The Privilege of Prayer

BBC JUNE 3, 2007  PRAYER SERIES: THE PRIVILEGE OF PRAYER DEUT 3:23-27

23 “AT THAT TIME I PLEADED WITH THE LORD AND SAID, 24 ‘O SOVEREIGN LORD, YOU HAVE ONLY BEGUN TO SHOW YOUR GREATNESS AND THE STRENGTH OF YOUR HAND TO ME, YOUR SERVANT. IS THERE ANY GOD IN HEAVEN OR ON EARTH WHO CAN PERFORM SUCH GREAT AND MIGHTY DEEDS AS YOU DO?

25 PLEASE LET ME CROSS THE JORDAN TO SEE THE WONDERFUL LAND ON THE OTHER SIDE, THE BEAUTIFUL HILL COUNTRY AND THE LEBANON MOUNTAINS.’

26 “BUT THE LORD WAS ANGRY WITH ME BECAUSE OF YOU, AND HE WOULD NOT LISTEN TO ME. ‘THAT’S ENOUGH!’ HE DECLARED. ‘SPEAK OF IT NO MORE.

27 BUT GO UP TO PISGAH PEAK, AND LOOK OVER THE LAND IN EVERY DIRECTION. TAKE A GOOD LOOK, BUT YOU MAY NOT CROSS THE JORDAN RIVER.

INTRO: PRAYER IS TALKING TO GOD; AND WHEN HE ANSWERS WITH A YES..WE REJOICE; WE SAY WHEN THE PRAYERS GO UP THE BLESSINGS COME DOWN.

BUT THERE ARE TIMES HE ANSWERS WITH IRONY…MUCH THAT PERPLEXES US IN OUR CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE IS BUT THE “ANSWER” TO OUR PRAYERS.

WE PRAY FOR PATIENCE AND GOD SENDS TRIBULATION, FOR TRIBULATION PRODUCES PATIENCE (ROM. 5:3).

WE PRAY FOR SUBMISSION, AND GOD SENDS SUFFERING, FOR WE LEARN OBEDIENCE BY SUFFERING (HEB. 5:8).

WE PRAY FOR UNSELFISHNESS, AND GOD GIVES US OPPORTUNITIES TO SACRIFICE OURSELVES BY THINKING ON THE THINGS OF OTHERS (PHIL. 2:4).

WE PRAY FOR VICTORY, AND THE THINGS OF THE WORLD SWEEP DOWN UPON US IN A STORM OF TEMPTATION, FOR “THIS IS THE VICTORY THAT OVERCOMETH THE WORLD, EVEN OUR FAITH” (1 JOHN 5:4).

WE PRAY FOR STRENGTH AND HUMILITY, AND SOME MESSENGER OF SATAN TORMENTS US TILL WE LIE IN THE DUST, CRYING TO GOD FOR ITS REMOVAL (2 COR. 12:7–11).

WE PRAY FOR UNION WITH CHRIST, AND GOD SEVERS NATURAL TIES, AND LETS OUR BEST FRIENDS MISUNDERSTAND US AND SEEM INDIFFERENT TO US (MATT. 10:34–39; JOHN 15:18–20).

WE PRAY FOR LOVE, AND GOD SENDS PECULIAR SUFFERING, AND PUTS US WITH APPARENTLY UNLOVELY PEOPLE. HE LETS THEM SAY THINGS WHICH RASP THE NERVES AND LACERATE THE HEART, FOR “LOVE SUFFERETH LONG, AND IS KIND” (1 COR. 13).

WHEN GOD ANSWERS US WITH A “NO”, IT WOULD BE A BIT EASIER TO TAKE IF JESUS HAD NOT TOLD US THAT WITH THE FAITH THE SIZE OF A MUSTARD SEED…WE COULD MOVE MOUNTAINS.

EXPL: IN THE TEXT WE FIND OURSELVES ON THE MOUNTAIN WITH MOSES AND GOD.  IN THE BOOK….DEUTERONOMY IS THE SECOND TELLING OF THE LAW. IT IS A HISTORY LESSON RETOLD BY MOSES. YOU REMEMBER MOSES, DRAWN OUT OF THE NILE IN THE BULRUSHES AND DESTINED TO BE THE PRINCE OF EGYPT. MOSES WHO REFUSED TO BE CALLED A SON OF PHARAOH WHILE ISRAEL WAS BURDENED UNDER A YOKE OF BONDAGE. MOSES WHO KILLED A MAN AND BECAME FUGITIVE. MOSES WHO WAS CALLED AT THE BURNING BUSH; MOSES WHO INSTIGATED THE THREE SETS OF THREE PLAGUES AND THEN INSTITUTED THE PASSOVER. MOSES VICTOR AT THE RED SEA BUT REPUDIATED AS THE COMPANY REBELLED AGAINST HIM AND GOD. MOSES RECALLS ISRAEL REJECTION AND THE 40 YEARS OF WANDERING IN THE WILDERNESS.   DEUT RECALLS THE VICTORIES WON WITH CHRIST; THE CONQUEST OF HESBON AND BASHAN; THE VICTORY OVER OG THE LAST OF THE GIANTS….

POWER OF SOVEREIGN GOD: THUS MOSES REMINDS US THAT GOD IS STILL ALL POWERFUL AND HE FIGHTS WITH US AND MOVES US TO VICTORY.

PARTICIPATION IN THE SERVICE OF GOD; MOSES REMINDS US THAT WE ALL MUST SERVE; AS HE RECOUNTS THE SITUATION WITH REUBEN, GAD AND THE HALF TRIBE OF MANASSEH. THEY COULD LIVE ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE JORDAN BUT FIGHT WITH ISRAEL ON THE WEST. WE ALL HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO SERVE; WE ALL HAVE TO PULL OUR FAIR SHARE. MOSES REMINDS US OF THE NEED TO ENCOURAGE OUR LEADERS. HE EXHORTS JOSHUA AS HE WILL TAKE ISRAEL INTO THE PROMISED LAND, THE LAND FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY.

PRAYER OF SUPPLICATION TO GOD: THEN MOSES REMINDS US HE PRAYED; HE ASKED GOD TO LET HIM HAVE MERCY AND CROSS OVER INTO THE PROMISED LAND…AND GOD SAID, “NO.”

INTER: HOW DO WE RESPOND WHEN GOD SAYS, NO TO OUR REQUEST. WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THIS PASSAGE.

TS: AS WE RECOLLECT THIS STORY WE WILL LEARN ANOTHER ASPECT OF THE IMPORTANCE OF PRAYER SO THAT WE CAN HAVE A POWERFUL PRAYER LIFE. 

PROP: WE MUST PRAY BECAUSE…GOD DOES NOT WINK AT OUR SIN…GOD TAKES SIN VERY, VERY SERIOUSLY.   

PROP: THE POWERFUL PRAYER LIFE HELPS KEEP US FROM FALLING TO THE POWER OF SIN.

SIN INVOKES THE WRATH OF GOD   …“BUT THE LORD WAS ANGRY

SIN AFFECTS THE PEOPLE OF GOD..…. WITH ME ON YOUR ACCOUNT”

SIN CLOSES THE EARS OF GOD…. … ENOUGH OF THAT! SPEAK NO MORE TO ME OF THIS MATTER.

SIN LEADS TO THE DEATH OF THE MAN (SON) OF GOD

MP I. SIN INVOKES THE WRATH OF GOD  …“BUT THE LORD WAS ANGRY V. 26.

CONTROLLING POWER IN OUR LIVES - DOCTRINE OF SIN; IT MUST BE UNDERSTOOD IN ORDER TO IMPACT OUR PRAYER LIFE. FIRST WE MUST AGREE THAT SIN IS NOT A VERY POPULAR TOPIC BECAUSE WE DON’T LIKE TO THINK OF OURSELVES AS BAD OR EVIL PERSONS. THE TALK OF SIN DEPRESSES US.  WE DON’T’ LIKE TO LOOK IN THE MIRROR AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WE ARE ALL “NAUGHTY BY NATURE”…WE ARE BORN IN SIN AND SHAPED IN INIQUITY. SIN IS AN INNER FORCE OF THE HEART; A CONTROLLING POWER…THAT IS DEEPER THAT JUST A FEW BAD ACTS OR BAD WORDS. SIN HAS TO DO WITH OUR IGNORNACE, OUR ERRORS RE: THE MORAL CODE AND MISTAKES DUE TO THE FACT THAT WE ARE HUMAN. THEN WE TURN A DEAF EAR AND LIVE AN DISOBEDIENT LIFE.

CROSSING THE LINE - DETERMINED TO TAKE IT TO THE LIMIT:  GOD WAS “HABAR”… USED OVER 600 X ...HE WAS NOT JUST ANGRY, BUT VERY ANGRY, INFURIATED. IT IS A PLAY ON THE WORD TO PASS OVER, OR CROSS OVER…HE WAS ANGRY BECAUSE MOSES TRANSGRESSED THE BOUNDARIES OF THE COVENANT. MOSES AND THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL SINNED; THEY WENT BEYOND THE LIMITS OF THE LORD.

DECISIONS FROM BAD TO WORSE: IMP: WHEN WE BREACH THE BOUNDARIES AND GO BEYOND THE LORD’S LIMITS THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES. WE FIND OURSELVES LIKE ISRAEL, TOSSING AND TURNING, MUMBLING AND GRUMBLING; RESTLESS AND AGITATED; WHICH THEN IN TURN MOVES US TO MAKE BAD DECISIONS WHICH LEAD TO ADVERSITY AND GUILT. WE FIND OURSELVES IN TROUBLE. AND THE TROUBLE IS SEASONED WITH SENSUALITY AND SELFISHNESS..ALL ROOTED IN PRIDE.

ADAM AND EVE - THE FAILURE IN EDEN INVOKED GOD’S ANGER – THEY HAD TO LEAVE AS GOD PUT EMNITY BETWEEN YOU AND THE WOMA, AND BETWEEN YOUR SEED AND HER SEED; GEN 3:15

THE FLOOD INVOKED GOD’S ANGER GENESIS 7:22 ALL IN WHOSE NOSTRILS WAS THE BREATH OF LIFE, OF ALL THAT WAS IN THE DRY LAND, DIED.

ROM 5:14 - NKJ ROMANS 5:14 NEVERTHELESS DEATH REIGNED FROM ADAM TO MOSES, EVEN OVER THOSE WHO HAD NOT SINNED ACCORDING TO THE LIKENESS OF THE TRANSGRESSION OF ADAM, WHO IS A TYPE OF HIM WHO WAS TO COME.

APP: CONNECTIVITY TO THE LORD - PRAYER MOVES US INTO A LIFE OF CONNECTION AND CONFORMITY; IT MOVES ME TO ALLOW GOD BE GOD. PRAYER ALLOW US TO GIVE GOD HIS PROPER PLACE IN OUR LIVES. WE PRACTICE…HAVING NO OTHER GODS (LITTLE G) BEFORE GOD..(BIG G).  AND WE PRACTICE LOVING THE LORD OUR GOD WITH ALL OUR HEARTS,  MINDS AND SOULS. THUS WE ARE IN AN ENVIROMENT...PRAYER…WHERE WE CAN LOVE, GOD, WORSHIP GOD, OBEY GOD ..AND TRUST GOD. 

PRAY KNOWING THAT OUR GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE….AND THAT IT A FEARFUL THING TO FALL INTO THE HANDS OF AN ANGRY GOD.

AMERICA’S GREATEST THEOLOGIAN IS OFTEN IDENTIFIED AS JONATHAN EDWARDS, A NEW ENGLAND PASTOR OF THE 1700S. EDWARDS WAS BRILLIANT. AT AGE SIX HE STUDIED LATIN. HE ENTERED YALE WHEN NOT QUITE THIRTEEN AND GRADUATED WHEN BARELY FIFTEEN. HE WAS ORDAINED AT AGE NINETEEN, TAUGHT AT YALE BY TWENTY, AND LATER BECAME PRESIDENT OF PRINCETON. HARVARD GRANTED HIM BOTH A BACHELOR’S AND A MASTER’S DEGREE ON THE SAME DAY.

BUT HE IS BEST KNOWN FOR SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF AN ANGRY GOD—THE MOST FAMOUS SERMON IN AMERICAN HISTORY.

HE PREACHED IT ON SUNDAY, JULY 8, 1741, WHILE MINISTERING IN TINY ENFIELD, CONNECTICUT. A GROUP OF WOMEN HAD SPENT THE PREVIOUS NIGHT PRAYING FOR REVIVAL. WHEN EDWARDS ROSE TO SPEAK, HE QUIETLY ANNOUNCED THAT HIS TEXT WAS DEUTERONOMY 32:35, “… THEIR FOOT SHALL SLIDE IN DUE TIME.” THIS “HELLFIRE AND BRIMSTONE” APPROACH WAS SOMEWHAT A DEPARTURE FOR EDWARDS. OF HIS ONE THOUSAND WRITTEN SERMONS, LESS THAN A DOZEN ARE OF THIS TYPE.

EDWARDS NEITHER GESTURED NOR RAISED HIS VOICE. HE SPOKE SOFTLY AND SIMPLY, WARNING THE UNCONVERTED THAT THEY WERE DANGLING OVER HELL LIKE A SPIDER OVER THE FIRE. O SINNER! CONSIDER THE FEARFUL DANGER. THE UNCONVERTED ARE NOW WALKING OVER THE PIT OF HELL ON A ROTTEN COVERING, AND THERE ARE INNUMERABLE PLACES IN THIS COVERING SO WEAK THAT IT WILL NOT BEAR THEIR WEIGHT, AND THESE PLACES ARE NOT SEEN.

EDWARDS’ VOICE WAS SUDDENLY LOST AMID CRIES AND COMMOTION FROM THE CROWD. HE PAUSED, APPEALING FOR CALM. THEN HE CONCLUDED: LET EVERYONE THAT IS OUT OF CHRIST, NOW AWAKE AND FLY FROM THE WRATH TO COME. THE WRATH OF ALMIGHTY GOD IS NOW UNDOUBTEDLY HANGING OVER A GREAT PART OF THIS CONGREGATION. LET EVERY ONE FLY OUT OF SODOM.

STRONG MEN HELD TO PEWS AND POSTS, FEELING THEY WERE SLIDING INTO HELL. OTHERS SHOOK UNCONTROLLABLY AND ROLLED ON THE FLOOR. THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT CRIES OF MEN AND WOMEN WERE HEARD THROUGHOUT THE VILLAGE, BEGGING GOD TO SAVE THEM. FIVE HUNDRED WERE CONVERTED THAT EVENING, SPARKING A REVIVAL THAT SWEPT THOUSANDS INTO THE KINGDOM.

MP II.  SIN AFFECTS THE PEOPLE OF GOD. …. WITH ME ON YOUR ACCOUNT”

MERIBAH’S ROCK - THE TEXT SAY ANGRY WITH ME ON ACCOUNT OF YOU.  NATURALLY OUR FIRST INCLINATION FOR MOSES BEING DENIED ENTRY INTO THE PROMISE LAND IS BECAUSE HE DISOBEYED GOD AT MERIBAH AND STUCK THE ROCK WHEN HE WAS INSTRUCTED BY GOD TO SPEAK TO THE ROCK. NUMBERS RECORDS IT..NUMBERS 20:8 "YOU AND AARON MUST TAKE THE STAFF AND ASSEMBLE THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY. AS THE PEOPLE WATCH, COMMAND THE ROCK OVER THERE TO POUR OUT ITS WATER. YOU WILL GET ENOUGH WATER FROM THE ROCK TO SATISFY ALL THE PEOPLE AND THEIR LIVESTOCK." BUT INSTEAD MOSES AND AARON …DEUT 32:51…”TRESPASSED AGAINST ME AMONG THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL AT THE WATER OF MERIBAH KADESH, IN THE WILDERNESS OF ZIN, BECAUSE YOU DID NOT HALLOW ME…IN THE MIDST OF ISRAEL…YOU SHALL SEE THE LAND…BUT NOT GO INTO THE LAND.

MOLTEN GOLDEN CALF RALLY - BUT THERE WERE TWO OTHER EVENTS THAT ARE LINKED TO THE “ON YOUR ACCOUNT”; THEY ARE THE GOLDEN CALF INCIDENT AND THE RECONNAISSANCE MISSION INTO CANAAN.  DEUT 1:37…. BUT IT GOES BACK TO DEUT 1:21-23..WHERE THE LEADERSHIP SUGGESTED THEY GO INTO THE LAND…  MOSES SAID THE PLAN PLEASED ME WELL…BUT WHEN THEY CAME BACK WITH THE BOUNTY OF THE LAND, THEY GAVE A THE MAJORITY REPORT OF DEFEAT..WE CAN’T TAK’EM…ALL EXCEPT JOSHUA AND CALEB.  GOD DIDN’T DISAPPORVE BUT DISAPPROVED THEIR FAITHLESSESS.

IMP. MOSES ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITY - MOSES SUFFERED BECAUSE OF HIS SIN, BUT ALSO BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF FAITH OF THE PEOPLE. THERE IS CONNECTIVITY BETWEEN THE PROPHET AND THE PEOPLE; BETWEEN THE PRIEST AND THE PEOPLE; BETWEEN THE KING AND THE PEOPLE. THE WHOLE OFFICE OF PRIEST WITH IT’S SYSTEM OF SACRIFICE DEMONSTRATE THE LINKS, TIES AND CONNECTIVITY BETWEEN GOD, THE PRIEST AND THE PEOPLE.

SONS OF AARON – AND THEIR STRANGE FIRE

TEXT: NKJ NUMBERS 15:25 'SO THE PRIEST SHALL MAKE ATONEMENT FOR THE WHOLE CONGREGATION OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, AND IT SHALL BE FORGIVEN THEM, FOR IT WAS UNINTENTIONAL; THEY SHALL BRING THEIR OFFERING, AN OFFERING MADE BY FIRE TO THE LORD, AND THEIR SIN OFFERING BEFORE THE LORD, FOR THEIR UNINTENDED SIN.

SOLOMON AND HIS WIVES THAT TURNED HIS HEART FROM GOD.

SAVIOR IN THE WILDERNESS OF TEMPTATION – PRAYER ON ENEMY TERRITORY

ROMANS 5:12-15  12 THEREFORE, JUST AS THROUGH ONE MAN SIN ENTERED THE WORLD, AND DEATH THROUGH SIN, AND THUS DEATH SPREAD TO ALL MEN, BECAUSE ALL SINNED --  13 (FOR UNTIL THE LAW SIN WAS IN THE WORLD, BUT SIN IS NOT IMPUTED WHEN THERE IS NO LAW.  14 NEVERTHELESS DEATH REIGNED FROM ADAM TO MOSES, EVEN OVER THOSE WHO HAD NOT SINNED ACCORDING TO THE LIKENESS OF THE TRANSGRESSION OF ADAM, WHO IS A TYPE OF HIM WHO WAS TO COME.  15 BUT THE FREE GIFT IS NOT LIKE THE OFFENSE. FOR IF BY THE ONE MAN'S OFFENSE MANY DIED, MUCH MORE THE GRACE OF GOD AND THE GIFT BY THE GRACE OF THE ONE MAN, JESUS CHRIST, ABOUNDED TO MANY.

JAMES 1:12-16  12 BLESSED IS THE MAN WHO ENDURES TEMPTATION; FOR WHEN HE HAS BEEN APPROVED, HE WILL RECEIVE THE CROWN OF LIFE WHICH THE LORD HAS PROMISED TO THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.  13 LET NO ONE SAY WHEN HE IS TEMPTED, "I AM TEMPTED BY GOD"; FOR GOD CANNOT BE TEMPTED BY EVIL, NOR DOES HE HIMSELF TEMPT ANYONE.  14 BUT EACH ONE IS TEMPTED WHEN HE IS DRAWN AWAY BY HIS OWN DESIRES AND ENTICED.  15 THEN, WHEN DESIRE HAS CONCEIVED, IT GIVES BIRTH TO SIN; AND SIN, WHEN IT IS FULL-GROWN, BRINGS FORTH DEATH.  16 DO NOT BE DECEIVED, MY BELOVED BRETHREN.

APPL: JUST AS SIN AFFECTS MORE THAN JUST YOU; PRAYER AFFECTS MORE THAN JUST YOU. BEWARE FOR THERE ARE ….

ILL: EFFECTS OF UNBELIEF

UNBELIEF IS THE OCCASION OF ALL SIN AND THE VERY BOND OF INIQUITY. IT DOES NOTHING BUT DARKEN AND DESTROY. IT MAKES THE WORLD A MORAL DESERT, WHERE NO DIVINE FOOTSTEPS ARE HEARD, WHERE NO ANGELS ASCEND AND DESCEND, WHERE NO LIVING HAND ADORNS THE FIELDS, FEEDS THE FOWLS OF HEAVEN, OR REGULATES EVENTS. THUS IT MAKES NATURE, WHICH IS THE GARDEN OF GOD, A MERE AUTOMATION, AND THE HISTORY OF PROVIDENCE AN ACCIDENTAL SUCCESSION OF EVENTS; MAN, A CREATURE OF ACCIDENTS, AND PRAYER A USELESS CEREMONY. IT ANNIHILATES EVEN THE VESTIGES OF HEAVEN THAT STILL REMAIN UPON THE EARTH, AND BLOCKS THE WAY TO EVERY HIGHER REGION.

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MP. III.  SIN CLOSES THE EARS OF GOD. … ENOUGH OF THAT! SPEAK NO MORE TO ME OF THIS MATTER.

EAR OF GOD - HE WOULD NO LONGER LISTEN TO MOSES. FOR THE EAR IS CONNECTED TO THE HEART AND MIND; CONNECTED WITH COGNITION AND UNDERSTANDING. TO “INCLINE” ONE’S EAR IS TO BE FAVORABLE…BUT TO TURN A “DEAF EAR” MEANS TO REJECT WHAT IS HEARD. IDOLS HAVE DEAF EARS WHILE GOD HAS A LISTENING EAR AND HEARS HIS PEOPLE. SO GOD HEARS; HE HEARD THE CRIES OF EGYPTIAN BONDAGE, THE GRUMBLING OF MIRIAM AND AARON AGAINST MOSES AND HE HEARD THE COMPLAINTS OF ISRAEL IN THE WILDERNESS.  MOSES WAS HOPING FOR A REPRIEVE BUT GOD WOULD HEAR NOTHING OF IT.

IMP. WE MUST DO SOMETHING BEFORE WE ACT; NO NOT THINK BEFORE WE ACT BUT PRAY BEFORE WE ACT. WE MUST PRAY FOR THE LORD TO HELP US DO THE RIGH THING EVEN IN THE MOST DIFFICULT SITUATIONS AND CIRCUMSTANCES.  IF I CAN’T HEAR HIS VOICE I WILL BE PRONE MAKE WRONG CHOICES, AND THEREFORE SIN..AND SIN WILL CLOSE HIS EARS TO MY PLEAS AND PETITIONS; BUT  A LIFE OF PRAYER KEEPS HIS EARS OPEN AS WELL AS MY EARS OPEN TO HIS STILL SMALL VOICE. AND BE CONTENT WITH WHAT GOD ALLOWS.

HEAR FROM GOD  - REMEMBER THE DAYS OF ELI….THERE WAS NO WORD FROM THE LORD…HE HEARD BUT DIDN’T SPEAK…BUT HE SPOKE TO SAMUEL..AS ELI INSTRUCED HIM TO SAY…”SPEAK LORD FOR THY SERVANT HEARETH.

PSALM 34:6 THIS POOR MAN CRIED, AND THE LORD HEARD HIM, AND SAVED HIM OUT OF ALL HIS TROUBLES.

KJV PSALM 66:18 IF I REGARD INIQUITY IN MY HEART, THE LORD WILL NOT HEAR ME:

PROVERBS 15:8 THE SACRIFICE OF THE WICKED IS AN ABOMINATION TO THE LORD: BUT THE PRAYER OF THE UPRIGHT IS HIS DELIGHT.

APPL: PRAY BEFORE YOU ACT. …AND KEEP ON PRAYING DESPITE A POSSIBLE NO…FOR THE BIBLE IS FULL OF ANSWERED PRAYERS WITH…NO… BECAUSE GOD’S NO’S ARE GOOD FOR US….

NO’S OF THE BIBLE..

NO TO ABRAHAM – ISHMAEL WOULD RECEIVE THE BLESSING..

NO TO MOSES – WHEN HE WANTED TO SEE GOD’S GLORY

NO TO DAVID – WHEN AFTER THE AFFAIR WITH BATHSHEBA..THE BABY GOT SICK

NO TO THOSE WHO WANT TO SERVE GOD AND MAMMON…EITHER LOVE ONE AND HATE THE OTHER…

NO TO PETER …IF JESUS WASN’T ALLOWED TO WASH HIS FEET.

NO TO PAUL – WHEN HE WANTED THE THORN REMOVED…HE SAID MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT..

NO TO MOSES – HE COULD SEE THE LAND, BUT NOT ENTER...

GOD TOLD MOSES TO GET UP TO NEBO, UP TO MT. PISGAH…WHERE HE WOULD VIEW THE PROMISED LAND AND DIE; HE WOULD BE GATHERED TO HIS PEOPLE…ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB.  HE WOULD LOOK AT THE PROMISED INHERITANCE…STILL STRONG; BUT NOT ABLE TO ENTER AS HE WOULD VIEW AND THEN DIE; SEE AND GO THE WAY OF HIS FATHERS….HE WOULD NOT CROSS OVER IN A PHYSICAL WAY…BUT HE WOULD CROSS OVER THE JORDAN; CROSS OVER FROM LIFE INTO ETERNAL LIFE.

WE APPRECIATE PRAYER BECAUSE WE UNDERSTAND

GOD IS SEVERE IN HIS DEALING WITH ..

HIS OWN PEOPLE

HIS ENEMIES

HIS SERVANT (SON).

BUT ALSO HIS KINDNESS UNTO US….FOR EVEN AT A TIME LIKE THAT … WHERE THE MT. BECAME HIS DEATHBED VIEW OF GRADEUR AND GLORY….PRAYER PROVIDED  COMMUNION WITH GOD.

COMMUNION WITH GOD WAS ONE OF THE…

THE GREATEST BLESSING

PRODUDCES THE GREATEST CHARACTER

YIELDS FOR US THE GREATEST COMFORT

AND HE DID MAKE IT TO THE OTHER SIDE…IT WAS NOT AN ENTRANCE WITH

THAT 2ND GENERATION..BUT GENERATIONS LATER… AS HE ENTERED WITH ELIJAH ON THE MOUNT OF TRANSFIGURATION…..

WHICH POINTED TO JESUS AND HIS VIEW OVER JERUSALEM; WHERE HE WEPT…

FOR THE SINS OF THE PEOPLE WOULD BECOME PLACED ON HIS…HE WHO KNEW NO SIN…WOULD BE COME SIN…AND ALL THE TIME HE PRAYED… TO THE FATHER….

KNOW….THAT SIN LEADS TO THE DEATH OF THE MAN (SON) OF GOD.

NO TO JESUS….IS THERE ANOTHER WAY TO REDEEM MAN AND WOMAN??? NO OTHER WAY THAN BY THE CROSS…

PRIVLIEGE OF PRAYER..

PROP: WE LIVE IN A SIN CURSED WORLD BUT PRAYER KEEPS US CONNECTED TO CHRIST.  BECAUSE HE ALWAYS HAS THE ANSWER

THE PRIVILEGE OF PRAYER IS TO KNOW THAT GOD IS THERE AND HE CARES; BECAUSE HE ANSWERS NO TO SOME VERY GOOD PEOPLE

…AND WHEN CHRIST ANSWERS OUR PRAYERS AND SAYS NO..IT IS FOR OUR OWN GOOD. HE HAS A PURPOSE..

PRIVILEGE OF PRAYER MEANS I CAN STILL

AFFIRM HIS PRESENCE, HIS POWER AND HIS PURPOSE

THERE’S NOT A FRIEND LIKE THE LOWLY JESUS….

GO WHERE THE FIRE HAS BEEN…

ILL: :  WHERE THE FIRE HAS BEEN

MANY YEARS AGO, A FATHER AND HIS DAUGHTER WERE WALKING THROUGH THE GRASS ON THE CANADIAN PRAIRIE. IN THE DISTANCE, THEY SAW A PRAIRIE FIRE; EVENTUALLY, THEY REALIZED, IT WOULD ENGULF THEM. THE FATHER KNEW THERE WAS ONLY ONE WAY OF ESCAPE: THEY WOULD QUICKLY BEGIN A FIRE RIGHT WHERE THEY WERE AND BURN A LARGE PATCH OF GRASS. WHEN THE HUGE FIRE DREW NEAR, THEY THEN WOULD STAND ON THE SECTION THAT HAD ALREADY BURNED. WHEN THE FIRE ACTUALLY DID APPROACH THEM, THE GIRL WAS TERRIFIED BY THE RAGING FLAMES. BUT HER FATHER ASSURED HER, “THE FLAMES CAN’T GET TO US. WE ARE STANDING WHERE THE FIRE HAS ALREADY BEEN.”

ARE YOU AFRAID OF GOD’S JUDGMENT? IF YOU HAVE TRUSTED CHRIST AS SAVIOR, YOU CAN NEVER COME UNDER HIS WRATH. WHEN WE DEPEND ON HIM, WE ARE SECURE; WE ARE WHERE THE WRATH OF GOD HAS ALREADY BEEN.*

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[1] AMG Bible Illustrations. electronic ed. Chattanooga : AMG Publishers, 2000 (Logos Library System; Bible Illustrations Series)

[2]Morgan, Robert J.: Nelson's Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations, and Quotes. electronic ed. Nashville : Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2000, S. 506