How Far Can A Prayer Reach?

Summary

Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon's captions — published in summary form; watch the full sermon at the source.

Three verses woven together

"I want to make a case today. And I promise that it is not my intent to impress you. In fact, I pray you're not offended by simple preaching. But it is the foolishness of what we preach that saves them that believe. Psalm 141 and 2 says, 'Let my prayer—' Somebody shout: prayer. Prayer. You ought to say it like you believe in that kind of thing. Shout: prayer. Prayer. 'Let my prayer be set before thee as an incense. And we just believe in doing what the Bible says — and that's why we lift our hands when we pray — and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.' Somebody shout: prayer. Prayer. 'And I know this verse would seem distant and distinctly unrelated, but Psalm 34 and 7 says that the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him and delivereth them. And the final verse that I feel to weave together to help somebody in the house is Hebrews 13 and 2, which declares, 'Be not forgetful—' Somebody turn to your neighbor and say, 'Don't forget.' 'Be not forgetful to entertain strangers. For thereby some—' What you don't recognize is that we are in the presence of the supernatural. 'For thereby some have entertained angels—' Somebody shout: angels. Angels. '—unawares.' The simple question that I have to propose to us today, and provoke us with the help of the Lord, is one thought that I pray you would let me unravel today. And I want to know if you know: how far can prayer reach? How far? Somebody shout: how far? How far can a prayer reach? Can we practice praying, and doing it the Bible way, and lift up our hands all over the house? And not just lifted hands — can we do it with lifted voices all over the sanctuary? Come on, if you've got some needs, if you've got sickness, if you need salvation or deliverance, I wonder if we can send an incense unto the Lord all over the sanctuary. Come on, lifted hands and lifted hearts. 'I've got some stuff on my mind, Lord. God, I've got some things in my world that I need You desperately to intervene.' Come on, somebody lift up your voice and pray out loud. 'God, let my prayer be set before Thee.' Come on, the effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Somebody ought to avail in the Spirit. 'God, we thank You, Lord, for Your presence. Lord, we thank You, Lord, for Your supreme ability to intervene. God, we ask You, Lord, that You would sweep into this sanctuary, that You would move on our minds. God, that You would do a work in our hearts, and that You would leave us changed by the power of Your Spirit, that is in the name of Jesus.' Somebody lift up your voice and clap your hands and give God praise as you pray. Thank You, Jesus. Come on, enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful unto Him and bless His holy name. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Amen. Somebody shout: how far can a prayer reach? Amen. Clap your hands as you've been seated, one more time, with the Lord. How far — how far can a prayer reach? As long as I can remember, I have been infatuated, scholastically, with the sciences, in so much that I pursued a tangible proof of my love for science by obtaining a degree. And by background, my degree is in regulatory science, concentration—"

Scriptures: Psalm 141:2; Psalm 34:7; Hebrews 13:2

The life preserver his mother inspected

"—environmental biology. I said all of that to tell you: if it's all right, you need to let me be a nerd today. Not only do I have a love for science, I have always been interested in history. That's two boring subjects that most people just — like, you can have it. But in history you learn interesting things. And when you begin to process the past, sometimes it can help you in the present. There is a historical story that I've come to learn, that it would be impossible for me to make you understand how powerfully coincidental and real the story is, had it not been recorded. Had it not been recorded, this story would be rather unbelievable. In fact, if you went to the World War II Museum in New Orleans — the top five Smithsonian in the country — you would know that what I'm about to tell you is the absolute God-honest truth, and you do not need Google to fact-check this one. But it happened on August 9th, at 2:00 a.m., 1942, to be exact. A young Navy man, stationed some 8,000 — somebody shout: 8,000 — some 8,000 miles away from his hometown in Akron, Ohio, stationed on the borders of the Guadalcanal, a third signalman by the name of Elgin Staples. This 19-year-old man is above this Navy ship called the USS Astoria, by name. And I asked the media team to help me with some photos, just to put the image in your mind. Here he is. He is stationed on this ship, thousands of miles away from home, during the World War. And without warning, he and his other Navy men encountered a siege of the Japanese, at 0200 hours, to be exact. Their ship was under fire and sustained great injury — integrity to the ship — from bombs and shrapnel. And without warning, Elgin found himself scrambling for dear life, holding on and clinging to every breath, as he was plunged into the abyss. But before he jumped off board into the water from the sinking ship, Elgin grabbed a hold of a life preserver. Not knowing how long he would wait in these waters — some 10-plus hours in the shivering cold, waiting for a rescue ship to arrive, bodies floating beside him, and believing he would never see his home again — Elgin clung on to this preserver for dear life. At about noon the next day, he and his fellow crewmen were graciously thankful and surprised that a ship by the name of the USS Jackson showed up. Anybody thank God that He's a Savior that shows up when you need Him? Come on, anybody thank God that He's a Savior that shows up when you need Him the most? The ship showed up and brought these men aboard — hypothermia, getting ready to sink. But by the salvation of this ship, these men made it aboard and were thankful to be rescued. Elgin — and the story takes a remarkable turn. As the World War is ending, and Elgin is discharged to return back home — you only can imagine that, with a life preserver saving your life, that's the kind of thing you don't forget. Waiting out on the water, not knowing if you would ever live another day, that's the kind of thing you don't forget. Because Elgin did not want to forget this, he so happened to grab this life preserver and evaluate it with great intrigue. This piece of rubber was responsible for rescuing him and saving his life. But what made Elgin curious about this life preserver was not just the material of which it was made. But on the life preserver was a manufacturing label, which piqued his interest. Because the label informed him that the company that made this life preserver just so happened — coincidentally, just so happened — to be made in his hometown of Akron, Ohio. Firestone — anybody heard of that company before? Firestone and Rubber Company, to be exact. Elgin, grabbing this, curious about this factory, brought this life preserver in his duffel bag back home. And when he got home, he began to talk to his mother about the war, letting her know all that he had seen, he heard, and endured. Elgin — Elgin was so, so thankful for this preserver. He began to tell his mother about the encounter, about the experience. And as they exchanged stories, something remarkable began to happen. His mother began to tell him — Brother Tuttle — that, 'Son, I find that a mere coincidence,' she said, 'because during the war, as most women did, I got a job at the Firestone Rubber Company.' She said, 'Trying to do my part, not just as a homemaker, but to help in the war.' She said, 'I worked at that plant.' Elgin's ears standing up. He said, 'Oh, really?' She said, 'Yes.' She said — he said, 'Well, could you tell me about this preserve?' He goes and grabs it from his duffel bag. If you don't mind showing that — he goes and grabs that preserve from his duffel bag. He said, 'There's something that I've been curious about these preserves. It said that it has an inspection number on it.' His mother says, 'Yes, son, that is correct.' She said, 'Each life preserve that leaves the facility has its own identifiable inspection number, knowing definitively, like, that when this preserve leaves the plant, that it has been tested, tried, and proven — and it is capable of saving somebody's life.' I don't know if you know how much prayer means, but it means more than you think, to somebody's life. I said, somebody can be weighing on your prayers, on a Sunday morning. You can't quit praying. I said, somebody can be desperate on your prayers getting to God on their behalf. You need to know, and never stop praying. Oh, I wish I had one or two prayer warriors in the house. Come on, your boy can be backsliding and depending on your ever-praying, weeping tears. You better not stop praying. God, I wish somebody would clap your hands like you believe in prayer. Come on, your — come on, your business is dependent on prayers. It is the life preserve that preserves your life. It is the thing that upholds your world when it's falling apart. Prayer availeth much. Come on, somebody give the Lord praise like you believe in prayer. Somebody shout: prayer. I — I — I just — it's about to get good. You better hold on. She said, 'Son, every preserve that leaves this plant has a single inspection number.' She said, 'It is just so happy that I happen to be one of the inspectors at the plant.' Elgin, on the edge of his seat, he said, 'Well, Mom, there's surely — there's multiple inspectors. But I want to know—' as he slides the preserve across the table, 'I want to know who at your plant inspected my preserve.' 8,000 miles. And as he slides that preserve across the edge of the table, and his mother begins to read the numbers that are on that preserve, a teardrop begins to leave her eyes. And another tear falls, as she begins to tremble and quake, in fear and recognition, that this preserve was not just any preserve. But she looked at her boy with water in her eyes and said, 'Son, you won't believe this.' She said, 'But I inspected this preserve.' I know, I know — it sounds far-fetched. And it could be too hard to believe. And it might be a mere coincidence that this mama, some 8,000 miles away, put her hands on the very thing that was going to save her boy's life. Oh, but I pray I can turn the channel and provoke your mind, and let you know that if that can happen by sheer coincidence, I just want to know, for somebody on a Sunday morning: how far do you think a prayer can reach? Oh, I wish I had somebody hear me right now. If you think that a preserve, some 8,000 miles away, can save somebody's son, what do you think your prayers can do? What do you think your words can do, when they leave your lips, and you cry unto the Lord, and ask Him for intervention? I've come to tell you: prayer availeth much. Come on, somebody ought to lift up your voice like you believe in the supernatural. I'm not talking about miles. I'm talking about eons into eternity. The cry of His people. The voice of His children. The tears of the broken, the hurt, and the bruised prayers. Prayers that can reach further than you think they can reach. Anybody hear me on a Sunday morning? I've come to preach emphatically, and a reminding in your spirit, that I know that the world thinks that prayer is just a pious practice that people that are religious just happen to do. But can I tell somebody in the sanctuary that prayer is far from physical? I need somebody to hear me in the house. The psalmist — Psalm 120 and 1 — says, he said, 'In my distress I cried unto the Lord.' Come on, anybody that knows what it's like to go through broken stuff, darkness, and situations. He said, in my distress I learned that when I cry unto the Lord, that something begins to happen. I learned that when I pray unto God, something — but I'm trying to get 100% participation, and let you know that if you provoke the throne room in prayer, something can happen. And it reaches higher than the highest mountain, and it flows lower to the Lord. Come on, lift up your voice and clap your hands unto the Lord. Prayer gets to the hospital room before you can get there. And prayer gets to your workplace before you show up in the morning. And prayer can move in next week. And prayer can move in next year. And prayer can move in the realm that you can't see. Somebody shout: prayer. God, I feel the Holy Ghost. I know, I know — I'm preaching to some faithful people that believe in prayer. But sometimes believing in prayer gets a little bit broken in its metrics to move on your behalf, because sometimes we feel like our prayers aren't going anywhere. I just need about five honest people in the house. I'm not the only one that sometimes I'm flat on my face, and I'm crying out to God, and the more I cry, the more I feel despaired, because I feel like my prayers are not leaving this ceiling. But can I tell you, they're going further than you think they are? They're traveling with a trajectory that's out of this world. They're traveling with a supernatural warp speed that you can't comprehend. You can't see it, but they're moving. You can't understand it, but they're working. You can't comprehend it, but God's hearing the cries of His people. Somebody ought to send up a sound, and let heaven hear your voice. Somebody ought to say, 'Lord, I don't feel like they're going anywhere. But if they can reach Your throne room — if they can reach just that far.' Woo!"

Scriptures: Psalm 120:1

Not subject to the laws of physics

"I just want to move the daughter in the house. That stuff that gets on us — the world, and carnality. And 'the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the laws of God, neither indeed can it be.' The issue with the laws of carnality is that the laws of carnality bind the ability of God. When God is not subject to the laws that He created. You're not hearing what I'm telling you. The laws of nature, science, life itself — God is not subject to the laws, when He's the One that created the laws. He is standing on the outside of the eternal realm, and He will start working all things together for your good. And He moves in yesterday, and today, and forever, all at the same time. No, you're not hearing what I'm telling you. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever, and not bound by the subjects of time. That means your prayers can work in yesterday, and today, and tomorrow. Come on. When you don't have a prayer to pray, the prayers you prayed yesterday can keep you today. The prayers you prayed today can keep you tomorrow. Somebody ain't shouting enough right now. I said, prayer reaches further than you think. It's not just an altar call. It's not just words. It's not just a lifting of your hands. It's the leverage of the Spirit. I got about 85%. That ain't good enough. If you'll oblige me for a moment, I can understand, and even sympathize, with the scientist in the corner of my mind. Because if prayer — somebody shout: prayer — if prayer was just an element of the earth, that means that prayer would be subject to the laws of physics. And if prayer is subject to the laws of physics, that means that it is bound by the laws of amplification and acoustics itself. Which tells us that your voice, as a human, has a measurable capacity. It has a limited capacitor, in its ability to reach a certain distance. If prayer was subject to the laws of science and distance — the laws of acoustics declare that the human voice, on a maximum outdoor range, without any impeding and bouncing of sound waves — you stood on a mountain and screamed as loud as you can scream, to the top of your lungs — the laws of acoustics says that your human voice can only travel 590 feet, 6.6 inches. You say, 'Well, how far is that?' That is only a football field and a half of distance. If you're sick with cancer, they don't give you much hope. If you got backsliding family members, that don't give you much hope. God, I feel the Holy Ghost right now. If your business is on the borders of bankruptcy, that don't give you much hope. But ladies and gentlemen, God has sent a preacher to tell you that prayer is not a pious practice that is subject to the laws of physics and acoustics. Prayer is not physical. Prayer is spiritual. I thought I'd get somebody, with some faith rising in your heart. I said, prayer can travel further than the laws of physics could ever travel. It breaks every barrier of the atmosphere. It goes beyond the stratosphere, the mesosphere, the exosphere, the thermosphere. It goes beyond every sphere of the earth, because it's spiritual. Somebody ought to lift up your voice like you believe your prayers can get to God. Come on, you ought to push Him out past the ceiling, and say, 'God, my children needs You. God, my house needs You. God, my world needs You.' And I know they can reach further. Come on, somebody ought to send up an incense. He said, 'Let my prayer go up as an incense.' That it keeps going, and keeps—. Come on, lift up your voice a little higher. Come on, somebody ought to start your personal prayer meeting right now, in your pew. Come on, somebody ought to pray in the Spirit. Come quickly to the music. He said, 'Preacher, we know how to pray. We know why we need to pray. But can I tell you, if you understood how prayer works, you wouldn't stop praying.' Come on, He said, 'There shall always be an incense on My altar that never goes out.' Ladies and gentlemen, you can't put an incense on the altar if you never make it up to the altar. I know God can hear you from your living room, your bedroom, and the back row. But oh, but when you put an incense on the altar, and you start sending it up before the Lord, the Lord responds to a sweet savor. If you learned and knew how prayer works, you wouldn't stop praying. You would put an incense on the altar at the gas pump. 'God, I know these gas prices are high, but I thank You I got a car to drive.' You got family in hospital rooms — you will start laying hands on doors as you pass, if you knew how prayer worked. I know it seems like a simple question. Sometimes we feel bound up, locked up, subject to the law. But I'm trying to get somebody to engage in something that's not earthly. It's eternal. I asked myself this question one day. And I know I'm not ignorant to the fact that not only is God omnipotent — all-powerful. He's omniscient — all-knowing. That ought to give you some hope right there. That means He knows how to use His power to get involved in your situation. I know that He's omnipresent — which means that God fills all time and space. Eternity. At the same time. I know when you open up your mouth, God is ever-present. I know that. But I also know that the psalmist wasn't saying, 'Lord, I pray You would hear me when I'm in my living room. I pray You would stand by me.' That's not just what he was saying. He said, 'Lord, I pray that, on Your great throne in heaven, that the words that leave my lips would not just be mere words. But when they leave my lips, they would be as an incense, and they would be set before Thee.' Body, ready for this? And that means something to me. Because people that love God, reverence God, and fear Him, know that the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him. God, I feel the Lord helping me right now. I said, when you sign up to be a prayer warrior, what you're actually signing up for is, you're signing up for supernatural intervention, to fight for you and with you, when you need it the most. Come on, anybody hear me in the house? Come on, you don't just sign up to be in the army of the Lord. You're asking God, 'I want to be among the angelic hosts that fight the adversary, that wars against the enemy, that wars on the affairs of man.' If God is fighting for you, who can be against you? I'm weaving, 30 minutes. Here it is. I'm weaving. And when you weave in prayer of the righteous, and the fear of the faithful, and the angels that we entertain, as people of God, and don't know it — you might start understanding that prayer, when you start praying, something happens that you can't see. You just close your eyes. And I know, I know there's a fashion — there's a facet of people that don't believe in angels. But I don't know if you believe the Book, then. It was an angel that declared your Savior was going to be born into the earth. God, I wish somebody would — when you need God to show up."

The ladder, and the angels ascending

"I'm reminded of Genesis 28 and 12. Jacob lays his head on a rock for his pillow, and God shows him a vision. Anybody still hear me, locked in, right now? We're going to practice what I'm preaching in a moment. But anybody locked in right now? Bible says, he said, 'And I dreamed a dream. And behold, a ladder was set up upon the earth.' Somebody shout: earth. That's not a detail that glazes over. That means something. Shout, shout: the earth. 'A ladder was set up on the earth. And it extended — the top of it extended — watch this — and reached—' Somebody shout: reach. 'It reached the heavens. The ladder reached from the earth to the heavens.' God, I wish somebody would get this in your bones right now. That's not the only thing he saw. When he looked at the ladder, he saw an interesting traversing of the angelic host of heaven. But the angelic host of heaven were not traversing from heaven. Bible says that they were ascending. That's down to up. Not up to down. The angels were ascending, from the earth to the heaven. Can I tell you what I think about, when I think about from the earth to the heavens? I think about Matthew 6 and 9, when He said, 'Pray. And when you pray, pray like this: Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on the earth.' You're not hearing me right now. I'm just asking You, Lord, that whatever You can do in the heavens, I need You to do it right here on earth. I need You to get involved, right here on earth. I need it — come on — right here at Eastgate, as it is in heaven. Right here in the altar call, as it is — we need You to set up a ladder in the sanctuary. Come on, somebody ought to lift your hands. I feel the Holy Ghost working. We need You to set up a ladder in the sanctuary, that I can get some prayers up to the heavens. But they can reach up to the heavens. Come on, if you've never received the Holy Ghost, I'm telling you, you're not just saying words. When the Spirit of God gets upon you, you're speaking in a heavenly language. You're speaking beyond the tongues of men. You're speaking in the tongues of angels. I want you to — you this? I'm done here. I'm done here. 35 minutes, I'm done. When Jacob was praying for a blessing, and he saw these angels ascending — where were they going, and why were they there? I'm glad you asked. I'm not diminishing — please, please understand. I'm not diminishing the fact that God is ever-present. But I'll tell you what else is present. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him. And I emphatically believe that, when God's people begin to pray, there are angels stationed, waiting, as the messengers of God, to do the bidding and the work. You're not hearing what I'm telling you. You wouldn't stop praying if you knew that there were angels that were saying, 'Please, please pray it, and I'm going to get it to the Lord. Please say it, and I'm going to take that message until the—' Come on, there's angels in hospitals that's saying, 'I'm just waiting on a child of God to call on the name of Jesus, and I can send healing virtue to that room. I can send—' Come on. All you got to do is speak the word. All you got to do is speak. How far? That even while the church is praying for Peter, in the prayer meeting — while they — I'm preaching a Book, if somebody will help me — while they are praying for Peter in the prison, an angel shows up. While he was in the prison, an angel shows up. And said, 'Peter, Peter, there's somebody praying for you. You can't stay in this prison.' Mama, you can't stop praying for that boy. Because there's angels waiting to get him out. I said, there's an angelic invitation. And there's an angelic interception, that when you start praying, the angels start moving. When you start praying, the Spirit starts moving. When you start praying, the invisible starts being made visible."

Scriptures: Genesis 28:12; Matthew 6:9-10

The vials are the prayers of the saints

"Two verses, and we're going to pray. I'm not pulling some premise out of thin air. I'm pulling it from the Word of God. Bible says, in Revelation 5 and 8, there was a book open that John saw. And there were four beasts, and four and twenty elders, before the Lamb. And each one of them had a harp in their hand. And every last one of them had a vial that was full of odors, or incense. Somebody on the last row ought to hear what I'm trying to tell you. The angels before the Lord had vials that were full of incense. And the Bible does not leave it ambiguous what was in those vials, or what the incense was. And I don't know if you — put, pick, put, pull — God. I don't know if you're picking up what I'm putting down right now. But the Bible says that what the angels were bringing to the Lord was a prayer. Was the prayers of the saints, saying: 'God, here's another one. God, here's a—' Come on, somebody ought to keep — you ought to keep praying. You ought to send up another one. You ought to send up another—. Because you can't build a doctrine on one verse alone, I got another one for you. Revelation 8 and 3. Another angel. Another one. I said, there's more than enough angelic host to operate on every last one of our behalves. I said, God can answer your prayer, my prayer — come on, your — come on, your dead relatives' prayers are still at work. There's an old gray-haired saint that's dead, and in the grave, and gone on. But the prayers are still working on her grandbabies. And the — I said, the prayers of the righteous availeth. 'And another angel came and stood before the altar. And having a golden censer. And was given to him much incense, that — 'My prayer be set before Thee as an incense' — 'that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar that is set before the Lord.' I don't know if you feel like God's been hearing you lately. But your prayers are reaching further than you think they are. And if you believe that we entertain angels unawares, I wish you would close your eyes, and pray with all your might, with lifted hands, right now, from the front to the back of the building. Come on, surely there's somebody on a Sunday morning that still believes in the power of prayer. Come on, thank you, praise team, for leading an example. Come on, don't you see these lifted hands? Before I sing, I got to pray. Before I preach, I got to pray. Before I get to work, I got to pray. I've got to pray without ceasing, that an incense never dies on the altar, that the fire never dies on the altar. Come on, something happens when we pray. Something happens when we pray. Come on, sickness starts losing its grip. Come on, brokenness starts being put back together. Come on, emptiness is filled. Come on, somebody ought to pray until you start feeling the power of God all over again, the glory of God all over again. Baptize me with the response to my incense. Come on, somebody's feeling the Holy Ghost right now. Pray until the power falls. Pray until the Spirit shows up. Pray until the supernatural starts moving. Come on, somebody lift up your voice with all your might. God's working. He's working on that heart. He's working on your past. He's working on your situation. Come on, let the tears fall. Your prayers are going. Come on, if a mama can save her baby 8,000 miles away, what do you think your prayers are doing? Come on, pray. Come on, pray. Pray your way out of the darkness. Pray your way out of the dilemma. Pray your way out of the dysfunction. Come on, pray your way out of the pit. Come on, I need some prayer warriors to start operating all over the room. Grab somebody by the hand, and pray the power down. Pray the anointing down." The cut ends there, inside the prayer meeting the sermon became.

Scriptures: Revelation 5:8; Revelation 8:3