Texas Gospel Truth Conference 2019: Day 1, Session 1 – Andrew Wommack

[Music]

you know tonight I’m gonna start

minister in this series on that I’ve

entitled a better way to pray today is

our National Day of Prayer and I really

believe that that’s a godly thing to

honor this and to pray for this nation

and pray for God’s blessing but every

time we have a National Day of Prayer

I’ve the last few years I’ve been at

home and I’ve been a part of the local

National Day of Prayer and I don’t mean

this mean-spirited or anything like that

but the way that people pray for our

nation is pitiful and just look at it

this way we’ve been having people pray

we’ve had millions of people pray and do

this and it seems like things have

gotten worse now I do admit that we have

a reprieve right now God has done a

miracle in this 2016 elections I just

got back from Washington DC last night

matter of fact I was supposed to

ministry in Louisville and my plane was

late and I missed that ministry I wasn’t

able to be there I think that rich and

Dorothy van winkle are here someplace

where are you right here I was supposed

to be at their church and praise God I

didn’t show up and I heard that you did

a great job brother and saw some great

great things happen but I was in

Washington DC and got to meet with

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell

and pray with him and I was also with

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and I

meant with congressman Doug Lamborn who

is my senator and I meant with the

Representative Mike Johnson and I got to

meet with Sam Brownback who is the trump

appointed him the ambassador for

International Religious Affairs and

anyway it was awesome but every one of

these people said I’m summarizing but in

a nutshell that all of the gray area is

gone they said they used to be able to

walk down the hall and talk to

people in the Democratic Party and they

would have friends and they could talk

to them and stuff they said now it is

all-out war and they said that people

that they used to talk to they can’t

even talk to they are it’s just really

bad and they said that if the Democrats

were to win back the presidency and the

Senate that it would be all-out war on

Christians they gave an example of Nancy

Pelosi I don’t know how many of you

remember but right above the speaker’s

desk in the House of Representatives in

granted up there is in god we trust’

and she took some pictures and

photoshopped in god we trust’ out and

they have removed so help me God

from the oaths that they give to people

in the Republicans can complain so

loudly that they put it back in for a

day or two and now they’ve just

eliminated all oaths because they don’t

want to mention god

and you know i said in the 70s when I

lived here I said that I believe that

the lukewarmness is gone people are

going to be hot or cold they are going

to be for God or against him because

there’s so many people that that say

they’re serving God and that they love

God and yet you can’t tell it in

anything that they do and I wasn’t aware

but I really believe it was God that was

speaking through me and my experience

this week every one of these people said

that the gray areas gone the

lukewarmness is gone people are all out

I mean in the hate and they said that it

will be open war on Christians if we

lose any of these positions and so

anyway my point is that we’ve been

praying but I believe that we’ve been

praying wrong in a lot of times and so

I’m going to be sharing about what is a

godly way to pray and I’ve got a book

out on this I’ve got CDs and DVDs and

let me just emphasize that I’ve entitled

this a better way to pray I didn’t

entitle it you’re of the devil if you

don’t pray this way

and I didn’t entitle it that you know

nothing’s gonna work if you don’t pray

this way because everything I’m gonna

teach against I have done and God loved

me and I loved God and God is gracious

and even when we’re messing up God loves

us and God will use us as much as he can

but it’s not God just can’t lie

he can’t be untrue to his word and I’ll

be dealing with a lot of this in more

detail but just as a teaser let me share

with you out of James chapter 4 verse 7

it says submit yourselves therefore unto

God resist the devil and he will flee

from you it says he will flee from you

you resist the devil and there’s so many

Christians said oh god please do

something about the devil oh god please

take care of this and you aren’t taking

your Authority and God if he was to

answer your prayer would have to become

a liar he told you you resist the devil

I give you authority and so if we aren’t

praying correctly you can be sincere and

yet sincerely wrong and everything that

I’m gonna be teaching against I have

done it one time or another and I love

God and God loved me but also I wasn’t

getting very good results I’m getting a

lot better results now I don’t claim

that I understood everything about it

but I am saying that I’m seeing some

awesome things happen you probably

wouldn’t have recognized but as they

were playing this video and as Jamie

walked out singing that song I only

touched the hem of His garment she

walked right by our granddaughter who

has a distinction that very few people

in the world has and that is that she

was born one year after her father died

and some people say how did that happen

her father our son was dead for five

hours and in a morgue stripped naked in

a cooler with a toe tag on pronounced

dead and they called us and Jamie and I

agreed and he sat up and started talking

and after being dead for five hours he

came back from the dead with no brain

damage no more than he had before

and he’s alive and well and working for

us and I mean it’s just awesome what God

has done so I don’t claim that I figured

it all out I had somebody tell me

something back there tonight and I said

look I don’t know the answer I said I

don’t understand everything but I don’t

let what I don’t know stop me from doing

what I do know and I have learned some

things about prayer that I am seeing

greater results than I’ve ever seen and

let me just say this to challenge you

before I even get into this I’m gonna

say some things that I can guarantee you

will rub you the wrong way I’ve had

people who’ve been friends with me for

20 years get up and walk out as I teach

on this because I’m going to attack a

lot of religious concepts but before you

get upset with me just think about this

how’s your prayer life working most

people not everybody but most people

would say that man I’ve been praying for

years I’ve prayed for this and nothing’s

happening and you aren’t seeing the

right results and yet people will fight

to hold on to the belief system that

isn’t working so I’m just challenging

you from the get-go to open up your

heart and I believe that this is what

God is laid on my heart to share with

you and if you will receive it this

could change your life when I have

people come up to me and they say I’ve

read your book on a better way to pray

and if they still like me I know that

they are stark raving mad fanatics

because I’m guaranteed a religious be

anybody who’s just on the outskirts of

Christianity and doesn’t want to go

completely with God and follow him with

everything they’ve got

they aren’t gonna like this and so I

just encourage you before you reject

everything listen and open up your heart

and I believe God will bear witness with

this let’s start over to Matthew chapter

6 and this is where Jesus started

teaching on prayer his disciples came to

him this is also repeated over in Luke

chapter 11 and I’ll be turning over

there

comparing some of those verses but in

Matthew chapter 6 it says in verse 5 and

when thou prayest thou shalt not be as

the hypocrites are for they love to pray

now I’m aware there’s no period there

but I’m just gonna stop right here

before I go any further don’t be like

hypocrites hypocrites love to pray

ashlee right here his son was up

listening to me teach on this and he

came down and told Ashley and Carly his

wife and says man you mom are hypocrites

and he says what are you saying he says

well Andrew said hypocrites love to pray

I’m not saying that godly people don’t

love to pray but I am saying that

hypocrites love to pray did you know

that Muslims prayed Buddhists pray

Hindus pray just because you prayed

doesn’t mean that you are connecting

with God the Muslims will bow five times

a day and pray towards Mecca and they’re

probably more disciplined in their

prayer life than you are and yet that

does not mean that they are in contact

with God they are not in contact with

the same God that we serve prayer in

itself is not anything prayer is a

vehicle it’s a way to commune with God

and to have a relationship with God but

if we are doing it religiously and just

following our you know the things that

we’ve been taught it could be doing you

more damage than good there’s very few

people that will say that because most

people just think well if you’re praying

it doesn’t matter how you pray just as

long as you pray it’s good know you can

you can destroy yourself with prayer one

of the first things I do and when it

seems like women seem to be more

concerned about their marriage than men

are men basically don’t even know

they’ve got a problem until they’re

served with divorce papers but women

will come to me and say something like

you know would you please pray for my

hope but I don’t understand what’s going

on and one of the first things I tell

them is quit praying for your husband

and people are just shocked like why

would you tell anybody to quit praying

because

heard your prayers and they’ll spend 45

minutes god he hates me hates the kids

he hates you he hates the dog he beats

the dog he spends our money he’s a slob

he doesn’t clean up after himself he

burps he does and you just spend 45

minutes complaining about what a jerk

this guy is and then you say save him in

Jesus name five seconds of positive is

not going to counter 45 minutes of

griping and complaining and yet that’s

what a lot of people call prayer matter

of fact Charles Capps one time was

praying and the Lord stopped him right

in the middle of the prayer and said

Charles what are you doing and he says

I’m praying and God says that’s not

praying it’s complaining and there’s a

lot of us that complain and we we go in

and God the doctor said this and we’re

crying and tell you I’ll go what’s gonna

happen to my children and that’s not

prayer matter of fact I’m gonna show you

right here that prayer isn’t to miss to

inform poor misinformed God what your

need is it says he knows what you have

need of more than you do

prayer isn’t an opportunity for you to

just throw up all of your unbelief on

God and say all of this junk out of your

life and yet that’s what most people

call prayer they think it’s not prayer

unless they can cry and talk about how

bad everything is and they think that’s

really good that’s just griping and

complaining and it really solidifies

your problem

by you repeating it over and over and

focusing on it Jesus said don’t be like

hypocrites they love to pray hypocrites

love to pray I had a man come one time I

don’t know how many of you were aware of

Larry Lee’s teaching them could you not

tarry one hour but that was very very

popular in the body of Christ maybe 20

or 30 years ago and they used the Lord’s

Prayer right here in Matthew chapter 6

to teach you how to spend an hour in

prayer every day and any way that there

was nothing wrong with the basics of it

but one of the guys from his church came

to where I was and he walked in he says

so how much time do you

and praying everyday and I thought

that’s a strange question why would he

ask that and the only reason I could see

that he wanted to know was so that he

could compare himself with me and

hopefully come out better and make

himself feel really good it was for his

own ego that he was asking this and

before I could answer it I was thinking

about how do I answer this the Lord just

spoke to me he says how much time did

you spend with Jamie yesterday and I

said well I spent all day with her and

how much time did we spend talk I can’t

tell you I didn’t time it and say all

right

visit fellowship but we spent all day

together and we talked and we were with

each other all day matter of fact one of

the reasons that I knew Jamie and the

relationship I had with her was

different than any other girl I ever

dated was I didn’t have to impress her

Jamie and I could just sit together and

we didn’t even have to talk and we just

enjoyed being together it didn’t have to

be something going on all of the time

but see there’s a lot of people that

that you’ve got to pray an hour a day

you got to do this and you got to assume

a certain position I’ve heard people get

up and talk about having how you have to

build an altar and how they talk about

the colors and put in a little cross and

put a prayer bench and do all of this

and again I’m not saying you can’t do

that stuff but that is not prayer as

such that hypocrites love to pray

there’s a lot of people that spend huge

amounts of time in prayer and it’s not

doing you a bit of good it’s destroying

you thank you for that thunderous

silence

but this is how Jesus started off

talking about prayer don’t be like

hypocrites they love to pray amen now

that I got your attention

he says they love to pray standing in

the synagogues and in the corners of the

streets that they may be seen of men

verily I say unto you they have their

reward in other words the reason they

love to pray is to receive the praises

of people to have people come by and Pat

them on the back and man aren’t you a

godly person you’re so awesome I

remember in the church that I grew up in

these these guys that I knew they would

just talk normal like all the rest of us

Texans but when it came time to pray Oh

most Heavenly Father we know that thou

arts and they start talking in

Elizabethan English now if you talking

Elizabethan English all of the time well

then that’s fine pray that way but if

you have to change your whole tone and

start using these and dolls and stuff

like this excuse me but you’re religious

at best and a hypocrite probably God’s

not like that what would happen if you

came into my office and you sat down and

om drew we know that thou art somebody

special and that and you start doing I

guarantee you I’d look at you and think

something’s wrong with you

that’s not the way you talk to me it’s

not the way you talk to anybody else and

if you talk to God like that you’re

religious or a hypocrite or both amen

this is when some of my friends got up

and walked out I’m not saying these

things to hurt anybody but I’m just

saying that religious people do it so

that they can be accepted I was just

praying with Mitch McConnell and Mike

Pompeo and we had some other people

there we had some Baptist and some

church God and other people and it was

it was interesting to hear their prayers

the Baptist prayed exactly like the

Baptist that I grew up in the Church of

God prayed exactly like that

the independence prayed another way

we’ve all got our religious stuff that

we’ve been taught and I’m telling you it

doesn’t a map to anything when it comes

to talking to God I could listen to a

person pray and tell you what church you

go to that’s religion it says verily I

say unto you they have their rewards you

know what their reward is that little

pat on the back that you got that was

that that’s all you’re gonna get you

aren’t going to get anything from God

God’s not into religious prayers and

then he goes on to say in the next verse

but thou when thou prayest enter into

that closet and when thou has shut that

door pray to thy father which is in

secret and thy father which is in secret

shall reward thee openly this doesn’t

mean that you literally have to go into

a closet because Jesus prayed openly the

twelfth chapter of John he prayed old

father glorify your name and an audible

voice came out of heaven and answered

him you don’t physically have to be in a

closet but this is just saying don’t

pray for show don’t pray so that people

could hear you when you like I was with

these guys praying this way and they

weren’t praying to God they were praying

for Mitch McConnell and for Mike Pompeo

they were praying to be heard by men

they were preaching a sermon as they

prayed you might get a pat on the back

from man but God doesn’t care about that

that’s a religious a man or Oh me

and then in verse seven and when you

pray use not vain repetitions as the

heathen do this says Ethan’s love to

pray heathens pray but they use vain

repetitions

they have mantras that they repeat over

and over such as you know what I’m

borrowing this church they’re letting me

use this church if you don’t like what

I’m saying don’t get mad at being or at

dawn Amen that I did not submit my

message and they this is not an approved

message so don’t get mad at them but I’m

telling you if you’re praying the rosary

and saying so many Hail Marys and our

fathers

that’s vain repetitions that is not

godly that does not touch the our to God

if you’re going through and I used to

have a formula that I would pray old God

we come before you so humbly today we’re

so unworthy but we ask you for your

mercy and then you throw out some prayer

and then oh god please forget and you

just spent the whole time ducking and oh

god please don’t strike me dead and

stuff and that’s just religious somebody

but oh compared to God I’m nothing well

then instead of talking about your

nothing let’s talk about how awesome God

is to love somebody as all says ugly as

you are amen it goes on to say right

down here you enter into his gate well

it says in Psalms 100 you enter into his

gates with Thanksgiving and into his

courts with praise be thankful unto Him

he starts by saying our Father which art

in heaven you start by drawing on this

relationship and talking about your

heavenly Father not God Almighty which

he is God Almighty I’m not saying that

we forget that but we need to draw on

this on this love relationship you know

if I was in your home and if your child

came in and they in

into the kitchen and then they fell down

on the floor and they said Oh mom I know

I’m unworthy and I know I didn’t make my

bed and I know I haven’t followed all of

the instructions and I didn’t do all of

my chores but please could you give me

something to eat

could I have just a little bit maybe not

a full meal but just enough to keep me

going because I’m not unworthy if they

came in and talked like that I could

guarantee you your relationship with

your child is not good and yet this is

how Christians pray but you know a child

they just run in and mom give me

something to eat that’s what this says

give us this day our daily bread it

didn’t so God would you please give no

it’s a demand give us this day our daily

bread

you should be drawing on a relationship

with the father knowing your position

and come in boldly and say that man I

receive my needs meant because I know

that you love me but the way that we’ve

been taught to approach God is this

unworthy thing we as a beggar oh god I’m

so unworthy

I am nothing I have nothing I can do

nothing you have already violated the

Word of God with that attitude and you

said well Jesus said in John chapter 15

me without me you can do nothing I agree

with that 1,000% I agree with it without

Jesus I am nothing but I am never

without Jesus and he has promised he

would never leave me nor forsake me and

if you have this unworthy attitude and

come before God as a redheaded stepchild

that doesn’t believe God wants to move

in your life you’ve already hurt

yourself before you even get started

there anybody I hadn’t hit yet

I’m telling you all of us at some time

or another we have this attitude oh god

I’m so unworthy well sure you’re

unworthy in yourself but you’re a brand

new person in Christ and all of your

sins have been cast into the deepest sea

and for you to approach God that way is

no different than a child coming in and

falling down and begging you know I had

this dog that I got my mother when I

went to Vietnam and this dog was 3/4

German Shepherd and 1/4 child and I got

it to be a watchdog for my mother when I

was gone and anyway this was a

mean-looking dog but it was beat with a

trace chain the person that had it

before me and so it looked big it would

run and hit the fence and the whole

fence would move but if you were to open

up the gate that dog would I hurt itself

trying to get out of the way and when it

came up to you it had come running

across the yard and it’d get about 5 or

6 feet away from me an idiot stop and

lay over on its side and whimper and

scoot up to me like I was going to hit

it and I mean this dog honey because it

looked like honey so anyway I was out

and the Lord was teaching me some of

these exact things that I’m telling you

and telling me about the attitude that I

had and I went out and sat on the back

porch to think about it and here comes

my dog running across the yard and it

gets 5 or 6 feet away and rolls over on

his side and gets to whimpering and

scooting up to me and I lost my temper

at this dog and I said honey one time

you know it’s hard to get mad at your

dog when it’s named honey

and I said honey one time I’d like you

to come and jump up on me like a normal

dog and act like I’m not gonna beat you

I said people think I’m mean to you and

do all of this and I just read miss dog

the ride act and God spoke to me and he

says that’s the way I feel about you he

says one time I’d like you to just come

and jump in my lap like I’m your father

and then life I’ve forgiven you I’m

telling you the way most of us approach

God we we destroy our prayer before we

even get there we aren’t drawing on the

relationship we aren’t standing using

our authority it’s depressing the reason

people don’t pray more is because men

the way you pray is depressing all you

do is sit there and talk about what a

mess you are and how bad your situation

is and god I don’t deserve anything and

I don’t even know why you love me and

then you wonder why you don’t enjoy

talking to the Lord you know when I

first got turned on to the Lord I used

to set an alarm clock and pray two hours

at a time and I the first time I did

that I thought after five minutes I must

be at least at the one hour mark and I

looked at the fan I mean praying for two

hours well it was like pulling teeth

it was so hard but I did this for months

maybe a year or more and and anyway one

time I prayed from 7:00 till 9:00

o’clock in the morning and one time I

was studying the word and I was praying

and God was speaking to me and I was

having a wonderful time and I looked at

the clock

and it was nearly time for me to go pray

and I just said father I’m sorry

but you know how I feel anyway so I’m

just going to tell you that I started

reading this about a quarter till seven

I said I’d read this prayer time it

seems like it just drags on forever and

I said I don’t mean it bad but that’s

just the way I feel and the Lord spoke

to him he said don’t feel bad he says I

started reading it it is 6:30

[Applause]

and I thought well God’s not joining

this and if I’m not enjoying this why am

I doing this and it just set me free but

I’ll tell you what God doesn’t like your

prayer time any more than you do

all you do is go in and remind him and

what an ogre he is and stuff like this

and you just spew out doubt and unbelief

there’s a better way to pray than that

amen and he goes on to say he says don’t

use vain repetitions as they either do

for they think that they shall be heard

for their much speaking you know what a

good prayer is help in Jesus name that’s

a great prayer if you look at Jesus his

prayers were pretty short peace be still

be healed come out he didn’t pray long

prayers did you know that there’s only

twice in the New Testament that jesus

prayed all night long that may look like

more than that because the four Gospels

record the same event but if you look at

it in a chronological order there’s

twice that Jesus prayed all night long

and it was because he was so busy during

the day ministering to people that

that’s the only time he could get any

free time with the with his father but

Jesus didn’t pray great long prayers he

goes on to say here it says for be nachi

therefore like unto them for your father

knoweth what things you have Nita before

you ask him again most people the way

they approach God is like Oh God the

doctor said this the Baker said this did

you hear what my wife said and we spend

15 minutes telling God the situation

because he’s got millions of people

asking for his attention and you got to

tell him that yours is really serious so

that it’ll get to the top of the pile so

that he doesn’t neglect you you got to

impress on him how bad it is and if you

could work up a few tears and stuff

that’ll really touches hard and get him

to do something this says that your

father knows what you have need on

before you even pray prayer is not an

opportunity to tell miss

informed God about your need you know

when I understood this it has changed my

prayer life I started all-night prayer

meetings when I lived over here in

Arlington Texas praying for dallas-fort

Worth and I mean we never lasted past

one o’clock in the morning everybody was

gone so I’d eventually go home but our

whole thing was Oh God

look how bad things are God and I just

talked about how bad as if God didn’t

know and I actually heard myself I said

this one time over here in Arlington

Texas I was praying I said God if you

love dallas-fort worth half as much as I

do you would had send a revival and as

soon as I said that I thought

something’s wrong with this picture I’m

claiming that I love these people more

than God does and I had to beg God and

get God motivated God wants to bless you

more than you want to be blessed God

wants to send revival more than you

won’t revive a matter of fact if you

won’t revival it’s because God has

already touched your heart

I’m telling you brothers and sisters the

way we prayed begging God like God I

don’t know why you aren’t disposed to do

this but for whatever reason I’m just

begging you to change you aren’t trying

to get God to change you don’t need to

beg God for anything matter of fact let

me turn over to let’s see let’s turn

over to mark chapter 11 let me show you

this same passage in excuse me Luke

chapter 11 Jesus taught this exact same

thing right after those verses that i

read is when he started in matthew

chapter 6 saying pray this way our

Father which art in heaven hallowed be

thy name and I could spend a lot of time

teaching on that but I want to skip over

here to mark chapter 11 this is the

exact same thing that he taught it’s

just recorded in a different gospel in

verse 2 he said unto them when you pray

say our Father which art in heaven

hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come

thy will be done

as in heaven so in earth give us this

day our daily bread and forgive us our

sins as we also forgive everyone that is

indebted to us and lead us not into

temptation but deliver us from evil and

then in verse 5 he says and he said unto

them which of you shall have a friend

and she’ll go unto him at midnight and

saying him friend lend me three loaves

for a friend of mine is in his journey

has come to me and I have nothing to set

before him and he from within shall

answer and say trouble me not the door

is now shut and my children are with me

in bed I cannot rise and give thee I say

unto you though we will not rise and

give him because he is his friend yet

because of his importunity he will rise

and give him as many as he needed and I

could spend a lot more time on this but

as a whole the way that this has been

interpreted and taught is that God is

not disposed to answer your prayers

there is a resistance on God’s part and

you’ve got to just badger him you’ve got

to stay after God and if he won’t listen

to you then call the church prayer team

and get a hundred people to put pressure

on him and if that doesn’t work go on

the internet and get a thousand people

and finally we’ll put so much pressure

on God that we just lay hold of God and

twist his arm until the miracle comes

out you got to force God it’s your

importuning that makes God do things

that’s the opposite of what this is

saying here’s what he’s saying how many

of you have a friend that if somebody

came to your house and if you didn’t

have anything to feed them and if there

weren’t 24-hour a day you know 7-elevens

and things like this today it’s a

different situation for us than it was

them but if you had a need somebody came

to your house late at night and if you

couldn’t meet it how many of you have a

friend that if you went over and said

could I please have something to help my

friend how many out you have a friend

that is say no I’m in bed

leave me alone I don’t want to help you

how many have you have friends like that

here’s one hand

let me just suggest that that person is

not a friend they might be an

acquaintance but what he’s doing he’s

saying look people treat you better than

this if you went to a fracking guarantee

I could go to any of these people here

that I consider to be my friends and if

I had a need these people would do

things for me they would help me if you

have a friend of friends not going to

tell you I’m in bed leave me alone

don’t bother me Jesus is saying if

people treat you better than this why do

you think that you have to beg God and

plead with God and make God do it and to

prove to you that’s his point read the

rest of it read it in context if you

take a scripture out of context if you

take the text out of context all you

have left is cond amen look at the rest

of it right here it says in verse 9 and

I say unto you ask and it shall be given

you seek and you shall find knock and it

shall be opened unto you for every one

that asketh receiveth and he that

seeketh findeth and to him that knocketh

it shall be open if a son shall ask

bread of any of you that is a father

will he give him a stone see he’s

comparing he’s continuing the comparison

actually it’s a contrast not a

comparison he’s saying people treat you

better than this why do you think your

heavenly father who died for you would

treat you worse than a human being who’s

a fallen person and has problems in

stuff why do you put more confidence in

friends than you do in God what would

happen if you went to your friend and

asked them for help the way that you go

to God and ask him for help what if you

went to your friend and said you know I

know I’m not the best friend and and

I’ve done this wrong and I’ve talked

about you and you if you just mention

all of the sorry things that you’ve done

and I’m no good but I’m in desperate

need oh please help me

you go to begging I they might help you

once or twice but you know what they

aren’t gonna want to help you very much

they aren’t when they’ll see you coming

they’ll want to go the other direction

because all you do is just gripe and

complain I’m preaching better than

you’re listening what he’s saying is if

you if a son ask a father for a piece of

bread how many of you gonna give him a

stone that he could buy it on a stone

and break a tooth how many of you would

do that for your child hopefully

nobody’s gonna raise their hand on this

and then he says if he ask a fish will

he for a fish give him a serpent how

many of you if your child asks could I

have a piece of fish you give him a

snake instead hopefully none of us would

do something like that

or if he shall ask an egg will he offer

him a scorpion and then he says in the

next verse if you being evil know how to

give good gifts unto your children how

much more shall your heavenly Father

give the Holy Spirit to them that ask

him what he’s doing is drawing a

contrast he’s not saying that God is

like this friend that he’s not liable to

answer you God is not like this with his

arms folded saying you aren’t worthy I

don’t want to bless you you sorry thing

what makes you think I would answer your

prayer you better grovel in the dirt a

little bit more you better fast and pray

more you better deny yourself you got to

do something penance make a bargain

promise that you’ll go to church the

rest of the year not miss a single thing

if I’ll answer this prayer see God’s not

like that God’s got his arms open he’s

trying to bless you he’s already the

scripture says in Ephesians chapter 1

verse 3 that he’s already blessed us

with all spiritual blessings I’m gonna

deal with this more as I go through this

series but the truth is everything

you’re asking for God’s already done

I’ve got a book entitled you’ve already

got it and the subtitle is so quit

trying to get it and it’s got a picture

of a dog chasing his tail because you

know just like a dog chasing his tail if

he was to catch it he’d find out he

already had it whatever it is that

you’re asking God for you’ve already got

it if you’re asking to be well the Bible

says by His stripes you were healed it’s

already been done won’t know I don’t

have it yet yes you do you just don’t

know what you got I’ll teach on that

more and explain it more but the truth

is God is wanting to give – he’s already

supplied everything you don’t have to

get God to bless you I couldn’t tell you

how many times I’ve asked the people

around me I’ve heard them pray O God

just blessed me you’re already blessed

with all spiritual blessings o God make

me righteous the Bible says in Ephesians

4:24 you were created in righteousness

and true holiness

you’re already righteous and holy O God

just kidding I’ve had people come up and

say God just gives me joy I need joy

when the Bible says that you had the

fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace

longsuffering joy all of these things

and it says if you believe you rejoice

with joy unspeakable and full of glory

you don’t need God to give you joy he’s

already given you joy you need to start

drawing out by faith what God is already

placed on the inside of it the way we

approach God we approach him as if we

have nothing can do nothing but old God

you can do all things you’ve already

destroyed your prayer the moment you

approach him that way because you aren’t

standing in what the Word of God says

Word of God says you’re blessed with all

spiritual blessings you are the head and

not the tail you are in heavenly places

Satan is under your feet and on and on

and yet we don’t approach him based on

what he says we approach him based on

how I feel what my circumstances say

which is unbelief and you are speaking

forth that stuff and you are doing more

damage than you are good

I’ll say this I I’m leaving in a few

days

Ben will fix this for all of the people

that have attend here but most I viewed

to be better off to quit praying the way

you’re praying because you are speaking

doubt and unbelief now that needs some

explanation if you replace it with godly

type of prayer well then that’s

wonderful but I’m saying that a lot of

what we are doing is causing more damage

because you were speaking forth your

fear your doubt your hurts your pain and

a lot of people God knows God wants me

to just pour my heart out to him no he

doesn’t want you he turned around to

Peter when Peter says Lord forbid it

they’ll never do this to you said get

behind me Satan you saver not the things

that are of God but the things that are

of men a lot of what we’re saying is

inspired by the devil it is our own hurt

it’s our own feeling and contrary to

psychology it is not healthy for you to

just spew out all of your unbelief and

because you started with father and end

it with in Jesus name does not mean that

it was godly prayer

I know somebody feel like man you’re

pulling the rug out from under me before

we can build a good foundation you got a

jackhammer and take out all of the wrong

stuff so I am going to get into some

godly things about prayer but first of

all I’m just countering some of these

religious traditions look over in the

18th chapter of Luke in Luke chapter 18

in verse 1 it says he spake a parable

unto them to this end that men ought

always to pray and not to faint

saying there wasn’t a city a judge which

feared not God nor regarded men and

there was a widow in that city and the

same came unto him saying avenge me of

mine adversary and he would not for a

while but afterward he said within

himself though I fear not God nor regard

man yet because this Widow trouble with

me I will avenge her lest by her

continual coming she weary me and people

take this to say that’s the way that God

is we got to just wear him out we got a

birth we got a refuse to take no for an

answer you lay hold of God lay hold of

the horns of the altar and shake it

until God comes out and that’s the way

that people interpret this and look in

verse 6 and the Lord said hear what the

unjust judge saith notice he was an

unjust judge God is not comparing

himself to an unjust judge this is a

contrast it’s not a comparison verse 7

and shall not God avenge his own elect

which cried day and night on him though

he not speaking of he God but he the

unjust judge bear long with them it’s a

contrast not a comparison God is not an

unjust judge you don’t have to beg and

plead he is a just judge when you come

before him he wants to move in your

behalf this is not saying that God is

like this unjust judge but it’s saying

that you expect better treatment from an

ungodly person than this why would you

think that God Almighty

you less than an unjust judge and then

he says shall not god avenge his own

elect which cried day and night unto him

though he this unjust judge bear along

with them I tell you that he will avenge

them speedily that’s God’s attitude

nevertheless when the Son of man cometh

shall he find faith on the earth

the thing that hinders God from

answering our prayers and doing these

things is cause of unbelief because we

aren’t in faith because we come with

this attitude that God you’re a far-off

God God you don’t want to move in my

behalf god I’ve got to beg you I’ve got

to plead with you and I’ll get into this

in more detail I’m just gonna say this

and I don’t have time to explain it

tonight but I will deal with it deal

with it this week but when it comes to

praying for like our nation we’re saying

O God this nation is sinned against you

and we got to confess our sins and get

all of this out here and we got to go

back and make atonement for what the

white man did to the Indians two hundred

years ago and what the the white man did

to the blacks get my back during slavery

you know there’s actually something in

Congress where they are trying to do

reparations and pay every single black

person in this country so much money for

the way they were treated they have put

that in front of Congress what I want to

say Jaime brought this at well we oughta

also pay all of the I forgot exactly how

many 700,000 white guys that died during

the Civil War bringing them independence

where are you going to stop with this

that’s wrong God won’t move until I do

all of these things and until we just

grovel in the dirt and and and beg and

plead more your sins were forgiven when

you got born again God is not holding

your sins against you the only thing

that is holding up the answer to your

prayer is our unbelief because we feel

so unworthy we are empowering the devil

we are allowing our conscience to

condemn us and we don’t have the

confidence and the courage and the

authority that God has bought for us

through Jesus and we’re approaching him

like a lost man that

and have a savior we pray in the name of

Jesus but the truth is we actually

believe that it’s going to be according

to our goodness and so all somebody’s

got to do is say hey you committed sin

you haven’t studied the word the way

that you should what makes you think

you’re worthy and all of a sudden your

total confidence just crumbles because

your faith wasn’t in God it was in you

if you pray and use the name of Jesus

properly what you’re saying is father

not because of who I am but in Jesus

name I expect to receive because of

Jesus you know the scripture says I

agree with your adversary quickly while

you’re in the way and there’s multiple

ways of applying that but one of the

ways I apply it is when the devil comes

and says you aren’t worthy what makes

you think God would use you instead of

me trying to justify myself and say wait

a minute I’ve studied the word more than

I ever have I’ve been praying I’ve

studied I fast I the moment you start

justifying yourself and try to make

yourself worthy Satan has won because

you may be better than you were you

might be better than I am but you have

come short of the glory of God and you

do not deserve any answers to prayer

based on your goodness the right way to

respond is when your enemy comes and

condemns you agree with your adversary

and so you know what you’re right I

don’t deserve anything I think I’ll pray

in the name of Jesus and I’ll get it

through who Jesus is I’ll get it on the

basis of his righteousness I’m standing

holy not because I am holy and myself

but because I am born again righteous

and holy see that’s using the name of

Jesus properly but if you say in the

name of Jesus but you’re saying God I’m

worthy God I’ve prayed I’ve done more

than ever before now will you move you

have just used the name of Jesus in vain

you aren’t trusting in Jesus you’re

trusting in yourself and you’re taking

the name of Jesus in vain a man or old

me

if you can’t say Amen say old me I know

that’s you know this is kind of like

going to the doctor or to the dentist

sometimes it hurts before it feels

better but we’ve got I think that prayer

is probably the worst use thing in the

body of Christ the people basically just

say pray as well just however you pray

it doesn’t matter just pray pray that’s

wrong there’s right and wrong praying

and I tell you the way most of us are

praying is actually loosing the devil by

us focusing on the bad condemning

ourselves

speaking about ayran worthiness instead

of our Savior who loves us in spite of

our unworthiness there’s death and life

in the power of the tongue proverbs

18:21 and if you are speaking wrong

things you are releasing death and not

life and I’m telling you that’s wrong

praying there’s a better way to pray

like I said at the very beginning

everything I’ve taught against tonight I

have done and yet God loved me and I

loved God and God did not hate me and

God didn’t reject me but I get a lot

better results now that I’ve learned a

better way to pray than what I used to

I’m not saying that you’re of the devil

I’m not saying that God hates you but I

am saying that many of us are praying

totally wrong and you’re gonna get

totally wrong results if you’re praying

wrong so as we celebrate a day a

National Day of Prayer we don’t need to

come before God talking about how

unworthy we are now I think it’s good

that we acknowledge that father we do

not deserve your blessings in this

nation God gave us a godly nation we

have some forefathers that were some of

the I believe I heard my pastors say

this that if the book of Hebrews chapter

11 was being written today where it

talks about the heroes of faith I

believe that some

the founding fathers of America would be

listed in there they were some of the

most godly people God gave us a godly

nation a godly heritage and we are so

far from it that that in the Senate

recently in the last month or so they

took a born alive abortion survivors

Protection Act where if a child survived

an abortion he was perfectly healthy

outside of the mother’s womb that the

doctor could kill it

infanticide man that’s we’ve fallen a

long ways I think it’s good to

acknowledge that and to realize that we

don’t deserve the blessings of God but

to wallow in that and forget that man

God has forgiven us and that you as a

believer can stand there and release the

power of God that’s the wrong way to

pray just coming before God and begging

and pleading as if we don’t have a

savior we do have a savior man I could

if I had time I could turn to the test

to the prayer of Daniel and Daniel

confess that man we are deserving of

everything you’ve done Ezekiel said that

our sins have been punished less than

what we deserve and yet each one of them

came out and basically said I am NOT

praying for favor because we deserve it

I’m praying for favor because you are a

gracious and merciful God and they drew

on the mercy of God instead of their own

righteousness so I’m not saying that we

don’t deserve judgment if we got what we

deserve we would all be toast but we

have a savior and you have the right and

the authority to draw on that and come

before him and pray thy kingdom come thy

will be done and I’m going to be talking

about the authority that God has given

us most people pray like a bigger

instead of like a person that’s been

given authority and power we are asking

God to do what he told us to and I’m

going to be sharing a lot of things with

you that I can guarantee it will help

you tremendously but the first message

here is basically just about HIPAA

it’s love to pray and you need to

readjust some things you need to you

need to get rid of your religious

traditions and just pray in the way that

you feel and saying whatever you want to

say and you need to order your

conversation correctly I’ll be using

these scriptures more but it says enter

into his gates with Thanksgiving and

into his courts with praise be thankful

unto Him and bless his name for the Lord

is good it tells you how to enter God it

tells you to come before him with praise

and with thanksgiving Deuteronomy

chapter 28 verses 47 48 says that

because you didn’t serve God with

joyfulness and gladness of heart

therefore God is going to bring judgment

upon you now we have been redeemed from

that judgment Christ became a curse to

redeem us from the curse but it still

shows you that God was not pleased when

we didn’t come before him drawing on

what he’s done and instead we came

before him with all of our hurts and

pains and things like this now there’s a

place to cast our care over on the Lord

but it’s nots 45 minutes belly aching in

five seconds saying thank you Jesus man

it should be the opposite god I’ve got

some serious problems the doctor told me

I’m gonna die but praise God if I die I

get to spend eternity with you in heaven

amen

we sing the song when we all get to

heaven and then the doctor tells you

you’re going there and you cried

something’s wrong with this picture

somewhere you’re a hypocrite I hope I’m

not too subtle

I’m not saying these things because I’m

mad at anybody I’m just you know I’ve

only got a limited amount of time and

I’m just trying to get my point across I

hadn’t got time to tiptoe around the

issues and stuff if he loved a person

you need to tell them the truth and I’m

telling you God is he’s been really

straight with me that a lot of the ways

that I prayed had hurt me

have hurt other people and so everything

I’m saying to you God has said to me but

I’ve changed and I’ve learned and

because of it I’m seeing better results

now than I’ve ever seen and I believe

that God wants the same thing for you

and I’m telling you if you if you’ll

follow these things this could transform

your life I’ve seen the dead raised

blind eyes opened deaf ears open I’ve

seen miracle upon miracle I’ve seen

financial provision I’ve learned how to

cash my carry over on the Lord I don’t

worry about stuff I’m not stressed out

we got 650 employees which Paul gets

stressed out that’s what I heard him for

when I heard him he says what are you

gonna pay and I said at your first worry

I don’t worry about stuff I’ve learned

how to cast my carer over on the Lord

and and you can do it I’m not saying

I’ve arrived but I’ve left and I’m

telling you I’m seeing results and I

believe that this will really really

help you amen praise God