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