmosphere that once they got 181 00:10:27,680 --> 00:10:31,720 baptized in the Holy Ghost, all of a sudden they began to speak 182 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:35,720 in such a way that those that were there said, what must we 183 00:10:35,720 --> 00:10:40,720 do? What must we do? 184 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:44,520 And it said 3000 souls came into the Kingdom that day. 185 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:49,240 That's amazing. I mean, we would never think 186 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:53,560 that you could get 3000 people born again just simply by 187 00:10:53,560 --> 00:11:03,000 praying. But prayer activated that, you 188 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:07,280 know, again, I do think, you know, as we continue to want to 189 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:11,080 grow and expand, we have to continue to increase our prayer 190 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:13,920 time because there's things that God wants to do that he's 191 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:18,360 releasing in prayer. There are things he speaks to us 192 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:20,120 in his word. Thank God for that. 193 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:22,320 He gives us revelation, illumination, right? 194 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:24,080 He does that. We're like, wow, I just heard 195 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:25,480 God, you know, I'll read the page. 196 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:27,120 I'm like, wow, the Lord's speaking to me about that. 197 00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:29,960 That's really amazing, right? And that's awesome. 198 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:32,680 But that's not the only time God speaks, and it's not the only 199 00:11:32,680 --> 00:11:35,840 time he reveals stuff. And could there be things that 200 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:38,160 we haven't yet tapped in from heaven? 201 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:41,560 Because God's release of that comes through his avenue of 202 00:11:41,560 --> 00:11:45,840 prayer. So I receive stuff through the 203 00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:49,520 written word and studying the word by the Spirit of God 204 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:54,480 revealing those truths to me. I also experienced things when I 205 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:56,560 begin to sing unto the Lord, right? 206 00:11:56,560 --> 00:11:59,240 Because there's things he releases, But you know what? 207 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:01,920 Then there's things that he's releasing through prayer. 208 00:12:02,680 --> 00:12:05,840 And sometimes the one of the most powerful aspects of the 209 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:10,520 church is being the least used right now. 210 00:12:10,680 --> 00:12:15,440 We need to get in the habit of prayer is not just a corporate 211 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:19,320 prayer meeting because God is not just calling us to corporate 212 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:22,240 prayer, although that's, you know, as a church, we should do 213 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:24,560 that. He's actually calling us to 214 00:12:24,560 --> 00:12:27,400 prayer that is on a continual basis. 215 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:28,520 And we'll see that here in a minute. 216 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:30,480 Let's get another example here now. 217 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:33,600 This one's in Acts chapter 10. Man, these are really cool, 218 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:37,200 awesome examples that God has left for us, these little 219 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:40,520 Nuggets that shows us that, man, when you have this communion 220 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:43,400 with God, and I love how Apostle Marcy ministers, you know, it's 221 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:46,200 in the cool of the day. It's just having communion with 222 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:47,880 God. When we're having communion with 223 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:51,920 God, not only can he speak to us, speak to our heart, give us 224 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:55,080 direction or whatever, but he can do some really supernatural 225 00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:57,800 things in prayer. And so here in Acts Chapter 10, 226 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:01,600 I'm intentionally going a little bit later in the chapter, and 227 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:03,840 we'll bounce back up a little earlier here in a second. 228 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:10,000 But because Cornelius kind of gives us a really at the end of 229 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:15,160 this chapter, what had occurred earlier in the chapter. 230 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:19,840 And he says, and Cornelius said four days ago to this hour, I 231 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:24,120 was what? He was praying OK, in my house 232 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:26,920 during the 9th hour. And behold, a man stood before 233 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:31,560 me in shining garments. So what happened in Cornelius's 234 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:36,680 prayer time? An Angel showed up. 235 00:13:38,680 --> 00:13:45,040 And here's the kicker, Cornelius is not yet born of God. 236 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:53,800 This is what right And it says in Cornelius. 237 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:58,120 And he said, Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your 238 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:00,880 alms have been remembered before the Lord. 239 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:04,080 His what's been remembered? His prayers have been heard, and 240 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:10,000 what his what now that's giving. So God knows your giving, all 241 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:12,400 right. God knows your giving, and God 242 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:14,000 knows your heart towards your giving. 243 00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:18,160 And it has made such an impression in heaven that here's 244 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:27,200 someone who's not born of God yet, but is going towards the 245 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:31,360 God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, right? 246 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:34,880 And as a result of that, God's, like, I'm hearing some stuff. 247 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:38,440 Then he gives him instruction through this Angel, right? 248 00:14:38,840 --> 00:14:42,240 And you know, obviously Corneas's spirit is not alive 249 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:44,040 unto God. So there's no wonder why the 250 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:46,440 Angel showed up and said, hey, I need to talk to you, right? 251 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:48,880 Because again, his spirit's yet alive. 252 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:52,800 So he comes and says, therefore send to Joppa and invite Simon, 253 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:55,040 who is also called Peter to come to you. 254 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:58,320 He is staying at the House of Simon, the Tanner of the cement. 255 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:00,280 This is very specific information. 256 00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:03,320 This is like modern day GPS. OK. 257 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:07,280 And he says and so I sit for you immediately and you have been 258 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:11,440 kind enough to come. Now then we are all present 259 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:15,040 before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord. 260 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:18,360 This is what he tells Peter. Now if you go back up to I 261 00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:24,480 believe to the 9th verse, it says on the next day. 262 00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:32,200 Now on the next day is the day after Cornelius had prayed where 263 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:35,040 he was. So Cornelius, this little 264 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:39,840 encounter, this this this context we just read, he was 265 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:44,160 talking about these things on the next day, which he 266 00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:47,440 immediately sent someone to go find Peter. 267 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:53,360 By the time Peter arrives it's been 4 days but on the next day 268 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:57,200 which means he said y'all go. And so the next day Peter's 269 00:15:57,200 --> 00:15:59,360 praying while these people are in route. 270 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:05,840 And because Cornelius heard from heaven and acted on The Voice, 271 00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:13,000 God then said something in Peter's prayer, which then you 272 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:19,640 could conclude if Cornelius had not sent anyone, then maybe this 273 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:26,720 prayer Peter has doesn't come. This conversation with God may 274 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:31,600 not have occurred. But because Cornelius acted in 275 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:36,400 prayer to what the Lord has said through the Angel, God now is 276 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:39,120 speaking to another man. Now, this is not the first time 277 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:44,880 this is, I mean, this one's before Paul or Saul of Tarsus, 278 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:47,760 because that same kind of context took place. 279 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:49,680 Now, Paul obviously wasn't praying. 280 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:53,360 He was going to try to, you know, get people in Damascus and 281 00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:55,880 throw them in prison. And the Lord stop the process. 282 00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:58,760 And once that happened, then he started talking to God, right? 283 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:01,120 And he goes, who are you? And I'm Jesus, the one, you know 284 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:03,880 why you kick against the goat? Well, because of that 285 00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:05,599 experience. And he called him Lord. 286 00:17:05,599 --> 00:17:08,720 Now the Lord says, OK, I need to go talk to another man. 287 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:14,640 And because of Paul's yielding to Jesus and becoming born of 288 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:18,960 God, it caused God to talk to another man in order to come and 289 00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:22,359 see Paul, pray for him and cause the scales to come off his his 290 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:25,160 eyes. So prayer has connection with 291 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:29,280 other people's what I'm saying. And sometimes you're acting on a 292 00:17:29,280 --> 00:17:32,480 certain prayer may release God to be able to speak to somebody 293 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:39,440 else on your behalf. Now the Lord, the Angel tells 294 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:46,240 Cornelius to go get Peter the day he tells him this in prayer. 295 00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:51,360 Peter has not gotten this memo. He is unaware that this is going 296 00:17:51,360 --> 00:17:55,000 to to happen. In fact, what's about to occur 297 00:17:55,000 --> 00:18:01,920 is is kind of controversial to Peter because the ninth verse it 298 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:05,680 says this and on the next day as they were on their way and 299 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:09,760 approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the 6th 300 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:13,440 hour to what? Just going to praise, commune 301 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:16,960 with God, spend time with him. He has no idea what God's going 302 00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:19,400 to say to him that day, but man does God say something. 303 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:24,720 All of a sudden he has a open vision and he sees four corners 304 00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:26,920 of this, you know, sheet come down. 305 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:30,960 And all of a sudden there's all these animals that according to 306 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:35,880 the law that God wrote through Moses of animals not to eat. 307 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:41,400 The Lord says Peter, get up, kill and eat. 308 00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:45,880 And he's like, no way not doing it. 309 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:54,000 I've not eaten anything unclean. But it was a a message from God 310 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:58,760 saying you think the Gentiles are unclean, but I'm coming to 311 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:03,880 save them too. Glory to God, Hallelujah. 312 00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:07,080 Which reminds me of Steak and Shake. 313 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:13,800 Steak and Shake years ago. What year was that? 314 00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:19,120 Randy, do you remember? Oh wait, in 2008, Reverend Randy 315 00:19:19,120 --> 00:19:23,760 came from Tulsa up to us probably why were you visiting 316 00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:25,280 or we doing a king of first business Alliance? 317 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:27,600 No, that that was before the Kingdom. 318 00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:31,280 OK, Yeah, we were coming for an anniversary service and so 319 00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:33,840 obviously we went to Steak and Shake. 320 00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:37,800 I ate that back then. And, and so we went there after 321 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:40,680 service and we were all kind of hanging out and talking and, and 322 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:43,760 stuff. His son Joshua had already moved 323 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:45,440 here. And so, you know, we were just 324 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:49,480 conversing and there was, you know, a bit of a discourse. 325 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:51,840 And so I said, excuse me, I need to go use the restroom. 326 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:55,000 And so I went to the restroom and while I was in there, while 327 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:59,680 I went to the restroom, not to go, but because God spoke to me 328 00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:02,200 at the table when I was sitting across from And he says, tell 329 00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:06,960 him what you will have him do if he'll move. 330 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:13,960 And I was like, what? Tell him what you'll have him do 331 00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:18,640 if he'll move. Now, up to this point, I have 332 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:21,880 never talked to anyone. Whoever moved to come to Anchor 333 00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:24,840 Faith Church, what we would do. That's like not even on the 334 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:28,200 table because you want people to come because they've heard God 335 00:20:28,360 --> 00:20:31,280 and that's kind of stand up And now you're I don't even want to 336 00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:33,200 talk to this guy. If this guy can't hear from 337 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:36,080 heaven on his own to come, you know, that's his problem. 338 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:38,600 Not my problem. But yet the Holy Spirit is 339 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:40,960 telling me this. So I said, excuse me, I went to 340 00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:43,120 the bathroom, not to go to the bathroom, but to look in the 341 00:20:43,120 --> 00:20:46,360 mirror and have a conversation with God, right, Because I'm 342 00:20:46,360 --> 00:20:51,640 like, Lord, what are we saying? I mean, and I talked with him in 343 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:53,000 the bathroom. Thank God no one came in. 344 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:55,520 I'm like, I, I've not done this ever. 345 00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:58,480 And Lord, I don't want to say something to seem like, you 346 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:01,600 know, I'm pulling or anything. And, and he just kept an 347 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:06,800 impression. Go tell him what he will do, 348 00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:12,880 what you, what he can do here. If he'll move, Well, you know 349 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:17,840 I'm going to obey God. So I showed up, right and I sat 350 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:22,520 down the table and I'm like, if you move, the Lord told me. 351 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:27,200 And I just said, this man, his face got all crazy, right? 352 00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:31,920 What I didn't know is that he had had a conversation with the 353 00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:36,320 Lord in prayer. He was already kind of wrestling 354 00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:41,040 with this, no, this, this pool of the spirit to move. 355 00:21:42,360 --> 00:21:45,320 And he was like, no, I'm not doing that. 356 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:48,400 I'm not doing that. And so as you know, when God 357 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:53,080 starts to talk to us about a few things, we are like Moses, we 358 00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:59,120 give some excuses, right? We're like, hey, Nah, This is 359 00:21:59,120 --> 00:22:02,920 why what I think I'm hearing can't be what I'm hearing. 360 00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:05,120 And so he began to tell the Lord. 361 00:22:05,120 --> 00:22:09,320 He said, Lord, he don't need me. He's got plenty of people around 362 00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:12,320 him that are doing stuff. There's all kind of people that 363 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:14,480 he has. He doesn't need me. 364 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:19,200 I'm not necessary. And the Lord's talking to him 365 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:22,920 and he and the Lord said a few things to him and he said, well 366 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:30,960 now Lord, if he says to me. So I'm trying to say, I'm not 367 00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:34,640 saying that. What I don't know is that he has 368 00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:37,960 struck a deal with the Lord, and the Lord's OK with this deal. 369 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:42,880 And so now I have to come in. But again, his prayer life 370 00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:48,200 activated something in mind which took the course and 371 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:56,120 direction of his life. Wow, are you hearing me? 372 00:22:56,960 --> 00:22:59,960 It's amazing. So a lot of times, you know, if 373 00:22:59,960 --> 00:23:03,600 we don't watch out because it's easier for us to just sit in the 374 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:07,920 word or, you know, listen to the word, right? 375 00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:11,960 Like, you know, your favorite person to hear preach, you know, 376 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:13,720 and stuff. And you Amen and all that. 377 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:17,600 And yes, we can learn from that. And you're seeking God When I 378 00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:20,800 say seeking in your mind, you're like, man, we need this, I need 379 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:22,480 this. I wish God would answer this. 380 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:25,000 I need God to answer me here. You know, what am I going to do 381 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:26,360 about this? You know, you're having those 382 00:23:26,360 --> 00:23:28,240 internal conversation. How am I going to do this? 383 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:29,680 What am I going to do here? Where do I go here? 384 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:32,800 All this, yet you're really not praying to the Lord. 385 00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:36,280 You're just rolling in your mind things. 386 00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:41,280 So you know, you, you, you, you hear the worship songs, you're 387 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:43,680 going to scripture and at the end of the day, you're like, I'm 388 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:48,240 I'm trying to hear God. But there's an aspect that God 389 00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:50,920 releases thing in and it's prayer and a lot of times we 390 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:54,200 don't spend enough time there, right? 391 00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:58,160 And because of that, you know, we can miss out on some things 392 00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:00,040 God is saying. We just want to make sure we 393 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:02,960 keep that in our arsenal. Say keep it in your arsenal. 394 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:08,320 Acts chapter 16 verse 25 and it said this, but about midnight 395 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:16,920 Paul and Silas were what praying and singing hymns of praise to 396 00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:19,800 God and the prisoners were listening to them. 397 00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:25,680 Now you know, this is not the most comfortable time to be 398 00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:29,800 exercising what Paul and Silas are exercising. 399 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:33,680 You know, as you know this context of Scripture and Paul 400 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:36,280 man, he is very proficient in the word. 401 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:40,600 I mean, the man is eloquent in in his understanding and 402 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:42,840 revelation. In fact, he's pinned the 403 00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:48,160 majority of the new covenant pages that we have today. 404 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:53,840 And so here he is in prison, he's been beaten, they are in 405 00:24:53,840 --> 00:25:01,600 stocks, and now he is praying and out of his prayers, it 406 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:04,360 causes him to move into some singing. 407 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:08,560 And you understand in a Jewish tradition, a lot of times their 408 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,080 songs were wrapped around the word. 409 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:14,600 There were a lot of songs they sang. 410 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:20,040 I mean, the whole book of Psalms is inspired Word of God to song. 411 00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:23,760 And it tells of the goodness of God and the things that God has 412 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:25,680 done and how he's delivered one of his. 413 00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:29,200 See, one of the praises he could have sang as a hymn was, you 414 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:32,000 know, the Lord delivers me out of all my trouble. 415 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:35,920 I mean, they could have been singing that right while praying 416 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:39,520 and not just praying. I'm sure they were praying in 417 00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:44,320 the Holy Ghost, right? Because he doesn't feel like it 418 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:48,840 doesn't feel like it. I mean, his body is telling him 419 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:54,680 all kinds of stuff, but yet, And in this passage it tells us from 420 00:25:54,680 --> 00:26:00,960 prayer and praise that the Holy Ghost showed up at the prison, 421 00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:06,320 shook the whole building like an earthquake, opened up all the 422 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:10,600 prison doors and all the chains of the prisoners fell off. 423 00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:15,560 But here's what's so amazing about that passage of Scripture 424 00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:21,560 is you would think if you are a prisoner in stocks or in chains 425 00:26:21,840 --> 00:26:25,640 and they fell off you and a door open, what do you think's the 426 00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:28,760 first thought you're going to have run. 427 00:26:30,360 --> 00:26:32,880 That's kind of easy, right? I'm out of here, right? 428 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:34,600 I mean, that's pretty simple process. 429 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:40,440 But you know, the power of God through their prayer life kept 430 00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:45,000 them in the places they were confined. 431 00:26:45,360 --> 00:26:50,840 Although free, they would much rather be in the place that 432 00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:55,400 they've been confined in the presence of God, then run from 433 00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:59,800 it. Wow, that's amazing. 434 00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:04,800 I said that's amazing. And so prayer really unlocks all 435 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:08,600 kinds of things in our life. And again, I want to just 436 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:12,520 encourage you man. We need to make sure we are 437 00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:17,240 functioning in prayer as the Bible has instructed us. 438 00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:20,760 So let's read a few more passive scriptures before we close 439 00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:23,560 tonight. In Romans chapter 8 verse 26 to 440 00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:28,200 27, it says this. In the same way the Spirit also 441 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:35,440 helps our our what weaknesses? For we do not know how to pray 442 00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:39,880 as we should Hallelujah. But the Spirit himself 443 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:46,480 intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words, right? 444 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:52,200 And he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the 445 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:55,280 Spirit is because he intercedes for the Saints according to the 446 00:27:55,280 --> 00:27:59,440 will of God. You can just imagine that Paul, 447 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:04,520 in a lot of his, you know, travels, found himself praying 448 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:08,200 in the Holy Ghost because this is what he knows. 449 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:13,640 I know Scripture, I know what God has revealed to me, but yet 450 00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:16,320 there's some things I still don't know. 451 00:28:16,360 --> 00:28:18,640 And the Spirit knows. So you know what? 452 00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:23,800 I'm going to pray by the Spirit because the Spirit knows the 453 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:27,360 mind of the Spirit, right? Knows the heart of God, knows 454 00:28:27,360 --> 00:28:29,960 the will of God. And even though I haven't 455 00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:35,080 studied out scripture to exactly know some missing piece per se, 456 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:40,120 man, I can pray in the Spirit. If, if, if I'm in a situation 457 00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:44,200 or, or needing a answer or something, and you know, I've 458 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:47,120 gone to the word and I've given Thanksgiving to God and I'm 459 00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:50,560 praising him, you know, yet I still, you know what? 460 00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:54,120 I have something we can activate and it's praying in the spirit 461 00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:58,720 so that it draws in that answer to us. 462 00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:01,520 How powerful is that? Aren't you glad you're a new 463 00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:04,480 believer? So in First Corinthians chapter 464 00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:09,000 14, Paul said this. First Corinthians 14 verses 14 465 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:13,480 to 15, he says this. For if I pray in a tongue, my 466 00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:18,240 spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful, you know, and a lot 467 00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:22,160 of times people get locked up about, you know, praying in 468 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:24,920 other tongues because I don't understand what I'm saying. 469 00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:27,000 Well, the Bible tells you you're not going to understand what 470 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:28,200 you're saying. Don't get locked up. 471 00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:31,280 It's OK. And you know, I always, that's 472 00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:33,680 why I like to say it's the language of the Kingdom because 473 00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:37,000 no one really has a problem when we talk about Spanish being the 474 00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:40,480 language of Latin America, you know, or of countries that speak 475 00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:43,000 Spanish, right? No one technically has an issue 476 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:47,720 when we say, you know, a person that's from Germany, they speak 477 00:29:47,720 --> 00:29:50,280 German. You know, no one typically has 478 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:51,600 an issue. And many of you could. 479 00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:55,520 We are in Florida and there's a lot of international travel, 480 00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:57,640 especially if you go down to Central Florida. 481 00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:01,240 I mean, you'll hear all kinds of languages and they'll be in 482 00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:03,760 Walmart, you know, or you'll be in Publix or whatever. 483 00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:06,760 And people are talking and you're kind of saying, I wish I 484 00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:10,840 knew what they were saying right now, you know, now a lot of 485 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:13,400 people end up knowing our language, but most of us don't 486 00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:15,520 know their language. And that's right. 487 00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:17,960 In fact, I got a couple that can. 488 00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:22,520 A few people can speak Albanian in this room right now, which 489 00:30:22,520 --> 00:30:24,720 means if they started talking, we'd all be going, huh? 490 00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:27,880 But you know what we wouldn't do? 491 00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:30,280 We wouldn't run out of the room and say it's of the devil. 492 00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:35,520 We wouldn't do that. You know, people don't run out 493 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:38,480 of stores because someone's talking in a language they do 494 00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:41,880 not understand. So for whatever reason, 495 00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:45,640 somewhere along the line, somebody decided that when a 496 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:48,840 believer speaks in an unknown tongue, it is of the devil. 497 00:30:49,080 --> 00:30:51,840 You know, honestly, that's just not reality. 498 00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:54,000 And I'm glad I wasn't taught that growing up. 499 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:57,040 So I never had to rewind that, even though I was within, you 500 00:30:57,040 --> 00:30:59,520 know, denominations that technically didn't minister 501 00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:01,800 along these lines. And I'm thankful that they 502 00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:04,760 didn't because obviously they didn't know enough about it, so 503 00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:06,600 they didn't say something wrong about it. 504 00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:09,200 Right. So but here Paul is saying, if I 505 00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:13,000 pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is 506 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:14,600 unfruitful. He says then what is the 507 00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:17,640 outcome? He says I will pray with the 508 00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:20,960 Spirit and I'll pray with the mind also. 509 00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:25,240 So here's the thing. If you pray only in the natural, 510 00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:28,760 you're missing 50% of prayers power. 511 00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:36,240 If you only pray in your understanding, you're only 512 00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:42,200 releasing 50% of the power of prayer, only 50%. 513 00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:48,000 And you know, if you were taking a test and got a 50%, that's 514 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:51,440 called failure, right? And maybe sometimes we're not 515 00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:53,840 hearing, we're failing to hear from God because we're only 516 00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:56,880 activating 50% of our prayer life. 517 00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:00,200 So he goes on and says, I'll pray with the Spirit. 518 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:04,440 I'll pray with the mind. Also, I'll sing with the Spirit, 519 00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:09,960 which means there are spiritual songs and I'll sing with the 520 00:32:09,960 --> 00:32:13,360 mind also. But what I love about this 521 00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:18,840 chapter when you jump down to verse 18, Paul, who wrote over 522 00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:22,800 half of the New Testament because of the churches he 523 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:28,360 planted, he says this I thank God I speak in tongues more than 524 00:32:28,360 --> 00:32:35,240 you all Paul was he he had he did not apologize because he was 525 00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:38,280 praying in the spirit. He did not apologize. 526 00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:42,680 In fact, he said, I pray in the spirit, which tells me that Paul 527 00:32:42,680 --> 00:32:47,400 got into was in a lot of situations that put him in this 528 00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:53,840 place where he didn't know how he ought to pray because it 529 00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:55,960 gives when you don't know how you ought to pray. 530 00:32:56,080 --> 00:32:58,480 What do we do? So you know, a lot of times 531 00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:00,120 people are like, man, I don't know how to pray. 532 00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:04,880 Well, let's get baptized in the Holy Ghost because that is your 533 00:33:04,880 --> 00:33:07,000 kicker. Let's go ahead and get there. 534 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:09,560 Now, when you start praying in the Spirit, studying the Word, 535 00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:11,320 then you know what? You're going to know the voice 536 00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:12,440 of God. You're going to learn how to 537 00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:16,680 pray in the natural. It itself will increase so that 538 00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:20,360 you can pray naturally according to the Word. 539 00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:23,240 Because again, if you ask anything in prayer according to 540 00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:27,640 my will, He hears us, right? Well, one of His wills is 541 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:30,600 praying in the Spirit because the Spirit reveals the perfect 542 00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:34,000 will of God. However, you can pray a 543 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:37,200 scripture which is God's will. Like by His stripes you were 544 00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:40,320 healed. Well, I am healed, so I have 545 00:33:40,320 --> 00:33:45,640 received the healthcare that comes with being a citizen in 546 00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:49,240 God's Kingdom because of the stripes Jesus put on his back. 547 00:33:49,240 --> 00:33:54,120 And by faith, I believe I am healed of God, his healing 548 00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:57,360 powers working in me. And so I can release that in 549 00:33:57,360 --> 00:34:00,920 prayer with Thanksgiving. Excuse me with Thanksgiving. 550 00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:04,880 Yet if there's things that's not happening, I'm praying in the 551 00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:08,080 spirit. I'm praying in the spirit, I'm 552 00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:10,239 praying in the spirit. Can I get an Amen? 553 00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:15,320 So Colossians chapter 4, verse 2 says it this way. 554 00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:21,280 Devote yourself to prayer. Devote yourself to prayer. 555 00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:27,239 And I know in my life prayer has increased through the years. 556 00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:34,960 Right now I've starting to move into the habit of getting up and 557 00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:37,760 praying. Now that means I'm in the bed 558 00:34:39,360 --> 00:34:43,760 and all of a sudden I wake up and I'm like, well, I'm going to 559 00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:47,000 go pray. And I slip out and I begin to 560 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:51,600 pray now I don't know. It isn't the same time. 561 00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:56,159 It's just whatever I feel and LED to do get moving. 562 00:34:56,639 --> 00:34:58,520 And what I don't even look at the clock. 563 00:34:59,120 --> 00:35:04,400 You just finish out and go back to bed, you know, because I I 564 00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:08,800 have times of prayer. But now I'm like, OK, Lord, I 565 00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:13,320 don't want to assume that if I'm waking up at night, it's just 566 00:35:13,320 --> 00:35:16,000 because I woke up. Maybe you want to say something 567 00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:19,560 and who am I to tell you? Don't come talk to me at 2:00 in 568 00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:27,120 the morning right now again, because you're saying I'm 569 00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:29,120 devoting myself. Now, the cool thing about 570 00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:32,000 praying in the Spirit is, you know you can pray in a spirit 571 00:35:32,520 --> 00:35:36,440 anywhere, right? I mean, you can be just kind of 572 00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:41,080 whispering anywhere you're at. You can kind of keep your spirit 573 00:35:41,320 --> 00:35:44,400 in, you know, connected with God anywhere. 574 00:35:44,640 --> 00:35:47,600 So again, prayer is not just the corporate prayer meeting, though 575 00:35:47,600 --> 00:35:52,080 that's important. However, it's also important 576 00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:54,640 that even if you're out and about, you know, you're just 577 00:35:54,640 --> 00:36:00,080 being sensitive and you're praying and you're listening and 578 00:36:00,080 --> 00:36:02,360 you're talking to the Lord. And sometimes out of that is 579 00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:04,400 going to be a natural prayer. Something come up and you're 580 00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:06,000 like me and I'm gonna pray about this right now. 581 00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:08,080 And then at other times you're just kind of praying in the 582 00:36:08,080 --> 00:36:10,720 spirit. This is why I don't I now this 583 00:36:10,720 --> 00:36:13,040 is me. You do what you want to do, but 584 00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:16,160 This is why when I am driving you, I don't. 585 00:36:16,160 --> 00:36:19,720 I'm not listening to music because it's becomes a prayer 586 00:36:19,720 --> 00:36:22,600 time for me. You know, there's certain things 587 00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:25,600 I just aren't doing. So it gives me another 588 00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:28,400 opportunity. Now, do I listen to stuff 589 00:36:28,400 --> 00:36:30,200 sometimes when I'm driving? Absolutely. 590 00:36:30,240 --> 00:36:33,080 OK. But I'm just saying I've made it 591 00:36:33,080 --> 00:36:36,520 a point that you know what, it's a little more quiet in my 592 00:36:36,520 --> 00:36:41,320 vehicle because I take that as a time to pray and listen and 593 00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:44,120 hear. And you know, I'm like, well, if 594 00:36:44,120 --> 00:36:49,360 Paul that God, you know, and the things going on in his life 595 00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:53,040 basically must have had some form of requirement. 596 00:36:53,040 --> 00:36:54,640 That is, I mean, I pray in tongues more than y'all. 597 00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:57,640 I don't want to be missing out because I'm not staying in 598 00:36:57,640 --> 00:37:01,480 prayer, right? And, and I and God wants us to 599 00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:03,360 be able to hear from heaven. All right. 600 00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:08,080 So we want to be devoted, devote ourselves to prayer, but in it, 601 00:37:08,080 --> 00:37:13,240 keep alert with it with an attitude of Thanksgiving when 602 00:37:13,240 --> 00:37:16,120 you're praying, whether it's in the natural or with your mind or 603 00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:19,840 whether you're praying in the Spirit, you want to have 604 00:37:19,840 --> 00:37:23,760 thankfulness with it because you're praying the perfect will 605 00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:29,640 of God and God does his word and you can be in confidence. 606 00:37:29,920 --> 00:37:33,360 You know what, God's hearing me right now, just like he told 607 00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:39,760 Cornelius, because if Cornelius was not yet in covenant with God 608 00:37:40,320 --> 00:37:43,960 during that transition, this period of the Church age coming 609 00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:48,320 into the the world and he was giving and he was reaching out 610 00:37:48,320 --> 00:37:50,760 to God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 611 00:37:51,040 --> 00:37:57,200 The only way he knew based upon the covenant that was preceded 612 00:37:57,440 --> 00:37:59,600 Jesus's death, burial and resurrection. 613 00:37:59,880 --> 00:38:04,480 And here God has heard the prayers and seen the giving, 614 00:38:04,600 --> 00:38:06,120 kept the recording of the giving. 615 00:38:07,400 --> 00:38:11,160 Well, how much more of those that are alive to God does he 616 00:38:11,160 --> 00:38:13,360 hear us? Ain't that amazing? 617 00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:15,440 Which means that man, we can get excited. 618 00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:17,000 That man. God's hearing me. 619 00:38:17,160 --> 00:38:18,760 I know it. My attitude's there. 620 00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:21,960 But I'm keeping alert because there may be some instruction, 621 00:38:23,080 --> 00:38:24,440 there may be something he's saying.