admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come and so God please help us
to learn what we can from this great story in the Bible and to be inspired by
the message this morning and in Jesus name I pray amen. Now I just read that
portion of scripture just to acquaint you with the main character of the
sermon this morning which is a man named Jacob. Now Jacob's name later will be
changed by God to the name Israel which means prince like a prince with God and
so in this story that we just read Jacob and Esau are the two sons of Isaac now
first of all we know Abraham was called by God he was chosen by God he was
brought out of the Ur of the Chaldees into a promised land with his Canaan
land and there he dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob the Bible says and he
had a son named Isaac his son Isaac and his wife they were unable to have
children they prayed to God for 20 years he opened Rebecca Isaac's wife's womb and
she had twins in her womb two sons Jacob and Esau now while these two sons were
in her womb she felt them wrestling and fighting each other in the womb and she
prayed to God and said God what is going on I waited 20 years to get pregnant and
now I have this war going on inside of my stomach these kids are beating each
other even in the womb Jacob and Esau and so God explained to her that there
that these two boys in her womb you know he appeared or told her that they were
two different nations that were gonna come out of her womb and and so she gave
birth to the kids and the first one that came out was Esau and he was a very
hairy young baby and he was red hair all over him and he came out and holding on
to his heel trying to hold him in trying to get out first was Jacob holding on to
the heel of his brother Esau dragged out with him when she when she gave birth
and so these two boys grew up and his father Isaac he had a preference toward
Esau and his mother had a preference toward Jacob which obviously is not
right for them to do that but that's just the way it was and so this boy Esau
grew up this hairy man and he became a hunter that was what he did for a living
he went out and hunted and his brother Jacob became a shepherd he grew up and
he took care of sheep he took care of it says he dwelled in tents and traveled
around like a nomad in the Middle East and so that's what these two young men
grew up and did well because Esau was the firstborn he had the right of
inheritance he was going to get the double portion and so it became time for
him to get his double portion of inheritance well one day he's out
hunting in the field and he's just out all day he's out too long he comes back
home just starving hungry and Jacob is in the tent he's prepared a giant meal
of a pottage of lentils and he's cooking this food well when Esau comes to him
he says give me some of this food he says I'm starving to death I'm gonna die out
here I haven't eaten in days and he says okay I'll give you this food if you sell
me your birthright if you sell me the right that when our father dies that I
can have the inheritance if you sell that to me I'll give you this bowl of
soup he said hey what good is that gonna do me anyway I'm so hungry I just need
something to eat fine you can have it and the Bible says so Esau despised his
birthright he didn't understand the value of spiritual things he didn't
understand the value of getting that double portion of blessing he didn't
understand the value of that blessing of God that was on the firstborn son
carrying on this great lineage of the children of Israel carried on through
Abraham Isaac and Jacob and one day all the way down to Jesus Christ now later
on in the story we find Isaac coming to the point of his death now he's already
lost the financial inheritance by selling it to his brother for a bowl of
soup just to gratify his flesh just to gratify some appetite physical
appetite yet he's going to sell his whole life down the river but that
reminds me of our generation doesn't it I mean it just for one little fling one
night of fun they destroy their whole life many times just for one little bowl
of chili one little bowl of soup and you could flush your life down the toilet
you say that would never happen oh really I think it happens all the time
friend I think it happens all the time and I think that's why the stories in
the Bible but we come to this point where now it's time for Isaac to lay
hands on we talked a little bit about this on Wednesday night but to lay hands
on his son Esau and bless him a spiritual blessing and to make him
basically the leader to give him the blessing from God that was promised to
Abraham and to his seed and he goes to do this and he says listen son I want
you to go out and I want you to go hunt and I want you to catch this animal and
I want you to bring it to me and I want you to prepare meat for me fresh from
what you just hunted and I want you to serve it to me and then I'm gonna bless
you before I die so he saw it goes out hunting to go catch this food well in the
meantime his mother heard what was going on now his mother just didn't have a lot
of love for Esau for some reason and so she says listen Jacob here's what we're
gonna do we're just gonna get a goat out of the field he's not gonna know the
difference he's so old anyway he's not gonna know if it's venison he's just get
this goat I'll put the same seasonings on it I'll cook it up in the kitchen I'll
make it exactly the way he likes it and you bring it to him and then he'll bless
you because he's blind because he's so old and he says well I don't know I'm
kind of a smooth guy and my brother Esau's got all this hair all over him
what if he reaches out and he's gonna put his hand on me he's gonna feel me
and he says well she said look this is what we'll do and she took and she took
animal skins and put them on his arms she took Esau's clothes and put it on
so he kind of smelled like he'd been outside a lot like it smelled like a
hunter and she put hair on his hands from this animal and she disguised him
and dressed him up like Esau and so here he comes to his dad and his dad asks him
who are you and he says I'm Esau and then he feels him and he says listen
tell me the truth who are you really and he says I am Esau I mean he just
blatantly lies to his dad and so if we read on a little further in the story
which we won't do for the sake of time then Jacob or I'm sorry yeah Isaac in
fact puts his hands on Jacob and blesses him and makes him the ruler makes
him the leader and makes the succession of Abraham Isaac Esau no Abraham Isaac
and Jacob that's who it became because of this now he did it by subtlety he did
it by deceit then because his brother comes in a little later and finds out
what he's done his brother hates him with such vehemence he said as soon as
my dad dies I don't want to make him upset while he's in his last days but as
soon as he dies I'm gonna kill my brother Jacob I'm gonna lay my hands on
them and murder and so Jacob flees and leaves he says I'm gonna leave I'm gonna
go to Padana Ram which is where my mother is originally from and he says I'm
gonna go there and try and find a wife and set up my own household so there he
goes to Padana Ram he gets there and he arrives at a well the first place he
hits in town is to this well that's just outside of town and at the well there's
this beautiful woman there his name is Rachel and she's waiting at the well now
first of all I want to say this I've heard preachers so many times act like
Jacob was a wimp I mean they'll constantly say that they'll say oh he's
a sissy he's a mama's boy he's a wimp that's ridiculous the Bible says Jacob
have I loved and Esau have I hated that was spoken from the mouth of God Jacob
was not some kind of a sissified wimp look he just had a different occupation
of keeping see he was a hard-working man and you'll see that in the next 20 years
of his life he outworked everybody he was the number one in his business he
was a hard worker so he wasn't a wimp at all because this is the first thing
that we find out when Jacob gets on his own and I'm skipping a lot of the story
because there are some things that happen to him on the way to Padana Ram
where he lays his head on the rock sees the staircase up to heaven and he sets
up Bethel the house of God and so forth but he gets there and he gets this well
and there's this beautiful woman there and he asks her he says why are you just
standing here what are you doing why don't you get some water out of the well
you know what are you here for because he's just kind of standing around and
she said well this is the way it works I'm the first one here and we have to
wait until everybody gets here because then once everybody gets here we all
pick up the stone off the wells mouth and we're all gonna lift it up and move
it so that we can draw water and then we're all gonna put it back on because
this thing is so heavy the lid to this well he says don't worry about it he
walks up and he lifts it off single-handedly and takes the stone off
the wells mouth and puts it out now does that sound like a wimp to you this guy
wasn't a wimp at all I just was a manly man and so he takes this stone off the
wells mouth he waters all her cattle for he takes care and he asked her who she
is it turns out that she's actually a relative of his she's a cousin okay this
is they lived in West Virginia okay but anyway this is actually his cousin and
the Bible does not forbid you to marry your cousin I wouldn't recommend it and
his world at all but the Bible does not specifically forbid that and back then
people married their cousin okay so anyway here's his cousin he finds out
great this is somebody that's a relative not exactly our mentality but he says
great you know this is a relative so he goes and she invites him to stay with
them and she goes and stays with with he goes and stays with her parents and
brother that are there and he starts to work for them just for free just in
faith he just begins to work around the farm everything and they say what would
you like for your work I mean you work here for a month and you've been staying
with us you've been just working so hard you've done so much for us and he says
listen I'll serve you for seven years I'll work for you if you give me Rachel
to be my wife and he said sure absolutely and so he worked for seven
years and it was time to get the wife and it says that he went by to him like
seven days because he loved Rachel so much and so he gets to the end of this
time and it's time for him to marry Rachel well they did a little bait and
switch on him because he gets to the wedding day you know the veil is there
and everything and they swapped Rachel for her older sister Leah who the Bible
kind of makes a point of saying was not very attractive as opposed to Rachel is
this beautiful young woman and so they do the switch and he realizes after he's
already married or after he's already consummated the marriage he realizes
this is not Rachel and they say well sorry that's the way it is buddy because
the first daughter has to be married first in our country that's just the way
we are and so he said serve me for seven more years and you can marry Rachel also
obviously that's not right to have more than one wife but that's what he did and
so he served him another seven years and married Rachel also he got Rachel at the
beginning of that seven years so and then he had both of them and he worked
another seven years then he worked for an additional six years just to continue
to work for him and to start making some money and amassing some wealth for
himself so at the end of 20 years he's leaving for Dan around he's got his
wife now he has his two wives he has 11 children and he's ready to go back to
the promised land ready to go back to Canaan he's marching back and he gets to
a point where he sees some messengers from Esau that are coming to meet him
Esau hears that he's coming back to town now remember what Esau's attitude was
toward him 20 years ago and so he's scared to death I mean he said Esau's
coming and 400 men are coming with him because Esau has become a very
successful man at this point he has 400 trained servants that are soldiers and
so he says Esau's coming at you with 400 men well Jacob is scared to death he
says here's the first thing we're gonna do I want you to take all the strange
gobs he's talking to all his servants because he had a lot of wealth he's very
upstanding financially and he had all kinds of servants employees working for
him family members he said everybody who's with us he said that all he said
all you men I want you to take the earrings out of your ears he said I want
you to take all your idols all your false gods that you worship because
there were people that work for him that worship these false gods he said I want
you to bury him under this tree right here and get rid of it because we're in
trouble we need to get ahold of God and so that's exactly what they did the men
took their earrings out of their ears they took all their false gods and
idolatry they buried him under a tree and we find Jacob and turn to Genesis 32
I'm going to show you this is where we get into the message we find Jacob
sending everyone forward ahead of him all the servants his wives his children
his cattle and he sends them over the brook over this little river there and
he stays on the other side alone by himself at night look if you would a
Genesis chapter 32 and we'll begin reading in verse number let's see here
verse number 23 it took them and sent them over the brook and sent over that
he had and in verse number 24 of Genesis 32 the Bible reads and Jacob was left
alone and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day and we saw
that he prevailed not against him he touched the hollow of his thigh and the
hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with them and he said let
me go for the day breaketh and he said I will not let thee go except thou bless
me and he said unto him what is thy name and he said Jacob and he said thy name
shall be called no more Jacob but Israel for as a prince hast thou power with God
and with men and has prevailed and Jacob asked him and said tell me I pray thee
thy name and he said where for the thousandth after my name and he blessed
in there and Jacob called the name of the place Peniel watch this for I've
seen God face to face and my life is preserved you see that man that wrestled
with Jacob all night was no none other than God in the flesh it says that he
prevailed the man himself said you prevailed against God as you beat me in
this wrestling match he said you have prevailed against God he said I'm gonna
call this place Peniel because I've seen God in the flesh and my life is
preserved this was none other than Jesus Christ God in the flesh appearing in the
Old Testament wrestling with Jacob now what's the point of the sermon well the
point of the sermon look look at you what a Hosea chapter 12 Hosea chapter 12
this is right toward the end of the Old Testament this is about what 12 books
before the book of Matthew just 12 little short books look at the book of
Hosea chapter 12 verse number 3 and we'll see a little bit of preaching from
this man Hosea where he's preaching about this exact story and in Hosea 12
three the Bible reads he took his brother by the heel in the womb and by
his strength he had power with God yea he had power over the angel referring to
Jesus Christ which is called sometimes the Old Testament the angel of the Lord
the angel as opposed to just an angel he took his brother by the heel in the
womb and by his strength he had power with God yea he had power over the angel and
prevailed he wept and made supplication unto him he found him in Bethel and
there he spake with us God is saying us meaning God the Father God the Son and
God the Holy Ghost and so we see this man Jacob that had power with God that's
the title of the sermon this morning power with God you see there are times
when praying to God is not just saying words out of your mouth maybe reading
something off that you didn't even make up yourself maybe just speaking
something that you've said a million times and just over and over repeating
the same thing sometimes praying to God is a wrestling match is what we see in
this story sometimes praying to God is where you have to get a hold of God and
say I'm not gonna let you go until you bless me see in the story this man meets
him and Jacob comes to the man and I love Jacob's attitude he just starts
fighting him you know what what's he doing there in the middle of the night
he just starts fighting this guy he doesn't know that it's God and he starts
to wrestle with him and I love the fact that he wrestles with God himself and he
won the wrestling match did you did you notice that it says he prevailed against
God he prevailed in this wrestling match with God now could God have won the
wrestling match I'm sure he could have if he wanted to but the point is he
wanted to see how bad do you want this Jacob how bad is it that you really want
what you're asking me for why don't you wrestle with me for a while let me see
if you can beat me physically let's see who wants it more me or you and the
Bible says they wrestled all night I mean you can't just read over this and
not think about it imagine what it's like it I've done some wrestling before
and wrestling all night is something that I can't even imagine I mean
wrestling is something that good night I was thinking about wrestling in high
school it's like a three-minute match isn't that what it is about three
minutes and it's over because wrestling is something that'll wear you out and
Jacob just refused to quit and God says let me go for the day break if he said
it's daytime let me go he says I won't let you go until you bless me and then
look what he look what he asked him he says well what's your name see he's kind
of a throwback to what happened 20 years ago when he stole the blessing
wrongfully from his dad and remember his dad asking the same question what's your
name and he said I mean saw but this time he said what's your name you want
me to bless you you've wrestled with me all night you prevailed against me I'll
give you whatever you want what's your name and he said Jacob and he says okay
well you're not gonna be called Jacob anymore your name is gonna be Israel
because as a prince thou is wrestled with God and man and prevail see praying
notice it said no they had said he had power with God right what does it mean
to have power with God what does it mean to be like Jacob to be like Israel who's
a household name in our day who is every day in the newspaper you'll see that
word Israel Israel just a tiny little strip of land it should be totally
insignificant but for some reason the whole attention of the world is focused
on that one little strip of land every day Israel the man who is mentioned in
the Bible probably more than any other man is Israel you'll see that name over
again Israel Israel is it the children of Abraham no it's referred to as the
children of Israel how does this man who started out a deceiver who started out
not in the not in God's will to be the great leader not in the line to be the
successor of the great blessings that God had he thought would have gotten
those how did this man get to the point where he became one of the greatest men
who ever lived how did he come to the point where he was called a prince with
God how did he come to the point where he had power with God what does it mean
to have power with God well I'll tell you what it is it's exactly the power
that he had where he said I want you to bless me I want you to answer my prayer
keeping me safe from Esau helping me to continue on and be the great leader to
be blessed for you to bless my nation for you to bless my children he said I
want to win this fight so that I can have the power of God to have my prayers
answered is what he's talking about he's talking about having power with God
where you ask God for something and he does it for you well number one my first
point this morning is pray with power pray with power yeah now we often think
of the term being filled with the Holy Ghost you've heard that term before and
it's mentioned in the Bible be not drunk with wine or in his excess but be filled
with the Spirit do you think about the power of the Holy Ghost upon you but he
shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you it says in Acts
1 8 and he shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in Judea and in
Sumerian under the uttermost parts of the earth but there's another aspect of
having the power of God there's another aspect it's called as Jude said praying
in the Holy Ghost that's what the Bible says pray in the Holy Ghost I'm gonna
tell you something being filled with the Holy Ghost is not just for a preacher to
get up and preach and he must be filled with the Holy Ghost when he preaches he
must be filled with power to preach or I must be filled with power and I go so
wanting hey being filled with the power of God having power with God to be
filled with the Holy Spirit is for prayer now I'll tell you something when
I when I pray I pray like I preach or I pray louder and more vehemently than I
preach I'm serious when I really have to pray about something I have to leave the
hell I mean I leave I go somewhere to pray I mean I have to get in the car and
I have to go somewhere and get a hold of God and I pray to God with power cuz I'm
wrestling with God I'm not just changing some little prayer that I read in some
precious moments book somewhere hey I'm getting a hold of God and wrestling with
God and saying I'm not gonna let you go until you bless me now a lot of times we
get this false idea that we can't change God's mind and that's just a lie that is
not the truth you say what and we get this idea well whatever will be is this
gonna be whatever happens happens oh well we'll just see what happens hey
that is not true that is not true at all because God's will does not always
happen you say well it happened it must have been God's will oh really look once
you look around the world we live in and ask yourself this is God's will look
back on your life and some of the things that have happened to you and tell me
that that's God's will it's not God's will the Bible says God is not willing
that it he should perish do we see people perishing every day and going to
hell yes we do because God's will doesn't always happen God is willing that
everything will be great I mean nobody be sinning and everybody be going to
heaven that's not the way life is and so sometimes we have to get a hold of God
and make things happen you see think about the story of Moses he carries the
children of Israel out of the land of Egypt they defile themselves while he's
up on the mountaintop receiving the Ten Commandments they begin to worship a
golden calf they get into drunkenness they had Bible says they were drinking
they were dancing they stripped down naked and he said I will destroy them
he said I'm gonna destroy this whole nation I'm gonna kill them all God said
and he said I'm gonna make a great nation of you Moses he said I'm gonna
start over I'm gonna push the reset button these people don't want anything
to do with me I want to make it of you we're gonna start over with you and I'll
make you the great nation and what happens Moses gets on his knees and
begins to pray and beg God to change his mind and you know what the Bible says
and God repented of the evil that he thought to do unto the children of
Israel now look did God change his mind or not yes he did God changed his mind
what about in the book of Joshua when the Bible says that God hearkened to the
voice of a man I mean we're talking about when Joshua stood up and looked at
the sky he was winning the battle he didn't want to stop fighting he said son
stand out still upon Gideon and what happened the son stood still for 24
solid hours and the Bible says that was the most in the history of the world
that God had ever hearkened to the voice of a man he said God never hearkened to
the voice of a man like he did that day I mean stopping the Sun think about the
Sun thousands of times bigger than planet earth think about stopping the
Sun but God says well I like that attitude Joshua I like it when you ask
me to do something that's hard I like it when you pray with power Joshua and so I
think I just will stop the Sun for you now don't ever get this attitude that
praying is just some kind of an exercise you go to it's just some kind of a
little email just a little ritual that you do or some stupid thing like that
hey look praying is something that you do to have something actually change
okay why would you pray and beg God to do something it's like well it's gonna
happen gonna happen anyway that's silly that's ridiculous the whole point of
praying is to try to change something the whole point of praying is to get God
to hearken to you the whole point of praying is when you wrestle with God and
you can say I've wrestled with God I'm gonna prevail I'm gonna get God to bless
me and to do what I want him to do that is prayer you say that sounds
spiritual hey look there's nothing more spiritual than praying in the Holy Ghost
praying with power and getting God to hearken to the voice of man it's nothing
more spiritual than that it's not as if we have this attitude well it's all in
God's hands you know I go out soul winning I ask people all the time do you
know for sure if you die today you go to heaven and you know what a lot of them
say well that's up to God I'm thinking to myself look God already decided that
he wants you there and when he sent his son to die on the cross for you I mean
God already decided that he wanted you there when he shed his blood on the
cross for you the balls in your court sir because it's time for you to say I
will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ I am gonna receive that payment for my
sin I am gonna put my faith in Jesus Christ to take me to heaven I'm gonna
take God at his word and be saved hey it's up to you it's not up to God who
goes to heaven and hell if it's up to God who goes to heaven and hell I don't
know why I'm here I don't know why I go so winning because it's up to God no
it's not up to God it's up to you it's up to me and it's up to the people when
we preach to them whether they're gonna receive it or not see we must pray with
an attitude that praying means something now look if you would at the book of
Hebrews toward the end your Bible there it's a few books before Revelation look
at the book of Hebrews chapter 5 I'm gonna show you this and I love these
passages like this where we see kind of into the mind of Jesus Christ a little
bit we see a little bit more into what he was like on this earth besides just
what we read in the four Gospels but numerous places in the book of Psalms
and also in the book of Hebrews we get a little bit of an insight a little more
depth into Jesus we think about the verse Jesus wept but here we have
another instance of Jesus weeping found in the book of Hebrews chapter number
five look at verse number seven and the Bible says in Hebrews 5 7 who in the
days of his flesh this is Jesus when he offered up prayers and supplications
with strong crying and tears you see that that's the way that Jesus was
praying Jesus's prayer life was something of him crying now the word in
the Bible crying sometimes we mistake that with our modern word crying the
word crying in the Bible means shouting it means yelling the old word weeping is
what's used in the Bible when we're talking about what we think of crying
somebody crying that's called weeping in the Bible crying is talking about
crying out to God talking about raising your voice and yelling and it says he
had strong crying and tears you see that he was he was shouting he was weeping he
was begging God to answer him he says he cried out let's see he'd offered up
prayers suffocation with song crying and tears unto him that was able to save
them with from death and was heard in that he feared though he were a son yet
learned he obedience by the things which he suffered and being made perfect he
became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him cold of God
and high priest after the order of Melchizedek so we see Jesus Christ
suffering agonizing in prayer begging the father to do something now look did
God answer his prayer well this is a little bit later in the message I'm
gonna explain this but he prayed unto him that was able to save him from death
now did he die yes he did but it says and was heard and that he feared so his
prayer was heard his prayer was answered maybe not in the exact way that he was
saying but that's why he said not thy will but my or not my will but thy be
done look if you would at Ephesians put back a few books in your Bible there
this to Ephesians chapter 6 I'm going to show you a little more about this
concept of wrestling with God begging God to do something look at Ephesians
chapter 6 this is several books before the book of Hebrews Ephesians chapter 6
familiar verses in verse number 10 finally my brethren be strong in the
Lord and in the power of his might put on the whole armor of God that you may
be able to stand against the wiles of the devil for we wrestle you see that
and say well no no Pastor Anderson it says we wrestle not says we don't
wrestle no he's a little more carefully it says for we wrestle not against flesh
and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of the
darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places and so you
could you could when you read it you have to understand the English language
where it's saying we wrestle not against flesh and blood but he's saying we do
wrestle against principalities we do wrestle against powers we do wrestle
against the rules of the darkness of this world we do wrestle against
spiritual wickedness in high places hey this should be the model for your life
this should be your mantra we wrestle we don't just go through life and let life
happen to us we all just calmly cruise through life and everything goes our way
and we just do whatever we feel like doing no my friend we wrestle we wrestle
with God we wrestle with man we wrestle with principalities and power we wrestle
that's our motto that's a model of faithful word Baptist Church we wrestle
I like that but anyway that's the whole point is and no that's not on the
the activity is a national binder only a few of you understand what I'm saying about that
but hey look wrestling there will be a badge for wrestling it's going to be about prayer
and I'm going to tell you something if you want to get your prayers answered from God
you want to have power with God you got to wrestle and I'm going to tell you something
when Jacob wrestled with God did you notice how his thigh got out of joint
while he wrestled with God and the Bible says for the rest of his life
he lived on that leg for the rest of his life he walked like this you see he paid a price
when he wrestled with God he paid a price to get what he wanted from God but he got it
I'll tell you something he really got what he wanted from God but he had to pay for it
are you willing to pay for it are you willing to pay for what you want from God
are you willing to wrestle with God are you willing to fight with God
think about Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane remember the great sweat that dropped
from his brow as he prayed and the Bible says that he sweat like drops of blood
so number one pray with power but number two look at first John chapter three
pray with confidence this is first John chapter three
right toward the end of your Bible right before the book of revelation you have first second and
third John and the Jude revelation look at first John chapter three verse number 20
verse 19 first John 3 20 the Bible says for if our heart condemn us
God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things beloved if our heart condemn us not
then have we confidence toward God and it's explained in the next verse what he's saying
and whatsoever we ask we receive of him because we keep his commandments and do those things that
are pleasing in his sight see what he's saying in verse number 19 he says and hereby we know that
we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts performing look we know we're saved we know that
we're going to heaven but it says in verse number 19 I'm sorry verse number 20 sometimes a heart
condemns us because we know that we've got sin in our lives because we know that there's something
that we're that we're doing this wrong and we know that there's this sin in our life that we
haven't gotten out and he says if our heart condemn us God is greater than our heart and
knoweth all things but look what it says but if our heart condemn us not
then have we confidence toward God you see that the way to have confidence in your prayer life
is when your heart doesn't condemn you it's when you can say to God God whatever sin I have I'm
sorry I want to forsake it I'm going to do what's right I'm not going to I'm not going to have
iniquity in my heart that says that it's okay for me to say he says if I get that I don't want to
have this sin and I'm sorry for what sin I did I want to do right I'm not going to plan on sinning
and I want to have a clean conscience with you right now God see that's where you be confident
when you're praying but see when you got all the sin in your life and you go to pray to God
you're wondering I don't know if God's really going to answer me because I know that I'm doing
wrong by God you see the confidence in prayer comes from having a clear conscience before
God so the Bible says and look at the next verse look at this promise and whatsoever we ask we
receive of him because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing and
insightful keeping the commandments most of God's commandments are negative commandments don't do
this don't do this so he says not only have the negative of I keep his commandments and do those
things that are pleasing in his sight that's the positive side where you're doing what God wants
you to do where you're winning people to Christ where you're in church faithfully where you're
doing everything that God asks you to do where you're reading the Bible where you're praying to
God look if you would at verse number uh first John I'm sorry turn to the next page first John
chapter 5 and look at verse 14 and this is the confidence that we have in him remember the same
word confidence having confidence before God when you're praying and this is the confidence that we
have in him that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us and if we know that he hear
us whatsoever we ask we know that we have the petitions that we desire them now you have to
understand when God uses the word commandment he means commandment not suggestion not I'd prefer
it if you did this he says it's a commandment and we get this idea sometimes that God's commandments
are optional now there's an attitude in the Bible that's described by this word iniquity
iniquity is where you have this off-balance view of God it comes from the word equity where you
think that you have the right to sin against God where you think that you have the right to decide
whether or not you're going to obey God all the time you'll see people and they they read something
in the Bible or they hear it preached from the pulpit and you know they see that it's from the
Bible and they get this command from God and then they say okay let me let me decide whether I'm
going to do that or not I ask the reaction that a lot of people have they say let me decide
well I don't know if I can do that I don't know if I'm willing to pay that kind of a price
boy that's iniquity that's wrong see the opposite of iniquity is righteousness
righteousness is not something you do righteousness is something that you are
now no one is completely righteous the Bible says there's none righteous no not one
but righteousness is where you say like Jesus did I do always those things which pleased my
father and so you have to come to a place in your life where you're ready to obey God before you
even hear what he says it's like I don't somebody asked me one time when I was a teenager and before
I knew the Bible I was young and they asked me how do you how can you say you believe every word of
the Bible is true when you've never read every word of the Bible and you know it's kind of the
town I should have read it you know it's a good question but at the same time I said you know
what I believe it before I ever read it I mean when I read it I'm already going to believe it
because I know it's true and that's the attitude that we should have but it's like God says let me
command you something wait God before you say it I'm going to whatever it is I'll do it and whatever
it is I'm going to follow it so go ahead and tell me what it is you say why don't I understand the
Bible sometimes I just have a hard time understanding the Bible look if you obey what
you do understand then maybe God will give you more that you can understand but if you're not
even obeying what he's given you so far why would he give you more truth from the Bible why would
he reveal to you the great secrets the great treasure of God's word the wisdom of the ages
when you're not obeying the part that you know it's almost like come back and see me when you're
obeying what I told you and then I'll show you the rest and so you have to come to the place
where you say my all is on the altar whatever God tells me to do and I'm not talking about
the commandments of men I'm talking about what the Bible says whenever I see something and I
know that that's what God wants me to do I know God does not want me to do this I will obey because
I don't want to have iniquity in my heart the Bible says in Jesus I was loved righteousness
and hated iniquity therefore God even I God has anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy
fellows and so you have to come to a place where you just decide God's commandments are not
optional they're not suggestions they're not a framework by which I could live my life in a
pattern that I could follow loosely no they're commandments and God says when I say something
it's not for you to decide whether you want to do it it's just do it and you just have to have
an attitude of saying yes sir think about God the father the creator of the entire universe
Jehovah God speaks and then we just thought I wonder if I'm going to do it or not now he's
that kind of silly if you think about it in that way if you think about Jesus Christ on the cross
you think about Jesus Christ when he was on the church said this is my body which is broken for
you this cup is the new testament in my blood which is shed for you and then you decide whether
he's going to be Jesus Christ or whether he's going to be the Lord Jesus Christ who has the
right to tell me what to do because he is Lord and see you have to come to the place in your life
where you say Jesus Christ is the Lord Jesus Christ I'm not talking about salvation I'm not
one of these heretic southern baptists yet southern baptists who say that you have to make
Jesus the Lord of your life to be saved no believing on Jesus Christ is salvation but still
down the road you better come to a place where you decide that he's going to be in charge of
your life if you want to grow if you want to have confidence if you want to have confidence
you want to be like Jacob if you want to wrestle with God and prevail you want to have power with
God you're going to have to come to that point but number three not only should you pray with power
not only should you pray with confidence but number three pray with peace look at Philippians
chapter 3 and this is this is almost the most important part of the sermon
but look at Philippians 3 Galatians Ephesians Philippians
I'm sorry I'm sorry I've got the wrong scripture it's Philippians 4 let me find it
Philippians 4 verse number 6 Philippians 4 6
the Bible reads here in Philippians 4 6 let's be careful for nothing the Bible says be careful
for nothing care care carefulness in the Bible is talking about worrying he says I would that
you would be without carefulness he said I want you to worry he says be careful for nothing but
in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known
unto God and the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus what's God saying he says look if you pray with power not just some little
bitty but I'm talking about where you pray with power and you pour out your request to God with
strong crying and tears perhaps but when you make your request known to God with prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving he says when you pray with confidence and you believe that God is
going to answer your prayer when Jesus said pray believing that you have those things which he
asked for he says if you pray to me and pull out your heart to me he says then the peace of God
which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus what am I
saying well God is saying that if you pray and you ask God to do something you can come to a place
where you're just assured that you know that he hurts you and that he answers you because the
Bible said this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will
he hears us and we know if we know that he hears us whatsoever we ask we know that we have the
petitions that we desired of him and so here's the bottom line you get on your knees you wrestle with
God you beg God you pray to God you pray with confidence you confess your sins to God and say
God I'm sorry I'm getting the sin out of my heart right now I'm not going to live in sin I'm not
just going to habitually break your laws God and I'm sorry for the times that I did slip up in sin
and then you say God this is what I want God this is what I need nevertheless not my will but thy
be done and what happens is you can have the assurance of knowing that if God gives you if God
God's going to either give you what you asked for or he's going to not give it to you if it's for
your best that you'll at least know that he heard you and you'll know that he's going to bless you
and you know that he's going to give you maybe not exactly what you thought was best but he's going
to give you what he knows is the best thing but you only can have that assurance when you've
wrestled with God you can only have that assurance when you pray with confidence and then you'll have
the peace of knowing I poured out my heart to God I begged God I've done the things that were pleasing
in his sight I've kept his commandments and so I'm not going to worry about it I'm not going to be
careful about it I'm just going to stop and say God it's in your hands and I trust you God that
you're going to do what's best for me you see some of the things that I've prayed for through the
years I'm glad that God didn't answer my prayer looking back and did God not hear me hey when I
cried out to God I know that God heard me and I just had the assurance of just saying hey I've
done what I'm supposed to do whatever happens God that's up to you God and I just go through life
with peace knowing that whatever happens is God's will you say wait a minute earlier you said
whatever happens is not God's will look when you pray with power then whatever happens is God's
will you see what I'm saying see the difference when you don't pray with power when you don't
pray with confidence then whatever happens happens without God's will but when you get a hold of God
you can have the peace of God with passive understanding where you know that God is blessing
you where you know that God is going to take care of you well I've seen God answer prayer
many times I mean I'm not just talking about something that I read in the Bible
although that would be enough even if I'd never seen it but how many times I could tell you
about just going out soul winning nobody was getting saved and I said to my soul winning
partner let's kneel down right here in the middle of the street and they look at me like what are
you doing you're crazy I said let's kneel get on your knees right here with me in the street
and we got on our knees in the street and prayed out loud to God I just watched God do something
because God wants you to pray with power God wants you to get a hold of him and when I pray
I expect something to happen I'm surprised when it doesn't happen now do I expect to just get
exactly what I asked for every time no but I expect God to do the exact right thing every
time I expect God to show himself powerful and I expect God to do something it may not be what I
think because what do I know anyway but it's going to be something's going to happen when you pray
when you really get a hold of God you can't just beg and pray to God and wrestle with God and have
nothing happen you're not praying right I'm telling you the truth something will happen but
it just might not be what you think that's why you have to have the faith to say when I'm done
wrestling with God I'm going to know that God heard my prayer whatever happens I know that it's
what God's doing and then you can just have the peace that you know that you're in God's will
and whatever happens happens let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer
well thank you so much dear God that you give us the peace of God which passes all understanding