Join us on a transformative journey through the life of John, an unwavering disciple of Jesus, whose profound commitment to prayer, even in the face of exile, illuminated the divine power within each of us. Imagine, being alone on an island, yet so deeply connected to the divine that you can hear the voice of God. This isn't a fiction, it's John's reality - a testament to the transformative power of prayer and faith.
We share personal stories that bring to life John's remarkable faith, drawing upon the poignant words of Peter, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.' We challenge you to rethink your relationship with prayer, to see it not as a last-ditch effort, but as the first line of defense. Furthermore, we implore you to remember that every moment matters, and divine love and grace are always within your reach. As we wrap up, we invite you to join us in thanking Jesus and making a commitment to seek His divine love and grace every day.
Join us on a transformative journey through the life of John, an unwavering disciple of Jesus, whose profound commitment to prayer, even in the face of exile, illuminated the divine power within each of us. Imagine, being alone on an island, yet so deeply connected to the divine that you can hear the voice of God. This isn't a fiction, it's John's reality - a testament to the transformative power of prayer and faith.
We share personal stories that bring to life John's remarkable faith, drawing upon the poignant words of Peter, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.' We challenge you to rethink your relationship with prayer, to see it not as a last-ditch effort, but as the first line of defense. Furthermore, we implore you to remember that every moment matters, and divine love and grace are always within your reach. As we wrap up, we invite you to join us in thanking Jesus and making a commitment to seek His divine love and grace every day.
Let's pray, heavenly Father, I'll give you thanks today for the ability to Continue to come and share. Lord, I, I know that You've placed this on my life Because, as I've said and you put it on my heart, there's no one I wouldn't want to see in heaven. I, I Thank you for everybody who will take the time to listen to this and I hope and I pray, lord, that you would speak to them through me, that your words would come to fruition, that your reality, your understanding, bring them understanding, lord, bring them understanding, bring them the revelation that is you, jesus, that is you, ah, coming to set things right and all that goes with that. Remind us, lord, that this, indeed, is a book of hope. This is a book of anticipation and, yes, it is a book of warning. But the Lord always gives us a way out, and I would pray today for those who feel like they've They've walked their last mile, that there's no turning back, that they, that they just can't. They can't beat the addiction, they can't beat the, the, the, the despair, the depression, the ugliness. They've done too much. Remind them, lord, that you always give away of escape, that you are there, right there with them, and all they need to do is turn around and reach out their hand. Lord, god, I give you thanks for this study. I give you thanks for this time, in Jesus name, amen. We're gonna pick up right where we left off Last time and we're gonna cover again one whole verse. We're gonna pick up again and we're gonna cover one whole verse, and it is. It is Revelation 1, verse 10, new King James, and it says I was in the spirit on the Lord's day and I heard behind me a loud voice as a trumpet saying For this week, I want to focus on one thing, and one thing only, and it is the title of our message today. It is called the power of prayer and, as I said, we're gonna pick up right where we left off last time.
Speaker 1:John is about the Lord's business. We learned that last week on the island of Patmos. We learned last time that John had been imprisoned there for preaching the gospel of the risen Christ. As always, if you need to get caught up, you can pick up all past studies at the thoughts I have toward you calm. I Told you last time that we would find out what John was doing when Jesus came to him. So let's start out with what he wasn't doing. He wasn't shaking his fist at God, he wasn't Gryping about his circumstances. He wasn't in the corner and in the fetal position, all weepy over His losses, which, by the way, were many. Nope, no, it's not what he was doing, as we'll see in a moment. He was in the fight.
Speaker 1:Let's take a step back and qualify a few things. John was many things. Can he name some of the most obvious? Can you name the most obvious thing that he was? You might say that he was a disciple. Well, that's true, he was one of 12. But then you might say, oh, but wait, he was an important disciple. He was the one Jesus loved. That's also true. And for the bible student out there, you might even know that he, he and his brother James, were referred to as the sons of thunder. That's also true. Okay, all right, those were none of the answers that I was looking for. Here's the answer you ready? He was. If I had a drumroll sound effect, I'd do it right here.
Speaker 1:He was a man, a man flesh and blood, a man prone to tiredness, a man prone to frustration, man prone to all the sins that you and I are prone to. He was a man. That's right, first and foremost. First and foremost, he was a man, and I'm sorry to say to my Catholic friends and, by the way, I love you all he was not a saint. He was just a man, a sinful son of Adam, a man born into sin, just like you and me. The difference is, john knew his savior. He knew that the cross of Calvary was empty and Jesus had risen from the dead to defeat death and the grave. He knew that. He knew that. Do you know that? Spoiler alert? That happened. He knew his savior. He knew him intimately. He walked with him daily. He had every right, by our standards, to shake his fist at God, though he sure did.
Speaker 1:Here he was on this rock, in exile for doing as he had been commanded go forth and make disciples of all men. That's Matthew 28. They boiled him in oil and slaughtered all of his brothers They'd martyred. They'd all been martyred, every one of them. Here he was the last one, alone on this rock.
Speaker 1:What does it say in verse 10? What does it say? It says I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day. We're back in Revelation 110. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day. John was in the Spirit. He was praying. He was praying, and you know what? John was a man. He was laying out his cares and praises at the feet of the Almighty. Here he was in this unbelievable situation, having to scrounge from forage for food and other things and just basic needs and whatever else, and he's just. It's a miserable situation and yet it reminds me of Philippians 4.13. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That's Philippians 4.13.
Speaker 1:Scripture doesn't give the contents of John's prayer, but because John was a man and as such subject to all human faults and sin, we can infer that John was praying as we might, laying everything at the feet of the Lord. I think he must have remembered often the words of Peter. Let's turn there. John, chapter 6, verse 68. John chapter 6 is a really long chapter. But Simon Peter answered him Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. That's John 6.68. Let's read it again. But Simon Peter answered him Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We're indeed. Jesus is not the answer to what ails us. He's not an answer, rather, to what ails us, he's the only answer. And Jesus is with us when we commune with Him If I had a nickel for every time. Someone said to me well, all we can do is pray. All we can do is pray, friends. Prayer is the first rule of engagement, not the last resort. And boy did John get an answer. Boy, oh boy did John get an answer.
Speaker 1:Let's pick up and finish this section. This is verse 11. We're gonna go back. Actually, I want to read the whole thing. I want to go back to the beginning here. It says I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day and I heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet saying. And here's the rest of it, verse 11. Verse 11, it says I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, what you see right in this book, and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia and to Laodicea. That's Revelation 1, 10, 11. John received his marching orders, what you see right in a book. He's going to be shown things and, by proxy, so are we.
Speaker 1:Do you ever read a passage like that and say I wish God would just come out and speak to me like that, directly and to the point, so that I would know what to do. I get it. You know, I get it. I used to say when I was a new believer. I used to say you know what, if God would just show up in my living room, jesus would just show up my living room, I'd provide the white board and the markers and even coffee, if you just lay it out for me. It was cute, got laughs. But let's get real, folks. We have everything that we need in order to get answers from the Almighty. When someone asked me that, or when someone makes that statement, well, I guess all we can do is pray, and I wish that God would just, you know, tell me what I need to do. And I don't know how you hear from God. I don't know how God speaks to you. I don't get it. I used to get that all the time too.
Speaker 1:I always ask what your prayer life like. How are your devos? How are your devos? Do you set aside time and morning for the Lord? Do you set aside time at all for the Lord on a daily basis? If so, what does that look like? Do you spend time in your scriptures daily, not just reading them, but truly studying them, digesting them, praying through them. God will speak to you through prayer and study of His word. He could speak audibly or via that still small voice, but he will speak.
Speaker 1:It's been a long time since I told this story, so I'm going to give it to you. I was saved on November 4, 2004 in my basement. I'm going to give you the elevator version If you want to listen to the whole testimony. It's the very first podcast I ever did. It's called Humble Beginnings and you can find it on the website thethoughtsihavetowardyoucom. But I was done. We'll just leave it at that. I was all done. I was finished.
Speaker 1:There had been a divorce, there had been a mess, I had a young child, I was single suddenly and I was an absolute disaster. So I'm laying in the middle of the floor one night in my basement and I'm not even angry anymore. I'm just sad, just sad. I thought you know, maybe I'll go to sleep tonight and I won't wake up. That'll be okay. I thought. Well, if that's how it's going to be, I want to listen to some music before it's over.
Speaker 1:So I turned on the music, turned on my stereo, and boy, whatever I had on there was just loud and gross. So it was back in the day your stereo had a little remote, so I flipped the remote, started and I hit seek on the remote just to find something to listen to and it landed on the Christian radio station. Caleb it's called. You probably know it. The call letters from my hometown are 91.1. It landed there and out of the speakers came this voice. This guy is singing and he says who am I? That the Lord of all the earth would care to know my name and would care to feel my hurt.
Speaker 1:I broke down, I wept in the middle of the floor and I rolled over. I'm on all fours. I heard this voice. I heard this voice and it said get up, I'm not done with you yet. And I hit my knees and I told him I was sorry. I told him I wanted to follow him, I told him I needed help and I couldn't do it by myself anymore. And he saved my life.
Speaker 1:And here I sit talking to you about the living Christ, the living Christ who wants a relationship with you. And how do you get that relationship? You might say, larry, my goodness, I need that. I'm so done. Every time I tell that story, somebody reacts and somebody responds and you might say Larry, I'm just done, I'm done, I get it. Well, you can just talk to him. He's ready if you are, and all you say to him is dear Jesus, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for all the things that I've done that I know are wrong.
Speaker 1:I'm a sinner. I'm in need of a savior and I believe that you came to this earth and that you walked this planet and that you ministered to us and you taught us, and then you were died and buried. You died and were buried and on the third day, god raised you again from the dead. I want to repent of all my sins. I want to turn away from them now and I want to follow you all the rest of the days of my life. I want you to be my Lord, my God, my savior, my friend.
Speaker 1:Thank you, jesus, for hearing me. Amen, and I promise you, friend, I promise you that if you prayed that prayer and you meant it, if you prayed that prayer and you meant it, welcome to the family of God, and I'd sure love to know about it. I'd love for you to reach out, either on social media, at the thoughts I have towards you, on Facebook or Instagram, or you can shoot me an email at the thoughts I have toward you, at the thoughts I have toward youcom. I'd sure love to know if you've made a commitment to Jesus. I can give you some resources and help you out, point you in the right direction. Friends, jesus is coming back and in the meantime, be vigilant and know that Jesus answers prayer.
Speaker 1:Scripture tells us that prayer of a righteous man avails much. God hears you and he works all things together for the good of those who call upon his name, all those who love him and call upon his name. That's Romans 8.28. He loves you and he wants you to love him. He wants you to call him Lord and friend and savior. That's all the time we have today, friends. Thank you so much for listening. Make it count, gang, and be blessed.