Pray Without Ceasing | Senior Pastor Kenneth Carpenter
by Kenneth Carpenter
First Apostolic Church of Maryville (Maryville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Daniel 10:1-2, Daniel 10:7, Daniel 10:8, Daniel 10:10-13, Isaiah 59:1-2, Isaiah 1:15-20, Jeremiah 7:16-18, Ephesians 6:10-13, Revelation 16:13-16, Acts 1:15-22

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/kenneth-carpenter--pray-without-ceasing
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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if you have your bibles and would stand with me this morning first thessalonians chapter 5 verse number 17. we are in this 21 days of prayer you feel the atmosphere changing it's 21 days of prayer that we've been in tonight said please forgive me for causing a momentary confusion there brother hammond trying to do sign language but uh monday through friday from 7 00 p.m to 8 pm we have prayer here we streamed that prayer meeting and many have been joined joining us from across america and around the world have been joining us with our prayer and that will begin tomorrow night but tonight at 5 30 we will start our seventh day of prayer we'll we'll start streaming at 5 30 and inviting those to be a part of our prayer in times like these aren't you thankful that you attend a praying church is that a comfort to you i i know it is to me i know that i get to preach to pray in people i tell you praying people's easier to preach to the non-praying people and and i know that sounds funny but that is that is the truth it's it's a lot easier to preach and pastor praying people than it is to people that don't pray people that pray uh well they're just on a different frequency and they they just simply have things situated in their life and i think i thank god i thank god for that first thessalonians chapter 5 verse 17. three simple words which i will use for my title today say why don't we all just say it together pray without ceasing father i love you this morning lord as i've asked you earlier i ask you to anoint my lips anoint the ears of those that hear today for it is only your word that can be our compass is only your word that can bring us salvation it's only your word that can bring us peace lord for the next few moments let our hearts be receptive to what you desire to be said in this room in jesus name we pray amen give him a hand to praise before your seed would you please come on give him a real good hand to praise before you're seated i want you to know that i'm going to go ahead and read something that i've prepared at the onset of this message the purpose of this message today is to encourage and instruct the church to endure times of silence from heaven in seasons of prayer anyone ever prayed and it felt like there was silence in heaven don't mistake silence from heaven that god hasn't heard you don't mistake silence from heaven that god hasn't heard you or that god is too big to be concerned with the burdens of your life don't mistake silence that god hasn't heard my prayer and don't mistake silence well he's too busy to know about my cares but by the help of the lord this morning i want to show you that god has heard your prayer the first time you prayed the first time you prayed pray without ceasing paul said pray without ceasing now many have tried to interpret that that they need to live 24 7 in the prayer room and that's not the correct interpretation of that just like today if you were to ask me are you and sister carpenter speaking are you all on speaking terms i would say well yes now i have not been speaking to her i'm not speaking to her right now but yes i am on speaking terms so when that that phrase pray without ceasing doesn't mean that you're to always be with hands class somewhere in a prayer room praying it just simply means that you are on speaking terms with god oh yes you can talk to him in the prayer room but you can also talk to him driving down the road in your car and you can also bow your head at the table and just talk to the lord a little bit because paul simply said pray without ceasing well let me take you to the book of daniel the book of daniel chapter number 10. we'll begin reading at verse number five you'll see some similarities in the season that we're in right now in daniel chapter 10 and verse number five and by the way by the way daniel is a book of the end time daniel is a book that the book of revelation in the book of daniel about the end time is laid side by side many of the things that were written in the book of daniel about the end times show up in the book of revelation and it's interesting to note that the enemy the enemy fought two things in the book of daniel two times the enemy fought prayer what did they come up with as a way to entrap daniel they said well let's make a petition that if anyone in your kingdom o king prays to any other god let him be cast into the lion's den do you know that's the mastermind of hell trying to stop the plans of prophecy because the enemy knows if he can stop you from praying he's already got you if he can ever disrupt the signal between you and god you're as good is already on his stringer you're as good as already hooked and now the scripture text that i'm reading daniel chapter 10 verse number one in the third year of cyrus king of persia a thing was revealed unto daniel whose name was belteshazzar and the thing was true but the time was appointed the time appointed was long and he understood the things and he had understanding of the vision now what he saw was tribulation he saw great tribulation coming the tribulation that is being set up right now the tribulation that the stage is being set right now we are the church that's living in the time of seeing the stage set up on the world scene of the ushering in of tribulation daniel saw this tribulation and when he saw this tribulation of course it says daniel says the thing he saw was true but the time appointed was long in other words he saw the tribulation but he unders he understood also that it would be long in coming there would be a lot of time between when he saw the vision of tribulation and when the tribulation actually the tribulation actually took place verse two in those days i daniel was mourning three full weeks look at some similarities of where we're at right now he saw tribulation he saw what was coming and the bible says he went into prayer and mourning three full weeks that's 21 days he went into prayer and fasting for 21 days because that's how you control your atmosphere the antichrist will set up his stage but what stage will you set up the world is moving things around right now as never before but what kind of stage will the church have set up the church will follow the footsteps of daniel i in those days i daniel verse two was morning three four weeks i ate no pleasant bread neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth neither did i anoint myself at all till three whole weeks were fulfilled so he says i went into buffeting my flesh i went into putting my flesh in its proper place that's one of the duties that's one of the after effects of prayer you'll never want to pray stop waiting to wake up one morning and you're going to float to the prayer room none of us float to the prayer room it's a battle to get to prayer and once you get to prayer you would think the enemy would quit but lo and behold when you begin to pray if you don't feel your mouth with words you'll begin to think about everything at home you need to get done oh i got a witness here in the house the closet that need to be the the closet that needs to be cleaned out the the weeds and the gutters that now growing trees that you're finally going to get around to and clean out all these things that you begin to think if you don't fill your mouth with a structure and with words all this stuff comes he said i buffeted my flesh i ain't no pleasant bread wine didn't come into my mouth i didn't even anoint myself that was like a a soothing effect to the flesh he said i i didn't anoint myself these whole 21 these whole 21 days he tells about being by a river and there the river he looks up and he sees an angel coming to him he sees this angel coming to him in verse number 11. if you would go down to daniel chapter 10 verse number 11. well excuse me let's go to verse seven for a moment and i appreciate those that are running the scriptures on the screen i'm throwing you a curved ball today i know but daniel chapter 10 verse number 11. now now let's let's set the stage daniel is praying he's been 21 days of eating no pleasant bread drinking no wine nor anointing he's been buffeting his body he's been putting his body under subjection and they're there by the river he and some more men and they're praying and this angel came came came walking up to them and and look at the effect at verse number seven and i daniel alone saw the vision for the men that were with me saw not the vision but a great quaking fell upon them so that they fled to hide themselves can i tell you our spiritual condition determines what we see notice daniel said i was praying not we were praying he's got some companions he's got some friends he's with but he doesn't say we were praying he says i was praying he doesn't say we were fasting he says i daniel you notice that in the verse i daniel in other words i've been doing this and it's any strange thing that when the angel comes walking up daniel sees clearly the angel but just a quaking fell upon the men that were around him and the bible said they ran and fled our spiritual condition will determine what we see in 2020. where we're at scripturally we'll either see the the things of god as a prison wall or a wall of protection we'll either see that god is a prayer answering god or we'll see that i better roll up my sleeves because it's going to be me making my way through life your spiritual condition we'll determine that's why we have 21 days of prayer let's go on to verse number eight therefore i was left alone and saw this great vision there remain no more strength in me for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption and i retained no strength yet i heard the voice of the words and when i heard the voice of the words then was i in deep sleep upon my face i read that and got a little chuckle about it he heard the angel's words and he went to sleep and i thought well i'm not going to feel bad if the folks hear my words and go to sleep either then was i in a deep sleep on my face and my face toward the ground can i tell you when god is going to come to you when you are at your lowest time in life he said well i i don't know why god hasn't come maybe there's a little bit lower we need to go maybe there's a little bit more humbling we need to have maybe this disguise thing called pride daniel i'm going to tell you when you're going to have your answer is when you get about as low as you can go seems like to me seems like god has always come in when i'm at my lowest time god never sometimes god just never shows up when i got a full tank or a half tank or a quarter tank god always shows up when i'm saying god help me get to the service station oh jesus forgive me one more time and behold verse 10 a hand touched me which set me up on my knees and upon the palms of my hands and he said unto me oh daniel a man greatly beloved understand the words that i speak unto you and stand upright for unto thee am i now sent and when he had spoken this word unto me i stood trembling can i tell you the first thing i want to tell everybody today hear and listening god loves you god loves you i want to tell everybody listening watching today god loves you one of the first things we have to understand about god when we go to connect with him is it god loves you god loves you with a love that's unbelievable you can't fathom it the breath of it the height of it you can't fathom the love of god today please do not give up on yourself because you pulled out your ruler or you pulled out your standard of love i want to tell you today god loves you god loves you at your lowest time god says oh daniel i want you to know that you're beloved you're you you are you are much loved and when he touched him he stood up he stood up trembling now follow closely with verse 12. then said he unto me fear not look at that look at that process you'll never get the fear out of your life until you get the love of god in your life because the bible says perfect love casteth out fear so if you can just understand today i'm loved don't don't go getting clovers out of the field god loves me he loves me not he loves me he loves me not don't you let your fickled emotions dictate to you that god loves you god loves you on sunday night when you're praising his name and he loves you on monday morning when you're smacking that alarm over and over again he still loves you god loves you and when i get the love of god in my life guess guess what the next thing is that gets rebuked fear not daniel for from the first day watch this now for from the first day that thou just set thine heart to understand and to chasten thyself before thy god thy words were heard and i am come for thy words 21 days i don't hear anything from god 21 days i have eat bread that's stale 21 days i haven't i haven't put the ointment on my flesh 21 days i haven't ate anything that i wanted to eat for 21 days and no answer from god and now all of a sudden an angel of god shows up and two things he wants to tell him number one i love you and number two don't be afraid and the next thing i just throw in as a ps i heard you the first day you pray come against that spirit that tells you prayer isn't making a difference come against that spirit that tells you god's too big and too busy to be concerned with the mind you things of your life or god's holding your past over your head because you've got to serve time in god's penitentiary and when you serve enough days of misery god's going to do something for you can i tell you that god heard you on the first time that you bent down and that you pray oh i believe he deserves a better praise i i really do god god heard you that's why i said pray without ceasing don't give up your 21 days is coming don't give up on day one or day eight you're 21 days can you say amen he said i urge you the first day he said i want you to understand that i heard you the first day let's read verse 12 real close then said he unto me fear not daniel for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand and to chasten thyself before thy god thy words were heard that sounds like prayer thy words were heard and i am come for your words in other words i want you to know your prayer was heard and i'm here because you prayed i am here because you have prayed but now let's understand let's let's go on further but the prince verse 13 but the prince of the kingdom of persia withstood me one and twenty days but lo michael one of the chief princes came to help me and i remained there with the kings of persia what am i just describing spiritual warfare you see i have down here today i have down here today that there are basically three reasons people don't get a prayer answer one of them is spiritual warfare there is an invisible force around us the bible and i'll read the verse in a moment but it talks about the prince and the principalities of the air demonic spirits that are around this that are warring to get your mind they want your mind they want your mind and now this absolutely this absolutely i had no idea of this we've got to work as never before this is why we this next statement i make is why we need to pray in church according to the to the cdc in blount county in one year's time from 20 february of 2020 to february of 2021 over 700 men and women od'd and died over 700 blount county over 700 that's two people a day in our county that's why we need to pray in church because before we start looking at people we got to understand the prince of the power of the air that's got into their minds because the bible says that the prince and the power of the air has blinded people's minds that's where he wants he wants in their minds if he can get in their minds he can control their actions the prince and the power of the air but allow me to go through the three reasons that have seen that that a prayer is not answered the first that i would like to deal with today is sin we have to understand that sin will hinder stop our prayers from being answered not even answered even being heard isaiah 59 isaiah 59 verse number 1 someone say praise the lord that's why we have to be mindful 21 days of prayer called soul searching soul-searching behold the lord's hand is not shortened that he cannot say neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear in other words the people were making excuses of why why god wasn't coming through for them and some said well god doesn't have the power to do that or they there's those were some were saying well god doesn't hear us but then god in verse 2 tells us the very reason but your iniquities have separated me have been have separated between you and your god look at that but your iniquities have separated between you and your god and your sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear the value and the beauty of the church is we have the prescription for sin we have the prescription for sin we have the prescription that we believe upon the one who gave his life for our sins and that we repent of our sins and that we are baptized i believe i believe we may have one to be baptized this morning we believe what the scripture teaches about water baptism that it is for the remission of our sins look at the beauty of the church but do you understand today that sin unrepented unconfessed sin causes god's face not to shine upon your life unrepented unconfessed sin causes god's power to be withheld from your life let's go to isaiah chapter 1 verse number 15. he talks about he talks about israel having all the religious trinkets now isaiah chapter 1 verse 15 and and when ye spread forth your hands i will hide mine eyes from you yea and when you make many prayers i will not hear your hands are full of blood now the blood is the blood of the prophets it was the blood of the men of god that came to israel saying repent don't go that way stay focused on god don't let the pagans get your mind don't let the world get your mind the prophets came along and called out their sin and said please worship god please give god all your heart but guess what they did to the prophets they didn't like what the prophet said therefore they stoned them and god said the prophet's blood is upon your hands i'll tell you how bad sin is sin would not only destroy the prophets but sin would reach its hand out and crucify the very savior that we serve he says your hands are full of blood wash you make you clean put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes cease to do evil he said stop what you're doing if you know it's wrong by the help of god and the grace of god stop what you're doing don't try to make excuses for it don't try to justify it by saying well i know what i'm doing but old sister so-and-so over here you ought to know what she's doing don't do that he says learn to do well learn to do well you know you to learn you need a teacher he said get in class get get get before somebody that's telling you how to live for god learn to do well seek judgment relieve the oppressed judge the fatherless plead for the widow come now let us reason together you know what god is wanting to do today listen to him come now and let us reason together saith the lord though your sins be a scarlet they shall be as white as snow though they be red like crimson they shall be as wool look at this verse here there's none of us that are beyond this well god can't do this for me this is too hard for me that's that's one of the biggest spiritual lies you could receive it's too hard to live for god it's too difficult to do this no no it's not all he needs is verse 19 if ye be willing and obedient you shall eat the good of the land but if you refuse and rebel ye shall be devoured with the sword for the mouth of the lord has spoken it now our sin that's why we've always got to keep the temperature of prayer hot in our lives to expose sin and to bring sin to the surface one more verse jeremiah chapter 7 verse number 16. jeremiah 7 verse number 16. he speaks again to israel he says therefore therefore pray not he's talking to he's actually talking to jeremiah about the people and he says jeremiah pray not thou for this people man i don't know about you but that would be a tough if you're here today and you're a minister that'd be a tough word from the lord for him to say don't pray for them don't pray for them now i want to tell you in all my years of preaching i'm glad that god has never spoken my ear and said don't pray for them and all my years of pastoring sure we're like any church there's been people leave us but i want to go on the record and i've said this on multiple occasions i have never been glad when anyone left i have never rejoiced i've never been glad my heart was heavy my heart remains heavy for those but can you imagine god telling the prophet don't pray for them don't don't pray for them neither lift up cry nor prayer for them neither make intercession to me for i will not hear thee well what what in the world how far could you get away from god that god would tell the pastor don't even pray for him don't even cry about them because i'm not going to hear you i know about you i'm going to stop right here and say lord please don't ever let me get there god god don't ever please god don't ever let me get there well let's let's let's go on down and see what it is verse 17. see is thou not what they do in the cities of judah and in the streets of jerusalem do you see what they're doing you you see what they're doing oh man of god verse 18. the children gather wood and the father's kindle of fire and the women need their dough to make cakes to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods that they may provoke me to anger it was a family affair where they got to the place that god gave up on them and said don't even pray the whole family was involved in sin it was children that went out and gathered wood it was fathers that stoked up the fire and it was mothers that needed the dough and they made cakes to take to the false gods of the world can i tell you today i want to be living for god i want it to be a family affair i want it to be a family affair if you're here this morning and you're the only one from your family living for god i've got one word for you keep on praying for your family keep on praying for your family because i've seen god more than once have a daughter come in and all of a sudden here comes the mother and all of a sudden here comes a sister and all of a sudden come on keep on praying keep on praying keep on praying you've all heard the story and pardoned me for the personal reference but my wife fasted every wednesday for years for the salvation of her sister rhonda he she fasted every every every wednesday didn't matter if we were on vacation it didn't matter how much we tried to talk mom out of it she was gonna miss every meal if we were on vacation and can i tell you god heard that prayer god heard that prayer matter of fact matter of fact from from one woman just keeping on praying there's people sprinkled all through this congregation that are kin to the bennetts that are kin to the kirklands that are akin to all of these go ahead if you're the only one don't let the devil speak to you and say oh look at you you need to feel condemned when they're talking about husbands and wives because you don't have your husband here or you don't have your wife here or you don't have your children here you can't if you'll keep on praying if you'll just keep on praying he said well i've been praying for years maybe you haven't got your 21st year yet well i've been praying for this long but maybe you have just i mean go to the grave go to the grave praying for your children you know what go to the grave praying for your children because after you're long dead and gone your prayers are just as much alive they're just as much in power as if the day sin i must tell you that if you're not getting a prayer answered examine examine your heart examine your heart the second thing that can be used to get a prayer answer you may not understand daniel didn't daniel had confessed his sins but why didn't the angel come on the second day or the third day or the fourth day why didn't the angel come immediately when he prayed those words because evil angels can attempt to hinder the work we want to do for god angels evil angels look at ephesians chapter 6 verse number 10 and i'm not one of these guys to get spooky and goofy okay i don't see a devil behind every broken down washing machine i see that it was 24 years old and needed a new one all right that's that's i don't i don't see the devil i don't see the devil in the flat tire i don't see the devil and i just i just simply i'm a realist in that that way but i do understand that there is really an evil demonic force that wants to get in the minds to hinder the work of the gospel ephesians 6 and 10 finally my brethren be strong in the lord in the power of his might put on the whole armor of god that you may be able to stand against the wiles that word wiles there means schemes and plans that you may be able to stand against the schemes and the plans of the devil 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 wherefore taken to you the whole armor of god that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all st having done all to stand stand therefore can i tell you today that there are evil forces that are doing everything they can to get in the minds of our politicians to get into the minds of our educators outside of the church to educate them to slant them in a way that will obey against the promoting of the gospel of jesus christ that's why we are told and we should pray as paul told us to we should pray for all that are in authority didn't say if your party got in or not he said pray for all pray for all that are in authority pray for kings pray for everyone in authority pray for them you know why because there is an adversary a demonic spirit of the world that would like to control fully washington dc would like to control fully the educational system because the enemy knows if i can be lord of the educational system i have got all that will come there and be educated but somehow i believe a church in maryville is going to have 21 days of prayer and we're going to say we pray for our over office we pray for those in in position we pray that their minds will oh god i pray i pray that this upcoming time that the supreme court hears roe versus wade that abortion could be turned around think about that think of the millions of unborn children think of millions of unborn children that their lives were snuffed out but we've got a chance oh god move upon those supreme justices that they'll give it to the states to allow the states to make the ruling about where oh god that's something to pray about satan wants death but god wants life and i'll always get a little note from someone well maybe not always but frequently i have when i mention abortion oh pastor please please be very careful there's women in this congregation that have had abortions and it just opens up such wounds when you mention this can i just tell you where i see that angle from they should be my biggest amen people for they know the torment and the hell that they've already and that they go through knowing that they willingly did this yes the blood cleanses yes the blood forgives yes you're going to go to heaven but just help me you fell in the ditch help me to fill the ditch up today that no other young lady in here let them hear those words evil spirits can i tell you sometimes we can't detect evil spirits because they change the scenery slowly they changed the scenery slowly our culture has changed ever so slowly ever so slowly ever so slowly there's a joke there's it's not a joke it's kind of a little funny story i guess that is a joke there's kind of a little funny story that's told about a man that got voted into the church and the piano was in the very smack dab middle of the platform and he he wanted to take the piano from being center and put the pulpit center and some wise person said just move the piano one inch every sunday just every sunday move it one inch and about a year or two later he walks in to find two board members fussing about who moved the piano and one board member said that pen has always been over there on the side of that platform it's always no it's been right over here well can i tell you that our culture the devil has moved it just one inch at a time slowly tightening the vice of control over us can i tell you and i and and it may sound political today but you ought to gasp when educated elected officials make the statement it's not your business what we teach your children oh yes it is oh yes it's not only my business it's my requirement what my children hear is my responsibility oh yes it is mom and dad it is our responsibility you better make sure they're being trained up in the ways of god it is it is your responsibility we just move it one inch at a time one inch at a time oh we see this clearly we see this clearly in revelation chapter 16 verse 13 when john begins to talk about the tribulation that's coming the battle of armageddon it ties into it that battle of armageddon revelation 16 13 watch what john sees and i saw three unclean spirits what are they unclean spirits fallen angels like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet for they are the spirits of devils working miracles which go forth into the kin to the kings of the earth and to the whole world to gather them to battle of that great day of god almighty behold i come as a thief in the night blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments lest he walk naked and they see his shame and he gathered them together into a place called in the hebrew tongue armageddon the finality of all finality battles is fault right here but guess how it happens three unclean spirits like frogs frogs don't walk and frogs don't run frogs leap and sit leap and set and we've watched our culture for the last 60 years leap and set do things that absolutely appall the americans but the enemy knows yes they're upset right now but just sit right now don't make too many quick changes just get set right now and then all of a sudden when we get used to that when our culture tells us it's okay when our culture conditions our mind then guess what the enemy does he leaps again but i wonder if there's some people here that'll believe in 21 days of prayer that we'll say not me and my house not my wife not me not my children not my family let the world go the direction that it wants to go i'm waiting on two things revival and the rapture that's why we have 21 days of prayer revival and the rapture i want my family to go in the rapture i won't ever listen they say there'll be more suicides in maryville tennessee but oh god could we bombard the prince and the principality of the air brother james and sister ashley we met yesterday for a couple of hours because you know what we need a place not only that men and women can come to and get the holy ghost and get baptized but we need a house we need a residence that they can go to and be trained in the ways of god i may not be able to get all 700 but if i can just get one are you with me this morning leap and settle until i was in an airplane airport the other day and men walking around me in dresses you may be seated you know why principality of the air has to mar the distinction of sexes and if we don't watch it as a church we'll let it creep into our church leap and settle leap and settle and the hate people haters hate i never have hated a person i may have hated their sin and can i tell you right now what the homosexual the gay community however you want to call them what they need today is a church strong in the word and a church strong in love we need a church we need a church that's got a mouse speaking truth we need a church speaking the truth of god's word but that same church just can't have a mouth it's got to have an arm of love that reaches out to the center that reaches out to those in sin and says this is what god's word says but let me love you into the body of christ let me look because listen sin never has nor ever will bring you joy can i tell you the people that know that sin don't work is sinners it's sinners today that know i'm miserable so what the church needs to do is tear down the wall and say brother we love you brother come on in we love you we'll put our arm around you we'll care for you brother matt was telling me yesterday at walmart he was witnessing on his job and somebody said well i we couldn't come there because my wife does this or does that he said man i don't know who you heard that junk from that's a lie i've had people in this town tell me i'd go there but you have to do this i said no you don't have to do that come on come on to the house of god now i'm not going to water it down i'm not going to water anything down to fill these pews up because what filled these pews the first time wasn't a watered-down gospel it was preaching the truth in love to the thousands of drug addicts in blount county we love you we love you don't believe the voice of the principality of the air we love you to the homosexual community to the lesbian community we love you if you don't even know your gender we love you well let me go on today oh it's 25 it's 24 minutes to 12. and we'll all turn into a pumpkin if i preach to 12 today once hindering our prayers evil spirits can fight with the adversary but i got good news for you the good angels always overcome the good ones always break through and the last thing and i've ran out of time sin will cause god not to hear your prayers demonic spirits will try to hinder as they did daniel and the last thing i know i wish i had more time to to give to this partial obedience to the word of god will cause the full power of god and the purpose of god not to be released in the believer partial obedience causes god to give you partial his power you ever notice this and i'll end with this the day of their praying 120 disciples are praying they're not going to leave jerusalem until they be filled with the power of the promise of the father they're not leaving they're not leaving until they get the holy ghost acts chapter 1 verse 15 and in those days peter stood up in the midst of the disciples no covet please um and in those days peter stood up in the midst of the disciples and said the number of names together were about 120. now listen to peter men and brethren the scripture must needs have been fulfilled which the holy ghost by the mouth of david spake concerning judas which was guide to them that took jesus for he was numbered with us and had obtained part of this ministry now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity and following headlong he disbursed sunder in the midst and all of his bowels gushed out and it was known unto all the dwellers at jerusalem in so much as that field is called in their proper tongue the sildema that is to say the field of blood for it is written in the book of psalms let his habitation be desolate and let no man dwell therein and his bishop rick let another take now isn't this amazing isn't this amazing brother namey that in the midst of praying for the holy ghost to fall in the midst brother hammond of them praying the 120 disciples go to the upper room with me in the midst of that upper room peter says wait a minute there's a scripture that needs to be fulfilled wait a minute gentlemen uh judas his office is vacant the bible foretold about it and the bible said let another take his place we have got i know the holy ghost we're here to receive the gift of the holy ghost but there is a scripture that we need to fulfill and the bible well let me let me just go ahead and read the rest of it he says he says let his habitation be desolate let no man dwell therein and his bishopric let another take where four of these men which have companied with us all the time that the lord jesus went in and out among us beginning from the baptism of john unto that same day that he was taken up from us one must be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection and they appointed two and just for time's sake they call two men brother henry they found two men that had been with them from the days of john the baptist until the days of the ascension and they did a little thing called casting lots to see which one it would fall upon and the lot fell upon a man named matthias and he filled the vacancy of judas and it ends there well it really doesn't end there because the bible doesn't have chapters and verses they didn't have chapters and verses as we have when they filled that vacancy then something else happened now when the day of pentecost was fully come they were in one accord in one place and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind can i tell you what may be holding back the wind of god's power the wind of god's purpose the wind of god's completion is incomplete obedience partial obedience to the word of god so i'm praying for financial blessings i got one question to ask you are you a tither because you can pray and pray and pray but until there is that full obedience to god the windows are not going to open for you well i want to receive the gift of the holy ghost and speak in tongues but i can't get it i can't seem to speak in tongues got another question for you have you been baptized in jesus name because you can't have something you know to do and get all the fullness of god oh i tell you let's search our hearts today let's search our hearts today well there's pandemonium in my family you know there's all kind of chaos and there's all kind of you know my family my my wife's not in line with me my children are all in line with me i got a question to ask you dad who are you subject to who are you subject to because you can't expect and i've heard more men intoxicated i have heard more intoxicated men quote wives ought to be subject to their husbands i i mean that's just well that only works when everything's put together you can't have a family that your wife is following you and your children are doing what you say to do when they can look at you and say but dad don't do dad don't follow what the word of god says well i know this sunday morning a little heavy for sunday morning right so if you're asking yourself i don't know why these blessings can't come i don't know why i can't seem to get my life together can i ask you another question do you attend the house of god regular don't be just a religious christian visit you know c and e christmas and easter if you want things to change in your life be a regular attender to the house of god see you you got to you got to understand three things will hinder your 21 days sin evil spirits and partial obedience to god's word oh i want to go all the way today would you stand with me right now would you stand musicians would you come would you bow your heads with me all over this all of this place and could i ask that at least every pew have somebody that's praying on that pew look down that pew if you don't see somebody praying would you be the person praying right now would you would you pray right now oh god of heaven lord i understand today that the enemy will do everything he can to discredit the pulpit the enemy will do everything he can discredit he'll do everything that he can to discredit the word of god the enemy will try to get in our minds today and we'll try to write all pieces of the bible and we'll try to we'll try to say well that was for a day gone by but it's really not lord the plan of salvation is so real today pray with me church pray with me feel feel this place right now feel this place right now i know you may find it hard to believe this but it's right now in this moment that evil spirits would like to put a blanket upon the service and cause us to believe that oh you know the man of god he didn't give us a happy slappy sermon today he's not telling me how to feel good about myself come on could we raise up a prayer today oh mighty god mighty god mighty god mighty god mighty god oh i need your help church come on come on i'm a soldier in this battle but i'm only one soldier oh i need the soldiers the men and women of god to lift up their voices right now to let the adversary know not here not now it's too late mighty god mighty god mighty god mighty god mighty god mighty god mighty god come on by your heads with me right now in the name of the lord jesus in the name of the lord jesus in the name of the lord jesus in the name of the lord jesus in the name of the lord jesus now i want to open up this altar to you right now because this is the prescription for sin right now i want to open up a place right now called the altar and i want you to know you can come to this altar right now you can come down right now in the name of the lord this altar is open if you are sick of living a sin-sick life why don't you just step out of your pew right now find yourself a place in this altar by the name of jesus he will forgive you by the name of jesus you'll start the direction today lord i love you this morning i love you this morning i love you this morning god oh mighty god i praise you this morning yes yes yes oh yes yes yes yes yes yes glory to god oh there's one who'll be next today i'm sick of sin i'm sick of living a life i'm sick of hopeless nights i want god to come into my life would you come this morning there's life here in this altar there's deliverance here in this altar would you come oh mighty god mighty god is there anybody today that oh god i've been living a life of partial obedience i've been living a life of partial obedience today i want my 21 days to come i want my 21 days oh church family let's all gather up around the altars this morning let's gather up around the altars we'll go home by the altar today don't forget tonight at 5 30 we start our service with prayer oh mighty god mighty god mighty god mighty god go ahead go ahead haribo oh god i love you lord i love you lord i love you lord oh god i love you lord go ahead you of you is who you are you are here is is is and even when i don't feel it's over again way is here is i uh i want i want them to sing that song one more time as we're being dismissed 730 some odd and i may be off a few 730 some odd men and women in our county alone overdosed on drugs and resulted in their death you know a soul has got to be so valuable because heaven would give all that it could give to win it and hell will do all that it can do to take it 700 is something in our county alone knox county knox county over 3 000 men and women overdosed and died in one year's time can i tell you if there's ever been a day that a church wakes up and realizes the power of prayer and spiritual warfare that we have one on our side who's away way maker a miracle worker a promised keeper a light in the darkness it is right now it is today come on one more time could we sing it through 5 30 prayer tonight even when i is is he never started is oh god bless you i hope i see everybody tonight at 5 30