Getting Through The Enemy’s Line With Prayer | Sermon by Tony Evans

Dr. Tony Evans speak about Getting Through the Enemy’s Line With Prayer. This is Dr. Evans’ sermon titled: “Putting on the Armor of God” and is taken from the 8-part series “The Armor of God.” Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative, chaplain of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, and author of over 100 books, booklets & Bible studies. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on more than 1,300 US outlets daily and in more than 130 countries.

a bodybuilder one day went to Africa he

was doing a – of Africa he was one of

these hugely buffs the guys and he was

during a tour and they went to a little

village and they thought they would

entertain the villagers by letting him

do a lot of his profiles of physique and

so he did all of these different turns

and twists and muscles were bulging and

it was quite an impressive performance

that this tribe had never seen before

this kind of bodybuilding exposition

after he was completed the tribal chief

said to him he said that really looked

good that was extremely impressive he

said I don’t know that I’ve seen that

many muscles on a man before he said

what else do you use all of that for –

which the bodybuilder this was his

profession he said well nothing else to

which the tribal chief said what a waste

to have all that muscle and not use it

what a way is to have all this armor and

not use it the Apostle Paul has said to

the church at Ephesus and to us that

your struggle is not against the

physical world verse 12 of chapter 6

flesh and blood that’s where it is

expressed that’s not where it’s routed

that’s merely where the fruit manifests

itself it’s not against the physical

world flesh and blood but against

principalities and powers and world

Force’s of this darkness spiritual

wickedness in heavenly places

whatever is plaguing you today emanates

from the spiritual realm so if you and I

do not address the calls you can’t get

to the

cura the enemy doesn’t want you to know

or take seriously that it emanates from

the spiritual realm because then you

might address it spiritually as long as

he can keep you dealing with the fruit

and by past the route he can keep you

hostage

Paul says your Russell is in another

realm it’s in heavenly places and

because your battle is in the spiritual

realm that’s where your fight must be

but the good news is he tells you to

stand firm because in that realm Jesus

has already gotten victory in the

spiritual realm regardless of what

you’re going through in the physical

realm in the spiritual unseen realm

Jesus Christ has already gotten victory

you are victorious in the invisible even

though you may be thoroughly defeated

and divisible so if you want to be

victorious in the physical like you are

in the spiritual you must address the

physical spiritual leave if you don’t

address the visible physical spiritually

then you have a victory that you’re not

experiencing because of how the physical

is dominating one of the toughest things

for God to get his people to do is to

look at life and live life from the

spiritual frame of reference and not

from the reference point of the five

senses he has given us equipment with

which to do that he comes the verse 18

in Ephesians 6 and he says with all

prayer and petition pray at all times in

the spirit with this in view beyond the

alert with all perseverance and petition

for all the saints and pray on my bath I

want you to notice how many times the

word or a synonym for prayer is used

in that short segment all prayer and

petition pray comes to the end of it

petition for all the Saints beginning of

verse 19 and pray he closes out this

segment with a call to prayer or what I

call putting on the armor how do you put

on the armor how do you wear what God

has given us for victory how do we grab

it get it hold on to it and he tells you

in verse 18 and following he says the

answer is prayer now the question is

what is it we talk about prayer we speak

about it we do it

but I want to take us a little deeper to

make sure we understand it because when

you understand prayer it changes that

you pray how you pray whether you pray

and your expectations having prayed for

far too many people even Christians

prayer is like the national anthem

before a football game or baseball game

it gets the game started but has

absolutely no relevance to what’s

happening on the field it is an exercise

in habit most of us for example when we

pray before we eat really don’t need our

minds to do that because it’s gonna be

the same thing we say every day Lord

bless this food and as you to our bodies

in Jesus name Amen

most of us really don’t need our minds

when we go to bed we’re tired

you know bless me bless my family give

me a good night’s sleep you know protect

me during the night wake me up

in Jesus name Amen it is carrying forth

an expectation and a routine without

meaning for many of us prayer is like a

spare tire we want it there in case we

really need it but if we don’t need it

clothing is it’s back there somewhere

and we can whip it out particularly in

an emergency then we need it but I want

to explain what Paul wants to explain

which is why he uses it so many times in

this verse coming at the end of this

section because if you understand prayer

in the context of this section it will

change whether you pray and in fact how

you pray and it will change what you get

when you pray simply defined I would

like to define prayer as earthly

permission for heavenly interference

earthly permission for heavenly

interference

it is earth giving heaven permission to

interfere or to intervene in what is

happening in my world of reality from

the spiritual point of view prayer is

giving heaven permission to intervene

now that raises the question why does

heaven need permission why why must I

give heaven permission there’s a whole

theology behind this but to sum it up

you have to understand how God organised

the world to work he organized the world

to work through people therefore when he

created Adam and Eve he said let me

rule so God has given us rulership over

the earth and he joins us when invited

to do so in other words there’s certain

things God don’t do because you know

he’s God he can do it but there are many

things and maybe even most things that

God does not intervene on unless

requested because he wants to know he

won’t him you need him desire him and

hot expectations of him and so he does

not intervene or participate unless

requested to do so because God has given

you and me the right to leave him out

you can leave him out you can you can

put him on the Shelf you can act

independently of him let me explain

something prayer doesn’t make God do

anything okay

prayer doesn’t force him cajole him if

God doesn’t plan to do it I don’t care

how much you pray about it prayer does

not force God’s hand but what prayer

does is it calls on God to intervene in

ways he wants to intervene anyway but

won’t do it until requested to do so let

me show you what I mean for example if

you look at well let me show you two

passages right quick on this first of

all James the end of the book of James

he says in James chapter 5 verse 16

therefore confess your sins to one

another and pray for one another so that

you may be healed he says pray for one

another so that you may be healed in

other words he makes a condition of the

healing the prayer then he makes a

general

the effectual prayer of a righteous man

accomplishes much the effectual prayer

will tell you how to make your prayers

effectual in a moment but the effectual

prayer of a righteous man a man who’s

living to please God accomplishes much

not a little a whole lot Elijah

verse 17 it was a land with a nature

like ours in other words don’t say I

wish I was back in the Old Testament

because God did all that stuff back

there for them he says he lied it was

just like you he had a nature he was a

man he was human and he prayed earnestly

effectually that it would not rain and

it did not rain on the earth for three

years and six months then he prayed

again and the sky poured rain and the

earth produced fruit it says he’s older

man just like you and me Elijah has

nothing on you

he had a like nature just a regular man

but he was a righteous man and he prayed

earnestly that it would not rain and it

stopped raining for three years he

prayed again that it would rain and it

rained and then produced fruit or

produced results on earth because of

course that’s what rain does it allows

vegetation and fruit to grow so he says

that this ordinary man got heaven the

moon because rain comes from up there

that was a problem on earth he called on

heaven and heaven moved but I want to

take you back to what he prayed

so turn back to first Kings chapter 18

first Kings chapter 18 first Kings 18

verse 1 now what happened after many

days that the word of the Lord came to

Elijah in the third year

saying go show yourself to Ahab and I

will send rain on the face of the earth

okay now all we read and James in the

New Testament was that he prayed it

would not rain and stop then he prayed

that he would rain and it started

that’s all James tells us but the Bible

tells us that we ought to compare

Scripture with Scripture so now I’m

taking you back to when he prayed that

it would rain God said in chapter 18

verse 1 go show yourself to Ahab and I

will send rain on the face of the earth

what did God say was gonna do he said he

was going sent me the sovereign God said

this is what I’m going to do now in

chapter 18 if you go over to verse 41

now he’ll I just said they have he was

told to go show himself a.m. go up eat

and drink for there is the sound of the

roar of a heavy shower and a I went up

to eat and drink but he lied you went up

to the top of Carmel and he crouched

down on the earth and put his face

between his knees and he said to his

servant go up now look toward the sea so

he went up and looked he said there is

nothing and he said go back seven times

he came about at the seventh time that

he said Behold a cloud as small as the

man’s hand it’s coming up from the sea

and he said go up and say they have

prepare your chariot go down so that’s a

heavy shower does not stop you in a

little while the sky grew black with

clouds and wind and there was a heavy

shower and a half road and went to

Jezreel then the hand of the Lord was on

Elijah and he girded up his loins and

outran they have two Jezreel there’s a

whole bunch here let me just give you

the cliff notes God said it’s going so

watch this

when Elijah praying he only prayed about

what God said in other words he was just

making up stuff on the spot

God said it was gonna rain but wait a

minute what God said didn’t come true

until he prayed even though God declared

it in the heavenly realm in the

spiritual realm

no rain hit earth until he got called

down for from Elijah

in other words prayer called down what

God already had intended to do prayer

did make God you suddenly went and

planned to do God had already told my

plan for it to rain all prayer did was

call it down and it was an interesting

way he prayed it says he crouched down

on his knees and put his head down now

that may not be much to you but it means

a whole lot back in the Old Testament

cuz when a pregnant woman was getting

ready to give birth then it has stirrups

like we had it today it would be travail

it would be pushing outlets what had

grown in when he lied you got down on

his knees he was getting in a travail

position because he was pulling out of

heaven that which heaven intended to do

until he got pushed down to earth and he

pushed seven times seven times until

that baby got birthed called rain in

other words all Elijah’s prayer did was

grab what God had already intended to do

and bring it down to earth prayer is not

making God do something he never planned

to do prayer is grabbing

God intended to do and driving it down

to earth but it doesn’t happen on earth

just cuz it’s already intended in heaven

it happens on earth because it was

grabbed by earth when heaven has already

declared it to be and brought it down to

earth by our participation with it what

I’m trying to say is when Paul says to

pray he is not just saying how about

these general meaningless repetitious

empty conversations and think that

because you can regards name out it was

something significant he says what makes

it significant is you understand what

prayer is it is earthly permission for

heavily interference predicated on the

fact that this is what heaven intended

to do prayer let’s put it another way

your problem is in heavenly places

prayer takes you there prayer is the

human means of entering in to the

supernatural realm in order to utilize

the other when you look back at

Ephesians chapter 6 and you look at the

last piece of armor before he even talks

about prayer notice what it is he says

that we are to use the sword of the

Spirit which is the word of God in other

words the best way to pray is when you

throw God’s word back at him see he knew

he could pray for rain because he had

heard the Word of God about rain so he

knew what to expect

cuz he knew what God had said having

known what God has said and praying in

light of what he says gives you

authority in the spiritual realm they

put it another way if you don’t know

what God has said or you don’t know what

to expect from God then you will pray

they prayers you will pray empty

and the armor won’t seem to work because

you’re not connecting it with the

spiritual realm in which it operates he

says I want you to make contact with God

flesh and blood see we we spent all of

our time talking to men about God and

very little time talking to God about

men we spent a lot of time talking to

and about our circumstances we’ll talk

on the phone we’ll talk to people who

usually can solve our problem we’re

looking for sympathy and so we talk to

folks who can sympathize with us but

what you need are answers not sympathy

what you need is happen to invade earth

when you throw God’s stuff back at it in

a thing called prayer you’re not making

God do something you are simply

receiving by faith what he’s already

planned to do that change is the power

of prayer you know we’ve got we got

radio and TV signals all around us all

around us there are signals there’s

signals in the in the air right here in

this building they are radio waves and

they’re TV signals and they’re all

around us but we’re not hearing any

music and we’re not seeing anything on

the TV screen why because we don’t have

anything right now to pull it down in

other words if you’re talking on a radio

right now what’s invisible will become

visible you’ll be able to hear it if you

if you had a TV set plugged in you would

be able to see it because you have

something to receive it in other words

you need something in the physical to

receive the waves in the invisible even

if you don’t have a radio and don’t have

a television the waves are still

operating that’s still all over the

place they’re still surrounding us but

the lack of something to grab it and

receive it and bring it to the physical

keeps you from knowing it’s there

God is moving God is all over the place

the spiritual realm is totally so

than you right now there are angels in

this room there are demons in this room

the invisible realm is all over you

right now you just can’t see it

hey you can’t feel it until you draw it

down okay until you draw it down and so

so what he is saying is prayer is the

means of contacting the invisible

spiritual realm and bring it down to the

visible physical realm and that is the

way you engage the armor and put the

armor to work now let’s look at what he

says here in Chapter six

he says with all prayer and partition

pray at all times in the spirit now

watch this he says pray at all times

there are two Greek words for time

Chronos and Kairos Chronos is simply

time in general its seconds to minutes

minutes to hours hours to days days to

weeks weeks to months once the years

that’s Chronos that’s just time general

time we exist in time and we exist

linearly in time time moves forward

that’s Chronos it’s just the general

concept of time but Chronos is not the

word for time here the Greek word for

time here is chaos that has to do with a

specific specified time if I say Kairos

if I say I will meet you at 12 o’clock

that’s not time in general that’s time

specific that’s a certain time a

specific time and if I tell you I’m

going to meet you at 12 o’clock you know

what that means

there the reason why we’re meeting

because if I make an appointment

that means I’m meeting you for a purpose

so it is ace for

big time an opportune time or an

appointed time Kairos is the word used

here not from us when he says I want you

to pray at all times

he’s not talking about 24 hours a day

you having this verbal conversation with

God he’s talking about all opportune

times all specific times all appointed

times that’s what the word means why

would he be using Kairos instead of

crona’s there’s a Chronos concept pray

without ceasing that is always staying

communication with God but that’s not

what he says here he says I want you to

pray at all Kairos times appointed times

schedule times opportune times specific

times why is he being so specific when

he talks about your communication with

God here because of the context in which

this discussion about Prayer occurs it

occurs in the context of spiritual

warfare in the courage of a context of

putting on spiritual armor and notice

the real context that it occurs in in

verse 13 take all the full armor of God

so that you may be able to resist in the

evil day he’s talking about the evil day

that’s the day when all hell breaks

loose that’s the day when you feel like

you will lose your mind that’s the day

when nothing’s going right that’s the

day when you you just not gonna make it

that’s the day when you wonder how am I

gonna get through another day because

you’re under attack some days you don’t

go through that some days a day is fine

and you may have a little thing go wrong

here a little thing go wrong there but

overall life is good and life is life is

going okay but you and I know some days

are not like that

some days it looks like the devil’s

riding your back looks like everywhere

you turn

something is going wrong it looks like

every direction you look in God is

invisible and is nowhere to be found

that’s the evil day that’s the day when

evil has descended

upon you trying to own you dominate you

and dictate to you he says on that day

at that time when you’re under that kind

of attack you need this kind of Prayer

because that day demands the armor of

God be worn by you in all of God’s power

brought to bear on your circumstances

what he is calling for is specific

prayer concentrated prayers

Elijah kana prayer where you have to

throw God stuff back up at him so that

he can re intervene into your

circumstances one of the reasons we

don’t see God’s show up is that we don’t

earnestly talk to God

when we need him we got these vague

prayers that we’ve been saying for 25

years okay but let me tell you something

about when all hell breaks loose

when all hell breaks loose you have a

unique ability to get specific see when

everything’s going wrong going well it’s

easy to be general you know thank you

all for blessing me you know but with

all hell breaks loose you got specific

stuff jacking you up

you got specific things that are causing

you headaches and heartaches and life

aches and he’s calling you in those

specific times that is the time to call

on God and he says how you are to do it

he says you are to call on him in the

spirit in the spirit let me say it

another way you are to call on him

spiritually you are to call on him

spiritually now there’s the opposite of

spirit is flesh so maybe if I say pray

in the flesh and do the negative you’ll

understand what he means by praying the

spirit to pray in the flesh it’s simply

to mouths words coming out of your

humanity with no spiritual attachment to

them it is simply my

humanity it’s generally how we say grace

most prayers or many prayers when we say

grace our prayers in the flesh they’re

just routine things that we say because

we know we’re supposed to say grace

before we eat with no spiritual

attachment that is no spiritual

connection to it to pray in the spirit

means that you’re making a spiritual

connection to the communication that you

want to take place with God now you can

do that in a number of ways you can

quote scriptures in your prayer or you

can take a principle of Scripture and

place it in front of God see when you

tell God God remember you said you would

supply all my needs according to your

riches and glory in Christ Jesus and I

got this emergency situation going on

right now but the reason I’m talking to

you is because you said that when I was

in this of you said I’ve never seen the

righteous nor the seed begging bread you

said you see see we use pray spiritually

because the Bible says God’s words are

spirit and you bring spiritual truth

into your conversation with God you are

now praying in the spirit you are

praying spiritually you’re not just

playing fleshly or randomly or or

routinely or rote li you are now calling

on God bringing the spirit to bear in

the conversation now let me tell you

what happens when you pray spiritually

turn to Romans chapter 8 Romans chapter

8 when you pray spiritually when you

pray bringing the spiritual to bear in

the situation he says this whole chapter

is about the Spirit of God Romans

chapter 8 and he wants us to know that

the Spirit is at work he says let me

look at a couple of verses verse 22 for

we know that the whole creation grows

and suffers the pain of childbirth until

now so again this childbirth thing this

groaning this aching this labor pain

he says that not only this but also we

ourselves having the first fruits of the

spirit even we ourselves groan within

ourselves anybody ever grew in other

words cuz circumstances in life got you

going Oh life is hurting you and you’re

groaning waiting eagerly for our

adoption of sons and redemption of the

body verse 26 in the same way the spirit

also helps our weaknesses for we do not

know how to pray as we should but the

Spirit Himself intercedes for us with

groanings too deep for words now this is

what you groan in and don’t know what to

say is to got that bad and he who

searches the heart knows what the mind

of the Spirit is because he intercedes

for the Saints watch this according to

the will of God so what he says is when

you bring what you know to be the will

of God into the presence of God and you

are groaning the Holy Ghost grows with

you and because he knows how deep the

problem is how deep the need is how bad

the attack is he comes alongside and

helps a brother out helps a sister out

in your weak moment when you can’t make

it another day but you bring spiritually

into the presence of God the spirit

takes over and he lifts you up in a way

you cannot lift yourself up and neither

can anybody you know lift you up so why

do you want to pray in the spirit you

want to pray in the spirit because he

knows the territory you want to pray in

the spirit cuz he knows what’s happening

up there in the invisible realm he knows

what the Evil One is doing to you

he’s calling you to pray in the spirit

but let me show you how this thing works

cuz I think this will help us in our

prayer and make me a prayer more dynamic

and more real instead of more rote and

more boring for many of us a prayer is a

boring thing because we don’t understand

what’s happening in the invisible

and if you understood what’s happening

indivisible it wouldn’t be boring

anymore so let me show you Daniel

chapter 9 and I’ll return it to a number

of verses today but I want you to

understand this principle so that you

and I can experience the power of prayer

Daniel chapter 9 in the Book of Daniel

Daniel is the man after God’s heart and

in Daniel chapter 9

look at verse 2 in the first year of his

reign I Daniel observed in the book of

number of years which was revealed as

the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the

Prophet for the completion of the

desolation of Jerusalem mainly seventy

years okay so he’s reading the Bible

says he read the Book of Jeremiah he was

reading the Bible and he observed

something he observed what the scripture

says verse three so I gave my attention

to the Lord God to seek him by prayer

and supplication with fasting sackcloth

and ashes I prayed to the Lord my God

okay he read what God said then he

talked to God about it okay so he found

out the mind of God the thoughts of God

from the Word of God and then he talked

to God about what God said okay now

you’re praying in the spirit

whenever you bring God’s stuff back at

him you’re praying in the spirit so why

do you want to study the Bible well one

is to know more about God but the other

is to throw God stuff back up at him he

prays in the spirit okay now go down to

verse 20 now while I was speaking and

praying and confessing my sin and the

sin of my people Israel and presenting

my supplication before the Lord my God

in behalf of the holy mountain to my god

well I was still speaking in prayer then

the man Gabriel Leslie angel’ who I had

seen in the vision previously came to me

in my extreme weariness because he was

tired and the time of the evening

offering he gave me

suction and talked with me and said Oh

Daniel I have now come forth to give you

insight and understanding wait a minute

now he read the word then he talked to

God about the word he read then God sent

an angel to say let me help you

understand some stuff cuz a lot of us

could get through what we going through

if we just understood what was going on

but because like Marvin Gaye we just

want to know what’s going on and we

don’t know what’s really going on we

don’t make the connection what God says

and my communication with God notice he

didn’t send the angel to give him

understanding about his situation until

he prayed but he didn’t pray until he

found out what God had to say he found

out what God had to say he prayed God

sent the messenger to give him

understanding look at verse 23 this is

gonna get good in a minute he said in

verse 23 at the beginning of your

supplication the command was issued and

I have come to tell you for you are

highly esteemed a righteous man so give

heed to the message and gain

understanding of the vision alright now

watch this he says don’t miss this he

says when you prayed the command was

given for me to come

all right watch this now when you prayed

the command was given for me to come now

turn to chapter 10 verse 10 then behold

a hand touched me sent me trembling on

my hands and knees he said to me Oh

Daniel men of high esteem understand the

words which I’m about to tell you and

stand upright for I have now been sent

to you and when he had spoken this word

to me I stood up trembling then he said

to me do not be afraid Daniel for from

the first day that you set your heart on

understanding this and

humbling yourself before your God your

words were heard and I have come in

response to your words notice I came

because of your words but your words

were tied to God’s words so when you

brought your words hooked about the

God’s words God sent me to talk to you

about what you talked to God about but

watch this but the prince of the kingdom

of Persia was withstanding me for 21

days then behold Michael one of the

chief princesses Michael the Archangel

came to help me for I have been left

there with the kings of Persia now I

have come to give you understanding of

what will happen to your people in the

latter days for the vision pertains to

days yet future all right let me break

this down he’s read the word and God

says something that grabs him he’s

reading the Prophet Jeremiah and the

words jump off the page and he says well

wait a minute this applies to me he

didn’t get on his knees and talks to God

about what he just read so he’s not in

the spirit because he’s bringing God to

bear on the situation

twice it says on the day you prayed God

sent the answer watch this man seeking

there are a lot of people here wondering

why God’s taking so long

he told Daniel your prayer was answered

the very day you prayed it now why was

your prayer answered the day you prayed

cuz you’re highly esteemed your

righteous man and you’re praying

according to the word when you’re a

righteous person praying according to

the word it doesn’t take long for God to

answer your prayers in fact he says God

answered it on the same day

that you asked it but there was a

three-week delay you had God answers at

the same day but it says it took me

twenty one days to deliver it to you

now let me tell you about God’s

post-office God’s got a post-office

you got some mail men these mail men

called angels their job is to deliver

the answer to you

everybody’s been assigned an angel who’s

a Christian if you’re a Christian you’ve

got an angel assigned to you and that’s

your personal mailman and that job job

of that angel is to deliver God’s

answers to you when you based on the

word communicate with God in prayer as a

righteous person you just like Elisha

you’re calling down from heaven on earth

a need that happen needs to address but

there was a three-week delay of the

angel okay Gabriel why was there a

three-week delay there was a three-week

of delay because a demon showed up he

says the Prince of Persia that’s a demon

because he calls himself as an angel a

prince he says the demon over Persia

which is where you live in the demon

that’s hovering around where you’re

living was there and he blocked me as I

was trying to deliver to you on the same

day that you asked it the demon you see

unless you know what’s happening in the

invisible world all you see is God’s not

answering my prayer in the visible world

he’s saved but daddy I want you to

understand what’s going on this was a

demon and the demon

where you living the demon live in your

neighborhood the demon lived in Persia

which is where you live it’s just like

God has a post office to deliver your

answer

how has a post office to block the

delivery how wants to keep the delivery

away so now you got a battle between

angels that’s stopping you from getting

the answer to your prayer it’s not that

God hasn’t answered your prayer he

answered it the day you prayed your

prayer but because there is a battle in

the heavenlies that is warfare in the

spiritual realm that’s why that is the

delay so the question is not God why

haven’t you answered my prayer it’s how

do we work out this virtual warfare so

the answer that you’ve given gets to me

he says I was coming down and the demon

or the Prince of Persia that is set up

to block the answer that I was to

deliver to you he blocked me and we were

rumbling for three weeks but did God

sent Michael he big angel in charge he

said Michael down to give a brother some

help and when he said Michael down now

if God had to call Michael that mean the

demons were rough so he has to call

Michael

Michael and Gabriel double-team the dude

get him out of the way so that he could

deliver the BLA see

here’s why you gotta keep praying don’t

keep praying to get God to answer if

it’s based on his word and grace has

already provided everything you’re

supposed to get you don’t keep praying

to get God the answer you are now

praying for God to intervene to keep

Satan from blocking the answer he’s

already given so now you’re praying in

faith when you pray according to God’s

Word and you’re calling on God

accordingly as well you don’t have to

ask him over and over and over and over

again for the same thing if it’s

according to his word once you ask him

sincerely the rest of your prayers are

thank you for answering thank you for

answering thank you for answering cuz

you already answered that they are

delivered it and the reason I got a

delay is there stuff going on in the

spiritual world that’s giving me my

delayed it’s not that God has an answer

God is good on his word he’s good on his

promises he can be depended upon so you

keep praying because you’re trying to

break through the delivery that was

already granted and that’s why you can

spend time giving thanks because God

answers when you ask based on his word

that’s good stuff that’s good stuff

listen this will make you want to pray

he says back in Ephesians let me wind

this up he says back in Ephesians all

prayer all time all perseverance and

look at what he says he says in verse 18

he says Hitler want you to do with this

in view be on alert be on alert

translation pray with your eyes open

okay be keep your eyes open that’s

that’s what it means do you know most

prayers in the Bible are not with eyes

closed I mean we know that we know we do

that to kind of concentrate order to

show reverence but most of the times

when people print Bible says and they

lifted their eyes and can’t eyes open

okay he says keep your eyes open what

are you keeping your eyes open for look

look at first Peter chapter 5 verse 8 he

wants us to pray with our eyes open he

says in first Peter these words be of

sober spirit and beyond the alert you

guys open your adversary the devil

prowls around like a roaring lion

seeking someone to devour

he says the devil is trying to eat you

up

like a roaring lion but a lot of people

don’t know when lion’s roar Lions go

wrong when they’re coming up on their

prey ah they don’t want it Lions roar

after they get their prey it’s when they

get you they are army they roar in other

words it’s their declaration of victory

they walk after the fact not before the

facts you

be on alert because they creepy Napoleon

until they pounce on you after they

pounce on you and devour you

they raw because of the victory he says

keep your eyes open when you pray

because when you calling down heaven how

wants the block that so keep your eyes

open that is spiritually open to see

what’s going on around you because when

you are talking to heaven hell wants the

block that that is why so many times

when you are trying to pray distractions

show up so many times when you’re trying

to pray you’re sleepy so many times when

you’re trying to pray something pops up

because the lion does not want you to

interfere with this trying to block the

answer from getting to you and that’s

why you gotta pray with your eyes open

that’s why you gotta you gotta you know

if you go to Jerusalem you’ll see the

Jews up at the Wailing Wall and they got

the Bible it from there

and you see them doing this you seem to

matter at the Wailing Wall okay the

reason that they’re doing that is so

they don’t go to sleep if they keep

moving so the things stay alert and stay

awake as they communicate with God at

the Wailing Wall that’s the reason they

do that he say pray with your eyes open

because when you talk to heaven your

prayer giving helping permission it’s so

powerful that the enemy does not want

that prayer to go through and so he’s

gonna try to distract you from praying

he’s gonna try to dilute you from

praying he’s gonna cause something to

come up stay intervene with your prayer

you thought that was just chance or luck

or distraction knowing what it was a

lion trying to keep you from being able

to get a breakthrough that you’ve been

looking for for so long that was already

approved in heaven a long time ago two

men heard that they were giving up

$5,000 bounties for capturing or killing

wolves $5,000 per wolf boy let’s become

bounty hunters for these wolves so he

and his friend decide to become

Leona’s and the capture woods $5,000

would one day they woke up in the middle

of the night and it was surrounded about

50 pairs of wolves all with teeth

glittering ravenous wolves hungry he

woke up with other guy he said John

we’re rich

so you gotta had a right perspective

you gotta have the right perspective if

the enemy is trying to distract your

prayer that’s good news that’s good news

that’s good news he’s trying to distract

your prayer cuz that means that it’s

already been approved it’s already on

the way and how doesn’t want you to get

it because he wants to keep you from

making contact with God somebody ought

to be ready to talk to God somebody

ought to be ready to find out what God

has to say and throw it back up in his

face cuz a lot of the stuff you asking

for has already been pre-approved it’s

just it in the spiritual realm

there’s the attempt to block it but if

you will persevere at the carlo’s time

and specifically throw it back in God’s

face he’ll send the help needed to break

it through so that you see it revealed

in the physical realm

[Applause]