WEBVTT 00:00:00.479 --> 00:00:07.679 Let me let me read you some advice from children, just in case you're ever wondering about uh some things that happen in your life. 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:10.080 Here's some do's and don'ts from from children. 00:00:10.240 --> 00:00:13.279 Number one, never trust a dog to watch your food. 00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:15.759 Patrick, age ten, writes that. 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:19.760 Never tell your mom her diet is not working. 00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:22.399 Probably pretty good advice. 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:26.480 Never hold a Dustbuster and a cat at the same time. 00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:31.920 You cannot hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk. 00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:33.119 That's good advice. 00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:35.359 And never try to baptize a cat. 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:37.840 Though some of you may try. 00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:39.520 I've tried before. 00:00:39.840 --> 00:00:41.679 It's not a pretty thing. 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:45.119 Uh I was going to introduce there's my wife. 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:46.240 Lexa. 00:00:46.399 --> 00:00:55.119 Most of you uh get to see the pastors because we're up in front of people so much, but you don't see so much our our families, and I want to introduce my wife. 00:00:55.280 --> 00:00:56.719 This is Lexa, my wife. 00:00:56.799 --> 00:00:58.799 If you stand up right quick. 00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:02.799 And and Bethany, our four-year-old. 00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:10.400 And we've got our fourth that is on the way around Labor Day sometime. 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:13.359 So uh we're doing our part for church growth. 00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:17.439 And we're excited about that. 00:01:18.799 --> 00:01:21.439 Have you been blessed by Pastor Robert Ceres? 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:23.359 Hasn't that been good? 00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:33.599 It's been so good to be reminded again in such an acute way from God's Word that God really does have a purpose for your life. 00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:36.799 And it's bigger than you think it is. 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:48.480 And I have been so stirred over the last three months or so as Pastor Robert preached about what God is doing in my own life and what God is doing in your life. 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:54.799 And I want to remind you that it really is, God's plans for you are bigger than you think. 00:01:55.200 --> 00:01:57.120 And that's exciting news. 00:01:57.439 --> 00:02:03.519 I want to tell you this morning, did you know that the devil also has a plan for your life? 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:05.120 Do you know that? 00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:09.439 You know what the devil's plan for your life is? 00:02:10.479 --> 00:02:14.560 His plan for your life is anything but the plan of God. 00:02:16.080 --> 00:02:22.879 His plan for your life is to do whatever it takes to get you misaligned from the purposes of God. 00:02:24.159 --> 00:02:35.199 And he doesn't even mind organizing a set of circumstances where you take a job making a little more money, if that's what it takes to get you misaligned from the purposes of God. 00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:40.159 Do you realize that not every job offer for more money is a job offer from God? 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:43.120 And it may be. 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:47.520 But just because it's more money doesn't mean it's God. 00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:57.919 And the devil doesn't mind you making a little higher paycheck if he can get you misaligned from God's purposes for you. 00:02:58.639 --> 00:03:03.280 He attacks in all sorts of subtle and not so subtle ways. 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:08.719 When I was 12 years old, I was raised in a very strong Christian family. 00:03:08.800 --> 00:03:10.560 We spent lots of time together. 00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:14.319 When I was 12 years old, my family and I had been out to see a play. 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:15.520 It was a Friday night. 00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:24.879 We'd been out until about 11 o'clock, and about 11, 11.15, we came home from this play, and I was the first one in. 00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:30.240 We came in through the garage and I came in, rounded the corner to go into the kitchen to get something to eat. 00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:37.840 And when I as I rounded the corner, there in front of the refrigerator was a bowl of jello upside down on the floor. 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:46.560 And a 12-year-old mine, the first thing that I thought of was, in about eight seconds, I'm going to be blamed for that, and I wasn't even here. 00:03:48.960 --> 00:03:56.159 But all of a sudden it occurred to me, if we weren't home, how did that get there? 00:03:57.840 --> 00:04:04.960 For some reason I looked over at the window, and there below the window was broken glass and the curtains were blowing in the breeze. 00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:15.520 And there had been a couple of guys that broke into our house and had ransacked the place looking for any cash they could find, and evidently were hungry at the same time. 00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:18.240 And we had surprised them coming in. 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:24.800 They had still been there when we had come in, and evidently, as we came in through the garage, they had left through the front door. 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:29.439 We found more food remnants on the front porch when the police arrived. 00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:39.600 But I'll never forget the feelings of fear and insecurity that began to wash over me to the extent that I was unfamiliar with. 00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:43.360 It took me years to deal with the insecurity. 00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:55.279 But do you realize that the very scene that I just described to you plays out time and time and time again spiritually in the lives of God's people. 00:04:58.160 --> 00:05:03.279 That the enemy of your soul comes to steal and kill and destroy. 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:05.120 That's what Jesus said about him. 00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:13.920 And he breaks into the security of our lives in order to follow up everything that he can touch. 00:05:15.279 --> 00:05:25.519 And while the people of God are well acquainted with how to protect themselves physically, we have alarm systems on our cars and our office and our houses. 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:28.240 We know how to protect our stuff. 00:05:30.560 --> 00:05:43.199 But one of the most painful things that I see as a pastor is that the body of Christ is largely inept to defend themselves spiritually. 00:05:47.519 --> 00:05:50.079 You realize that you've got an enemy. 00:05:51.360 --> 00:05:53.600 His intent is clear. 00:05:55.199 --> 00:06:05.040 We need wisdom to know the difference between an attack of our enemy and simply when we reap the harvest of our own bad decisions. 00:06:06.240 --> 00:06:18.160 Like the old boy that that he never services his car and one day he's on his way to a prayer meeting and his car breakdown breaks down the side of the road and he says, spiritual warfare. 00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:19.040 Well, you know what? 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:21.279 That's not spiritual warfare. 00:06:22.800 --> 00:06:24.959 That is a harvest of his own bad decisions. 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:27.759 He's sown and now he's reaping. 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:42.959 And we make all sorts of silly decisions financially, and then we get in a financial crunch, have to go into a little credit card debt, and sometimes falsely identify that as an attack of the enemy. 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:43.759 It's not. 00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:50.319 But I think we would have to admit today, we do have an enemy. 00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:53.920 He's made his intention clear. 00:06:55.600 --> 00:07:00.079 Napoleon said the goal of warfare is victory. 00:07:01.519 --> 00:07:05.040 But the goal of victory is occupation. 00:07:06.399 --> 00:07:09.759 In other words, we don't fight just to win. 00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:21.519 The reason we fight is to win so that we can then occupy the place as David did where his borders were peaceful. 00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:24.800 That's God's intention for you. 00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:33.360 Not just to fight and not just to win, but so that you can move in and live in a place where there is peace at your borders. 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:36.720 That's God's intention for you. 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:43.920 And I'd like for you to open your Bibles with me to Romans chapter 8. 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:47.759 We're going to get to Romans chapter 8 here in just a few minutes. 00:07:47.920 --> 00:07:53.360 I want to explain a couple of things to prepare some groundwork for where we're going this morning. 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:57.199 And we'll begin our study in Romans chapter 8. 00:07:57.279 --> 00:07:59.920 There's a couple of scriptures I want to share with you first. 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:09.839 But just to lay the groundwork for kind of where we're going, in Genesis chapter 2, way back in the beginning of the Bible, God took Adam and placed him in a garden. 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:14.480 And he said, Adam, this garden is your realm of influence. 00:08:14.639 --> 00:08:17.120 This garden is your place of authority. 00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:19.600 And I'm giving this garden to you. 00:08:21.759 --> 00:08:26.000 And God's instruction to Adam was to tend it and to keep it. 00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:34.879 In the original language, those two words literally mean I am charging you to watch over this physically and spiritually. 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:49.679 And everything that you have, whether your family, your car, your house, whatever it is, your job, your career, whatever it is, God charges you, this is your realm of influence. 00:08:50.559 --> 00:08:52.799 This is your place of authority. 00:08:53.200 --> 00:09:00.000 And God charges you to keep these things both in a physical way and in a spiritual way. 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:05.120 Tend them, keep them, protect them, watch after them. 00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:09.600 This is God's instruction. 00:09:10.240 --> 00:09:20.320 But when Adam and Eve submitted to the devil, what they essentially did was to hand over the rulership of their lives to the devil. 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:27.279 And it costs no less than the life of the Son of God to win that back for you. 00:09:30.639 --> 00:09:41.919 But it's why the Apostle Paul likens Jesus to the second Adam, and he says, what the first Adam lost in disobedience, the second Adam won back in his obedience. 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:56.559 And so complete is his finished work on the cross that it says he sat down at the right hand of the Father, and even before he died, he said, It's finished. 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:11.600 And before he ascended to the Father, he said to his disciples, he said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 00:10:14.240 --> 00:10:18.480 And I give it to you to go and make disciples everywhere. 00:10:20.879 --> 00:10:23.679 The kingdom of God is a coming kingdom. 00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:27.679 Jesus said it's it reigns wherever you go. 00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:41.279 But your job is to enforce the realm and the reign of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ in the realm of authority that God has given you as an inheritance. 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:50.559 Now let me explain a couple of things about what God's intentions are. 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:55.200 And I want to say to you that the treasures of heaven are within your reach. 00:10:55.840 --> 00:10:58.639 I'm not talking just simply about money. 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:03.200 That's way too simplistic for all that's involved in the treasures of heaven. 00:11:03.360 --> 00:11:04.720 But they are within your reach. 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:09.759 Psalm 115, verse 16 says, the heavens, even the heavens are the Lord's. 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:12.960 But the earth he has given to the children of men. 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:34.960 2 Chronicles 7.14 says, If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and heal their land, but do not miss the very first word. 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:51.120 If Ezekiel 22, 30 says, So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. 00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:56.960 Verse 31 goes on to say that God did pour out his wrath on the earth. 00:11:57.360 --> 00:12:01.360 Friends, you do not have to look like Samson to pull this off. 00:12:02.720 --> 00:12:07.679 You can look like Pee-Wee Herman in the spirit and still get this done. 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:09.600 That's good news. 00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:20.559 Because it's not dependent upon your strength, it's dependent upon the strength of the Lord Jesus, and you and I don't fight for victory, we fight from victory. 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:24.320 That's who we are. 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:28.320 Jesus said it this way. 00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:33.200 If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear. 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:43.440 And all he's looking for is for somebody who will stand in the gap between God and his people. 00:12:47.200 --> 00:12:53.120 In his sovereignty, God has set the treasures of heaven within your reach. 00:12:54.559 --> 00:13:00.159 But he will not pry open your already full hands and force you to lay hold of them. 00:13:02.559 --> 00:13:07.919 He places them where you can get to them if you will obey what he says. 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:16.639 Robert ended his sermon last week by saying that God determines the direction, but you determine how far you'll go. 00:13:17.519 --> 00:13:19.600 The Bible is very clear, friends. 00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:22.480 You can have as much of God as you want. 00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:26.080 You can have as much of God as you want. 00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:34.559 So I want to share with you this morning how to lay hold of the treasures of heaven. 00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:36.799 Number one is this. 00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:39.519 To pray in the Spirit. 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:41.440 Pray in the Spirit. 00:13:41.600 --> 00:13:52.879 Romans 8.28 says, and we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. 00:13:52.960 --> 00:13:59.200 Now I think if you and I were honest with each other, we'd have to admit we're not really sure exactly how this all works out. 00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:09.519 Exactly how it is that God would take even the misery of my situation and somehow turn all the circumstances around for my good. 00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:16.879 We know that it's largely bound up in the fact that God is bigger than the devil, and we can say amen to that. 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:26.080 But I want to tell you that Romans 8 doesn't say verse 28 is not a standalone verse. 00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:32.879 But the context makes it clear how exactly God works things out for your good. 00:14:35.039 --> 00:14:37.120 Look at verse 26 with me. 00:14:37.759 --> 00:14:41.360 Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. 00:14:42.080 --> 00:14:45.759 For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought. 00:14:45.919 --> 00:14:47.519 Have you ever been in that situation? 00:14:47.679 --> 00:14:54.879 Have you ever encountered a situation and God's gone, you know, Lord, I this is so bad, I don't even know how to pray for this. 00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:55.919 I don't know. 00:14:59.679 --> 00:15:08.320 But the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:18.320 Now he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. 00:15:18.480 --> 00:15:26.720 Friends, the fact of Scripture is that it takes intercession for all things to work together for your good. 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:37.840 Now you've you've been in church long enough to know that there's some there's some cliche that floats around church folk that's represented as theology. 00:15:38.879 --> 00:15:40.320 One of them is this. 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:44.320 Well, we know that everything happens for a reason. 00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:54.000 Really My Bible says that that bad things sometimes happen to good people. 00:15:55.840 --> 00:16:00.639 And if you're hungry to look for a reason for why everything happens, I'll give you a reason. 00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:02.480 You've got an enemy. 00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:06.320 You've got an enemy. 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:09.519 And he wants to foul things up. 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:15.120 That's why a lot of bad stuff happens to good people. 00:16:16.320 --> 00:16:18.879 But here's the good news of the Word of God. 00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:30.399 That if you find yourself in a situation that is opposed to the will of God, it is because God has put you in a window of intercession. 00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:44.000 Essentially saying, I have a person there that's full of my Holy Spirit, and I want that situation to change, and so if I put one of my children there, I know what they'll do. 00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:47.519 They're gonna ask me to fix it. 00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:54.480 And God's promise to you from heaven is that if you will call out to him, he will answer you. 00:16:54.960 --> 00:17:01.360 And the reason God puts you in situations is because he wants that situation to change. 00:17:03.600 --> 00:17:06.480 That's how all things work together for good. 00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:11.039 Is because we intercede. 00:17:11.599 --> 00:17:19.920 You have the authority to pray with confidence that since God put you there, he wants it changed. 00:17:22.319 --> 00:17:28.480 You cannot govern without God, but God has promised to move where you ask him to. 00:17:28.720 --> 00:17:34.240 I'm talking about a real life relationship with the creator of all things. 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:41.039 I'm talking about relationship with a church, a relationship with a man who's a pastor. 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:44.000 I'm talking about a relationship with God. 00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:51.039 You know, God would have a real, he would be, he would have he could make an airtight case. 00:17:51.920 --> 00:17:53.839 If he decided today. 00:17:54.640 --> 00:17:59.680 You know, people have really messed things up on the earth. 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:05.440 I mean, world events, look around, look at all the fighting going on. 00:18:05.680 --> 00:18:08.960 You know, God would would he could make a strong case to say, you know what? 00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:14.559 I think I'm just gonna turn the light out on this deal, scrap it, and start over. 00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:18.480 You know why he doesn't do that? 00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:25.200 Because God has chosen to be not just a creator, but a redeemer. 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:38.400 And I would suggest to you that if there is anything that's difficult for God, that redeeming something is a whole lot more difficult than creating something. 00:18:39.920 --> 00:18:42.480 Because he's got to get people to cooperate with him. 00:18:43.599 --> 00:18:46.400 Difficult in terms of it just takes more time. 00:18:48.640 --> 00:18:57.599 But in the purposes that God has set over your life, friends, you have not sinned so badly that God cannot redeem it. 00:18:58.079 --> 00:19:01.039 If you could, that would make you greater than God. 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:04.960 God's not finished with you. 00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:08.799 God is a redeeming God. 00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:15.519 And God is infinitely interested in redeeming our situations. 00:19:17.039 --> 00:19:18.400 Pray in the Spirit. 00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:23.279 Number two, friends, we need to learn how to pray with purpose. 00:19:23.759 --> 00:19:24.880 To pray with purpose. 00:19:25.119 --> 00:19:28.559 I'd encourage you to turn in your Bibles over to Matthew chapter 11. 00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:32.079 Let me set the backdrop for you before we read together. 00:19:32.400 --> 00:19:33.839 John the Baptist is in prison. 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:36.559 He's about to have his head chopped off, and he knows it. 00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:45.039 And so the scene is a couple of his disciples come up outside the window, and he you can almost see him grabbing the bars and pulling up. 00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:48.640 And what he says to them is, I'm about to die here. 00:19:49.279 --> 00:19:54.319 Go ask Jesus if he was really the one or if we should be looking for another. 00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:56.720 And so off they scamper. 00:19:58.079 --> 00:20:03.359 Verse 3, they come up to Jesus and they say, Are we the one or we should we be looking for someone else? 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:10.240 What John the Baptist is asking is, he's asking, look, I gave my life telling everybody that you're the one. 00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:15.119 Before it's all over, I want to know if I wasted it. 00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:25.119 And what Jesus says in verse 6 is, he says, Blessed is he who is not offended because of me. 00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:35.119 In other words, Jesus does not have to meet your expectations in order to answer your prayers. 00:20:37.759 --> 00:20:39.839 Have you ever been offended by God? 00:20:41.279 --> 00:20:41.920 I have. 00:20:43.359 --> 00:20:45.039 And I've told him so. 00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:48.400 You know why I was offended at him? 00:20:49.519 --> 00:20:51.680 Because he didn't do what I asked him to. 00:20:54.160 --> 00:20:56.079 He still answered my prayers. 00:20:57.279 --> 00:21:01.200 He didn't have to meet our expectations in order to answer our prayers. 00:21:04.240 --> 00:21:23.039 But when John's two disciples walked back off, Jesus turned around and he said in verse 12, From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. 00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:26.880 Let me tell you what Jesus is saying here. 00:21:27.920 --> 00:21:31.359 He's saying that nobody accidentally goes to heaven. 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:34.480 A lot of people go to hell that way. 00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:39.279 That nobody accidentally gets close to God. 00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:46.799 And nobody accidentally enforces the authority of heaven in their situation. 00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:59.759 And Jesus, so strong is his emotion at this point that he uses the word violent to describe people who are set on enforcing the rule of God in their realm of influence. 00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:05.519 Because their their purpose is to change their environment. 00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:10.000 Did you you may have heard about the the meeting in hell? 00:22:10.480 --> 00:22:16.400 Satan called a meeting of his three top demons and he said he said, We've got to figure out how to stop the church. 00:22:18.400 --> 00:22:21.279 So one of them says, Well, let's tell them that there's no God. 00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:27.039 And the old devil said, I don't think they'll buy that. 00:22:29.519 --> 00:22:33.279 So the second demon says, Well, let's tell them that there's no heaven. 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:38.480 The old devil said, I don't think they're that gullible. 00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:44.799 And the third demon said, Let's just tell them that there's no hurry. 00:22:46.319 --> 00:22:49.680 And the old devil smiled and he said, I think that might work. 00:22:54.559 --> 00:23:09.440 So much of the heartache of God's people is because they sense no urgency in the kingdom of God to move in in a pla in a place of authority in their realm of influence. 00:23:14.319 --> 00:23:23.440 Praying with purpose means praying and believing that what you're praying for is God's will, even if you don't see an answer yet. 00:23:41.759 --> 00:23:45.039 A lot of times God gives me one little thing to pray for. 00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:48.640 And I'll I'll just go to work on this one little thing. 00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:56.880 And it just, uh honestly, a lot of things God's given me, I've walked away from because it took, it took so long for the pieces to fall into place. 00:23:57.039 --> 00:24:02.400 Well, my wife, Lexa, she starts praying for something and ten related things get answered in the meantime. 00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:06.160 So I want to say, hey, would would you take this one for me too? 00:24:07.680 --> 00:24:14.000 Friends, do not ever evaluate your effectiveness in your prayer life by what you can see with your eyes. 00:24:14.160 --> 00:24:21.599 Because Revelation 5 says that your prayers are like golden drops of incense filling up golden bowls. 00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:25.119 And they are ever before the Father. 00:24:25.519 --> 00:24:42.880 In fact, he says that your prayers remain as a fragrant aroma before the God of heaven, and that every prayer you've ever prayed, even when you felt like the ceilings were brass, every prayer you prayed remains before the Father to this very minute. 00:24:44.160 --> 00:24:46.960 And they are a fragrant aroma to him. 00:24:48.400 --> 00:24:50.240 Your prayers remain. 00:24:50.480 --> 00:24:51.759 Don't give up. 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:57.440 Praying violently, praying with purpose means I will not give up. 00:24:58.160 --> 00:25:00.240 I know this is God's will. 00:25:01.599 --> 00:25:06.720 I will not stop until I see answers from heaven. 00:25:10.880 --> 00:25:12.480 Pray with purpose. 00:25:13.200 --> 00:25:16.000 Finally, pray with authority. 00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:19.039 We need to learn how to pray with authority. 00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:23.839 I want us to look together at a text out of Matthew chapter 16. 00:25:25.039 --> 00:25:26.960 Beginning in verse 13. 00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:35.680 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? 00:25:36.400 --> 00:25:43.920 And so they said, some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. 00:25:44.319 --> 00:25:48.240 And he said to them, But who do you say that I am? 00:25:49.440 --> 00:25:54.559 Simon Peter answered and said, You're the Christ, the Son of the living God. 00:25:54.640 --> 00:26:03.759 And Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 00:26:03.920 --> 00:26:12.799 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 00:26:13.680 --> 00:26:22.240 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loose in heaven. 00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:25.599 Let me make a couple of things clear on the way to where we're going. 00:26:25.920 --> 00:26:31.200 The rock upon which Jesus promised to build his church is not Peter. 00:26:32.960 --> 00:26:37.039 The rock is Peter's confession of who Jesus is. 00:26:38.160 --> 00:26:47.359 Nobody ever gets saved until heaven reveals to them who the Son of God is, the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:53.759 But when that revelation comes and that confession is made, salvation comes. 00:26:53.920 --> 00:26:59.440 And what Jesus says is that when this is confessed, that he gives you keys. 00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:02.799 Keys give you the right to operate. 00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:05.599 Keys give you the privilege of access. 00:27:06.400 --> 00:27:18.559 In your purse or in your pocket right now, you've got keys to your cars, to your office, and to your house, and to your storage unit, and to whatever else it is that you have the privilege of access to. 00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:24.160 And you don't trust your keys to just anybody. 00:27:25.440 --> 00:27:33.200 You only trust them to people that you know personally and that you believe to be responsible with your things. 00:27:34.160 --> 00:27:38.720 Now Jesus goes on to say how he'll build his church with human beings. 00:27:39.119 --> 00:27:46.000 And incidentally, this is the only passage in Scripture where Jesus says he will build his church. 00:27:46.319 --> 00:27:50.559 And how he says he will do it is with people who know who he is. 00:27:52.480 --> 00:27:55.519 He says, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. 00:27:55.680 --> 00:27:58.000 Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 00:27:58.079 --> 00:27:59.599 Now let me explain what this means. 00:27:59.759 --> 00:28:02.480 This does not mean that heaven obeys you. 00:28:05.359 --> 00:28:15.680 What this means is that, in fact, literally what Jesus said was, whatever you bind on earth is that which is already bound in heaven. 00:28:15.920 --> 00:28:21.200 And whatever you loose on earth is that which is already loosed in heaven. 00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:26.000 Now I wasn't raised in a spirit-filled church. 00:28:26.799 --> 00:28:33.119 And so when I first started coming to spirit-filled prayer meetings, I heard some things that I didn't understand. 00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:39.359 One of the things that I heard was, we bind you, devil. 00:28:41.119 --> 00:28:44.480 Only the very next day to have him right back in the very same place. 00:28:45.200 --> 00:28:47.599 I thought, that's that's an odd thing. 00:28:48.960 --> 00:28:52.559 And I heard somebody else saying, we loose the Holy Spirit. 00:28:53.599 --> 00:28:58.640 I thought, you know, I'd I'd like to see the dude that could have tied him up in the first place. 00:29:02.400 --> 00:29:05.839 And so I decided I needed to find out what they were doing. 00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:09.440 I understand Jesus' words binding up the strongman. 00:29:09.920 --> 00:29:10.240 Okay? 00:29:11.200 --> 00:29:15.519 He didn't mean that you're going to shackle the devil so that he can't get loose again. 00:29:20.799 --> 00:29:34.880 Bind in Greek and loose are legal terms where you have the authority to enforce the legal claims of Calvary. 00:29:35.759 --> 00:29:40.160 You have the authority to enforce what Jesus did on the cross. 00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:44.400 The word for bind means to confine or hinder. 00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:51.759 It's legal language as in a binding contract that carries with it the idea of the way things ought to be. 00:29:51.920 --> 00:29:55.039 How does God want things to be in your life? 00:29:55.920 --> 00:30:00.480 And loosing means simply legal language meaning to let go. 00:30:00.720 --> 00:30:03.680 Now let me explain to you what a contract is. 00:30:03.839 --> 00:30:21.759 A contract is simply a legal document between two parties so that after they've left the table, if there's ever a disagreement, all they have to do is come back to the document, and through legal means, the contract settles all the arguments. 00:30:28.240 --> 00:30:30.480 It's a love letter from heaven. 00:30:31.440 --> 00:30:35.039 But among other things, this is a binding contract. 00:30:35.200 --> 00:30:37.759 It's not just black ink on white paper. 00:30:38.720 --> 00:30:45.119 This is a binding contract between two parties, heaven and earth. 00:30:49.039 --> 00:30:53.680 And 1 John 2 says that Jesus is your defense attorney. 00:30:56.079 --> 00:31:06.880 And the keys to the kingdom of heaven are not given so that you and I can simply do a drive-by prayer and say, God help them because they're so messed up. 00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:16.640 But it's given so you can say, God, I come upon this situation and I see the evidence of hell. 00:31:16.880 --> 00:31:25.200 And so I take my place beside them in prayer, and I will not leave until I see the evidence of heaven in its place. 00:31:27.599 --> 00:31:38.559 God, I want to recall the contract that you have with me from Matthew article 8 and paragraph 17 that says, by his stripes we were healed. 00:31:39.839 --> 00:31:42.319 And so God make it binding. 00:31:43.920 --> 00:31:46.559 Now I don't know how you pray for people. 00:31:46.880 --> 00:31:50.400 I don't know how you pray for the elders of this church. 00:31:50.799 --> 00:31:55.359 A lot of times it's God bless them and God bless them and God bless them. 00:31:55.519 --> 00:32:01.119 And I think I see God saying, okay, how? 00:32:02.400 --> 00:32:04.000 He wants to bless. 00:32:05.599 --> 00:32:10.319 And he wants you to tell him how you want him to bless them. 00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:17.680 Let me tell you the main that this is the way the ministry of the devil functions. 00:32:18.799 --> 00:32:20.400 He's a squatter. 00:32:22.319 --> 00:32:27.200 He comes in and he squats down where he has no right to do it. 00:32:28.480 --> 00:32:35.680 And if somebody came into your house and squatted down and you told him to leave and he didn't leave, you'd call the police. 00:32:37.200 --> 00:32:39.279 I got news for you, friends. 00:32:39.599 --> 00:32:41.680 The police would make him leave. 00:32:44.319 --> 00:32:53.200 But in John 5, Jesus asked a man who had been lame for 38 years, do you want to get well? 00:32:54.480 --> 00:32:55.759 You know why? 00:32:56.240 --> 00:32:58.319 He made friends with his sickness. 00:33:00.880 --> 00:33:03.200 Satan comes in and he squats down. 00:33:03.359 --> 00:33:09.359 And we for for I think when it first happens, we say, well now what what are you doing here? 00:33:10.079 --> 00:33:14.799 And we sort of politely ask him to leave, and he says, ain't leaving. 00:33:17.359 --> 00:33:21.839 And so before long we start bringing him a glass of tea and making him feel at home. 00:33:25.599 --> 00:33:30.240 God says, you don't have to put up with that unless you want to. 00:33:33.680 --> 00:33:38.480 Luke 19, before Jesus left, he says, now do business until I come back. 00:33:38.880 --> 00:33:41.039 You know God has a family business? 00:33:42.319 --> 00:33:44.559 It's called Almighty and Sons. 00:33:46.559 --> 00:33:48.000 And you're in it. 00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:54.319 And his commission to you is to do business until he comes back. 00:33:54.400 --> 00:33:58.720 And in fact, when his disciples ask him, how do we pray? 00:33:59.039 --> 00:34:00.799 Man, Jesus, your prayers really work. 00:34:00.880 --> 00:34:01.519 How do we pray? 00:34:01.680 --> 00:34:02.640 Here's what he said. 00:34:02.880 --> 00:34:04.079 Pray like this. 00:34:04.559 --> 00:34:08.239 On earth as it is in heaven. 00:34:10.400 --> 00:34:14.960 And so I want you right now to take an inventory of your life. 00:34:18.320 --> 00:34:24.480 What is it in your life that's not the way heaven would say they want it? 00:34:27.039 --> 00:34:28.079 Your marriage? 00:34:29.360 --> 00:34:30.320 Your kids? 00:34:32.159 --> 00:34:33.199 Your finances? 00:34:35.039 --> 00:34:36.159 Your job? 00:34:37.360 --> 00:34:38.400 Your career? 00:34:40.800 --> 00:34:48.079 What is it where where Satan has come in and squatted down and said, I ain't leaving. 00:34:50.800 --> 00:34:54.239 Because I believe with all my heart that Jesus comes today to say.