Transacting Through Prayer

In this transcription, the speaker emphasizes the importance of prayer and its power. They explain that prayer is a two-way communication with God and a way to develop a relationship with Him. Prayer is a gift from God that allows believers to access His power and connect with Him. The speaker encourages believers not to be intimidated by prayer and to persistently pray, as prayer changes things and moves mountains. They also highlight the importance of praying according to God's Word, as His Word is like law and does not return void. The speaker uses the story of the persistent widow to illustrate the power of persistent prayer. They explain that prayer brings peace, blessings, and direction. In prayer, believers can receive instruction and lay up God's words in their hearts. The speaker concludes by emphasizing that through prayer, believers can transact with God and obtain His guidance and wisdom. Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! People of God, praise the Lord! It's another glorious Sunday evening, and we are delighted to bring God's Word, the light of God's Word to God's people this evening. It's always a privilege. We never take this for granted. We are grateful to be able to bring true light, the true light of the Word of God to God's people, so that as we minister this Word, we are thankful and hopeful that we also shall be ministered to. This evening I am going to talk about prayer. Prayer. You know, the concept of prayer is something of a mystery to many believers. I remember when I was a much younger Christian, prayer was a mystery to me, too. And it became necessary to learn to pray, and we are still learning. You never stop learning, because there is a right way and a wrong way to pray. We don't really understand what prayer is. As believers, we don't really understand what prayer is. And there are many of us who are intimidated by the idea of prayer, and this in turn prevents us from praying and from staying in the place of prayer. And this is a problem, because prayer is a source of power, and prayer is the gift that God has given to man. Prayer is the gift that God has given to man through which to access prayer, to access power. So imagine if you have a gift that you are afraid of or that you are intimidated by. The likelihood is very high that you are going to be afraid to engage with that gift. If you have, for example, a child and you give a child a toy, from you, you are giving your child a precious gift. But if that child is intimidated and afraid of that gift, that child is not going to engage with the gift. The child is going to run away from the gift and so will not enjoy the gift. Or if you provide your child with a weapon to defend and protect himself, and the child is afraid of the weapon, which is for his good if he knows how to use it, but he's afraid of the gift, he's not going to engage with the gift. The power that he would have had by deploying and using that gift, he won't have, because he's afraid of that gift. So is prayer. God has given us prayer as a weapon of warfare to engage, to get strong, and to get power to prevail against the enemy. So God has given us prayer as a gift from him to him. Prayer is the platform that God has provided for the believer to connect with him, to connect with him, to access and transcend from the natural realm to the spirit realm, which is where God lives. But if, as believers, we are afraid and intimidated by prayer, and we don't engage in prayer, we won't have the power that we need, and we won't have the relationship that we should have with God. This is exactly what the enemy wants. The enemy wants the believer to be intimidated by prayer. The enemy wants the believer to be prayerless, because a prayerless believer is a powerless believer, and therefore an ineffective person, a powerless believer is ineffective in the realm of the spirit and in the realm of the natural. Why? This is why. Everything that happens in the natural happens first in the realm of the spirit. And so if you're going to be powerful in the natural, you must first be powerful in the spirit realm. And how do you get powerful? How do you even get into the spirit realm? Through the vehicle of prayer. And when you access the realm of the spirit through the vehicle of prayer, you get into the presence of Almighty God, who holds all prayer, all power in his hands. And then you become powerful. Once you become powerful in the realm of the spirit, it manifests in the natural. Because the things that happen in the natural, before they happen, you intersect them in the realm of the spirit by the vehicle of prayer, having been empowered by God, whom you enter into relationship with in the realm of the spirit. And then you effect change. You are able to dictate what happens in the natural, because you are right there in the realm of the spirit, by the power of prayer, working things out, putting things in place. And so the enemy isn't going to want you to be powerful, because if you're powerful, you are going to be a problem for the camp of the enemy. They can manipulate you. They can do right over you. They can do whatever they want to do with you and your family members, because you are powerful. You intercept them. You see them before they come. And all this by the agency of prayer. And so today I am going to talk about a subject that I have titled, Transacting Through Prayer. My text for today's message is from the book of Job, chapter 22, verses 21 to 28. Job 22, 21 to 28. Let's pray. Holy Spirit, I invite you now. I welcome you. I reverence you. I acknowledge your power. Almighty God, we are here to learn from you. We are here to reverence you. We are here to exalt you, Jesus. We are here to glorify you. Release grace tonight to speak, even as the oracles of God. Holy Ghost, I need your help. I can't do this without you. Teach me that I may teach others. Speak, Lord, tonight for your servants here. Blessed be God in Jesus' name. And so, what's prayer? What exactly is prayer? If you're going to know how to pray, if you're going to know why you should pray, you should know what prayer is. The answer is simple. Prayer is communicating with God. In prayer, you're talking to God, and God is talking back to you. Prayer is a two-way communication. It's a spiritual exercise through which we develop a relationship with God. And if we sustain that relationship, we develop intimacy with God. That's it. Sometimes, especially in certain denominations, you know, certain denominations are very focused on prayer, which is a good thing. And some people are actually gifted to pray, because prayer isn't easy. Something that has such great benefit is likely to be difficult to get in. Prayer isn't easy, and I suspect that the reason why is because, you know, there are so many benefits, and there is probably, you know, an element in there where the enemy would like to make us not want to pray, because if we pray, it's a problem for him. But prayer isn't easy, but prayer is necessary. If we're going to prevail in this dimension, this earth dimension, we must pray. We must pray. In the book of Luke, chapter 10, verse 1, Jesus spoke a parable. He said, it's written in the book of Luke, chapter 1, of Jesus, and he spoke a parable unto them, to this end, that men ought always to pray and not faint. So it's one thing to pray. It's another thing to pray and not faint. So men ought always to pray and to keep on praying. Keep on praying. Prayer is the platform that holds up the believer, so that we don't faint, so that we don't grow weak from the battles of life, because life isn't easy. Life wasn't, in fact, designed to be easy. Prayer is the provision made by God for us to prevail in life. So even though life is not always... Sometimes life can go really smooth, and that's always a good thing. But sooner or later, there's going to be a battle. There's going to be an issue. There's going to be a bump in the road. And that's why we must pray and not faint. We must pray and keep on praying, so that we are able to be strong before the battle comes. Sometimes we even see the battle before it comes, and we can prevent the battle, or we can mitigate the effect of that battle. But we can't do that if we don't enter into the place of prayer. Prayer is the platform that God has provided for the believer to prevail. Jesus prayed. Jesus, the Word of God. Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus, the embodiment of God. On earth, when He walked the earth, He prayed. The Bible says that in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus rose up early to pray. The Word Himself prayed. And that's because prayer is designed by God as a method for communicating with Him. And so, in order to communicate with His Father, even Jesus had to pray. Jesus prayed because He was hoping to mitigate the passion on the cross. And Jesus said to His Father, If it be possible. If it be possible. So Jesus knew that if God wanted to, God could change things. God could change things. God could accomplish His purpose without Him having to go to the cross. But in order to bring that issue before God, Jesus prayed. Why? Because prayer changes things. Prayer changes things. Prayer can move mountains. Even the most difficult situations can move, can turn around with the power of prayer. Going back to the book of Luke. Now from chapter 2. We're going to read Luke chapter 18, rather. Luke chapter 18 from verse 2. The Bible says, this is about the story of the widow, the widow and the judge. So the Bible says, Saying, this is Jesus now. Jesus is saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man. And there was a widow in that city. And she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine enemies. And he would not for a while. But afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her. Lest by her continual coming she weary. This story is a story of a widow. In this story, this widow is faced with a situation that would not conform to the will of God. Her situation would not obey God. She had adversaries. She had adversaries. She had enemies on her back. She was dealing with enemies, situations stronger than hers. She couldn't deal with those situations in her own power. So she runs to this judge. But at first the judge wouldn't hear her. The judge wouldn't help her. But she kept on praying. She persisted in the place of prayer. And ultimately the judge said, Even though I don't fear God, But this widow is going to keep coming and coming and coming. I must do what she wants me to do if I want peace. Remember Jesus already said in the first verse of Luke chapter 18, Men ought to pray and not faint. So this widow, in this parable of Jesus, This widow kept praying the judge. The judge now being God. Kept praying. I mean in our own situations we can juxtapose the judge with the judge of all creation being God. So this widow keeps on praying and praying. Praying the judge won't give up. Does not faint. Until the judge says, Okay, I will do what you want. I will avenge your enemies. And so in that situation in your life, That situation in your life that is so, That seems so insurmountable to you, It's going to need some persistence in the place of prayer. To have to be ready to pray. Perhaps you have been praying. And things don't look like they're moving. Men ought always to pray and not faint. There are some situations that they're not going to move easy. Because they didn't get there easy. It took a while. It took a while. There are some situations in your life right now that are an aggregation of years. Aggregation of issues. That situation you're dealing with now didn't start in one day. It's a long time coming. So you know, it's become a mountain. It's become a stronghold. It's become an issue. An issue. An issue so big that it's going to require you to remain in the place of prayer. And stay there. But you won't be able to change anything if you don't pray. Although you're praying now, And it looks like things aren't changing, Keep on praying. Things will shift. They have to shift. It must shift. And so you need to apply, like this widow, You need to apply pressure by the Word of God. If not today, tomorrow. If not tomorrow, the day after. But one day, and one day soon, That thing that looks so impossible to you now, That thing that looks like it's going to take you out today, One day you're going to wake up and it's gone. Why? The answer is simple. Prayer changes things. There is nothing prayer cannot move. There is no mountain prayer cannot move. There is no situation. No matter how impossible it might appear at first, There is no situation that can withstand the power of prayer by the Word of God. It must give way. As long as you place it upon the Living Word, In the place of prayer, One day it will move. And one day soon. And this is why. This is the reason why. God has given a decree. God has decreed that His Word, The Word which comes out of His mouth, Will never return to Him void. That's the decree of God. And when God speaks, it must be done. So if you place your situation in the place of prayer, Upon the Word of God, That once it goes out, will never return void, Whatever you ask for, In the place of prayer, This Word of Covenant, It must come to pass. This is the Word of God. Isaiah 55.11 It's written, So shall my word be, This is God speaking now, So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth, It shall not return to me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper, In the thing for which I sent it. Do you see now why prayer, Based upon the Word of God, Must come to pass? The Word of God never returns to God void. And that's why when I spoke earlier, I said there is a right way to pray, And there is a wrong way to pray. The wrong way to pray, Is emotional prayer. Crying, And complaining, In the place of prayer, And reporting all your enemies. That's the wrong way to pray. You'll feel good afterwards, Because it's like therapy for you. But the right way to pray, Is the Word of God. The Word of God does not return to God void. What God says about the Word, About that situation, If you find it in His Word, God will answer your prayer. God will answer your prayer, Because God has given a decree. You know, in law, In the practice of law, There is something called, Precedent. Precedent, Is defined, By the Cornell University Law School, As, Authority. Authority for deciding, Subsequent cases, Involving identical, Or similar facts, Or similar legal issues. So precedent is the authority, A court has, Or a judge has, To decide a case, In front of them. And if that case, If the facts of that case, Are identical, Or similar, The facts of other cases, Or other legal issues, That were decided before, This actual case, That's in front of the judge now, The judge is bound by law, To follow the judgment, Of the previous cases. So the judge is not going to step out, Of the boundaries, Of the previous cases. So whatever was decided, In previous cases, That are similar in fact, In issue, To the case before the judge, At this moment, The judge is bound by law, To follow, What was decided before, In applying, And issuing his own judgment, In this case before him. So when a judge is making a decision, In a case, He must follow, The previous decisions, Which may have been by other judges, But, As long as they have been decided, And the issues, And the facts, Are similar, Any case that comes, After any judge, The judge must follow, The decisions from before him, Because now, Those decisions, Previous decisions, Have become law, And they are binding, And they will not return void, They must be followed. So also, You, Let's imagine that you, You have a case in court, And you want the judge, To do something for you, Just like this widow, Needed this judge to avenge, Her enemies. So there you are, Before this judge, And you want this judge, To do something, You're trying to persuade the judge, And you're saying to the judge, That this case, My case, Is similar, To a case, Which was decided ten years ago. The facts, And the issues, They are similar, And what I'm asking this court, To do for me now, Is what this other person asked, And that court did it, And so because that court did it, It has become law, So you judge, You must do what I am asking, Because I am standing upon the precedent, Of previous cases. I am standing upon the law. The law has gone forth. There is now precedent. You must give me what I want, Because it's law. It's gone out. It will not return void. So the judge must obey. The judge cannot step outside of the boundaries of the law. The law has gone forth, And it won't return void. This is it. This is how it is with the word of God. God is judge of all mankind. And God's word is the authority, The precedent, With which He governs us. His word is His covenant with mankind. He does not break His word, Because His word is law. His word has gone forth. It will not return to Him void. Man governs mankind. God governs mankind by His word. And so, If you want to know what God is going to do about any situation, Which is a similar situation, You can always tell by His word. What does God's word say about this situation? Because God's word does not return to Him void. Because God's word is His authority over mankind, That's how God governs mankind. So when you have a situation, You know the Bible says, God is no respecter of persons. When you have a situation before you, And you need something done from God, What do you do? You go and look for the word of God that addresses that issue. And then you locate the issue upon the word of God, In the place of prayer. That mountain must move. That situation must bow to the God of all creation. Eventually, It must obey. It's the word of God. It cannot move. It cannot lie. In the name of Jesus. And so, also, Prayer is a medium of transacting with God. You know God said in His word, He said, Concerning the works of my hand, Command ye me. The Bible says, Come, This is God now, Speaking to man. Come, let's reason together. God reasons with the believer. If you know your word, And you know the promises of God, In His word, You come before God, And you transact with God, In the place of prayer. Our text in the book of Job. We're going back to the book of Job now. Chapter 22, From verse 21. We see that there's a transaction going on here. There is a transaction going on right here in this text, In our scripture for today, There's a transaction going on. First, We see, That there are things to be obtained, In the place of prayer. The place of prayer, Is a place of transaction with God. In the place of prayer, We can obtain. And, Going by, This scripture, Our text, I'm in Job 22 now. Verse 21. It says, Now, Acquaint yourself, With Him, And be at peace. So, The first thing, That you obtain, In the place of prayer, Is peace. Once you begin, To talk to God about a situation, The first thing you get is peace. Because peace is the barometer, With which God regulates our hearts, And with which God speaks to us His will, Concerning any issue. Once you bring the matter before God, You immediately receive peace. Why? Because now, The power has shifted from you, Because you've been carrying this burden for so long, On your own. Once you enter into the place of prayer, Power, The power of God, Lifts up that situation from your shoulder. The Bible says, And it shall come to pass in that day, That His burden shall be removed from off your shoulder, And His yoke from off your neck, And the yoke shall be destroyed, Because of the anointing. The anointing is received in the place of prayer. Once you enter into the place of prayer, The first thing you receive is peace. Still in verse 21 of Job 22, The Bible says, Thereby good will come to you. The second thing we receive in the place of prayer, Is blessing. The blessing comes upon us in the place of prayer. Good will come to you. The third thing we receive, The Bible says, Verse 22 now, Receive this, Receive, Please, Instruction from His mouth. So the third thing we receive in the place of prayer, Is direction. Verse 22 says, Receive, Please, Instruction from His mouth. When we enter into the place of prayer, We receive light. We receive instruction. We receive wisdom. We receive direction concerning that situation. You will be amazed at the thoughts that begin to flood your mind. Things that you didn't think about before. Things that were obvious to everybody else but you. Why? Because now, You're in the place of prayer, And you have instruction from God, As to how to navigate yourself out of that situation. And, The Bible goes on to say, And lay up His words in your heart. Again, this is about instruction. This is about wisdom. Verse 23 says, If you return to the Almighty, You will be built up. You will remove iniquity far from your tents. So if you return to God, In the place of prayer, You will be built up. The fourth thing you will receive is stature. You will receive stature. You will rise up from your bowed down situation, And you will straighten up. You will straighten up, Because you know, Trouble can really make you stoop. When a problem gets too heavy for you, You begin to stoop physically. In the realm of the stage, you're stooping. Your head is bowed down low, You can't look anyone in the eye, Because it's such a great problem, That you don't even know anymore what to do. You lose your self-confidence. You lose your self-esteem. You lose your relationships. You lose money. You lose strength. You lose everything. And you begin to shrink physically. Because when a problem is so big, The problem might even be sickness. But you know, in the Bible, Luke, in the book of Leviticus, Chapter 26, verse 13, The Bible says, And I will break the bands of your yoke, And make you to go upright. I have broken the bands of your yoke, And made you to go upright. So, the fourth thing that we receive in the place of prayer, Is stature. The Lord begins to build us up. Build up our self-confidence, Because now, we are in partnership with Heaven. We have confidence. We have power. We can look the enemy in the eye now. And so, God is building us up. He builds us up in the spirit, And in the natural. If you have ever been faced with a financial situation so big, Maybe you couldn't even eat. You couldn't pay rent. You were almost homeless. And the only way this was going to be taken care of was by God. And then God provides, somehow, by a miracle. You really find that you stand up straight now, Because you know that there is power. There is help. And you know where your help comes from. So, that's the fourth thing that we receive in the place of prayer. Verse 24 says, Then you will lay your gold in dust, And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks. Number 5. The fifth thing we receive in the place of prayer is wealth. Verse 26 also says, For then you will have your delight. Verse 25, rather. So, verses 24 and 25 say, Then you will lay your gold in the dust, And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks. Verse 25 says, Yes, the Almighty God will be your gold. The Almighty God will be your gold. Meaning that the vast resources of Almighty God comes into your possession. It is written, Haggai, chapter 2, verse 8, The silver and the gold is mine. So, if the Almighty God is your gold, Everything that God has is in your possession. Verse 25 goes on to say, And your precious silver. Yes, the Almighty will be your gold. And the Almighty will also be your precious silver. And so, the fifth thing, The sixth thing that we, The fifth thing that we receive in the place of prayer is wealth. Wealth. The Bible says, Deuteronomy 8.18, And you shall remember the Lord your God, For it is He who gives you power to get wealth. The Lord gives power to get wealth in the place of prayer. We're going to go back to verse, We're going to go back to verse 23. I skipped that. So, verse 23 says, That's the B part of verse 23. If you return to the Almighty, You will be built up, And He will remove iniquity far from your tents. So, what we get also in the place of prayer is deliverance. Deliverance, salvation and sanctification. And sanctification. Verse 26 says, For then you will have your delight in the Almighty. For then you will have your delight in the Almighty. Another thing that we get in the place of prayer is favor. We get joy. We get favor. Because now we have our delight in the Almighty. Almighty God is delighted with us. And you know the Bible says, When a man's ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. So, when we pray, God is our delight. And God is delighted with us. The Almighty God is delighted with us. Verse 27 says, You will make your prayer to Him. He will hear you. And you will pay your vows. When we enter into the place of prayer, We receive access. Remember, we had said earlier that prayer is communication with God. You talk to God, God talks to you. If you're talking to God and God isn't talking back to you, You're not hearing God, That's not prayer. Because prayer is a two-way communication. That's why Samuel said when he was a boy, He said, Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. God speaks to His servant. God speaks to His people. God speaks to the believer in the place of prayer. So when you pray, You must at some point wait to hear back from God. If you're talking to someone on the phone, And you keep talking, And you're talking, And you're talking, That's not a communication. That's not a conversation. That's not a two-way interaction. Because the other person has to have the opportunity to speak back to you. So it is in the place of prayer. God gives us access to Himself. And He answers us. He gives us access to come talk to Him. To come to the throne of grace. And bring our petitions to Him by His word. And then He speaks back into the situation. He brings light. He talks to us. What to do. He tells us what to do. He gives us insight. And tells us how to move. And tells us how to move. Now, Verse 28. This is one of my favorite, Most precious passages of scripture. Job 22-28 says, You will decree a thing. You will also declare a thing. And it will be established for you. When light will shine on your ways. For me, One of the most powerful things that happens in the place of prayer. Is we receive power and authority. We receive power and authority. And then we receive breakthrough. This verse right here. Is packed. And I'm going to unpack it now. It's a very packed verse. You see, When we take a closer look. If we try, If we zoom in on this verse 28. This is what happens there. The Bible says, You will declare a thing. And it shall be established for you. Once that's done, Light shines on your path. Why do you need light? Why do you need light? Let me try and put this in perspective. It's very clear that, Man without light, Generally, We're not even talking Bible now. We're talking life. If you go into a room that's dark and there's no light. You can't move. You can't see. You don't know what's going on. So, Man, We need light to see. Just, There's so much you can do in night. Even during the night. You still need light at night to see. So, This Bible passage ends with light. After all these great and wonderful things that we receive in the place of prayer. After receiving power. After receiving authority. Because once you enter into the place of prayer, You receive power to declare a thing. Because now God has imparted to you part of himself. Because you've been with God in the place of prayer by his word. So, you come out with power. And with authority to use that power. And you declare a thing. And what you declare is established for you. Which is already brilliant. The Bible says, Light. So, Light will shine on your path. You see, In the place of prayer. By reason of the finished work of Calvary. By reason of the blood of Jesus Christ. Once we employ the name of Jesus Christ. For Jesus is the word of God anyway. Once we employ the name of Jesus. Because John 14, 14 says, If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. And so, The blood of Jesus. The finished work of Calvary. Gives us access to the throne of grace of almighty God. Which is where God sits and judges all of mankind. So, when we enter into the place of prayer. It's the throne of grace that we go to. We approach God on his throne. Where he judges situations. And when you approach God with his word. By the name of Jesus Christ. Having been given access by the blood of Jesus Christ. We receive the power that we need. To deal with this situation. So, while at the throne of grace. Right? The governing instrument. In this realm. With which God has mandated communication. With which God has designed. That man should enter into his presence. Is prayer. And so now, once we know this. And we employ this instrument. Praying rightly by his word. We enter in. We gain access. Into the throne. Onto the throne of grace of almighty God. Holy Spirit help me to explain this. Because God really gave me a revelation about this. I want to make sure that I release it the way God has spoken it to my heart. And so, once we enter in. To the presence of almighty God. On the platform of prayer. By the name of Jesus Christ. Having been granted access by the finished work of Calvary. We receive power to decree a thing. By the authority of Job 528. By the authority of scripture. We become empowered to do on earth what God is able to do. Because God imparts into us himself. And so God now gives us the power to decree a thing. As long as it's in line with the word of God. It's based on the word of God. It's in line with his will. By covenant. Once we decree a thing. And declare it. Based on his word. By covenant. God will establish what we have decreed. That's why the Bible says. And you will declare a thing. And that thing that you have declared. Shall be established for you. By whom? By God. Who holds all power. In his hand. And once God does this. It is done. But it is done in the realm of his spirit. Remember this is a spiritual transaction going on here now. By the instrumentality of prayer. God has given us access to him. And God is the spirit. He doesn't live in the realm of man. He lives in the spirit realm. So we gain access to enter in to the realm of God. The realm of the spirit. To approach God. And once we make it through. By the blood of Jesus Christ. And in his name. By his word. We receive power. And that power. That we receive. Gives us the ability. And the authority. To declare a thing. Now. Once declared. It still. Goes back to God. But God is saying. Once you declare. As long as you know. That you have power to declare. You declare. And once you declare a thing. It will be established for you. By me. Says the Lord. But it is all done in the realm of the spirit. Because this transaction. You have ascended to the realm of the spirit. And you have met with God. And God has given you power. And you have employed this power. To declare a thing. All in the realm of the spirit. And God has established that which you declared. In the spirit. Now comes light. Now. The Bible says. God makes all things beautiful. In his time. Once you declare. God establishes. In his time. In the realm of the spirit. Now. According to the time of life. What God has declared. And what God has established for you. In his time. Which is beautiful. Begins to manifest. In the time of man. Begins to manifest. According to the time of life. Which is according to the time of man. In the dimension of the physical. The visible dimension. So these are two. What's going on here now is twofold. There is a transaction in the realm of the spirit. You are declaring a thing. God has established for you. In the realm of the spirit. That is sin one. In his time. Because in the realm of the spirit. There is no time. Time has no function. In the realm of the spirit. When you declared. God established it in his time. Instantaneously. Because time has no effect. In the realm of the spirit. Time only governs the physical realm. And so. According to the time of life. In due course. What God has done in the spirit realm. Manifests in the physical realm. But you may not know. Because the spirit realm. The physical realm. There is time and space. So God sends light. So his light shines on your path. For what purpose? To lead you. To the location. Of the manifestation. Of your answer prayer. That's why sometimes. Imagine. You as a man. You are praying for a wife. You have prayed and prayed. And God has answered you because. How old are you? You are 30 years old. Your wife is not going to be an infant. Your wife is probably already born. But you don't know her yet. You haven't seen her yet. You have declared a thing. Your wife. And it is established for you. It is done. In the realm of the spirit. And so God sends light to your path. To direct you. To the location. Of the manifestation. Of the declaration. The manifestation of answer prayer. Maybe your wife is in Africa. But here you are in the U.S. Light comes on your path. And then one day. You feel led. To go visit Africa. You don't know why. But you feel led. That's light. The light of God. Is shining on your path. Leading you. To where. Your answer prayer is. And then you get on the flight. Then maybe there is a hostess. And then. One after the other things just begin to happen. And at the end of that light. Is your wife. At the end of that light. Is that thing that you declared. And was established for you. In the realm of the spirit. And the light of God has now come. To lead you. To your answer prayer. You may not know when. That's why. Prayer is so important. All these things happen in the place of prayer. All these transactions take place in the place of prayer. This is why prayer is so instrumental. To the victorious living. Of Christians. The Bible says in the book of Genesis. That Hagar. And her baby. They needed water. Hagar had left her mistress. She was angry. There she was. No water. They were thirsty. Her baby was thirsty. The Bible says. That God heard the cry. Of the baby. God heard what the baby couldn't articulate. But his cry. Was able to articulate his need. To God. And Genesis 21.19 says. God opened the eyes of the baby's mother. Hagar. To see the well of water. So that baby's cry. Was a declaration to God. And God established that declaration. Remember now. Everything is in the realm of the spirit. In the spirit realm. There is no baby. There is no child. It's spirit to spirit. So the baby's spirit. Declared a thing. By that cry. And God established it. By providing water. But light had to come. Onto the path of the mother. To lead her. To the well of water. Which is the manifestation. Of what was already. Established. The provision. That is made in the realm of the spirit. Needs. To be discovered. By the light. Of God. So God sends light. To our path. To lead us. To his provision. So when we pray. Power. Is released. Things. Happen. Things. Happen. At first they happen in the realm of the spirit. At first. Everything is going on in the realm of the spirit. And so sometimes when you pray. You think oh you know. God hasn't answered this prayer. Because nothing seems to be changing. But if you keep on praying. You don't faint. You will see. That things have changed in the spirit realm. And light comes on your path. To lead you. To the manifestation of the answer prayer. I'm going to close this meeting. By taking us to the book of Acts. That is another powerful powerful piece of scripture. That depicts the power of answer prayer. Acts chapter 16. Acts 16. 25. And 26. Again one of my favorite scriptures. To pray especially at midnight. The bible says. But at midnight. Paul and Silas. Were praying and singing hymns to God. And the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake. So that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately. All the doors were opened. And everyone's chains were loosed. This is a powerful scripture on prayer. And the power of prayer. And the efficacy of prayer. When we pray many things happen. Many things happen. Power is released. And by reason of that power. Many things begin to happen. So here in this scripture. Paul and Silas. They prayed. And let's look at the ripple effect of their prayer. The bible says Paul and Silas prayed. And the prisoners heard them. This is what happened. From the prayer of Paul and Silas. This is the effect. Of that prayer. The chain effect. The prisoners heard them. And from hearing them. They would have been comforted. Strengthened. Encouraged. The bible says the foundations of the prison were shaken. Power was released. So that those who didn't believe in the power of prayer before. Based on the sign and the wonder. They were looking at as a result of the prayer. Now they believe in prayer. So power was released. The bible says after that. All doors. All the doors were opened. From this prayer of Paul and Silas. There was deliverance. Deliverance not for Paul and Silas only. But for all. Because all the doors were opened. All the doors. There was deliverance for all. And then the bible says. Everyone's bands were loose. From the prayer of two men. Freedom came to everyone. Even those who didn't pray. They got delivered. Because Paul and Silas prayed. So you see. Brothers and sisters. Prayer is non-negotiable for the believer. A powerless believer. A prayerless believer. Is a powerless believer. We must pray. We must pray. If Jesus himself had to pray. As a believer. We have no choice. But to pray without ceasing. We are no match for Satan. We are no match for Satan. No matter how gifted. How anointed. How powerful. Tongue talking. I mean. You are no match for Satan. No death and no peace. But you see. Satan is no match for God. Satan is no match for God. And prayer is how the medium through which we bring God into the equation of our lives. Into the equation of our situation. And the way in which we invite God to come take control of our situation. And he does. You know I had said earlier that God gave man free will. And that's why many men and women exercise this free will looking for things. Looking for what they already have. Looking to fill a void that only God can fill. God is not going to impose himself on us. He has given us his free will. Given us our free will. And so we must exercise that free will to choose him. To invite him. And when we do. He takes over. And once he takes over. He wins. Because God always wins. But you must pray. You must pray. Pray. Without ceasing. Pray all the time. Pray when you are happy. Pray when you are sad. Pray at all times. Pray in the morning. Pray in daytime. Pray at night time. And if you pray without ceasing all the time. You will prevail in God. Because God never fails. And so tonight we are going to pray. We are going to pray just two prayer points. We are going to pray. The first one is we are going to pray for help. Help to pray. Help to tarry in the place of prayer. And so in the name of Jesus tonight. Lord we ask for your help to pray. We ask for the ability to pray and to remain in the place of prayer. We ask for the grace to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. And to know that we can't do this by ourselves. To know that we need you. Help us to pray. When we pray Lord come, come. Come in your power. Come in your might. Come Lord. Come take control. Believe us. Lord help us to pray in the name of Jesus. Our second prayer point is blessing. We are praying that God will bless and protect us. Because of covenant. Because the Bible says in the book of Psalms chapter 89. The Bible says my covenant I will not break nor alter the word that has gone out of my mouth. So Lord tonight we pray that you will remember your covenant. We come before you Lord. We come before you. And we invoke the altar of covenant in the name of Jesus. We ask that you will place upon our lives the blessing such as you gave unto Abraham. Bless us. Protect us. Hide us in Christ. Hide our families. Hide our businesses. Hide our ministries. Hide us in Christ Lord. Let no harm befall us. We come against every work of darkness. Work of the enemy in our lives. In the mighty and everlasting name of Jesus. Amen. People of God. It's been another wonderful Sunday. I've had a great time with us tonight. Next Sunday by His grace we'll be back. And God will teach us and give us more light. In the meantime, stay blessed. God bless you.