12 Prayer Points For God's People

[0:01] Welcome. Thank you for listening to this wholesome word by David Entry. The words you catch will change your world. May your story change from this message. Be blessed.

[0:14] Colossians chapter 1, reading from verse 1, says that Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothals, our brother, to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colossae, grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

[0:37] We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which ye have to all saints, for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of truth of the gospel, which is come unto you as it is in all the world, and bringeth forth fruits as it does also in you, since the day ye heard of it and knew the grace of God in truth.

[1:13] As ye also learned of Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ, who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.

[1:26] For this cause, we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing the knowledge of God, strengthened with all his might according to his glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness, giving thanks unto the Father, which has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

[2:12] Here ends the reading of God's holy word. Father, we thank you for bringing us together, just to put yourself into us, and to reveal Christ in us.

[2:24] Father, we thank you that as we hear your word, we will find Christ. And as we know you, we will know us.

[2:35] Thank you that your word comes to instruct. Thank you that your word comes to deliver. Thank you that your word comes to give hope. Thank you that your word comes to save.

[2:47] Thank you that your word comes to heal. Let your word find its free course in our lives. As it starts, Holy Spirit, please reveal Christ in the pages of Scripture.

[3:00] To the glory of your name, that we will grow in the Lord, and in the knowledge of his will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. And thank you, in Jesus' name, Amen.

[3:14] Hallelujah. Amen. Well, in our previous teaching, we spoke about how the apostle said, after we heard of your faith, we also, therefore, we also, verse 9, for this course, we also, the course, the fact about it, what we've heard about you, about your faith, your love, and your hope, and how you've learned from Epaphras, we also, since the day, since the day we heard it, do not cease.

[3:44] In other words, this is a good one. Sometimes, when you hear things about people, don't stop praying for them. Many of us hear so much about people, and don't pray for them.

[3:56] This morning, I was listening to Acts chapter 9. A whole God appears to Ananias, in a dream. And God told Ananias, Acts chapter 9, from verse 11, he said, arise and go to Straight Street, and inquire at the house of Judas.

[4:18] Judas has a house there. And, you see, not every Judas is bad, please. That's why he was hosting Paul, I saw. In the house of Judas, there's a guy called Saul of Tarsus.

[4:33] Listen, he said, he's praying. And, pastor, it's not only the fact that he's praying. I saw something that I got on. I heard something when I was listening. He said, and he has seen, look at that.

[4:44] He said, he said, and in a vision, he has seen a man named Ananias. Now, this new convert, has already seen a vision, and God is begging the person, please go here, I've already seen you.

[4:57] And, the one, who is supposed to go and work for God, and disciple, he's, he's dialoguing with God, but I've heard so much about him. I've heard about him. I've heard about him. The one you have heard about, and who you don't want to go to, who you have written out, is actually praying, and he has seen you in a vision, coming to pray for him.

[5:16] Wow. He's already seen it. You haven't seen it, but he's seen it. Wow. Wow. So, you are complaining about him. He's ahead of you, in the game. Wow. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Sometimes, we hear so much about people, we don't pray for them.

[5:30] Wow. And, to be in church, it's like, you are likely to be an expert, especially in morning days church, an expert of knowing so much about people, and praying so little for them.

[5:42] Wow. In fact, in fact, our morning day Christians, pray only for themselves. Wow. Intercession has been jettisoned out of the church, our morning day, our morning day, the charismatic church.

[5:57] There are few you find, every day on their knees, praying, praying, they are interceding for others. You hear about other people. Before you tell others, what you've heard about somebody, why don't you direct it to the Lord?

[6:13] You know so much about other Christians, and yet you have prayed so little for them. Paul put it this way, I do not say this to your glory. For this course, since the day we heard of it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire, in other translations, like the English Standard Version, the Amplified, actually even the NIV, he didn't use the word desire, he said to ask, and asking, they were praying and asking, oh God, God, I'm asking.

[6:49] So, he said that we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you might be filled, with the knowledge of his will, let's all say knowledge of his will, knowledge of his will, please say it again, knowledge of his will, be filled with the knowledge of his will, but all spiritual wisdom, and understanding.

[7:09] Then he says that, now, that's what I taught last week, and we are going to the verse 10, but, when you read the King James, the verse 10 says that, that ye might walk, so, look at verse 9 again, we do not cease to pray, desire, what is the desire?

[7:28] That, okay, so we have been desired, what are we desiring? We are desiring that, you will be filled, then verse 10, that, it reminds me of Ephesians chapter 1, the same prayer topic, tells us the prayer topic, Ephesians chapter 1, verse 16, that, it says that, since we heard of this, it's the same thing, do not cease to give them, making mention of you, verse 17, that, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spiritual wisdom, revelation, the knowledge of him, look at the next verse, look at the next verse, the eyes of your understanding, be enlightened, what, that, see that, that, that, that, that, you may know, what is the hope of his calling, and what's the riches of his, the saints, the next verse, and what's the exceeding greatness of his power, now, the, the second that, is not the same, as the first that, I will explain it, to put it better, let's go to our text, it says the verse 9, we do not cease to pray, that, so that's the prayer topic, now, the second one, verse 10, that, that, is not necessarily, the prayer topic, it is the impact, so you can put it, so that, we are praying for you, that this happened, when this happened, so that, so when this, this happens, and then, by virtue of the fact, that this is happening, this is the result, right, so it's, we, we are not praying, that, verse 10, we are not praying, that you walk worthy of the Lord, we are rather praying, that you be filled, with the knowledge, of his will, in all spiritual understanding, then you end up walking, so if you are not walking, worthy of the Lord, it's not because, you are not intelligent, but it's not because, you are not good, it's because, you have not been filled, with the knowledge, of his will, in all spiritual wisdom, and understanding, now another way to put it, verse 10, some translation, look at NIV,

[9:30] NIV said, so that, did you see that, that's why we are praying, we are praying, that this happens to you, so that, so actually, what, the results, we want to see, is that you'll be walking, worthy of the Lord, unto all pleasing, that's, that's, you'll be walking, worthy of the Lord, but first of all, you can't walk, worthy of the Lord, if you haven't, been filled, oh, hallelujah, you haven't been filled, with the knowledge, of his will, in all spiritual wisdom, and understanding, you are filled, with the knowledge, of God's will, that doesn't matter, what happened, and what is going on, you are always, reading, behind the scenes, you have, inside information, so when people, are fretting, and are getting worried, and when things, are even not going, the way you expect, Satan can't, use it against you, yes, yes, yes, yes, Satan can't, you see, you see like Job, Satan came to Job, he said, see, he said, yeah, this church, church thing, how many of you have, some of you might have, said it before, or have been told before, sometimes you are doing, church, church, and things don't go, the way, you thought it would go, or everybody, and then especially, family members and friends, and then they use that, to warn you, see this church thing, you see, this church thing, how many of you have, attempted to do it,

[10:50] God's way, and you had a bitter result, yeah, temporarily, it might look like, the bitter results, temporarily, ah, let me bring you a bit, closer home, there are a lot of ladies here, whose marriages, seem, seem, to be delayed, in human terms, you are 37, and you are still not married, that's seven is even too far, yeah, and you are still not married, and that's auntie, and sometimes mothers are very concerned, genuinely, it's not like they have been, genuinely, so, in fact, someone was told, you are not married, because you are going to church, too much, sometimes, when people are aware, of what you are going through, it can be heartbreaking, for you sometimes, because of some things, you can't hide, you can't hide, and they know it, sometimes, they are shaking your hands, but they know, what's in their head, they are saying, it is well, the Lord will remember it,

[11:56] I hear this one, he's about to marry, may the Lord be for the rest, too, and you know, this one is you, they are talking about the address, so, some of us, have gone through, all kinds of, treatments, unpleasant treatment, and it looks like, God has gone on a holiday, on your case, or he has forgotten about, you, see, when you are filled, with the knowledge, of his will, all this nonsense, doesn't move me, even though, emotionally, sometimes, the situation can get at you, you are filled, with the knowledge, of his will, in all spiritual wisdom, and understanding, that you still continue, to walk worthy, you say, ah well, let me go and marry, this Muslim like that, I know, he doesn't like Christ, but, man is a man, a child is a child, some of you, have been advised, to go and have children, before you cross, a certain age, before you cross, a certain age, go have, get any man, doesn't matter, it's somebody's husband, but he's willing, to be with you, just have a child, before you cross, the age of fertility, some of you, know what I'm talking about, wow, you know what I'm talking, wow, yeah, you've been advised, see, but, it's natural, for these things to come, it's not because people are stupid, or, no, it's natural, but, please, you have to be, that's why you can't afford, not to be filled, with the knowledge of his will, you know, spiritual wisdom, and understanding, if you are not filled, with the knowledge of his will, you will succumb, to situations, and circumstances, you don't have a choice, it's not that you are, some of the situations, actually, looks legitimate, this is what I have to do, but you know, when you are filled, with the knowledge of his will, it stops you from fretting, and you don't miss God, you don't take a turn, that will make God turn from you, yeah, he said, you'll be filled, with the knowledge of his, so that, you will walk, your lifestyle, so that you may live, give me the other version, so you will walk, worthy, worthy of the Lord, unto all pleasing, unto all pleasing, can you imagine, that word, all pleasing, there means, you please him in everything, you please him in everything, that's what it actually means, some translation says, to please him in every way, in everything, in everything, you are pleasing the Lord, when it comes to, how you are dealing, with your marriage, you are pleasing the Lord, how you are dealing, with your caution, you are pleasing the Lord, how you are dealing, with your disappointments, you are pleasing with the Lord, you are pleasing, how you are dealing, with pain, things that have hurt you, you are pleasing, how you are dealing, with ministry, you are pleasing the Lord.

[14:36] Every aspect, how you present yourself, when you are upset, you are even pleasing the Lord. In your anger, you are upset, in that state, you are filled with the knowledge of His will so much that you actually pleased Him. Because if you had not been filled with the knowledge of His will, in this state you are, you would have done some stuff.

[14:57] And sometimes, what's that? Even the interesting thing is, people say, I want to know what He wants. What He wants. I want to know what He wants. Once you are filled with the knowledge of His will, there are decisions you make without having heard A or B from God. But the decision will be pleasing to the Lord.

[15:19] Because you see, when you are filled with the knowledge of His will, you don't have to know every detail of every time. The steps of the good man are ordered of the Lord.

[15:31] The steps of the good man God, in the book of Psalms, God orders your steps. God orders your steps. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.

[15:45] And He delights in His way. Psalm 37, verse 23. So, He prayed for them that they will be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so that they might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful.

[16:09] Being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge. We are going to come into this. It's a lot. It's so sweet. But before I do that, since I promised you about three weeks ago, I haven't had the chance to do that.

[16:24] So, I think I would like to do that. The prayer topic, 12 points He raised. Prayer points. Then we can take the points. I was thinking of, let me explain the points and we later on give it.

[16:34] But let me just mention the points here so that. All right. So now, the first point is that number one, sorry, number, verse nine. Be filled. So the prayer, what were they praying for?

[16:46] The Colossians. That they will be filled with the knowledge of God's will. Number two, they will be filled with all wisdom. Number three, to have spiritual understanding.

[16:57] Number four, is what we just read in verse 10, to walk worthy of the Lord. These are prayer topics that the apostle prays, said they've been praying for the Colossians.

[17:08] And this is the number one prayer topic of a pastor for church people. Before all the other important natural things that unbelievers can also have, and also desire coming.

[17:20] An unbeliever, how can an unbeliever walk pleasing unto the Lord? How can an unbeliever be filled with the knowledge of his will? No, it doesn't happen.

[17:31] It can't. It cannot. It cannot. How can an unbeliever be filled with the knowledge of God's will? How can an unbeliever walk unto all pleasing? Pleasing the Lord in all things.

[17:43] So these are things that are exclusive to the believer. It's called the believer's inheritance. When you look at the verse 12, I will jump ahead.

[17:54] Look at the verse 12. It talks about giving thanks to God who has made us meet. Give us the amplified. The amplified version. It says, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified and made us fit to share in the portion which is the inheritance of the saints.

[18:11] God's holy people in the light. So when you are born again, God has called, you have been qualified. Qualified. Your parents were living in Germany when they gave birth to you.

[18:26] They are British and they moved to Germany for work and they gave birth to you in Germany and lived there 10 years and came back. It doesn't change your citizenship. Listen, you are still British. Yes.

[18:37] You don't have to fight for your British passport. Your parents are British. They just went to work and they were there and they gave. You see, you already, when you are born, you are qualified.

[18:48] You have citizenship. You have citizenship. And people make so much noise which you can understand about citizenship, natural citizenship on this earth.

[19:00] American, British, Nigerian, Canadian, Jamaican, Puerto Rican, Fijian, Haitian. The beauty is everybody comes from somewhere.

[19:14] Everybody belongs somewhere. That's why you have to be careful how you treat people. That's right. Anyway, but the good news is when we become born again, we have dual citizenship. We have a natural citizenship and according to Philippians chapter 3 verse 20, our city, our citizenship is in heaven.

[19:35] It says that our citizenship is in heaven. Let's all say that together. Our citizenship is in heaven. Say it again louder.

[19:46] Our citizenship is in heaven. Say it for the last time. Our citizenship is in heaven. That is why you are entitled to angelic escort. That is why you are entitled to certain immunities.

[19:58] Because you are a citizen of heaven. We are born again. People who are not born again, they think it's about church. No, no. It's something deeper and greater than just being in church.

[20:11] Yeah. Deeper, which natural minds can comprehend. Yes. It's far above. Far above. Citizenship in heaven. So, when you become born again because of your citizenship, you are qualified to have an inheritance.

[20:27] inheritance. Inheritance that belongs is exclusive to the saints of God. Some of the inheritance is just to the fact that you have access to the knowledge of his will.

[20:43] You have access. You as a believer, as a human being, have access to the knowledge of God's will. That's great inheritance. In all wisdom and spiritual understanding.

[20:56] And so, these are things that when we pray for believers, we shouldn't, those of us who have souls, we are following up and praying for. Don't pray that, let them come to church alone.

[21:09] I pray this kind of prayers. When people are filled with the knowledge of his will, they'll get up and do church. You are not doing church because you are not filled with the knowledge of his will. That's why you think church is not important.

[21:22] It's because you don't have a clue of what is valuable to God. The greatest of God's revelation is about the church. Or let me put it this, the peak of the revelation, God's revelation, the new testament of the revelation is the church.

[21:34] The peak of it is the church. It's the church. Not just Christ who died. Talking about Christ who lives in the church, the church which is the body of Christ.

[21:45] And so Colossians, in Colossians, Christ is presented to be the unique one and the most important of all who is the head of the church. In Ephesians, Christ is presented as the body.

[21:59] The church is the body of Christ and is the main body, Ephesians. Then you come to Galatians and you find out it's about Christ who lives in us, Christ who is revealed in us, Christ who is formed in us.

[22:13] Hallelujah. The Christ who is being formed in us, the Christ who lives in us, Christ who is revealed in us. I'm talking about Colossians, Ephesians, Galatians, and Philippians.

[22:25] These three books, Philippians are about Christ who is expressed, who is our personal experience. We don't just talk about it, we experience it. These four are core in the revelation of God about the church.

[22:36] If you take these ones from the New Testament, you will know a lot about the core revelation of God. And I'm telling you, the peak of God's revelation is the church. Some people who say, oh, the church, it's just people who gather, who pray.

[22:50] No, you don't understand. He said the church, which is his body. Ephesians chapter 1, which is his body, the church. He gave him to be the church. The fullness of him, verse 22 rather, which is his body, which is his body, the church.

[23:10] So anytime you hear the word church, don't think about a group of people gathering. It's not just that first. You are talking about the body of Christ, the presence of Christ on the earth. So that means that members, people who are classified by heaven, watch this, a very important word, people who are classified by heaven as members of the body of Christ are very special people to God.

[23:33] Amen. So you are a royal priesthood, a holy nation. You are quite peculiar. 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 8 and 9. You say, we are not ordinary people.

[23:46] Can you imagine if you marry someone who is in the church? Wow. You've married someone who is not ordinary. Yeah. And I know what you are thinking.

[23:57] Pastor, my wife is a very strange person. Even though I met her in the choir. Somebody said, Jesus. Even though I met him, I met him in the sound team.

[24:15] He used to pray a lot, but he's a strange person. There are things that are washless. What you don't realize is sometimes we confuse the two. We confuse the two.

[24:25] Bible says in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 7, we have this treasure. This treasure in Italy. So you are only focusing on the earthiness of the vessel. But the treasure is inside.

[24:37] If you are born again, if you are born again, you are treasure to God. And the treasure of God is inside you. Something unique, uniquely heavenly.

[24:49] Something uniquely spiritual. Something uniquely glorious is embedded in you. And that's why Paul said, work out your salvation. Live it out. Work it out. Work it out.

[24:59] Work it out. Through prayer, through studies, as you are growing the Lord through fellowship, you are working it out. You are working it out. You are working it out. So we begin to move from grace to grace, from glory to glory.

[25:10] It's already loaded up. When you see a young man growing beard, you think he went to buy it from the shop. No. It's already in his system. I know some of the people's beard.

[25:26] I know some of the people's beard is weak. No, I'm not talking about that. We get beard. Gross. When you have a child who is now growing into adolescence, things begin to grow on their body.

[25:44] Popping up. Popping up. Every different places. And you think, no, it's already inside them. It's inside them, but with time. If they are having good nutrition, some people, their hair is not great because they are not eating well.

[25:57] No. When some nutrients are lacking in your body, some things won't grow.

[26:13] When some nutrients are lacking in your body to affect your skin. When some nutrients are lacking in your body, your hair will be brisk. It will be breaking. It will be breaking. When some nutrients are lacking in your body, your teeth will not grow.

[26:27] So, what is naturally true, there is a correlation in the spirit.

[26:40] Spiritually, some people are lacking some nutrients. So certain aspects of their spiritual work is not growing, even though they have the capacity, the internal ability, the internal enablement is there since born again.

[26:55] It's been loaded up into your spirit. So that is why spiritual leaders must not stop praying this kind of prayers for people. That be filled with the knowledge of God's will.

[27:06] Is someone receiving something? That you should have to be filled with the knowledge of his will. All right. Then number four is walk worthy of the Lord. Number five, walk pleasing the Lord.

[27:17] Wow. So you are praying, Lord, I'm praying for this, my brother, that he will walk pleasing you. He will walk pleasing you. He will walk worthy of the Lord. You think God will bless you for such kind of prayer?

[27:30] Number six. Is it six? Yes. Be fruitful in all good works. What? The level of fruitfulness some of us have when it comes to good work, you only have fruitfulness in bad work.

[27:47] But from today, the story is changing. Amen. Number seven. Increase in the knowledge of God. That is 10. That will increase in the knowledge of God.

[27:59] Can you imagine you can increase in the knowledge of God? I'll come to that. Why not? Let me just mention them. Some of the points. Number eight. Be strengthened. Today, I really want to focus on be strengthened with all might.

[28:11] So we pray that God, they will be strengthened with all might. I pray that let him be strengthened with all might. Let him be strengthened with all might. Do you know people go through things?

[28:23] People, we go through stuff. Sometimes, some of you are sitting here, how this week has been for you? And you are still standing. It's a testament to God's glory. Yeah.

[28:35] How, from the beginning of the year, what has happened in you, in your life? The things that have happened to you, and you are still looking, you're saying.

[28:46] You are still saying. You are still walking around. Sometimes, you are in amazement to people who are familiar with things that you are going through. They are surprised. It's a testament, or it's a pointer to the goodness of God.

[29:02] Hallelujah. So, be strengthened with might. Number nine, have his glorious power. Wow.

[29:14] This, this, Colossians. There was a time, I will let the cat out. There was a time I was actually studying this Colossians, and I came to, I got to verse nine to verse 12.

[29:26] Particulate verse 11, Colossians chapter one. I just, it sounded so strong. So sweet. So Christian. So heavily. I wanted to memorize it.

[29:39] But you know, sometimes you try to memorize the scripture, by the time you get up, other things. Later, you remember, I was trying to remember some. Especially the older you grow, the more things are fighting for your memory and your attention.

[29:51] So it's better to start memorizing things when you are younger. But may God give us the minds of the young. Amen. Amen.

[30:04] Have the glory. Number 10 says, number 10 is, have all patience. Have all patience. Pray for that brother. Pray for that sister.

[30:15] Who thinks everybody's marrying? So she now is frustrated. Yeah. Ladies, I like addressing this subject of marriage because it is what it is.

[30:29] Yeah. It is. It is that the way sometimes you feel lonely, especially when you hear someone is about to get married, it really accentuates your frustration.

[30:41] Yeah. It is not that you are jealous, but it is natural. Someone's progress makes you see how far behind you are. So sometimes you feel it.

[30:52] And then there are bad days where you are home and you feel you are there. You feel very lonely. You just feel you need a friend and a certain type of friend. You have other friends back.

[31:03] There are times you feel you are starving. It happens a lot to single men.

[31:19] Single men, when they feel they are starving, they allow their vulnerability to make them look for any means for satisfaction at the expense of the blessing of God on their lives.

[31:34] It is understandable that life can be very frustrating. That is why it is good to increase in the knowledge of his will.

[31:46] So, well, let me go back to my... I was talking about the sisters that sometimes feels like it is taking very long.

[31:56] Yeah, life, some things take long. Others don't come in the morning. Others don't come in the afternoon. Others in the evening. Others at night.

[32:07] And others next day. But the good news is that if you can wait on the Lord... If you can wait on the Lord...

[32:18] The problem is our definition of wait. Because sometimes we think God is too slow. It feels like that, isn't it?

[32:30] Sometimes God is quite slow. Especially when it comes to dealing with your enemies. I don't know about me. When it's sometimes dealing with your enemies. It's quite slow. But sometimes it looks like he might be slow.

[32:46] Because we are out of sync with his timing. When we are in sync with his timing, we just... God's time is always best. When we are out of sync with his timing, we begin to think that we are usually ahead.

[33:03] And he's so slow. You feel like going and holding his hand and dragging God around. God, hurry up. But God is not slow. The songwriter said, he might be four days late.

[33:17] But he's still on time. God is still on time. So, sister, when you go through the human aspect of your pain, it's human. Stop beating yourself and thinking that you are not being a good Christian and all that.

[33:33] It's human to sometimes have a certain desire. Have some feelings. It's human. But if you find the feelings that break your flow with God, then you disengage the goodness of God.

[33:51] God's goodness is with you. But you have disconnected. You have disengaged. That's when the enemy takes steps in to derail you from the plan of God. So, that's why we have to pray that God, give me strength.

[34:05] Give me strength. I feel... I think I feel I'm talking to somebody. At every point in your life, whether you are a Christian or not, you have to pray for strength.

[34:17] Every point in your life, Christians, pray for strength. Listen, this Christian thing is not an ideology. It's existential. It's a lifestyle.

[34:29] It's a reality. And sometimes you just... You just... You have to believe God for strength. You say you want to be patient. You need strength to be patient. I'm going to show you in the text.

[34:41] Even to be patient long enough, you need strength. Give me strength. Give me strength. Give me strength. So, he prayed for them that be strengthened.

[34:52] And then you have the glorious power. And then the 10 is have all patience. And then point on my 11, have all long suffering. Long suffering.

[35:03] What's the difference between patience and long suffering? Patience is the ability to still hold on to God's word in spite of what happens. You're still holding on to God's word.

[35:14] You are keeping your eye on him. You are keeping on... God said it. I'll hold on to it. I'll hold on to it. Even to the point of death, I'll hold on to God. That's patience. Long suffering is the ability to suffer for the proper cause for a long time.

[35:30] Still waiting on the Lord whilst you are in patience. When you are in patience, you may suffer one or two things. But the ability to endure the suffering. The ability to endure.

[35:41] The ability to... So you see, patience and long sufferings tend to go hand in hand. The ability to endure the mockery. And yes, you're still looking up to God.

[35:53] People are mocking you. You say, I know as they mock me, God is making me. So long suffering. You endure long enough. And we have to pray for people to have long suffering.

[36:07] Instead of gossiping about them, pray for them. That's the Christian life. Excuse me. The Christian life is not... Some of us, when you pray to us, the angels will be laughing.

[36:26] Because we look funny. Some of us. We look funny with the disposition of our hearts and our attitudes. And lack of understanding or being filled with the knowledge of the will of God. Phony in our prayers.

[36:38] So our prayers are porous. Because of light-weightedness. A light-weightedness of the knowledge of the will of God.

[36:49] In all wisdom and spiritual understanding. So instead of praying for people, the right prayers. You are... You are... You are telling... Like the guy who went to the temple to pray. In Luke chapter 18 from verse 13.

[37:02] He said, I am better. Thank God I'm not like the other. What has that got to do with your prayer? What has somebody's state got to do with your prayer?

[37:13] I'm better. Thank God I'm not like this one. Yeah, he wasn't filled with the knowledge. And then the last point is...

[37:26] He prayed that... Yeah, 12. The last point. So he prayed that they will have joy. Joy like a river. Joy like a river. Joy like a river. Joy does not mean you may not go through pain.

[37:39] And sometimes emotionally things will not hit you. But even in the midst of the emotional turmoil. There's this deep-seated peace. And gladness towards God and his goodness.

[37:53] That in spite of all that is going on, you are... But you just... There's a place. A resting place. A resting... It's internal resting place. You can go and rest there.

[38:04] And you are fine. It's not like... It's not like... Listen. It's not like you are... You are trying to turn a blind eye on what is going on. You are trying to deny... Deny, sorry. Deny the reality.

[38:15] No, you are not denying the reality. But there's another reality. That God is good. Job said, I know my Redeemer liveth. Kababa shada haya. I know my Redeemer liveth. And he's saying that and pointing to the end.

[38:27] He said, at the end, he shall stand. Job chapter 19, verse 25. He said, I know my Redeemer liveth. For I know my Redeemer liveth. And that he shall stand at the latter days upon the earth. Look at the next verse.

[38:38] And though, after my skin, worms destroyed this body. Okay? Yes. So, even though he's going through some stuff, it looks like things keep going down.

[38:50] He knows my Redeemer liveth. I know my Redeemer liveth. I know my Redeemer liveth. Job said, weeping all. Weeping may endure for the night.

[39:00] But Job comes in the morning. Shout hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Christ in you, the hope of glory.

[39:11] God bless the Lord. There is hope for your future. In Jeremiah, it says that there is hope. Jeremiah 31, 17 or 27 somewhere there, it says that there is hope for your future.

[39:23] Yes, yes, yes. There is hope. There is hope, 17. It says that there is hope for your future, says the Lord. There is hope for your future, says the Lord. Please, can you do me a favor? Lift up your right hand and say, there's hope for my future.

[39:35] There is hope for my future. Let me say it last. Say, there's hope for my future. There is hope for my future. As you're saying it, don't forget about what is threatening you. What is threatening your children's future?

[39:45] What is threatening your children's health? What is threatening your health? What is threatening your finances, your career, your ministry? Lift up your right hand and say, there is hope for my future. Say it louder, there is hope for my future.

[39:58] Confess again, there is hope for my future. Because of Christ Jesus, my Lord. Hallelujah. Let's hope. Let's hope.

[40:08] Let's hope. Let's hope. We are not hopeless. It is very far and foreign to Christianity to be hopeless.

[40:21] Because the core of Christianity is built on faith, hope, and love. So how can you be a Christian, a hopeless Christian? Christianity is built on the bedrock of hope.

[40:35] Hope. He said, we just read it in verse 6 of verse 7. Which hope, Colossians, which hope is laid up for you? The hope, then the hope that is laid up.

[40:47] And the hope which is laid up for you in heaven. There's hope for your future. So when Paul was praying for the Christian church, he told them that I pray for you.

[40:58] That God will give you the spiritual wisdom, revelation, and knowledge of him. That the eyes of your understanding be enlightened. That you know. The first thing is that you know the hope of his calling. Yeah. You know the hope. That's the first topic.

[41:09] That the eyes of your understanding be enlightened. That you know the hope of his calling. Not your calling. His calling. He's the one who called you. And every calling comes with a hope. The hope. The hope. Wow. Thank you.

[41:20] Wow. The hope of your calling. So don't let situation look. When unbelievers are crying. Because there's no hope. There's no hope.

[41:30] There's no hope. Don't cry like unbelievers. We will cry. Unbelievers may cry too. Or also cry too. But our cry is two different cries. Can you imagine?

[41:41] He's crying. Pure cry. I'm crying with joy. I'm not talking about tears of joy. No, no, no, no. Please. I'm talking about proper crying. Why should this happen?

[41:53] But deep in you. Deep in you. There's joy. There's still a hiding place in God. You know there's something. God will not let you down.

[42:05] For he said, I will never leave you. Nor forsake you. Hebrews chapter 13 verse 5. Therefore he has said, I will never leave you. Nor forsake you. I will never leave you. Nor forsake you.

[42:16] I will never leave you. Nor forsake you. In Matthew chapter 28. He said, Lord, I'm with you always. To the ends of the earth. I'm with you always. I'm with you always.

[42:27] I'm with you always. I'm with you always. Say, the Lord is with me. The Lord is with me. In Psalm 23, say, yeah. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I fear no evil.

[42:38] Why? For thou. The Lord is with me. Sure the Lord is with me. The Lord is with me. In Psalm 18, he talks about how I will not fear.

[42:49] What can man do? What? What can man do? The Lord is with me. What can man do? What can man do to me? Let's hope for your future.

[43:02] Sometimes Satan keeps your focus so much on the negative that is happening. Sometimes it can be discouraging. Heartbreaking.

[43:13] You should never be without hope. How can you be without hope? How can you never be without hope? Keep your eye on the word. Keep your eye on God. Don't let this Christianity be a Sunday thing.

[43:25] Don't let it be. Let it be your living. Let it be your life. For me to live is Christ.

[43:36] I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. And it's not I, but Christ that lives in me. Galatians chapter 4 verse 19. He said, I labor, travel in prayer that Christ be formed in you.

[43:48] Come on. Galatians chapter 1 verse 16. He said, when he pleased God to reveal Christ in me. Wow. This Christ thing is real.

[43:58] Hallelujah. The world don't know. They don't know. But sad to say there are people who have also been in church for so long.

[44:10] Well, sometimes it depends on who is teaching you. Yeah. It depends on who is teaching you. Don't play your spiritual life with churchianity. Go for teaching.

[44:22] Feel yourself. Go for sound teaching. Healthy teaching. Wholesome words. The words that are caused with the Lord Jesus Christ. Go for it. So you end up being filled with the knowledge of his will.

[44:35] In all wisdom and spiritual understanding. I see you doing well. Let me try to run that back. Going back to that. So he says that, therefore, watch this.

[44:46] I need you to see this because I need to say this before I end. He said that, therefore, for this reason we also, since the day we're here, do not cease to pray for you and to desire that ye may be filled with the knowledge of his will.

[44:59] In all wisdom and spiritual understanding. So that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing. Being fruitful. Being fruitful.

[45:10] Did you see that? So the reason why they are able to be fruitful, the reason why we are able to walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, is because we are being filled with the knowledge of his will.

[45:23] Okay? And then, as I said, when you are filled with the knowledge of his will, you end up walking worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing. Being fruitful in every good work. Next week, I probably might mention every good work.

[45:36] You are fruitful in every good work. It's not because you have strong willpower. Because you are filled with the knowledge of his will. When you are filled with the knowledge of his will, when you are filled with the knowledge of his will, you end up being fruitful in every, every good work.

[45:58] Every good work. Being fruitful in every good work. And look at this. This is good. This is good. This is good. And increasing in the knowledge of God.

[46:10] You can increase in the... It doesn't matter how much you think you know God. There's so much of God to know. There's so much. And this should be a prayer topic. It's a prayer topic.

[46:22] Pastor, I want to go to Bible school. Have you prayed this prayer first? Have you prayed this prayer first? Go to your closest. Start praying this prayer first before you get into the Bible school.

[46:33] Because that will now entitle you access into this real one. Because other than that, you may be gathering information and knowledge onto your head knowledge into your dark mind.

[46:46] But this is a spiritual thing. This prayer topic is a spiritual thing. Watch this. This is where I want to end. I didn't want to end without getting to this. Look at the next verse.

[46:59] Stranded. Everybody say stranded. Say stranded. Say it again. Stranded. Verse 10. So we are praying that you be filled with the knowledge of his will. So that...

[47:10] Okay. Watch this. So that what happens? Number one. You walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing. Number two. Be fruitful every good work. Number three.

[47:21] Be fruitful every good work. Did you see the tense used there? Walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing. This is like present continue.

[47:33] We are praying that this will be happening. Present continue. Look at the next one. Being. Being. Yeah. Not having been. Yeah. Being fruitful in every good work.

[47:45] And guess what the next one? Increasing. So you must... We must always work worthy ever pleasing. Don't say yesterday I was pleasing the Lord. Today?

[47:56] How about today? How about tomorrow? What... It's... Present continues. You must... We must always be being fruitful. Always.

[48:06] Always. Always. Always. Hey! Oh, I didn't get to the strength.

[48:17] But I have to end. I have to. Thank you for listening to this message by David Entry. You're welcome to connect with David Entry on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

[48:30] You can also find more Spirit-filled messages from Karis Churchill on YouTube and all relevant streaming platforms. Don't forget to subscribe, like and share the message.

[48:42] Be blessed.