Open—Enos McCavour
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#197.
Oh God, what court love?
Honors are you hands? Oh yeah.
I'm sorry. Congratulations there and it's great. And when you come back.
Uh-huh.
First Theater chapter 4.
First Peter chapter 4 and verse 11. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. If any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God-given, that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom he praised, and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Great.
Father, we're here with a group of Christians, here around thyself, around the person of the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior, with the desire on our hearts, and that is to hear Thy word presented before us. Pray that he would not be nice words. These would not be good words, but that these would be Thy word which should be presented before us. That each one who would take part, take that responsibility, would speak as the oracles of God, but not present their own thoughts. That would present Thy thoughts, that each one of us who would be sitting as an audience.
Would have our ears open that we might listen to what thou would say to us and apply it to our own lives and be exercised by it. We pray for this. We ask that the Spirit not be quenched. And we, we look to thee, our eyes are upon Thee to see what that would have for us. So we looked at before that we asked for blessing upon this meeting and upon this time, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Amen.
I'd like to share a few thoughts this afternoon on prayer. I know my heart for some time. And then at lunchtime today we had a little discussion about prayer so I could look at a few verses in Scripture to give some guidance to us about the valuess of prayer, Matthew Luke 18.
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It's a parable that.
That the Lord gave here it's parallel, is two thoughts. Sometimes they're side by side. One thought, perhaps as a natural application in the other side of the parable, have a spiritual application to it. You take a parable on to them in this end. That men ought always to pray, not to faint.
He speaks here about an unjust judge that didn't fear God.
Or he didn't fear a man.
And so this woman came to him often, wanting revenge.
Over something that had happened. And it's typical in the world, a way that people sometimes an authority act. They they're self-serving, they want to promote themselves and and so they'll take the the easiest way they can to get out of the situation. And we see that all around us today in the world.
That people will cry on to the leaders because they want something.
And the leaders sometimes will just give in. After a while, they just get weary of it and they give to the people what they want. But God doesn't work in that way. God is a righteous judge. And God weighs in the situation of every prayer carefully, and he makes a decision based on his own righteousness and.
God doesn't want any man to fear things.
We're living in a day in which there's much fear.
It's the darkness closes in around us. In North America, we see it more and more all the time. Men's hearts are fearful of what's going to happen.
Are are we going to be safe in a year from now? The Lord leaves us here. Are we going to be able to have conferences and come together like we do now?
Are are we fearful of those things?
What we shouldn't be, we have the access to the throne of grace. God has made provision for us for prayer. God values our prayers.
We're here today mainly, I believe, because of the prayers that have gone up in this land over a number of years, for a long, long time.
To God for.
Governments that they would rule in the fear of God and they would make good.
Good decisions and decisions that would give them the give us the rights that we enjoy that we can carry on for the Lord and that his word and so on would have liberty and all those things. And so do we appreciate what we have. Are we really I speak to my own self. Are we really in prayer before God?
For the rulers. So let's look at Timothy.
Book of Timothy, his first second Timothy.
Perhaps this person?
Yes, First Timothy and his chapter 2.
It says there that I exhort, therefore, that first of all supplications, sincere prayer, prayers and intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men.
For Republicans.
All that are in authority that what it says.
No, for kings, for all that is 40 doesn't say they're for Democrats, for Republicans. I'm from Canada.
Up there we have two party system pretty well. There's a third party, but there's a Liberal Party and what we call a conservative party. The Liberal Party would be what we would refer to as a Democratic Party in the US and a conservative party would what we would call Republican Party here. And so we have different people that God has placed an authority over us.
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And he put them there to rule.
And he would hope that they would rule in fear of God, that they would do right, and and so on. And we hope that too, as believers, we would pray to that end, that they might rule wisely in the fear of God, and that we should be able to continue on until the Lord should come with privileges that we enjoy as Christians. But often times we have to admit.
It is politics with us too, isn't it? We have our favorites.
We like the Republicans, some of us. Some of us like the Democrats. Does that get in the way of our process of prayer? It shouldn't.
We shouldn't be that way. As believers, we should be looking at the authority, that authoritative system that God has put into place.
As just authority that He has put there, We shouldn't be taking sides with it, even though we do. We're to pray for all it says here, all that are in authority. That means every single person that's in a place of authority need our prayers. And why? Because the enemy is busy attacking those people that God has placed in authority if he can bring them down.
And so that they rule in a self-serving way, so that they rule unrighteously.
So that they give in to immorality and lawlessness and all the other things that go with it. Then that whole system of God's government is destroyed. Well, God is keeping a government. God is working. And whether we pray or not, God has his counsels and God is going to bring about his purposes. But God answers prayer.
And we are here today mainly because.
Faithful Christians have been praying that we would have.
These liberties that we will be able to enjoy, these times that we have together.
And so it says that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
That is what the outcome of it should be.
Now we know that we have liberty to take the gospel and go with it.
We have liberty and much thanks God has given to us and it's not popular in this world.
But yet God is able to who establish and who keep those doors open.
Through the efforts of his own people.
By prayer, God hears our prayers.
It says this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. God delights that we should pray for all that are in authority.
We should value what we have as darkness rolls in and we get mixed up in politics and we try to improve things ourselves and we criticize and condemn government. What's going to be the outcome of all that? We we stop praying.
Why? The darkness is going to creep even faster than it is, and so we need to be in prayer.
It says in Ephesians just like. Let's look there for a moment.
Ephesians chapter 6.
Verse 12 Says we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
As Satan's Rome, that's where he works spiritual wickedness in high places.
Satan is out to hinder the counsels of God wherever he can. He can't stop them. They like to hinder them, and so he works in those that God has placed in authority.
So they need our prayers.
They need us to bear them up before God. They may be unjust, they may not fear God, they may not fear man, they may not be doing it themselves. But it's our responsibility as believers to bear these ones up, that we might continue to enjoy our lives, quiet, peaceful lives to go on for the Lord and all godliness and honesty.
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Before him.
I was thinking of a few.
Times in scripture where as mentioned about.
Case with Daniel, who prayed for his own people, he and in the morning really for for 21 days, 3 weeks, he didn't need any food or drink or anything. He was so concerned about his own people that he prayed to the Lord.
And.
Finally, an Angel came and told Daniel that yes.
For the very first day, Daniel, that thou pray, God heard your prayer, but.
I was hindered.
I was hindered in coming to tell you the message from God.
King of Persia withstood the Angel and the Angel had to get help from Michael, another Angel Archangel, to deliver the message and so they work through work through the King of Persia. Satan works through those that God has placed in authority wherever he can to hinder the councils and the work of God.
Well, perhaps there are things that.
In your own life, my life that we prayed about and.
Maybe haven't got an answer as yet. Doesn't mean to say we should stop praying. We should continue to pray until we receive an answer. God will answer our prayers. It may be a while.
There was something that.
My wife and I had a great concern about our children and we prayed for years for our children and.
I finally got we both got an answer from the Lord, a favorable answer from the Lord.
That is a promise, and we haven't seen a result of that promise yet.
But I know the Lord will fulfill it. And so we wait.
It may be after, if I'm left here long enough, it may be after I'm with the Lord and glory that the Lord answers a prayer I don't know. All I know. I take God at His word and He's made the promise and we wait for His time to fulfill it. And there's perhaps others here that have been praying for certain things and you've gotten discouraged and given up. Don't give up.
Don't give up, God hears your prayer.
I think sometimes we pray for things.
And the Lord wants us to own our failure in what we are praying for.
And I believe that that's what it was in my own case. I failed many times as a parent, and the Lord had me over time to own all that out, lay it all empty for him, my failures. That's what He wants to hear. He wants to hear about about us, about why.
Why do things turn out the way they did and we have to own our own failure? Nehemiah.
When he prayed, he prayed before the Lord, he laid everything out before the Lord about his own people, Israel. But Nehemiah took, he took responsibility in it. He took blame for it before God. And Nehemiah's prayer was four months before actually it was answered. But it was, it was answered in a most marvellous way. They were let go from Babylon and they had everything they needed to go back to Israel and rebuild the the city.
The temple and so on. And so don't give up on prayer.
Let's look at the verse in Peter.
Book of Peter.
First Peter, chapter 5.
This is really what we need to do in verse six is humble yourselves. Therefore under the mighty hand of God, He may exalt you in due time, and it mentions casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
Casting all.
Your care upon him, Why does it say casting all your cares upon him?
Now the Lord knows, he says, casting all your care. He knows that we're going to have more than one care.
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Sometimes during the day, I might have a half a dozen cares that I'm concerned about things that might take the car in, have a check as a care. I want to, I want to make sure that they do a good job and the car comes back to me safe. That's a care. You may be in school. Maybe there's there's someone that's a bully, that's security at school. Maybe you're in college and you're writing papers and that's a care to you.
And maybe you're a senior citizen like I am. You've got a doctor's appointment.
Well, that's another cure. And so we were faced with cares all the time, no matter what age that we're in. We have cares and but it doesn't say cares other this is care. That's because the Lord knows we're going to have cares, but he doesn't allow us to have more than one at a time casting all your care singular upon him. He doesn't want us to go around with a whole burden of cares.
And sometimes that's what we do, don't we? We let them pile up.
We let them pile up and then it's it's a weight that we're carrying around all these different things. And so if we would, just as they come up to cast that care upon the Lord and casting it means to get rid of it. Once we cast it to the Lord, we don't have to worry about it again. I'm guilty of that. I've cast the cares of the Lord before and.
And then fretted about it, and then tried to maybe use their own intelligence and wisdom to try to.
Fix things up myself, but.
Really and truly the way this verse is, is just to leave it with the Lord. If we can learn to do that, we have a peace. Then about it we can just say, well, the Lord. Lord will look after. He knows just what to do and He does. And so it mentions another place. And I think it's reason for this is to be instant in prayer. That is, we should be ready to be instantaneous when a care comes up just to lay it out before the Lord.
And another verse is pray without ceasing.
The attitude of prayer, just to be always in that attitude of prayer when something comes up and just committed to the Lord and say, Lord, I don't know how to go about dealing with this problem, but I know that you can look after it and you'll show me exactly what your mind is. And so we can as believers, we're able to to do these things.
It says.
We should do this because it says your adversary, the devil is a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour, whom resist steadfast in the faith, and so on. So the enemy of our souls is looking, he's walking through this earth, and he's looking for little openings where he can come in and seek to upset us, to get us off the pathway, to trip us up.
And to hinder our our walk.
And that way there he can dishonor the Lord, and that's what he likes to do. And so these few thoughts I would just like to leave with you on prayer. They've certainly been a help to me, and I hope that they'll be a help to each one here.