The Purpose of Prayer

[0:00] Welcome. Thank you for choosing to listen to another faith-building message by Pastor David Entry. Faith comes by hearing and by hearing the Word of God.

[0:12] May your knowledge of Jesus Christ increase as you listen. Be blessed. I want to talk about Luke chapter 11, just the first part because it's loaded.

[0:25] Prayer. Prayer is so important. Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah. Let's look at the text. Luke chapter 11. Luke chapter 11, reading from verse 1.

[0:42] He said, And it came to pass that as he was praying in a certain place, when he has ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray as John taught his disciples.

[0:56] As John taught his disciples. And he, as John, verse 2 says that, And he said unto them, When he prays, say, Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done as in heaven, so in earth.

[1:16] Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins. For we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us.

[1:30] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Verse 5. And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend?

[1:41] This is very interesting. They asked him to teach them how to pray. Which of you shall have a friend? And shall go unto him at midnight and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves.

[1:53] For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me. And I have nothing to set before him. And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not.

[2:07] The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity, he will rise and give him as many as he needed.

[2:31] Verse 9. We are reading down to 30. Verse 9 says that. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and ye shall find.

[2:42] Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth. And to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

[2:57] If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? If he asketh, will he for a fish give him a serpent?

[3:14] Or if he asketh an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

[3:40] Hallelujah. This is such a powerful and a strong text. Jesus, they ask him a simple question. They told him that, Master, can you teach us to pray as John taught his disciples?

[3:57] So in his teaching them to pray, he then tells them that when you pray, okay, for prayers to work, for prayers to be what they are meant to be, this is the format.

[4:10] It should follow this. Now, he didn't give us this for us to recite, but he gave this for it to be a pattern. That's very important to understand. So he gave this as a pattern, not as something to be recited, or he didn't give it for recitation.

[4:29] He gave it to serve as a pattern. So this must be the pattern of our prayers. When you pray, say, our father. No, it starts with when you pray, say, our father.

[4:42] That starts immediately with a relationship. All right. There needs to be a father-son relationship with God to necessitate or to warrant prayers.

[4:54] So effective prayers must only take place in the premise of a relationship, in the sphere of a relationship.

[5:05] And it's not just any ordinary relationship. Not even when we pray. Watch this. We Christians, when we pray, we are not praying to the creator. We are not approaching him as a creator.

[5:16] We approach him as a father, which is very important. A father has a certain responsibility to the children's needs. The children's needs.

[5:28] So he says that when you pray, say, our father, because we approach him as a father, not as a creator. So when you pray, say, our father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name.

[5:39] Now, our father is not a natural father. So we have to distinguish him from this natural father to a heavenly father. He operates from the heaviness.

[5:50] So he's not restricted on the earth. He operates from above. So our earthly restrictions, he transcends our earthly restrictions. That means that this even suggests faith mentality, that whatever is limiting us is not what limits God.

[6:07] What is limiting us on earth can't limit God, because God is in heaven. He's above the earth. And he operates from a different resource, a different base of authority.

[6:20] I see God answering your prayers. I see God answering your prayers. Because God is a prayer answering God, and he answers the prayers of his people.

[6:30] When we cry out to him, when we speak to him, when we pray to him, he answers our prayers. And I see God answering your prayer, if you believe without a man. Amen.

[6:42] He said that who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. It's so important to let him distinguish God. Hallowed be your name is holy. Your name is precious. You are different.

[6:53] Amen. You are unique. You are set apart. You are separate. So he said, pray. When you pray, say, hallowed be your name. And then request his kingdom to come.

[7:04] Thy kingdom come. In other words, when he says that, uh, thy kingdom come. Kingdom, the Greek word is basileal, which means rulership.

[7:15] A lot of people are comfortable in having God as their savior. Savior, but not as their Lord. But he's supposed to be Lord and savior. Many people would like him to be their savior, but not their Lord.

[7:30] But it doesn't work like that. It's Lord and savior. Jesus must be our Lord. That's why when you are born again, you have come under new management. You have lost your independence when you become born again.

[7:42] Now you are solely dependent on the dictates and the instructions and the directives and the wishes of Christ, your Lord. Jesus is Lord.

[7:53] In fact, the early church, one of the things they always said in the early church, to summarize their statement of faith was, Jesus is Lord.

[8:05] Jesus is Lord. Jesus is Lord. Jesus is Lord. So, Jesus is Lord is the summary of the faith of the early church.

[8:16] In other words, we don't just come to him as a savior. He is a savior, yes, but he's our Lord. What he says is what we do. We take orders from the Lord.

[8:28] Hallelujah. Your landlord can kick you out when he's ready for the hour. He can choose, okay, I will not renew the contract. He's the landlord. He can say, no, you are renewing it and I'm keeping it.

[8:40] No, the landlord. When someone is Lord, he's the one in charge. The Hebrew word for Lord is Adonai. Adonai. The Lord.

[8:50] The Lord God is the Adonai. And he says that thy kingdom come. So, when we are praying and we say thy kingdom come, we are actually enforcing his lordship, his rulership.

[9:03] Okay, not rules, but his rule. Not rules as in rules and regulations, but rule as in authority and dominion.

[9:14] Reign. Your reign come. Your rule come. Your kingdom come. So, he says thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth. All right. As it is in heaven or that will be done as in heaven, so in earth.

[9:30] So, we are here. So, this is interesting. Prayer is not just saying that this is what I want. You can tell the starting of the prayer is a relationship with God and enforcing and prioritizing what God wants done.

[9:47] Amen. Amen. So, when we pray, we are prioritizing what God wants done. It's not an effective prayer. Watch this. This is a very important point I want you to understand.

[9:58] An effective prayer will change the one who is praying. An effective prayer will change the one making doing the prayer. An effective prayer is not necessarily a prayer that is changing things, but a prayer that changes the one who is praying.

[10:13] Wow. It's very important. It's very important. It's very important. It's very important. It's very important. So, your prayer is not effective until it begins to have an impact on your life and it's changing you. Then you can tell that this is an effective prayer.

[10:24] Because when you look at the context he says, give us to pray, we begin to see that. He said, when you pray, say, that will be done on earth. As it is, we are enforcing, bringing God's presence, God's power, God's desire.

[10:38] What God desires is what we are enforcing. So, when you pray, it's like, okay, you have an issue with your brother or your sister or somebody.

[10:49] God, this thing he has done. You need to talk to him. Lord, let him change his mind. No. Prayer actually changes you. Husbands and wives are prayers. When you pray, God, change my husband or change my wife.

[11:01] It's not as effective as when you say, God, change me. Change me. So, that is effective prayers. Effective prayers changes the one who is doing the prayer more than it changes situations.

[11:16] Yeah. It changes the one who is actually saying the prayer more than it changes situations. I see something is changing. Your story is changing. I see it happening.

[11:29] I see your story changing and God is doing something amazing in your life and with your situation in Jesus' name. So, he says that, going back to the text, he says that, and then verse 3 says that, give us day by day our daily bread.

[11:48] So, there's always something in God for you. God always has something in stock for you. And I see you receiving it. Amen. God always has something for you. And I see you.

[11:59] Satan will be put to shame in your life. And I see God glorify in his name. Amen. Someone shout amen. Amen. And then, then he goes on to ask for forgiveness.

[12:15] Forgive us our sins. As we also forgive everyone that is in debt. That's interesting. So, you know, when someone sins against you, someone does something against you, the person is in debt.

[12:32] It's in debt. In debt to you. And our prayer is that God give us, forgive us as we also relieve people of the debt that they owe us.

[12:48] Forgive us. We also want to relieve people of the debt they owe us. That is a very important thing to understand. So, as you are praying, you must have it in your... See, I said, I told you, prayer, effective prayer changes the one who is praying.

[13:01] Now, you are asking God, forgive me. But look at the way he puts it. He says that, forgive us our sins. For we also forgive everyone. For we also forgive everyone that is in debt.

[13:16] So, in other words, you are not qualified to ask God for forgiveness. If you don't, you are not ready to forgive others. In fact, in the Matthew account, he puts it this way. Forgive us our debts.

[13:27] As we... As... So, whilst we are in the process of... Forgive us our debts. As we forgive our debtors.

[13:39] Sin is a debt we owe. As we forgive, God forgive us. So, and this is very interesting. In Matthew account, he ended it...

[13:50] Look at the next verse. The next verse. Lead us now into the... Then he says, amen. Then the verse 14. He goes back to... No comment on thy kingdom come. No comment on a daily bread.

[14:02] No comment on hallowed be thy name. No comment on deliver us from temptation. By comments on forgiveness. That means that forgiveness is a powerful tool for answered prayers.

[14:13] It says that... And it's not for God forgiving you. It says that God cannot... For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive...

[14:26] You see the word? Also. It's like... God is waiting for you to do for him to do. Wow. Mom. Dad.

[14:36] Brother. Sister. Sister. As you forgive. God is... You are not... You lose every entitlement for forgiveness of sins once you choose not to forgive others.

[14:52] You lose your... Forgiveness of sin is not an entitlement until you are forgiving others. Yeah. It's very important. So it says that...

[15:02] Look at Matthew... Again. Matthew chapter 6. The Matthew 6 account. Very interesting point. It says that... If ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you.

[15:15] Look at verse 15. But... This is the problem. There's a problem, bro. Maybe all this prayer you have been praying and praying and believing God for... Maybe this is why it hasn't been... This is what has blocked it.

[15:26] But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your... Hey! God said, me too. I will forgive you. I mean... This is a serious one. God said, me too.

[15:38] Is it possible you are praying and God is saying, me, I will forgive you? Now, so that means that... The core of your prayer has a lot to do with your willingness to forgive others.

[15:51] That's when the Holy Ghost comes in. Because there are things that have been done against you. It will take the power of the Holy Ghost to be able to let people go. Oh, yes.

[16:01] Oh, yes. I see somebody receiving strength. Amen. I see somebody receiving strength. Amen. Receiving strength in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. So, we do take the power of the Holy Ghost.

[16:13] So, I'm going somewhere. I just want to run up this. I'm going somewhere. Is someone learning something at all? We are learning. We are learning. I see you moving from glory to glory and from grace to grace in you.

[16:25] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. So, back to the text. It said that...

[16:35] This is a very interesting... Look. Back to Luke. All right. So, it says that for if we don't forgive... So, and then Jesus said, Forgive us as we forgive others the other dead.

[16:46] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Verse 5. But deliver us from evil. Watch this. And he said unto them, Which of you?

[16:57] Then he told them a story. That's interesting. Now, watch this very carefully. After teaching them how the format of prayer, he adds a story and tells them about how, which of you, if you have a friend.

[17:12] A friend. A friend. So, for the person to qualify to even go and ask, he must be a friend. Wow. That's why the effective prayer always runs on the platform of relationship.

[17:26] You must have a relationship with God, not God creator, because everybody has a certain personal relationship with God the creator. But God the father is not everyone who has that personal relationship with God the father.

[17:37] So, for you to enjoy a prayer to a certain level, in the first place, you must have, you must approach God. We must approach God as God the father.

[17:48] And he says, Which of you have a friend? Okay. Which of you shall have a friend and shall go unto him at midnight? That means at an inconvenient hour.

[18:01] And say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves. Specific. It was specific. This is supplication. Lend me three loaves. And then he says that, You go to a friend and say, Lend me three loaves.

[18:15] And he, from inside his house, Isarusha said, Don't trouble me, bro. Bro, it's too late. My door is now shut. My children are resting.

[18:25] I mean, don't ring the bell. It's too, you are making noise. We really, so, I think, let's do it another time. I can't rise up and come. Yeah, we are in bed. And I say unto you, Though he will not rise up and give him, Because he is his.

[18:41] Did you see that? Because he is his friend. Though he will not give him because he is his friend, Yet because of his consistent pushing, Importunity.

[18:53] That's what it means. He is his consistent pushing. He is driving things. He is pushing things. He is determined that this thing must, He must do it for me. So yet, because of his conscience, Yet because of his importunity, He will rise and give him as many as he needs.

[19:12] So now, first of all, Watch this. This is very important. Look at me here. First of all, There must be an established relationship. A friend. Okay. So a friend is asking for something from his friend.

[19:28] Okay. So there must be a relationship. The friend is asking for something. Now, that is number one. So first of all, It must be a friend. Number two, There must be a certain level of determination And unyielding persistence.

[19:43] So I pray that I've not seen anything. So it does. No, no, no. You haven't seen anything. You have to keep praying. You have to keep going. So he says that a friend comes, And he said, I'm not ready.

[19:55] Because of the time. Not because I don't want to do it as a friend. But at this particular moment, It's not convenient. And really not ready. But he says that this guy will not give up.

[20:06] I'm trying to tell somebody don't give up. Pastor, I was believing God. I was believing God. I was believing God that I would get the job. And I didn't get the job.

[20:18] I was believing God. You actually, Our prayer, Instead of believing God, It's good to ask. I'll show you something in a minute. But our asking, The strength of our prayers should be hinged on What is happening inside us.

[20:33] How we are changing and becoming more close to God. How we are becoming closer to God. And desiring God more. That should be the heart of our prayer. The heart of our prayer, As I said, Is not the changing of things.

[20:45] But the heart of our prayer is, We keep coming and getting closer. And pushing into God. And pushing into God. And pushing into God. Something has developed. Something so much of you has dropped off.

[21:00] And something so much of God, Hallelujah, Has been worked into you. Yeah. And that's, That's what changes the dynamic of your work with God.

[21:10] That's the power of prayer. The power of prayer, Has a lot to do with the changed life, Than changed situations. The power of prayer starts with changed life.

[21:22] And so sometimes, We need to develop the habit, Develop the desire, To keep going to God, Keep pressing on towards God, Getting closer to God. Oh God, I love you Lord.

[21:34] I desire you Lord. Getting closer, And pushing more towards God. Hallelujah. Amen. The power of prayer. The power of prayer. It makes every difference.

[21:47] It makes every difference. So now, When you look at, Going back to the verse, It says that, Verse 8, I say, Though he will not rise up, But because, He will not rise up because, He's his friend, Yet, Because, Of his, Opportunity, He will rise, And give him, Now, This is interesting.

[22:11] I just want you to look at, The textual structure. The structure of the text. Jesus, They come to him, And ask him, Now teach us, To pray Lord.

[22:22] And, He, Tells them, Gives them the pattern of prayer. And after giving them, The pattern of prayer, He gives them, A story, Of persistence in prayer.

[22:34] So, The pattern is not enough. The persistence is also important. Not just the pattern. So, And the pattern, Within the pattern, We could see, Faith at work.

[22:46] We could see, Relationship at work. So, Father, Son, Relationship, Faith at work. Your kingdom come, Your rule come, Yieldedness to God. But he said, That is not enough.

[22:58] Then, He tells them, A story, That depicts, Persistence, And consistence. He tells them a story, That depicts, Persistence and consistence.

[23:09] And not just that. Then, He goes on, To tell them, I like the verse 9. Amazing. That's a very serious one. Then, He says, And I say unto you, Ask, And ye shall receive.

[23:23] Or, Ask, And it shall be given unto you. Then, He says, Ask, And it shall be given unto you. Seek, And ye shall find. Knock, And it shall be opened unto you.

[23:34] Three things. Ask, Seek, Knock. Let's all say, Ask, Seek, Knock. Ask, Seek, Knock. Let's say that again, Please.

[23:46] Ask, Seek, Knock. So, Ask, Seek, Knock. Ask, Seek, Knock. Ask is more general.

[24:00] Seek is more kind of specific. Knock is more economic demanding. So, Placing the demand.

[24:12] So, Ask, Prayer. When Jesus spoke about, When the Bible talks about ask, It's talking about prayer in general. Prayer about everything. It's good to ask God.

[24:22] It's good to ask God about this. Ask God for this. Ask God about this situation. It's good to ask. Seek. Seeking has to do with supplication in a specific way.

[24:33] So, You are praying about something in a specific way. A particular matter you are dealing with. That's what the man was dealing with regarding his friend. It is this thing I need.

[24:45] I need, I need three loaves. It was specific. He said, Give me three loaves. I need this. So, I need this, These three loaves. And then, To, Knock means that to demand.

[24:59] You have to be intimate with someone in order to be able to demand. When it comes to the knocking. So, That is why, The man, Took advantage of his relationship with his friend.

[25:11] And kept asking. The man said, No, No, Listen, My friend, We are asleep. But, It will be bad. Sleeping will not stop me. The effect that you are asleep, That will, We are too close that, You are the, If there's somebody that has your trouble, It's you.

[25:25] Because of the nature of their relationship, He's his friend. Bible says, Because he's his friend, Even though he will not answer because he's his friend. His friend was, He had the audacity to, To use his relationship with him, To keep pushing.

[25:39] To keep pushing. So, To knock, To knock means, To place demand in a certain intimate way. There are people who are, Who are expecting God. God, I want you to do this. But, They are not intimate with God.

[25:52] Their level of commitment to God, It's questionable. Or, It's, It's very minimal. When you have a certain commitment to God, You can leverage that commitment to ask in a certain intimate way.

[26:05] God, This must be done for me. There are times people are in a certain situation, As a pastor, And I begin to pray, I say, God, Not this one. God, Deliver this one, Not on my account.

[26:16] On my account. God, It can't happen because of me. It cannot happen because of me. Because of me, Things must change for this lady. Because of me, Things must change for this brother. Because of me, Things must change.

[26:29] Lord, I, I, Sometimes, Paul, Paul puts it this way in Philippians chapter 2. He said, Epaphras, Epaphras was sick unto death. I think verse 25 or so.

[26:40] The guy was sick unto death. He was almost dying. But he said, God, God, Had mercy on him. And not only on him, But me as well. Philippians chapter 2, Verse 26, 25, 26.

[26:54] For indeed, He was sick unto death. From verse 20, Let's go to verse 26. Verse 26. Verse 25, Rather, I think it's better.

[27:05] It's because, Epaphras, Epaphras, Epaphras, My brother, Fellow worker. He's a brother, He's a fellow worker, And a fellow soldier. And yet, He's the messenger of the church, Your messenger, And one who ministers to your need.

[27:18] You see the guy's qualification, All these five, He's a brother. Some of us, We can only call you a brother, But I know a fellow worker. When it comes to the work of God, You are not a fellow worker. You are not a fellow worker.

[27:30] Yeah, I love you as a brother, But I want you as a fellow worker, And not just a fellow worker. Look at that, There's a fellow, But fellow soldier, We are fighting together. We are fighting together.

[27:41] Pastor, Would you fight with me? Would you take your stand with me? Let's fight together. Don't just be a Christian brother. Be a fellow Christian worker.

[27:52] We are all working in the current fold. And not only there's a, We are all on the forefront, Fighting! It gets to a time, Ministry has to be, It's a fight. Yeah. It gets to a time, Ministry is a fight.

[28:04] You gotta fight. You gotta fight. Fight! Hallelujah. We have to fight for a righteous cause. You have to fight. Fight for the kingdom, Bro.

[28:15] Fight for the cause of the kingdom. Fight for the cause of God. Let's fight. So, He said that, Epaphroditus was a fellow, A fellow, Um, Epaphroditus, It was a fellow brother, A fellow worker, And a fellow soldier.

[28:32] But to the church, You people, He was your message, Ah, Not your leader. He was your messenger. There are some people who never want to serve. They enter, They want, When some people, When they join the church, They want to join from the top.

[28:46] Oh, The error. The pastor is my friend, And so, They want to sit in a front seat. They don't want to serve. Some people come and say, I mean, I've finished Bible school, You know, So, In this stage, You have to make me a co-pastor.

[29:04] I have, I have, You know, I've accomplished something. I have, I have an album. Some of you, Some of us think that God's servant is, A title, Another title for bishop.

[29:15] No, No, No, I'm just trying to remind myself, That I'm here to serve God, And I'm a servant. Wow. I prefer to be seen, As a servant, More than, A, A supervisor.

[29:30] Because bishop means a supervisor. I mean, I mean, There's nothing wrong with you. I thought on bishop. Even Christ himself is bishop. So, If you are following him, But the point I'm making is that, You must, Listen, For, For your prayers to work effectively, You must have this servant mentality.

[29:47] I am a servant of the people, A servant of the church, Not a community first, But the church, Okay? The church, It's very important. A pastor is a servant to a church, Not a community.

[29:59] The community is there. I mean, A Christian is a servant everywhere. You serve anybody to help anybody. But my assignment, I'm not a social worker. My assignment is a minister, To the body of Christ.

[30:11] Wow. It's a teaching. Hallelujah. So, Anyway, I've gone too far. Let me, Let me pick on that again. So, Epaphroditus, Your fellow says, He ministers, He ministers to my needs.

[30:24] Ah, Okay. So, The guy is serving you. He's your messenger. And he ministers to my needs. Me, His fellow brother, His fellow worker, And his fellow soldier. He means it because I'm a senior.

[30:36] He means, This is Paul talking. Now, Watch this. Verse 26 says that. Verse 26 says that. Since he was, He was longing for you all, And was distressed because you heard he was sick.

[30:47] Now, Look at verse 27. And he said, For indeed, The guy was sick. He was sick almost unto death. He didn't, Why didn't he die? God had mercy on him. You will receive mercy.

[30:58] I seek God show you mercy. Amen. The man will be for you. You will experience mercy. You will not die. You will not, Because God will have mercy on you. Someone shout, Mercy.

[31:10] Mercy. God had mercy on him. But this is very interesting. And he said, Not only on him, But on, Ah, Ah, Ah, Is she there?

[31:25] God had mercy on me, His leader. Me, The one he has been ministering to my needs. Me, His fellow soldier. Me, His brother, And his fellow worker. God had mercy on, Not only on him, On me.

[31:39] Lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. Because of me, He cannot die. I believe Paul had to place a demand on God. That God know this one. God know this one.

[31:49] It was a demand. Paul was knocking. He was knocking. He was knocking because, He had a certain equity with God. Help! He had a certain equity with God.

[32:00] He leveraged on his equity. And he said, God, For my sake. Not this one. So God had mercy on him, Paul. Other than that, He was sorrowed too much.

[32:10] Some of us here, I believe, There are some things that are not permitted to come near you. Amen. It will cost your pastor too much. It will cost your other Christian brothers too much.

[32:23] It will cost your other Christian, People who have a certain intimacy with God, It will cost them too much. So because of them, God will have to spare you. There are things that I believe, There are things that cannot happen to me.

[32:36] Why? Because of the people I'm connected to. When it comes to knocking, It is a function of a certain level of intimacy. And you and I, As we walk with God, Build your knocking abilities.

[32:51] Don't say, Oh, All this thing I'm doing, No one is seeing it. God is seeing it. God is seeing it. And when do? He said, When you pray, Go into your closet, And pray to God who sees in secret, And he will reward you openly.

[33:08] There are things that people will never see you doing, But God knows you are doing. And God will reward you. I'm talking to somebody. God is a rewarder. And when it's time for God to reward you, Every, I, All eyes will see that God is rewarding you.

[33:21] So shall it be in Jesus' name. Now this year, God will reward a lot of people listening to me. Amen. But this year, I know God will reward you. Amen. Amen. You have been doing privately to his glory, And you have been saving faithfully.

[33:34] Your faithfulness, Your faithfulness will be rewarded by heaven. If you believe, He shall tell me. Amen. Thank you, Jesus. Well, So, In Luke chapter 11, Verse 9, Back to the text, He just said, Ask and it shall be given.

[33:50] Seek and it shall find. Knock and it shall be opened. For everyone that seeks, That asks, Or asketh, Everyone that asks, Receive. Someone say ask.

[34:02] Ask. Say ask. Ask. Say it again, Please. Ask. Ask. There's nothing wrong in asking God. In Matthew chapter 18, Verse 19.

[34:15] Look at Matthew 18, 19. Matthew, Again, I say to you, That if two of you agree on earth, Concerning anything that, What? They do what? Ask.

[34:27] They ask. When you are dealing with heaven, You must learn how to ask. Matthew chapter 21, Verse 22. Look at chapter 21, Verse 22. It says that, And whatever thing ye ask in prayer.

[34:39] All right. So, Prayer. In Mark chapter 11, Verse 24. Mark 11, 24. John 14, 13. Mark 11, 24. Therefore, I say to you, Whatever thing ye ask in prayer.

[34:52] You ask when you pray. So, We must not shy from asking God. Shy away from asking God. Because when we ask, God hears.

[35:03] God likes us to ask him. God likes us to ask him. Some people say, Oh, You don't have to be asking. No, No, No, No, Please, Please. Jesus said it. He said, Whatever you ask when you pray. So, Asking is important.

[35:15] It's part of our relationship with God. In John chapter 14, Verse 13. In John chapter 14, Verse 13, 15, Verse 7, 15, Verse 16. Verse 16 says that, What, And when, Whatever you ask in my name, Say ask.

[35:31] Tonight, I think it would be good to do some asking. Look at chapter 15, Verse 7, And chapter 15, Verse 16. John 15, 7. If you abide in me, And my words abide in you, You will ask what you desire.

[35:43] This is very important. From things you can ask, And you can always get. Based on certain conditions. And the condition Jesus said over here. He says that, He said, If you abide in me, Then my words abide in you.

[35:56] You ask. Verse 16. Verse 16. It says that, You did not choose me, But I chose you, And appointed you, That you should go and bear fruit, And that your fruit shall remain, That whatever, Oh, Those who like evangelism, Those who like reaching out, Those who like bearing fruit for the kingdom.

[36:14] He said, Your fruit shall remain, That whatever you ask. So you have to abide in him, His word must abide in you, According to chapter, Verse 7. According to the, You have to abide in him, And his word must abide in you, Then you can ask.

[36:27] Then he takes it further. He said, He called us to bear fruit, That our fruit shall remain, That whatever you ask. Hey, I see God answering your prayers.

[36:38] Amen. I see God answering your petition. I see God granting you your petition. You will be like the father of John the Baptist, Zachariah. He said, God has heard your prayers. I see God granting you your petition.

[36:50] God will grant you your petition. Because God wants us to ask him, And we must ask. Chapter 16 of John, Verse 23.

[37:01] Chapter 16 of John, John chapter 16, Verse 23. You see how he puts it. He says that, And in that day you will ask, In that day you will ask me nothing.

[37:13] Most assuredly I say unto you, Whatever you ask the father in my name, He will give you. Verse 24. Oh, wow. This is so sweet. Until now you have asked nothing in my name.

[37:26] Ask and you will receive that your joy. Oh, boy. There's a joy, Joyfulness that comes when we ask her. See, And God knows that. And watch this. God's desire is to give us what we ask.

[37:39] It is God's desire to give us what we ask. I'm talking to you, I'm talking to you, My brother. I'm talking to my sister. I don't know what you might be going through, And what you might be in, But I believe that God will answer you.

[37:52] God will show up in your situation. God is showing up in your marriage. God is showing up in your career. God is showing up in your health. God is showing up in your finances. Receive it in the name of Jesus Christ.

[38:03] So, You see all through scripture, How we should ask. How we should ask. In James chapter 1, Verse 5 and 6, It talks about, We should ask in faith. Not wavering.

[38:14] We ask in faith. If you are asking, Say, Let him ask in faith. So, All these ask us scriptures I've quoted, Is beginning to point some things to us. I said, Be, Abide in me, And my word in you, You ask, You receive it.

[38:25] It said, Bear fruit, You ask, You receive it. Okay, When you bear fruit. Did you see that? And then, He intergets it by saying that, It's the father's good will, Pleasure to give you what you ask. That your joy might be full.

[38:36] But then it goes, When we read James chapter 1, Verse 5, It says that, You should ask in faith. So, These are the things, The ways to ask for you to see your asking working. Okay, So, We should ask in faith.

[38:46] Not doubting. That's verse 6. Verse 5, It says that, If anyone lacks wisdom, Let him ask. So, God does not ban us from asking. And He actually wants us to ask.

[38:57] That is why, That's why Jesus said, When He taught them to pray, He said, Ask, And you shall receive. And when you look at 1 John chapter 3, Verse 22, It tells us about asking.

[39:08] 1 John 3, 22, It says, Whatever we ask, We receive from Him. Because, You see now, Keeping His commandment Has also been thrown in here. All right?

[39:18] I see God giving you. There are people who don't want to meet the requirements of asking, But they just, They want God to just meet their requirements. What they are asking for.

[39:29] But there are conditions that must be in place to make our asking a reality, Or whatever we are asking for, Counterpass. My brother, I see God doing it for you. Amen. God will not leave you nor forsake you.

[39:42] Amen. Abandon you. Just build your intimacy with Him. Then you see His glory being manifested in your life. Now, Let's quickly finish the text. In Luke chapter 9, Ask and you shall receive.

[39:54] Oh, Seek comes. Seek. 1 Chronicles chapter 28, Verse 9. Very interesting text. You have to seek God. We have to pay the price to seek God.

[40:06] Pay the price to seek God. He said, As for you, My son Solomon, Know the God of your father, And serve Him with a loyal heart, And with a willing mind.

[40:16] For the Lord searches all the hearts, And understands all the intents of the thoughts. If you seek Him, Oh, Oh, If you seek Him, Bro, If you seek Him, You will, If you seek Him, He will be found by you.

[40:34] I tell you, This is good. If you seek God, If you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever. This is serious.

[40:45] Some people think you are doing it for a pastor. No! No! You are not doing it for a church leader. Not doing it for your mom. Not doing it for your husband. Not doing it for your wife. Not doing it for your dad. Seek Him, You will find Him.

[40:56] Where is God? Have you sought Him? How did you seek Him? Because if you, The Bible says, If you seek God, You will find Him. If you seek God, You will find Him. Anybody say, I don't know. I don't know why He's going here. It's happening to me like this.

[41:07] I've tried. Seek Him, You will find Him. When you seek Him, You will find Him. In 2 Chronicles 15, Verse 2. 2 Chronicles 15, Verse 2. Oh, I feel like preaching, You know. Great. 2 Chronicles 15, Verse 2.

[41:19] It said, And he went out to meet Asa and said to him, Hear me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you are with Him.

[41:30] If you seek Him, He will be found by you. But if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. Hey, let's not turn our back against God. Let's not forsake Him. God is not a businessman looking for clients.

[41:43] God is not looking for clients or customers. He only builds relationship with people. If you turn your back, Oh, this church is not for me. I almost said, Go to hell.

[41:53] You know. You have tested the good word of God. And now, You have said, This church, This whole church is not for me.

[42:04] This church is not for me. You think you are doing anything against God or for God? Never. When you turn your back against God, He will also turn His back against you. Give Him your back. He will also give you His back.

[42:14] And we'll see who will suffer. He said, If you seek Him, You will find Him. But if you forsake Him, He will, It's not that He said, If you forsake Him, There you go. He said, But if you forsake Him, God, He will forsake you.

[42:27] Can you imagine? God, He said, He will forsake you. He said, I don't want you. If you say, I don't want God. He will also say, Oh, I don't want you. That's why the other time I said, If you don't have time for God, He doesn't have time for you.

[42:40] If there is God. A lot of people think that, When they try and do church or do God, They are doing God a favor. Please. Proverbs chapter 8 verse 17. Are you learning something at all?

[42:50] We are learning. I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me. Jesus said, Seek and you will find.

[43:03] If you seek God diligently, You will find Him. When you seek God diligently, Jeremiah chapter 29 verse 13. I'm showing you some things. If you will seek me, I'm sorry, And you will, Sorry.

[43:17] And you will seek me and find me, When you, Oh, I feel like coming in front of that. You will seek me and find me, When you seek me with all your heart.

[43:29] When you seek me with all your heart. You will seek me and find me, When you seek, So look at verse 10 again. It says, For everyone that asks, Receives, And every done that seeks, Find, Everyone, He that seeks, Find, And to him that knocks, It shall be opened.

[43:46] Watch this. Verse 11. Oh, I don't think I'll have time to, To crack this. But, If, If, If ye then, Being evil, Know how to, To give good gifts, Unto your children, How much more, Shall your heavenly father, Oh, So this is about the Holy Spirit.

[44:05] Oh, So, He taught them consistency. He taught them the pattern of prayer. He taught them consistency. Are you listening to me? He taught them the pattern of prayer. He taught them consistency. And watch this.

[44:15] Now, He taught them the consistency as a part of, As, To explain the consistency. He said, Ask, And shall be given. Seek, And shall find. Knock, And shall be opened.

[44:26] Then He goes on to say, If you are a father. Can I, Can I, Can I, Can I end on this? Yes. Are you sure? Watch this. I saw something. I saw something. I saw something.

[44:36] All my attention. I saw something. If a father, Verse 11. If a son, Ask, Ask, If a son shall ask bread of any, Of you. That is a father.

[44:48] Ask what? Bread. Ask what? Okay. So number one. What is that? What's the one thing they ask? Number one is what? Bread. Let's look at it. Ask, Will you give me a stone? Or if he asked, Number two, What?

[44:59] Fish. Fish. Fish. Say fish. Fish. Fish. Fish. Fish. Fish. This is not chips and fish. It's bread. Fish. Yes, Fish. Will not, You only give separate.

[45:10] Look at the next verse. Verse 12. So number one thing they ask is what? Children may ask for bread. Number two, Ask for what? Fish. Ask for what? Egg. Wow.

[45:22] Egg. Bread. Fish. Egg. Bread. Fish. Egg. Bread is the produce of the earth. Fish is the produce of water.

[45:35] Hallelujah. You are going to dominate the earth. You are going to dominate water. Earth is the produce of the sky. Hallelujah. All the areas of life, In the water, In the land, In the air, God will give you dominion.

[45:50] God will give you dominion. God will give you dominion. Whatever your request is. Whatever your area, The area of your need is. Weather in the air, Concerning things in the air, Concerning things on the earth, Concerning things in the water.

[46:04] God, All these three areas, God will give you dominion. Amen. Every military must reign In these three areas. Air power. If you are going to be powerful, A powerful army, You must have air power.

[46:19] You must have land power. And you must have water power. So the best armies in the world, The most powerful armies in the world, In all these areas, They are superior.

[46:31] Superior in the air. Air power on the land. Superior on the land. Land power. And in the water. Superior in the water.

[46:41] Now this is what Jesus is trying to tell us. In these three areas of dominions on earth, There is no one, Nothing that you ask God, That he can't help you in these areas. They can't use anything in these areas against you, If God is for you.

[46:55] He said, If you are the father, Then he says that, It's I, Who I am ending now. It takes the Holy Spirit. He said, How much more, Verse 13, If you said, How much more, Shall your heavenly father give, The holy, You didn't talk about money.

[47:10] Because the Holy Ghost changes you. Makata karakata shande. Nobara hata handikobalole. The Holy Ghost changes you. The Holy Spirit changes you.

[47:25] The Holy Spirit changes you. It's you he wants to change. It's you he wants to change. The Holy Spirit changes you.

[47:36] And so, An effective prayer, Is the prayer, That changes you, From the inside. It changes you. And when you ask the Holy Spirit, God will give you the Holy Spirit.

[47:47] Because once you have the Holy Spirit, That means that, Every aspect of your life, Is catered for. Once you have the Holy Spirit, He caters for, Every aspect of your life.

[48:01] Every aspect of your life, Gets taken care of. Once you ask for the Holy Spirit. Every aspect of your life, Gets taken care of.

[48:11] Water, Water, Water, Water, Water, Water, When you ask for the Holy, So, Watch this. The key, To rule, To dominion on earth, Is the presence of the Holy Spirit on the person.

[48:27] Wow. The prayer, The prayer, The prayer, The impact of real prayer, Is the flow, Oh, Oh, Is the flow of the Holy Ghost, In a person's life.

[48:40] Is the flow, Is the release, Of the Holy Ghost, Into a person's life. That is, The actual power, The impact of prayer, Is the Holy Spirit. It's not money, It's not husband, It's not wife, It's not job, It's the Holy Ghost.

[48:56] When the Holy Ghost comes into your life, Your story changes. So now, If there's something you want to ask, You want to say, Oh, Lord, Give me the Holy Spirit. Ask.

[49:06] And in verse 13, It says that, How much more shall your Father, Heavenly Father, Give the Holy Spirit to those who ask? If you don't ask, It's a different story. Give the Holy Spirit to those who ask.

[49:20] You want to say, Father, Give me the Holy Spirit. In the area of my, Every area of my life, My marriage, My family, My career, My relationships, My business, My ministry, To do well, I need you Holy Spirit.

[49:40] We need you every day. We need you every hour. Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy Ghost.

[49:52] Come and take control. I need you.

[50:04] Oh, I need you. Every hour, I need you.

[50:16] Oh, Oh, Bless me now, My Savior, I come to you.

[50:29] I need you to pray. We are going to pray. What's one thing? God, Give me a supply of your spirit in every endeavor of my life. Everything I'm doing.

[50:40] And I pray that I'll be intimate, More intimate with you. And I'll have a greater flow of the Holy Spirit over my life. Please pray that prayer right now, So we are ready to cross. Pray that prayer right now.

[50:50] Pray that prayer right now. I need you every hour. I need you every hour. I need you now. I need you. Pray that prayer, Mother Lord, I need you, I need you so much in my life.

[51:01] More than ever before. I need you more than ever before. This hour, this moment, I need you, Lord. I need you, Lord. I need you, Lord. I need you, Lord.

[51:11] I need you, Lord. I need you, Lord. I need you, Lord. I need you in my life. I need you in my life. I need you in my life I need you in my career I need you Lord I need you Lord thank you for listening to hear more from David Entry follow him on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn why don't you subscribe to our YouTube channel at Karis Church and subscribe to our podcast so you are always up to date be blessed