In this Gospel Partner episode, learn how to pray effective prayers with the right posture of faith. About Gospel Partner Gospel Partner is a publishing house committed to advancing the gospel of grace. Our mission is to find ways to make Jesus-centered, grace-based teaching resources completely free for those who cannot afford them. If you would like to join us in this global publishing mission reaching over 150 nations, and receive access to more than 1,000 sermons by Joseph Prince, visit: https://bit.ly/3MnkZKi
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There are some things,
some lessons we can learn
on prayer
that I believe is going to bless you.
When we pray,
it’s not to soothe.
We pray to bring
heaven down to earth,
to get results!
Since the cross of Jesus Christ,
listen!
Blessing is easy!
You know why?
It’s no more contingent
on your obedience.
It’s contingent on
Jesus’ one obedience
at the cross.
That’s why you just have to
declare it!
We are praying to
get influence with God
when we should be praying
because we have influence with God.
It’s not about praying hard
or praying soft!
It is Who you pray to!
Good morning, my name is Karla.
And my first time encountering
Pastor Prince’s messages was in
2011 in prison. And before I
started listening to his
messages on the gospel of grace,
I was in fear, I was in doubt of
my salvation, and I was in
unbelief that I could ever be
pleasing enough to make it to
heaven or to be able to deserve
anything good from God. My first
time hearing him, I felt free.
As I continued to listen to his
messages, I became freer and
freer. I was assured of my
salvation, because it was based
on the work of Jesus, and not my
performance. And I’m so grateful
for his ministry. In 2015, the
theme of the year was the Year
Of Restoration, I was released
from prison September the 15th
2018. I was restored back to my
family back into society. So it
was a heavenly kiss from my
heavenly Father, to be restored
back to my family, a day before
my birthday. I’m a volunteer
now. I go back into the prisons.
And by the grace of God, I
continue to share with the other
women that are incarcerated. I
would like to give a shout out
to all the Gospel Partners who
helped support this ministry. I
am myself a gospel partner, and
I will continue to be as long as
I’m walking this earth. As the
gospel continues to go out to
the hurting, to the needy, or
shall I say to the last, the
lost, and the least who really
need to hear it. I pray that you
will continue to help support
this ministry especially during
times that we’re in right now,
where the world is getting
darker and darker. People are
unsure if they’re going to be
able to put bread on the table
for their families or even keep
a roof over their head. And I
truly believe that Pastor Prince
is in tune with our Heavenly
Father to give us his children a
word in due season, to keep us
grounded and rooted in His love
for us, to keep us on the rock
that is unshakable. Amen.
Praise the Lord. You ready for
God’s Word? Ok. Now James 5
tells us, Eli- Elias here is our
King James for Elijah, prophet
Elijah. “Elijah was a man
subject to like passions as we
are, and he prayed earnestly
that it might not rain: and it
rained not on the earth by the
space of three years and six
months.” At that time, Israel
was in rebellion against God,
Israel has turned away from God,
and the King of Israel at that
time was King Ahab, the husband
of Jezebel, and Jezebel was the
high priestess of Baal, and as a
nation they have turned their
backs to God, the God who
brought them out of Egypt, out
of the house of bondage, to
bring them through the
wilderness and right into the
land flowing with milk and
honey. They have forgotten Him,
and now they are giving their
devotion and their love to Baal,
and the king is worshiping Baal,
and God is saying that, God said
that if you don’t keep My
commandments and you turn away
from Me, I will withhold the
heavens from giving it’s rain.
So Elijah prayed. Elijah was the
prophet of the hour at that
time, and “Elijah prayed
earnestly that it might not
rain: and it rained not on the
earth for three years and six
months. And he prayed again,”
after three and a half years, he
prayed again, “And the heaven
gave rain, and the earth brought
forth her fruit.” Ok so in these
two verses, we learn that there
is a prayer that we can pray and
it will affect heaven and earth,
amen. We got to learn… And if in
case you are saying this is only
for special people like Elijah,
the Holy Spirit encourages us by
saying in the first line,
“Elijah was a man subject to
like passions as we are.” In
other words, he felt what you
felt, amen. He sat where you
sat, he is just a human being
like any of us. He is a man
subject to like passions as we
are. Yet he “prayed earnestly
that it might not rain: and it
rained not on the earth.” No
let’s look at the story here,
because there are somethings,
some lessons that we can learn
on prayer that I believe is
going to bless you. How many of
you know that prayer is not just
to soothe you, like one doctor
was telling a Christian who want
to pray for his grandfather or
loved one, and the doctor said,
“Oh ya you can go and pray,
prayer is so soothing. Prayer is
soothing.” No, when we pray, it
is not to soothe, we pray to
bring heaven down to earth. We
pray to get results. So gone are
those days we pray just to make
us feel good, or to soothe the
person being prayed for. We got
to learn how to pray to get
results, and in this case,
Elijah prayed, and the
atmosphere was affected – even
the heavens stopped the rain for
three and a half years, and the
Bible tells us he prayed
earnestly, so what is that
prayer earnestly? Let’s go to 1
King 17:1, first time Elijah
appeared to the king, king Ahab,
he said this, “As the Lord God
of Israel lives, before whom I
stand,” Now this is the key to
all power, key is, the key is to
stand and live your life before
God. He is not afraid of the
king because he lives his life
before God. Neither will you be
afraid of man’s opinion, or
man’s censure, amen, when they
criticise you, when they put you
down. You are independent of
that, why? Because you stand
before God, amen, you live
before Him, you draw your
encouragement and strength from
Him, amen. And this is the key
of Elijah’s power. Amen, when
you have power with God, you
have power with men. Praise God.
And God wants you to have
influence with Him, He wants you
to know that you have influence
with Him, in fact He delights in
people who have power with Him.
Such a man was Jacob, the Bible
tells us one night the Lord
appeared to him, as a man, and
it was the Lord Jesus of course,
in His pre-incarnate appearance,
and He wrestled with Jacob, and
Jacob wrestled with Him because
all his life, Jacob was a
wrestler. He had to wrestle and
fight for his blessing, he
fought his older brother, he
fought here, he fought there, he
fought for everything in life,
and his life was always
fighting. Finally, the Lord
fought with him. And the Lord
wrestled with him, and this was
the best WFF ever, amen people,
and he wrestled with the Lord,
and the Bible tells us that, the
morning came and the Lord says,
“Let me go, for the day
breaketh.” And he says, “No I
will not let you go unless you
bless me.” So his heart was in
the right place, he wanted the
Lord to bless him, and the Bible
tells us, the Lord says, “What
is your name?” My name is
Yaakov, Yaakov means I am a
grabber, I am a deceiver. The
idea of manipulator is there.
The Lord says, “Do you know who
you are?” He says, “Yes I know
who I am.” Alright, God says,
“From now on, your name will be
changed, you name will be
Israel, which means prince of
God.” Isra-el, alright, prince
of God, and God says because as
you have had power with God. God
loves it. But do you know how he
had power with God? The Bible
tells us that during the
wrestling God touched him, his
socket, and he fell. He was
helpless. As long as he was
struggling with human strength,
the Lord wanted to leave. But
the moment he was helpless, the
Lord cannot leave. And a lot of
people when they preach from
this story – I have heard you
know, different sermons, they
always say that you got to
wrestle with God, you got to
wrestle with God, but the point
is that, as long as he was
wrestling, God wanted to leave.
But the moment he was helpless,
God cannot leave. And it is not
true that God helps those who
help themselves, that is not
from the Bible, that is from you
chapter 1:8. It is from man. It
is not from the Bible. God helps
those who really say, “I cannot
help myself. I cannot overcome
this addiction to pornography. I
cannot overcome this addiction
to smoking. I cannot overcome
this temper problem I have. I
cannot but You can. I am looking
to You.” Can I have a good amen?
Alright, in the natural I cannot
overcome Alzheimer’s, but You
can, You are my health for my
brain, amen. You are my God,
amen! You will make me fat and
flourishing in my old age,
praise the Lord. When you talk
to God like that, and you look
to Him alone, in a world that
everyone is looking to their
smartness, to their abilities,
to their talents, to their
brains, to their logic, ability
to logic things out, there comes
a time when you realise you
cannot reason your way out
anymore, you find that you are
limited, and the faster you come
to that place like Jacob did,
the faster you become a prince
with God; you have power with
God. Amen? Praise the Lord,
thank You Jesus, I like that
preaching, that was good, praise
the Lord, amen, hallelujah, that
was free. I didn’t share that in
the first service, I don’t know
why you all draw that out of me,
maybe the fact that you all
remind me of Jacob. Ok so, that
was free by the way. He stood
before the king of Israel called
Ahab who is the husband of
Jezebel, and he says this, “As
the Lord God of Israel lives,
before whom I stand, there shall
be no dew nor rain”, it is one
thing not to have rain, at least
there is dew in the morning
right? But “There shall be no
dew nor rain these years, except
at my word.” What a powerful
statement. But when you read
James 5 just now, it says that
he prayed earnestly that it
might not rain, but here we have
no record in the Bible that he
prayed in the traditional way of
prayer, you know the way we
think prayer is. When you think
of prayer, you think of
someone’s eyes closed, and their
hands are folded together, and
they are probably on their
knees, and that’s the idea of
prayer, that we most often think
of. But here, it was a
declaration prayer; it was a
proclamation. “There shall be no
dew nor rain except at my word.”
And God calls that, the Holy
Spirit calls that in the New
Testament, earnest prayer. He
prayed earnestly that it might
not rain, and it rained not.
Today we will say, just
declaring, how can that be
earnest prayer? But God calls
that powerful prayer, earnest
prayer. Are you listening? And
then the Bible says, “He prayed
again, and the heaven gave
rain.” Right? James 5, it says,
“And he prayed again, and the
heaven gave rain” notice he
prayed again, not he prayed
earnestly again. Just now, you
find that he prayed earnestly
that it might not rain, the word
‘earnestly’ is there, in the
Greek, he prayed with ‘the’
prayer. The idea of combining
the word ‘prayer’ is repeated
twice, one in the noun, one in
the verb, in the Greek means, he
prayed earnestly. But here, when
he prayed again, the word
‘earnestly’ is not there, so
let’s see how he prayed again
and the heavens gave rain. Now
this happened after three and a
half years, there is not a blade
of grass that is green,
everywhere is all parched, it is
dry, and obviously they survive
by drinking water, and the water
is from all the mountains and
the high places, it is very hard
to get the water, and three and
a half years have passed and the
king is looking for green grass
at this time when Elijah met him
again after three and a half
years. So there was a challenge
right? Elijah said to the nation
of Israel, and they were
gathered there at Mount Carmel,
many of you have been to that
mountain, in fact you have been
right… Where we bring you is
right to the very top of Mount
Carmel. From Mount Carmel you
can see the Mediterranean Sea,
amen, and right from the top you
can see that that’s where the,
somewhere there the battle took
place, and then Elijah went to
the very top where most of you
would go to, and that’s where he
prayed after that, but Elijah
issued a challenge, to the
nation of Israel, because at
this time, there were 450
prophets of Baal, and then the
king was there, king Ahab, and
Elijah challenged all of them
and the nations of Israel
saying, “.How long will you halt
between two opinions? If the
Lord Yahweh is God, serve Him;
if Baal is God, then you serve
him.” So he issues a challenge.
He says that meet me at Carmel
with your bullock and you all
make your altar–you prophets of
Baal make your altar, and then
you offer your burnt offering,
and then the God who answers by
fire, and I will make my altar
and do the same, the God who
answers by fire He is God. Now
he issues the challenge in front
of the whole nation of Israel
that was still halting between
two opinions, wondering is God,
God. They claim that God of
Abraham is their God, alright,
the Lord of Israel. But by
action, they are following Baal.
So Elijah says stop faltering,
stop halting between two
opinions. Choose. If God—if
Yahweh is God, serve Him; if
Baal is God, serve Him. Alright
decide. So it was issued before
the entire nation, so Ahab and
his prophets of Baal cannot
escape. Amen. They have to take
up the challenge. So the
challenge was issued, and Baal
worshippers built their altar
and they started calling upon
their gods, no voice, nothing
was heard. All the way from
morning till noon, no voice,
nothing was heard. And then
Elijah started mocking them and
telling them, come on you know
shout louder whatever. They
shout louder, in fact they cut
themselves and all that, blood
gushed out and no voice was
heard. Until about 3 o’clock in
the afternoon, they gave up. And
Elijah built his altar, Elijah
prayed and the fire fell upon
the sacrifice. Now you must
understand once the fire fall on
the sacrifice, that means the
people are forgiven. The fire
did not fall on the people; it
fell on the sacrifice. Now they
are on this side. Alright? Now
God can justly and righteously
bring rain and blessing upon the
nation of Israel. So after the
fire fell, that means it is
accepted that God will judge the
nation’s sins in the body of the
bullock that received the fire
of judgement, now the nation is
spared, Elijah could pray this
prayer. So Elijah went up to the
very top of Mount Carmel, and
Elijah told the King Ahab, “Go
up, eat and drink; for there is
the sound of abundance of rain.”
And I hear for all of you for
this coming year 2019, I hear
the sound of abundance of rain.
I hear the sound of the
abundance of favour coming upon
your life. I hear the sound of
the abundance of shalom peace.
Amen? I hear the abundance of
family blessings coming your
way. I hear it. Long before the
prophet or the people of Israel
saw it, the prophet heard it.
Long before it was manifested,
he heard it. And I hear in the
spirit there is an abundance of
rain coming upon you and upon
your family, this coming year
2019. Amen? But the theme of the
year is not abundance of rain.
Just let you know first that was
for my artist and those who are
preparing, ok? So Ahab went up…
one thing great about prophetic
ministry is this: They see
things long before it happens.
Amen? They hear things in the
spirit long before it happens
because God knows the future
from times past and past the
future. God lives outside time.
Amen? Actually the Bible says
God knows our way ahead so it
always pays to follow God. He
knows all the traps; He knows
all the snares; He knows where
to avoid; He has been through it
and He came back to tell us I’ve
been through it. Amen. I’ve been
through 2019. It is great with
your hand in mine. Make sure
your hand is in His, amen. He
will lead you. So Ahab went up
to eat and drink, and Elijah
went up to the top of Carmel.
Isn’t it like a carnal king? All
he can think of is that the
blessing has come now, alright
the judgement has passed, the
blessing is now here, I’ll go up
and drink. Amen? So that’s what
the man of God told him go, go,
go–go and eat and drink. But
what did the man of God do? He
went up to the top of Carmel to
pray, and he bowed down on the
ground and put his face between
his knees. So you know in the
time of blessing, you will see
whether someone is a carnal
Christian or a spiritual
Christian. You can see whether
they give glory to God. They
thank God for the blessing or
they say “Oh blessing is here,
praise God man, thank you Lord.”
You know it is a cliche and then
they said let’s eat and drink;
let’s go watch a movie; let’s
you know….It is ok to do all
those things. Eating and
drinking is ok. They are God’s
blessings. But listen, give
glory to God first. When
something happens, give glory to
God. Many a times, we don’t even
give glory to God for things we
are not aware of. He protected
you from the accident, but you
didn’t know He protected you
because you didn’t know. Many a
times, we only give praise when
we are in the trouble, and we
call upon the Lord, and He
delivers us, now we know He
delivered us, then we give Him
praise. But many a times, the
higher—a higher way of blessing
us is not even to let us get
into the trouble. But as a
believer, let me tell you this:
Many a times we get into trouble
so we can see Who is the one
that delivers us. Amen? Are you
listening? But let us give
praise to God nonetheless for
all the protection we can’t see,
for all the blessings that we
are not even aware of. Let’s
thank God that He protected you
even long before you got into
the situation. Amen? And if you
are in trouble right now, thank
God He will deliver you. Not you
will deliver you, not a rich
person who is going to come and
bail you out, the Lord will
deliver you. Put your eyes on
Him, and all the people say
‘Amen.’ Praise the Lord. So Ahab
went up to drink; Elijah went to
the top of Carmel. Then he bowed
down on the ground and put his
face between his knees. Now
don’t forget. I told you just
now that when it comes to
“praying earnestly,” it was just
a declaration; but when it comes
to “praying again,” there was no
praying earnestly. It just says
“he prayed again, and the heaven
gave rain.” But notice this time
he prayed in a way that we think
it’s how prayer should be.
Right? He got on his knees and
put his face between his knees.
He bowed down to the ground and
said to his servant, “Go up now,
look toward the sea.” I told you
right? Top of Mount Carmel, you
can see the Mediterranean Sea.
He says to his servant go up
there, out there in front and
see whether you can see a cloud
in the sky. For three and a half
years there was not even a
single cloud in the sky. It has
been drought, famine for three
and a half years. So he goes up
there and see. He went up and
look and said “There is
nothing.” So long before you see
something, those who are in tune
with the Holy Spirit will hear
the sound of the abundance of
rain. And I really hear the
sound of the abundance of rain
for 2019. It’s like it’s
raining. [singing] Listen to the
rhythm of the falling rain
Telling me just what a fool I’ve
been I wish that it would go and
let me cry in vain And let me be
alone again Rain…ah…
Hallelujah. Amen. Praise God.
You all laugh but that was the
song I sang when I was in Sec 4,
in my secondary school, and I
got first. Hahahaha. I still
remember I’ve got a small
trophy. It was my first time
going out there for talent time.
Praise The Lord. Thank you
Jesus. I know you all don’t
appreciate that because no one
claps just now. Alright, so, erm
hmm. [clapping] Too late, save
it. So he says go up there and
look out. And the servant went
seven times to look out for the
cloud. Next. It came to pass the
seventh time that he said “There
is a cloud as small as a man’s
hand, rising out of the sea.” So
far away the servant says, ‘Hey
Elijah, I see a cloud. I see a
spot of fluffy white cloud. If I
go there, it is the size of my
hand.’ Imagine going to the
cloud and it is the size of your
hand. Alright? So it’s
like…You know what? Many of us
we are discouraged. “Ahh…where
is the rain?” But the man of
God, once he sees that he
realises there is a fluffy
cloud…you know little with God
becomes much. 5 loaves and 2
fish in His hands becomes an
abundance to feed more than 5
thousand people. Amen. A handful
of mill and a jar of oil can
feed an entire household for an
entire year. Amen. And here a
small cloud, with God in it,
amen, will bring a storm of
rain. Look at what happen. The
man of God says, the servant
says there is a man’s hand–like
the size, rising up the sea. “Go
up.” say to Ahab the King.
“Prepare your chariot and go
down before the rain stops you.
Now it happened in the meantime
that the sky became black with
clouds and wind.” Israel has not
seen that for three and a half
years, not even a cloud in the
sky. Now the cloud, the heavens
are dark, and the sky became
black with clouds and wind, and
there was a heavy rain. So King
Ahab rode away in his chariot
and went to Jezreel. Amen? So
the moment the man of God heard
there is a cloud–a small,
fluffy cloud, he says go down
and tell the King go better
start riding. The rain is
coming. Better start going back
to his palace. Amen. And the
king was riding his chariot
furiously. And the whole chapter
ends with this. Next verse. “The
hand of the Lord came upon
Elijah; and Elijah girded up his
loins and ran ahead of Ahab to
the entrance of Jezreel.” So you
have this king here riding his
chariot ‘Ya!’ ‘Ya. Ya.‘Ya!’ Then
this man of God
‘To.To.To.To.To.To.To.To…’ I
don’t know how old Elijah was at
this age but let me tell you
this: When the power of God
comes on you, you will run and
not be weary; you will walk and
not faint. Even the young man
shall fall, and the youth shall
utterly faint. It is not a
matter whether you are young
physically a not; even the young
man shall fall and the youth
utterly faint. But let me tell
you this: They that wait upon
the Lord shall renew their
strength; they shall mount up
with wings as eagles; they shall
run and not be weary; they shall
walk and not faint. Those that
wait upon the Lord. As you do
even right now you come to the
house of God, you are waiting
upon the Lord. You are
exchanging your strength which
is natural strength like Jacob
did for His strength, they never
grow weary. So when God’s power
comes on you, we see this in
spiritual power whether it’s the
power of God or the power of
evil spirit. The most demonised
man in the Bible is the
Gadarenes demoniac, and he was
the most demonised man and the
Bible says that he was out there
in Gadara. In fact, most of you
travel to Israel, you go to the
area of the Lake of Galilee you
will see Gadara. In fact it’ll
good for you to visit Gadara,
the tombs are still there. Don’t
worry, the demons won’t touch
you. Greater is He that is in
you than he who is in the world.
Amen. So the Bible tells us that
this man is alone and cutting
himself. He was naked. These are
the three signs of demonic
activities: Every time someone
shed his clothes or her
clothes–it’s a sign of demonic
activity. He was naked. Another
sign. Alone, anti-social, don’t
want to mix with people, always
pulling away from the crowd,
always by himself, always in the
room–demonic activity. And the
third one. Cutting himself,
cutting himself, hurting
himself. Suicidal. Amen?
Mutilating, afflicting himself.
That’s what happening today even
among the young people. It’s
demonic activity. And he was
crying, very sad, he was crying.
Somewhere along this way, when
you cry across the lake of
Galilee, you can hear on the
area of Capernaum where the
Bible says Jesus dwelt with His
disciples. I believe that is the
reason why Jesus took the boat
traversed the entire lake just
to cast the demon out of one
man. And that is the reason why
along that road to reach that
man who was demon-possessed, the
devil caused a storm to rise.
Remember? Probably to stop Jesus
from reaching that man. And
Jesus rebuked the devil and
calmed the storm. He reached the
other side, cast the demon out
in one word in Hebrew “Lech,” in
our English, ‘Go.’ One word—Go.
We have to use four words–Go In
Jesus’ name. Alright? But Jesus
used one word Go, and all the
demons left that man. And the
Bible says the next thing they
saw him, he was seated at Jesus’
feet, sitting down relaxed. It
is a sign of person freed from
demonic activity. God’s spirit
has come. He is seated, clothed
and in his right mind. Clothe.
Clothe. The moment you put on
clothes, you are ok. And then in
his right mind, don’t look at
your neighbour now, then in his
right mind, when the Lord comes
into your life, amen, and he
sets you free, you are in your
right mind. And the Bible says,
he says I want to be with you,
Lord. And the Lord says you know
what, go to all the cities. In
fact the Bible says he went to
Decapolis which is ‘Deca’ is
ten,‘polis’ is city. He went to
all ten cities of the Gentiles
and he became an evangelist, no
wonder the devil wanted to stop
Jesus from reaching that man.
And Jesus says “Go home and tell
your friends how great
things…” The Bible says he
went through all Decapolis and
proclaimed what the Lord has
done for him. Amen? What I’m
trying to say is that the Bible
says that he was alone and no
man could bind him when he was
demon-possessed. He could break
the chains. That is demonic
activity. When someone is
possessed by a spirit, whether
is God’s spirit or evil spirit,
they become supernatural. And
that’s why Elijah when God’s
spirit came on him, he could
outrun a chariot regardless of
his age. But an evil spirit
coming upon a man, he could
break chains and no one could
tame him. He could break the
chains–the Gadarenes demoniac.
I have been involved in cases of
deliverance where the person is
so strong. You know it’s a lady
who is demon-possessed, and
there are guys trying to hold
her and all that, and she is
very strong but it’s not her.
The moment the demon come out,
she again you know a wonderful
lady, soft you know, and sweet.
Does that explain some things
you have been wondering? But
here this is amazing. Ok, I got
into a wonderful rabbit trail
just by talking about Elijah
gird up his loins and start
running. Amen? So all the
athletes in the house shout
‘Hallelujah.’ I remember in the
army. I was running, and you
know they made you run a lot,
and I remember I could not run
anymore, and then this verse
came up “They shall run and not
be weary.” And I meditated, you
can hardly pray so I meditate
‘They shall run and not be
weary.’ I don’t know at what
point, the second wind you know
the second wind took over, and
now I was gliding. I was running
and I was happy. It was almost
like when they said ok you can
rest now, I was disappointed.
Honestly, God is my witness. I
say come on man, come on let’s
run some more. I don’t know
where it came but I saw for
myself firsthand how God can
release even physical strength
when you are weary. Amen. And I
wasn’t a runner back then, so
praise be to God. Now, what I
want to show you is this. Back
to James again. “Praying
earnestly” is actually a prayer
of declaration. God thinks so
much of it that He tells us it
is actually praying earnestly
when you declare in faith. A
proclamation of faith is praying
earnestly. But notice when he
prayed after the fire fell,
which means judgement is passed
now it is a time of blessing,
you know he had to put his head
between his knees and pray the
traditional way that we think
of, and the Holy Spirit calls
this only “prayed again.” The
first one is prayed earnestly,
and this is prayed again–just a
simple prayer. But in our mind,
we think that this prayer is
more intense than the first one.
If right now I am standing here
and declaring, and you see
someone on his knees praying,
you probably said that person is
praying and pastor, you are not
praying. But do you realise one
thing that when Jesus has
done… what you are doing when
you are declaring is this: You
are partnering with God. And if
Jesus took away our diseases and
our sicknesses, and He took away
our depression. He was wounded,
the chastisement for our peace
was upon Him, so He took away
our depression, our anxieties,
our worries and our cares as
well as our physical diseases as
well as all our pain–mental,
emotional as well, and He took
all that. If I believe He took
them all away, and the Bible
says He took them away, then I
wouldn’t be praying prayer like
this like a slave: ‘Oh Father
God. Oh God, please God, heal my
son. Oh God, heal my daughter.
Oh God, please do this. God,
please do that.’ Because that
prayer negates everything that
Jesus did; that prayer in
essence is saying God is not
persuaded and God is the
problem; if God wants to give,
He can give. So that’s why that
prayer is not answered. I pray
that this help answer some
questions you have. Amen. When
you pray like this, the Holy
Spirit is called the Spirit of
truth, He cannot bear witness to
that kind of prayer. He bears,
He is a witness of the truth. He
is a Spirit of truth. But when
you pray, you declare. When you
declare for example, somebody
has a problem with depression:
‘In the name of Jesus, you foul
spirit of depression loose that
person and let his mind go free
in the name of Jesus.’ Amen. You
are declaring that God is not
the problem; the power of
darkness is the one holding back
his blessing. Then you are
partnering with God, in essence
you are saying God is not the
one giving the problem. God is
your solution. Are you
listening, people? Let me put it
another way, ok? Under the old
covenant before Jesus came,
judgement was easy; blessing was
hard. Notice Elijah. When he
pronounced a judgment, three and
a half years from now no rain no
dew, it was easy. Why? Under the
law, God says if you keep all my
commandments, then I’ll bless
you. But ‘all’ means all. If you
fail in one, then the curse will
come. And that’s why those who
make their boast in the law
don’t realise how awesome God’s
law is. Those of us who believe
in the grace of God, we have an
awesome respect for the law of
God. I am for the law but for
the reason God gave the law. And
God never gave the law for man
to keep; God gave the law to
reveal man by. Are you with me
so far? So God says if you keep
all, I’ll bless you. I’ll bring
the rain to bless your crops.
You will lend and not borrow.
Amen? You’ll be the head and not
the tail but if you keep all my
commandments. But then if you
fail in one, the curse will
come, the judgement will come.
I’ll withhold heaven from giving
its rain and it’ll affect your
crops. Then you will borrow and
you’ll not lend. You’ll be the
tail and not the head. So guess
what? In the old covenant, most
of the time they spend time,
what? In the blessing or the
judgement? Judgement! And that’s
why under the old covenant,
judgement and the curse was,
came easily; blessing came hard.
Do you understand now why it was
easy for Elijah in the old
covenant to say there’ll be no
dew nor rain? Because he was in
line with God’s words. God’s
words says if you turn away from
me, the heaven will withhold its
rain. So Elijah knew that, and
Elijah declared that. It is a
prayer earnestly. But when he
asked for blessing after that,
he prayed again and again and
again. Now everything changed
because of the Cross. I say
everything changed because of
the Cross. Since the Cross of
Jesus Christ, listen, blessing
is easy. Do you know why? It is
no more contingent on your
obedience. It is contingent on
Jesus’ one obedience on the
Cross. By His obedience, we are
made righteous. And the
righteous shall blossom and
flourish and be evergreen. Amen.
Be like the palm tree, be like
the cedar of Lebanon. No, I’m
not telling you to clap, I’m
just encouraging myself here.
Alright? This is called
expression. Praise God. I’m
getting excited. And the Bible
says you are righteous. In all
the blessings of the righteous,
listen carefully, under the new
covenant because of what Jesus
has done in His death, burial
and resurrection, everything
changed. Today, blessing is
easy. That’s why you just have
to declare it. There is still
prayer of praying but those are
for the things you ask for
wisdom and all that, but what
Jesus did for us at the Cross,
declare it. If your loved one is
oppressed, they are not meant to
be oppressed, declare it. God is
not behind the problem. If
someone is sick, proclaim
healing, proclaim, decree it,
declare it. And that’s why
blessing is easy, declare it.
And God calls this earnest
prayer. Judgement is hard under
the new. Do you realise that
under the new covenant, even
people are sinning, and you find
that ‘God, where are you? You
know if I were you, I will
finish them off.’ Right? If you
were God and you look down from
heaven, just imagine ok, if you
were God and you look down from
heaven, and you see the battle
between Baal, the prophets, King
Ahab, and Elijah and all the
nations of Israel gathered on
Mount Carmel, and you looked
down, and Elijah prepared his
altar, the bullock on the altar,
the sacrifice, and you know that
he said the God who answers by
fire He is God. Now, you are
God. You are about to send fire,
you see Ahab the evil king, you
see all the prophets of Baal,
you see the backslidden nation
who turned away from you, from
God. Right? Who will you let the
fire fall on? That’s why you and
I are not God. We are not that
loving. You see, God is love,
people. God has to judge sin,
God has to judge evil, God has
to punish sin but God loves us.
So God let the fire of His
judgement that everyone deserved
and every one merits, every
party there merits but God let
the fire fall on the sacrifice
and the nation goes free. It’s a
foreshadowing of the Cross of
Jesus Christ. Today we live
after the Cross and we are in
the dispensation called the
dispensation of grace. There
will be a dispensation of
kingdom which means at that
time, you will see sin being
punished like that, real quick.
Amen? We won’t be punished
anymore because we are in our
glorified bodies; we cannot sin.
Amen? But there will still be a
race on earth and all
that–natural people and all
that, that is another teaching
called the millennial rule of
Jesus. But we are still in the
dispensation of grace; we are
not in the dispensation of
Elijah, in the law, and that’s
why don’t be confused. When
Jesus was in his hometown
Nazareth, one time, as his
custom was, they gave Him,
probably you know Jesus’ voice
is beautiful, I mean it’s a
powerful voice, and probably as
a young man they probably gave
Him the Torah for Him to read
out from, and the scroll. So
this time round, they gave Him
the scroll and the Bible says
that he found the place where it
was written. They handed to Him
the book of prophet Isaiah. It
was the reading of the Shabbat
for that week and the Bible says
Jesus opened the scroll of the
book of Isaiah. And Jesus read
this: “The Spirit of the Lord is
upon Me.” This is Isaiah 61 in
your Bible. “Because He has
anointed Me to preach the good
news to the poor.” What do you
think is the good news to the
poor? You think about it.
Alright? “He has sent me to heal
the brokenhearted, to proclaim
liberty to the captives,
recovery of sight to the blind,
to set liberty to those who are
bruised or oppressed, to
proclaim the acceptable year of
the Lord.” The word ‘acceptable’
is a very beautiful, rich word
in Hebrew called rasown.
‘Rasown’ is a state where God’s
favour is profusely abounding.
So it is a year of rasown of the
Lord–the year where God’s
favour profusely abound. And
then the Bible says Jesus close
the book. I’m going to show you
right now the reference in
Isaiah itself. Right? Side by
side. Jesus read to proclaim the
acceptable year of the Lord.
Then Jesus closed the book. But
Isaiah’s portion says, “To
proclaim the acceptable year of
the Lord,” comma, “and the day
of vengeance of our God.” So
there’s a day of vengeance
coming where every lawlessness
will be punished, where every
sin will be dealt with. But we
are not in that day and age. But
it is coming, yes. We are still
in the ratsown year of the Lord
where the free favours of God
abound. Amen? We are in that
age. A lot of people like to
preach the coming age into this
age. Or they like to preach or
tell you about the Old Testament
in this present day. They even
sing songs about the day of
vengeance. But we are not in the
day of vengeance. Jesus knew how
to close the book. And where
Jesus close the book, we got to
learn to close the book. The
Bible says when Jesus read to
proclaim the acceptable year of
the Lord, He knew His first
coming is not the day of
vengeance. His first coming is
to save. So He closed the book.
And between the acceptable year
of the Lord and the day of
vengeance has been two thousand
years now. Oh the longsuffering
of our God. The patience of our
God who is not willing that any
should perish but that all
should come to repentance. Don’t
despise. The fact that the Bible
says in the last days there will
be those that say, “Where?
Where? Where? Where’s the sign
of His coming? Where? Where?
I’ve been hearing rapture since
I was young, huh?” The Bible
talks about people like this in
the Book of Peter. “There will,
there will come scoffers in the
last days saying, ‘Where? Where
is the sign of His coming?’
Where is, when is His coming?’
And they knew not, the Bible
says, “A thousand years with the
Lord is like one day.” Amen?
That’s why when you pray, God
never says to you, “Wait a
second. Because you calculate a
thousand years with Him one day,
one second, wow.” Ok, anyway,
that was a personal joke.
Anyway. A thousand years with
God is like one day. Time is not
nothing with Him. For us, time
is protracted. And the Bible
says, “It is the longsuffering
of our God.” God wants to bring
Jesus back but when Jesus comes
back, it’s judgement on an
unbelieving world. Those who are
saved will be raptured with Him.
But when Jesus comes back again
for His rule, it will be a day
of vengeance. For everything
that’s been spoken will be
brought to account, against God.
Everything. Every sin will be
judged. But we are in Christ,
our judgement is passed. We will
come with HIm. Are you with me
so far? Do you understand? But
meanwhile, we are still not in
the day of vengeance. We are in
the acceptable year of the Lord.
And that’s why today, it’s easy
to pray for blessings. You can
even pray for blessings on
non-believers and they receive.
Yesterday, my wife and I. Was it
yesterday? No, two days ago. My
wife and I were eating at a
hawker center. And we bumped
into a couple and the husband
was so excited and start telling
me. Because some, some time
back, a few months ago, I bumped
into this couple. The wife is
from our church, the husband is
not. He’s not a, he’s not a
believer. And I remember him
telling me that he’s got a
problem with panic attacks and
anxiety. He hardly leaves his
house, you know. He must be on a
lot of medication and all that.
And this time round. And by the
way, I prayed for him back then.
I prayed for him that God will
deliver him. Now why do I have
that confidence to pray for him?
Even though he’s not a believer.
I asked him, “Would you believe
or not?” “One day, you know,
Pastor, I will tell you, one
day, you know, I will do it,
Pastor. I see how is it. But
right now, I don’t.” I said,
“Can I pray for you now?” I knew
he had a problem. He told me his
problem, panic attacks and all
that, heavy on medication. And I
prayed for him. Just the other
day, two days ago, we bumped
into him again, the same hawker
center. He was so excited. “Hey
Pastor Prince, I must tell you,
you know, one thing, now,” he
use, “85% delivered.” So I
thought he’s saved. So I said,
“Are you coming to church and
all that?” “Oh, that one
haven’t. I’m still thinking
because of my father and
grandfather and all that, you
know, I said I don’t want to go
to heaven, right, and then I
think of them in hell.” I said,
“How about this? Maybe they made
it, you know, last minute they
made it. Then they’re in heaven,
they see you in hell.” I said,
you know. And another thing I
told him was this, I said that,
“Just if you care about your,
your predecessors and your
ancestors and all that, you must
remeber one thing, ok? That if
there’s a voice.” The Bible
talks about a voice, alright, in
the nether lands, there’s a
story Jesus said. The voice
actually says, “Don’t come here.
Go tell my family not to come
here.” The voice will tell you
to believe. Amen. So I told him
that. But he was so excited, he
said that, “You know, I went to
another doctor and the doctor
says, ‘You don’t have to be on
medication. In fact, your heavy
medication all no need anymore.’
Wow Pastor Prince, I’m so happy,
you know. I’m out here. I’m
eating. And I’m so happy.” I
can’t believe that someone who
can be delivered by, by God,
Amen. So happy, so joyful. And
he tells me, you know, “But I do
talk to Him every morning.” He
might be saved and not even know
it. The wife says, “He’s still
in the wilderness.” So, you
know. Now why did I pray for
him? Because Jesus, everyone
that Jesus healed in the
Gospels, nearly all of them that
Jesus healed, were not saved.
All the, all the people, I mean,
they were not saved. Jesus had
not yet died. So all of them
were not yet saved. Hmm? When
somebody says that Judas
betrayed Jesus, therefore it
shows that someone can believe
on Jesus and be born again and
still lose his salvation like
Judas. Tell them. Judas wasn’t
saved. None of the disciples
were saved. How can they be
saved when Jesus had not yet
died? They all got saved after
Jesus rose from the dead.
Remember that? And Judas wasn’t
there. If Judas would only wait
a few more hours instead of
hanging himself. Jesus’ hanging
would be his hanging. Don’t have
to hang yourself. It’s a form of
self-righteousness. They only
received when Jesus rose from
the dead and Jesus breathed on
His disciples, then they were
born again. Then on the day of
Pentecost, they received the
baptism of the Holy Spirit. So
friend, you can pray for the
sick. I can pray for
non-believers knowing this
mentality that I have we’re in
the dispensation of grace. I can
pray for them and many a times,
the goodness of God will lead
them to repentance. Even though
their mind don’t catch up, like
I told you about this guy,
right? He might be saved and not
even know it. He talks to the
Lord every morning. “Lord, I
must tell you something, Lord. I
don’t believe in You yet right?
But I, I want you to know that.”
The mind always play catch up.
How many know the mind plays
catch up? When your spirit is so
in sync already, amen? So I, I
believe he’s going to be saved,
amen? I believe he’s not saved
yet but he will be saved.
Probably he’s saved already. But
the thing is this, you can pray
for your friends and tell them,
“I will pray for you. God wants
to bless you.” Yes, they still
need to be born again. Yes, we
know that. Amen. And that’s why
today, it’s the day where we
need to preach the good news to
the people. Not a time where we
tell people about their sin or
making this stand against this
sin, making this stand against
that sin. And all that the world
can think of is we are making
stands against them when
actually they hardly hear the
good news from our lips. When
they hear the good news, they
are changed from the inside out.
No amount of legislation can
change them. No amount of
politicking can change them. No
amount of psychology can change
them. No amount of arguing can
change them. But when they hear
the good news, they are changed.
And many of them are changed
even sitting here, they are
changed! By believing the
gospel. So there are people who
think unless you make a stand, a
public stand. Stand, let’s make
a stand for the gospel. Let’s
make a stand for the gospel that
Jesus died and rose again to
give us. And proclaim to a lost,
dying, crying, sighing world
that God loves them. Can I have
a good Amen? So we’re still in
the ratsown year of the Lord
where blessings are easy.
Proclaim it. When you have a
mentality that blessing is easy,
you don’t pray like this, “Oh
God… Oh God…” And, and you
know, it’s like today I look at
the church and they’re
regressing. They’re going back.
And they think that by studying
the names of God, they call God,
the God of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob. And that He is. He always
is. Or they call Him the God of,
El Shaddai. They don’t realise
wonderful as these names are,
and I would teach on the names
of God, I have done it in times
past and I would do it again in
the future. But the name above
every name that Jesus came to
reveal that we have to pray by,
is the name ‘Father’. “Father, I
have revealed to them Thy name
that the love by which You love
Me may be in them. Father, keep
true Thy name.” Keep means,
“Keep My disciples. Those who
believe in Me through their word
in the future even.” All of us.
“Keep them. Protect them.” How?
“Through Thy name.” So the more
we say “Father”, the more
protected we are. We got to pray
in such a spirit that when we
pray, don’t, don’t feel like you
are far away from God. When you
start praying, it’s like the
train slowly moving, getting
closer and closer, closer and
closer, then finally you get
close to God. No, no, no. You
pray because you’re already
close to His bosom. You are His
son. He is your Father. So you
say, “Father.” You must pray
from a position of completeness.
A position of victory. Are you
listening people? That’s why you
can, you don’t. “Pastor Prince,
wah, this kind of case must pray
hard.” It’s not pray hard or
pray soft. What pray hard? It’s
not pray hard. It’s the One that
you are praying to. It’s not
praying soft also. It is who you
pray to. So I can be very soft
and just say, “Father, touch
that person right now. Father,
thank You Lord.” So when it
comes to prayers, when you have
the same mentality, you are on
the same wavelength, you see God
wanting to bless people. Long
before I pray in my room,
alright, I see God wanting to
bless me, I see God wanting to
bless the church, I see God
wanting to bless my family. His
heart, his loving heart yearns.
So when I pray like that, with
that posture, I’m in line with
Heaven. The Spirit of truth can
bear witness by giving me the
answered prayer. He bears
witness to the truth because I’m
coming from the posture of
truth. But if I pray like this,
“Oh God… God…” As if God is
the One that needs persuasion,
“Oh God… please be merciful
Lord. My child is very sick,
Lord. Please, Lord, don’t, don’t
take away his life away, God.
Please Lord.” Even a third party
looking, even a child lying down
there, lagi sick, you know what
I’m saying or not? You know,
it’s like. You’re giving the
child a mentality of God. One
time a mother, this true story
of a mother praying, no, a
father praying, you know that.
The child had a disease. And he
prayed, “God, if only,” and all
of us as parents, we have all
been in that place where we love
our child so much. We see the
child suffering, crying and all
that. And, and the father
prayed, “If only can put this
disease on me. Let me carry it.”
And the Lord says, the Lord
rebuked him by saying, “Don’t
you know? I have done that.”
Jesus carried our disease. So
our prayers have got to be,
declare it. “Be healed. Fever go
in the name of Jesus. Goiter die
in the name of Jesus.” Amen. “Be
healed in the name of Jesus.”
“What? Pastor Prince, I have
declared it before and nothing
happened.” Then Jesus advised
you in Luke 17. The apostle said
to the Lord, “Increase our
faith.” The request is what?
“Increase our faith.” Jesus’
answer is, “So the Lord said,
‘If you have faith as a grain of
mustard seed.’” The request was
what? “Lord, increase our
faith.” Jesus’ answer was, “If
you have faith as a grain of
mustard seed, you will say.” In
other words, no matter how small
your faith is, the mustard seed
is the smallest of all seeds,
alright, of that category. And
Jesus said what? It’s not a
matter of how big your faith is,
once you have faith even so
small, start saying. Start
saying what? To the mulberry
tree, “Be pulled out by the
roots and be planted in the sea
and it would obey you.” “But
Pastor, I’ve said it one time
before. The, the problem is
still there.” Ok, listen, in the
Greek, if you have faith as a
mustard seed, you can say to
this mulberry tree, the ‘say’
there is in the imperfect tense.
You know perfect tense means
once and for all. Imperfect
means keep on saying. Keep on
saying. Jesus literally said,
“Keep on saying.” Your problem,
mulberry tree here is the black
mulberry figs which is in Israel
is a very strong trunk and its
roots go very deep. Even you go
far away, you still find it
coming out of the ground. It’s
very rooted. And yet it can be
uprooted by faith as small as a
grain of mustard seed. I shared
with you all before I had a map
of Australia on my back last
time. Because I perspired a lot
playing sports and all that. And
I had a map of Australia. It’s
almost like Australia lah. And
Tasmania was below. And I
remember when I learnt this
truth, I spoke to my, my skin
condition, “Be thou plucked out
by your roots and be thrown into
the sea.” And I always imagined,
forgive me those who stay in
Marine Parade. I always imagined
the Marine Parade sea. “Be
thrown into the sea,” literally
I used the words that Jesus
spoke, “Be uprooted skin
condition and be thrown into the
sea in Jesus’ name.” Some time
passed, I forgot how many weeks
it was. One day, I was shaving
or brushing my teeth and I heard
a voice. I was topless and then
I heard a voice inside saying,
“Look for your skin condition.”
I never bothered to look for
sometime. But I’ve been saying
it. Every time I bathed, I’ve
been saying it. I looked behind
and it was gone. How it
happened, I do not know. When it
happened, I don’t know. All I
can say is that it’s planted
somewhere in Marine Parade. If
you all go diving, you see the
map of Australia. Jesus
literally said, “Keep on
saying.” Because a king. You
see, you’re acknowledging that
you’re no more an earth-bound
person, you’re seated with
Christ because a king decrees.
Even when you’re praying in the
normal traditional prayer,
decree in your prayer.
Especially when it comes to
sickness, when it comes to the
power of darkness, don’t ask God
to deal with it. Decree.
Sometimes a prayer asking is
wrong. Sometimes. Like for
example, when Moses cried to
God, the Red Sea was in front of
him, and the army of the
Egyptians were coming behind,
and he cried to God, “God!
Help!” And God says, “Why cry to
Me?” Strange right? “What is
that in your hand?” The rod. For
us, it’s the name of Jesus. Use
it. And then Moses point and you
know what happened. God opened
up the Red Sea. So we have the
authority but we’re crying to
Him. Imagine a officer with the
officer’s uniform and all, he
stopped a three tonner, right?
Imagine he raised his hand and
the three tonner just passed by.
Then he raised his hand and
another three tonner passed by.
You know, the big truck that
passes by. Does he call his
office say, “Hey boss ah, hey
sir, sir, they don’t want to
stop lah.”
No, you don’t do
that. You use your authority
right? You stand in the centre.
Either he runs you down or. But
use your authority right? Amen.
You don’t call your office,
you’ll be out of job. Or you’ll
get sometihng lah. Amen. And
that’s the problem, when God
looks down, that’s where we are
at, ok? Now I want to close with
this amazing story from Elijah.
Let’s go back to the story of
Elijah and the challenge. “Now
Elijah said to the prophets of
Baal, ‘Choose one bull for
yourselves and prepare it first,
for you are many; and call on
the name of your god, but put no
fire under it.’ So they took the
bull which was given them, and
they prepared it, and called on
the name of Baal from morning
even till noon, saying, ‘O Baal,
hear us!’ But there was no
voice; no one answered. Then
they leaped about the altar
which they had made. And so it
was, at noon, that Elijah mocked
them and said. So they have been
praying from morning till noon,
no voice. No fire from heaven.
And Elijah said, “‘Cry aloud,
for he is a god; either he is
meditating, or he is busy, or he
is on a journey, or perhaps he
is sleeping and must be
awakened.’ So they cried aloud,
and cut themselves, as was their
custom, with knives and lances,
until the blood gushed out on
them. And when midday was past,
they prophesied until the time
of the offering of the evening
sacrifice. But there was no
voice; no one answered, no one
paid attention.” The last part,
no one paid attention, very
interesting. “Then Elijah said
to all the people, ‘Come near to
me.’ So all the people came near
to him.” Now I want to tell you
something, ok? It’s one thing
for God to judge sin. But if God
judge sin, how will He win our
affections? God had a dilemma in
that sense. God not only had to
judge sin because God cannot
forgive us righteoussly if He
has not judged our sins. God has
to be God. He has to judge our
sins. But God to be God also, He
has to demonstrate His love
because God is love. How will
God judge our sins, at the same
time, win our heart? Watch this.
“And he repaired the altar of
the Lord that was broken down.”
Now that means there was an
altar there previously that was
broken down by the prophets of
Baal. Now Elijah repaired it.
The first thing you got to do is
to repair the altar. It’s time
for us. Our altar is the Cross
of Jesus Christ. It’s time for
us to bring back the Cross of
Jesus Christ. Not a matter of
making this stand, or that
stand, or this stand. Make a
stand for the Cross. The Cross
is a symbol that God loves the
world and Christ died for our
sins. And the Bible says,
“Elijah took twelve stones.”
Say, “Twelve stones”. Look at
this, “According to the number
of the tribes of the sons of
Jacob, to whom the word of the
Lord had come, saying, ‘Israel
shall be your name.’ Then with
the stones he built an altar in
the name of the Lord.” Now,
that’s the most interesting. At
that time, when Elijah, during
the time of Elijah, Israel was
split. Ten tribes in the North,
and two tribes, Judah and
Benjamin, in the South. It was
divided. It was not a one
nation. By all outward
appearances, they were divided.
Today, people look around and
say, “The Church is divided.
Pastor Prince, there are people
who are not for your teaching on
grace. Pastor Prince, you know,
there have been.” Doesn’t
matter. Whether you think they,
we’re divided or not, we are one
in God’s eyes. You know what
Elijah did? Elijah put the
twelve stones as if they were
one. That’s what must be
repaired. He presented to God
what God saw. God saw one
Israel. And you know something?
If someone doesn’t agree with
you, Amen? Doesn’t like your
pastor or whatever, smile at
them and say, “We are still one.
You can’t get rid of me, Amen.
In fact, in Heaven, I might live
next door to you because God
sees what’s happening right
now.” Amen. We are one in the
Spirit. We are one in the Lord.
We are one in the Spirit. So no
matter what. You know, the Bible
doesn’t say endeavouring to keep
the unity of the doctrine.
Doctrine might not all agree.
But endeavouring to keep the
unity of the Spirit. We gather
around the Person of Jesus. You
might not agree with me. I might
not agree with you. Doesn’t
really matter. We gather around
the Person of Jesus. And you are
my brother. You are my sister.
And that’s what Elijah did. Then
the Bible. Next verse, “And he
put the wood in order, cut the
bull in pieces, and laid it on
the wood, and said, ‘Fill four
waterpots with water, and pour
it on the burnt sacrifice and on
the wood.’” Alright, four
waterpots. Keep that in mind.
“Then he said, ‘Do it a second
time,’ and do it a second time.”
Four waterpots, they poured it
on the altar. It’s almost as if.
What was the challenge? The God
who answers by fire, He is God.
It’s almost like make it hard
for God. Pour water. Four
barrels of water. Go ahead,
alright. And they poured it.
Three times they did it. “And he
said, ‘Do it a third time,’ and
they did it a third time. So the
water ran all around the altar;
and he also filled the trench
with water.” Now in the Old
Testament, when you read the Old
Testament, many times it’s a
foreshadowing. It’s a type of
the New Testament truths. What
is the four barrels and the
three times a symbol of? The
twelve stones represent the
entire nation of Israel. It
represents how God love them.
Long before there were twelve
tribes, there were twelve sons.
Amen. And long before the twelve
sons, God picked one man. And
God love this nation from old.
God love them. But the four
barrels and the three times.
Four times three is what?
Twelve. It’s showing how many
times, even God loves them, they
try to pour cold water on God’s
love. Maybe that’s where the
saying comes. Don’t pour cold
water on it. They tried to pour
cold water on God’s love. They
tried their best to suppress
God’s love. Solomon said it like
this in Song of Songs, verse 8,
“Many waters cannot quench love,
nor can the floods drown it.”
Amen. If that girl that you’re
chasing turns you off again and
say, “Why do you keep bothering
me?” Just say, “Many waters
cannot quench love.” And then
she takes the pail, she throw
the water on your face. Then you
say, “Nor can the floods drown
it.” But if I were you, I’ll
forget her. Alright, so many
waters. Go back to the story
again. Hallelujah. So four
waterpots, do it three times.
There is a significance to all
this. Very beautiful. And next
verse please, “And it came to
pass, at the time of the
offering of the evening
sacrifice,” Very interesting.
The evening sacrifice. Do you
know that Israel has two
sacrifices they offer to God
every day? One is in the
morning, they call it morning
sacrifice. They put a lamb on
the altar in the temple. And the
other is called the evening
sacrifice. The morning sacrifice
is at 9 a.m. The evening
sacrifice is at 3 p.m. When they
offer it, the priest would blow
the trumpet. When Jesus was
crucified, the Bible tells us
the time. He was crucified
exactly when the nails pierced
His hand, He was pinned to the
ground. And they lift the Cross
up. It was 9 a.m. And when they
lift Him up at that very moment,
the sound of trumpet was
blowing. Just behind in the
temple. And then the Bible says
Jesus hung here, bearing all our
sins and even the clouds, it’s
almost like, when He was hanging
there, midday became midnight.
When He was born, midnight
became midday. And angels filled
the bright sky. But here He was
under the canopy of darkness
when He became sin with our
sins. And God poured His wrath
upon His Son. And three o’clock,
the clouds start clearing. Which
means what? The judgement is
passed. It’s all been spent on
Him. The clouds of judgement,
they’re supposed to burst over
your head and my head, burst
over His head and was spent. And
Jesus looked up and cried at
three o’clock, “Finished!” Then
He says, “Father, into Your
hands, I commit My,” in Hebrew,
“Ruach.” He breathed out.
Because ‘in spirit’ in Hebrew is
ruach. He breathed out. He was
completely alive when the
judgement was spent on Him. And
that’s the difference. Because
the fire fell here. Look, look
at this. Alright. The evening
sacrifice is at three o’clock.
And that’s the time, the Bible
says, Daniel was praying, the
angel was made to fly swiftly at
three o’clock in the time of the
evening oblation. Now don’t
start praying at three o’clock.
It’s not Jerusalem time anyway.
Alright. No, that’s no. But in,
the Jewish people have, they
observed these kind of timings.
They do. But today, anytime is
the right time, ok. Because we
are after the Cross. Are you
with me so far? So at the time
of the evening sacrifice, when
in the temple in Jerusalem, they
offered the burnt offering. At
the time of the finished work,
Jesus says, “Finished.” Elijah
prayed, “‘God of Abraham, Isaac,
and Israel, let it be known this
day that You are God in Israel
and I am Your servant, and that
I have done all these things at
Your word. Hear me, O Lord, hear
me, that this people may know
that You are the Lord God, and
that You have turned their
hearts back to You again.’ Then
the fire of the Lord fell and
consumed the burnt sacrifice,
and the wood and the stones and
the dust, and it licked up the
water that was in the trench.
Now when all the people saw it,
they fell on their faces; and
they said, ‘The Lord,” Yahweh,
“He is God! He is Elohim! The
Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is
God.’” Not only did the
righteousness of God find a way
for justice to be satisfied.
Because judgement has been born.
But He found a way to win the
heart of the nation. And all
this, notice, the fire fell on
the sacrifice, not on the
nation, not on the guilty
nation, not on guilty you and I.
But on the sacrifice. And the
nation is spared. You and I are
spared. We go free.
The only
difference, contrast because the
type is always inferior compared
to the substance, the Cross.
This is a type of the Cross. The
only difference is this, in
Carmel, the fire of God’s
judgement consumed the burnt
sacrifice. Not only consumed the
burnt sacrifice. Even the twelve
stones and all that, all
disappeared. Some of you, you go
to Mount Carmel, I see you
walking around looking for the
stones. It’s not there. Don’t
read your Bible, see what
happen? It’s all consumed. But
at Carmel, the fire of judgement
consumed the burnt sacrifice. In
Calvary, the sacrifice consumed
the judgement and cried,
“Finished.” The judgement was
finished, exhuasted in His body.
But He was still alive to cry,
“Finished.” The sacrifice now is
greater than the judgement.
You
and I, we live in ratsown year
of the Lord. Why do we act like
blessing is so hard? We got to
persuade God? Our very posture
defeats us long before we pray.
I’m not saying you cannot pray
like this. I’m saying our
posture inwardly, we are praying
to get there when we should be
praying because we are there. We
are praying to get influence
with God. We should be praying
because we have influence with
God. Every time you come to God,
it should be like a wonderful
time of like, “Oh God, I’m in my
room and there’s no one here and
I’m going to pray and God will
hear me. I have power with God.
God wants me to have power with
Him. God wants me to influence
Him.” Amen. There are some
things you can influence God,
even about the affairs of, of
the world. Amen. You must come
to God knowing that God wants
you to pray because you are both
co-labourers. But some things in
prayer, you don’t ask God. Like,
“God, heal, God, heal.” That
prayer will not get any result.
Have you noticed in a church
where people pray for healing,
not many results? But where it’s
proclaimed, there are results.
In Job, it says, “Thou shall.
You will also declare a thing,”
In the Old King James, it says,
“You shall decree a thing.” You
know, kings decree. And what
will happen? It will be
established unto you. Light will
shine on your ways. Many a
times, we want to have light in
that situation. We don’t know,
we do not know what to do. But
only after you declare, will you
know what to do. Declare first.
The light will shine. The Bible
says, “When they cast you down,
you will say, ‘Exaltation will
come!’“ Decree it. “And then the
Lord will save the humble
person.” You see, when they cast
you down, you must say,
“Exaltation is coming.” Then God
will save you, you are truly
humble. But we think hum, being
humble is when you are down, “Oh
God, I’m so humble, Lord. I’m so
humble.” No, that’s, that’s
pseudo-humility. Humility is to
declare and that’s why I declare
blessings over your head. I
declare a year of 2019, it’s not
a, the theme of the year, ok?
But I declare abundance of rain
coming your way. I declare
abundance of health, abundance
of shalom well-being for you and
your family this coming year, in
Jesus’ name. Stand to your feet.
Praise the name of Jesus.
Hallelujah. Praise the Lord.
Hallelujah! We are still in the
ratsown year of the Lord,
people. So pray accordingly. You
cannot pray judgement prayers.
You cannot pray the imprecatory
psalms, where David prayed
prayers of judgement on his
enemies. Those are not for us
today. There are still
wonderful, wonderful things for
us to look at in the psalms. But
we don’t pray imprecatory psalms
on our enemies. Today we love
our human enemies. Our real
enemy is the power of darkness.
You see there’s so much strife
in your famly. Say, “You foul
spirit that’s causing strife in
my family. I command you to
decease in your manueveurs. Be
bound in my family, in the name
of Jesus.” Make sure you use the
name of Jesus. As a king, you
decree. When you do that, you
are taking your rightul place,
seated with Christ. The Lord
loves it. Now you’re flowing
with God. Amen? And God calls
this earnest prayer. How do you
get saved? You declare, “Jesus
Christ is my Lord.” Amen. You
believe He took your sins and He
rose from the dead without them.
Resurrection is the proof that
your sins are all put away. And
once you believe that, you are
saved. You know not saved by
begging, “God, please save me.
God, oh God, please save me. Oh
God, please save me.” No. You
are saved by declaring. So why
don’t you declare right now that
Jesus Christ is your Lord? And
believe in your heart that one
sacrifice for sins forever. In
the Old Testament, the Jews will
bring sacrifice every day. You
know why? Because the judgement
is greater than the sacrifice.
No bulls and goats can take the
place of Jesus. But that one
sacrifice of Jesus is eficacious
for all time. Amen. Because the
sacrifice now is greater than
the judgement. It consumed all
the judgement with all the wrath
of God. And that’s why God has
no wrath towards us who believe
in that one sacrifice. Pray this
prayer with me right now. Say,
“Heavenly Father, I believe that
Christ has consumed all your
judgement, all your wrath in His
own body. And You designed it to
be so. So that You are righteous
today in making me righteous.
You have not, You did not
compromise in any way, Lord. You
are righteous in making me
righteous through the death of
Your Son. And You raised Him
from the dead without my sins.
And that is proof that all my
sins have all been put away.
Jesus Christ is my Lord. In
Jesus’ name, Amen.” Praise the
Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise
the Lord. Lift your hands all
across this place. All across
this place. Let me declare this
over you. You know why I can
declare this over you. Not to
soothe you. You know why I can
declare this over you? Because I
know we are in the year of
ratsown favour. Amen? We are
still in that dispensation of
grace until Jesus comes and
brings us back. Then the earth
will experience the days of
vengeance of our God. But we are
not there yet. God is
longsuffering that as many as
possible will come to know Him.
Amen? Family, everyone that’s
watching this right now, the
Lord bless you and your families
this coming week. May you be
drenched with the blessings of
God. May God make showers of
blessings to fall on you and
your loved ones throughout this
week. May you experience
tangibly the blessings of God
that will manifest this coming
week. And the Lord smile on you,
be favourable to you. And the
Lord Himself keep you, preserve
you in the name of Jesus. I
declare the Lord preserves you
from all evil throughout this
week, from all harm, from
danger, from every infection,
from every power of darkness
through the blood of His Son, in
the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The Lord smiles on you
and grant you His shalom peace,
wholeness and well-being in
every part of your being, in
every part of your body. In
Jesus’ name. And all the people
say? Amen. God bless you.
I hope you enjoyed today’s
episode, but don’t go just yet.
If you’d like to receive prayer,
share your testimony, or find
out more about Gospel Partner,
just click the link on this
screen. If not, I’ll see you in
the next episode.