Prayer Is The Connector Between God & Man | Senior Pastor Kenneth Carpenter

you have your bibles and would stand with me tonight and honor in honor of the reading of the word of the lord this evening i am often thankful at such at such tremendous consistency that this church has when it comes to worshiping and praising god such consistency i you you don't realize it because you think it's just normal but i i go to a lot of places they've got two gears they're either dead or wild all right they're either dead or they're wild and they're dead most of the time and wild every now and then but i'm so thankful for such a wonderful consistent group of people that whether it's sunday morning sunday night or midweek bible study you're going to find a depth of worship here at this church and i commend you i commend you so much so much for that some some messages are inspirational and some messages are for instruction so tonight the message is for instruction it's for instruction i'd like to have you join me in the book of mark chapter number 11 and verse number 24. mark chapter 11 and verse number 24 while you're looking for that passage of scripture to all of our guests that are here with us tonight we welcome you to first apostolic church to all of our online congregation tonight we welcome you and especially new life watkinsville georgia we certainly welcome and uh we have such a tremendous connection with that church brother zach hammond our youth pastor being from there and we welcome we welcome you tonight mark 11 24 jesus said therefore i say unto you what things so ever ye desire key word ye desire when ye pray key word whatsoever thing ye desire believe that you receive them and ye shall have them father i thank you tonight as we go into your word god i realize that it is only through your word that we are instructed how to walk and how to live and order our lives father i pray for everyone that's here tonight that your word will find a place in their hearts tonight and father if you will anoint me and help me god to articulate help me to teach a lesson on prayer lord i want to better my life and better this congregation help me tonight father i will give you glory i will give you honor tonight in jesus mighty name we pray amen amen give the lord a hand to praise as you're being seated right now thank god a month of prayer we have been gathering here of the mornings from 6 30 a.m to 8 00 am and we have been praying um i do would like to clarify a couple of things um some have have have indicated that they are unable to come and pray for an hour and a half pastor i've got a job and i'm unable i it's not my intentions i would not if you wanted to come and stay the whole hour and a half i would not ask you to leave i promise you that but if you've just got a few moments that you would like to come through and kneel in the presence of god in prayer and pray then that's what this is that's what this is all about prayer this word jesus said that whatever you desire he brings a word into the subject of prayer we must have this word called desire desire must go before our prayer we must be led to prayer by the word called desire this word desire means to literally beg it means to crave it simply means to call for jesus in teaching about prayer he says there's something called desire something called desire now in luke chapter 11 verse number 1 the bible speaks of a time that jesus was praying in luke 11 and verse number 1 it says and it came to pass that as he was praying in a certain place when he ceased one of his disciples said unto him lord teach us to pray as john also taught his disciples now we must understand that this disciple this unnamed disciple who approaches jesus with a very simple request lord teach us to pray as john also taught his disciples now a number of things we can understand about this verse here is that whoever this unnamed disciple is is that he does approach jesus with a desire to learn a desire to learn you can never lead anyone unless they are willing to be led the things that be of god can only be acquired if you and i possess a desire for it often heard people say well maybe not often but i've heard people say nobody's going to make me do and that's exactly the truth no one can make you it has to be your desire it has to be your craving it has to be what you ask god for lord teach us to pray this unnamed disciple approaches jesus was with a very simple request lord would you teach us how to pray as john it's interesting isn't it he says as john taught his disciples how to pray you know i've often thought about john as a lot of things but i've never really until i looked at this verse ever thought about john as a teacher of prayer i thought about john the one that should call people snakes and vipers and tell them to go repent and bring forth fruit i thought about john is the one that stood and said behold the lamb of god that takes away the sin of the world i've thought about john the baptist says a lot of things but i must admit until recently i've never thought about john as a teacher of prayer but evidently he was because the unnamed disciple says to the lord lord would you teach us to pray i want you to teach us to pray as john taught his disciples now why would this disciple this unnamed disciple why would he ask for the knowledge of the art of prayer because prayer does not come natural prayer does not come natural you must have to acquire a desire for prayer it has to be something that you desire something that you want something that you ask god to help you with maybe your prayer could go something like this borrow you could borrow my prayer i often have asked god in prayer it makes sense to me but i've asked god to cut deep grooves into my heart that can only be satisfied with his spirit i've asked god to carve out in my heart places that can only be satisfied with his spirit i want to long after him i never want to lose my desire for him i never want to lose my desire for the things that are of god i want to have a desire for everything that god is attached to god is attached to this house i always want to keep a desire for this house god is attached to his word i want to keep a desire for his word and yes god is attached to prayer evidently church this unnamed disciple recognized the value of prayer he evidently saw something about prayer and oh doesn't prayer have value oh that we could understand the value the value of prayer prayer will bring peace to your life when nothing else will prayer will make ways for you when everything in life has let you down all the value of prayer this man evidently this man evidently understood the value of prayer and he makes that awesome request lord teach us to pray lord teach us the nuts and bolts of prayer tell us god the art of prayer tell us teach us god about prayer you see the value of prayer is understanding that prayer is the great connector between man and his god prayer is that great connector between helpless you and almighty conquering never been defeated god you want to know a little bit about if you'd like to know a little bit about the value of prayer james in james chapter 5 and verse 16. he's going to show us a little bit about prayer see it with me now prayer is our connector it is our connector between helpless and our source our god um james 5 16. james says confess your faults one to another that sounds like a that sounds like two helpless people talking to each other right a fault is a weakness so he said two weak people get together and confess your faults one to another now i will i'm not going to teach on this tonight but i do want to put a little a little side note to what i just said whoever you confess your weakness to make sure their weakness isn't gossiping all right you get you get somebody you want to confess your weakness and they're going to open up to you well you just really need to make sure just they did they just just not anybody you want to go pick them out and say you know and like i heard the story about those uh three pastors that went fishing and they got out there and the fish weren't biting and so they decided to talk and they said hey let's let's confess our faults one to another and one brother nolan one of the pastors opened up and he told about he he told about having some bitterness in his heart toward the deacon board and he told how that they had done some things to him and he had bitterness in his heart and uh the other pastor he opened up and he told some things about he he really wanted to leave that church they weren't treating him right he really wanted to go somewhere else and then the last fella it came time for him and he wouldn't speak up and they said now come on now you gotta you gotta tell us your weakness and he said well i'll go ahead and tell you he said my weakness is i love the gospel and he said i can't wait to get back to land amen so you really want to be careful but i think this verse right here proves something we're all weak people there's not a person in here come on put your feet out a little bit tonight i'm going to step on mine and as i stepping on mine i'm going to step on yours there's not a person in here tonight that doesn't have a weakness of some kind now everybody's weakness is not the same but as long as we live in our fleshly weak bodies we'll have weaknesses so here we are a bunch of weak people here tonight confess your faults one to another oh but watch how it turns the corner and pray one for another well that seems like they've asked god to come into the situation that seems like that these group this group of weak people have reached up to the connector of prayer and he said pray one for another that you may be healed the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much look at this verse you take a person who is in right standing with god they are in right standing with god and you allow them to develop a prayer life until that prayer life when they begin to pray gets hot it gets fervent it's not a whisper but it's a hot fervent prayer the bible says that that prayer becomes effectual that prayer becomes effectual it has it has a meaning to it it has power to it he says because the uh the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much that means avails much power there is much power to the righteous man who prays fervently there is a tremendous amount of power that is available to that man and then it gives an example in verse 17 elias was a man subject to like passions as we are in other words he talks about elijah and he says don't look at bible characters as bigger than life don't look at the people in the bible and think oh but that was elijah oh that was elisha oh that was that was those those people in the bible james says elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are what does that mean it means he's just like you and i he had the same flesh as you and i have elias was a man subject to light passions as we are and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months and he prayed again and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth fruit you see he's telling us here that if we have a desire to pray that we can have the power the same amount of power as elijah had elijah changed his atmosphere elijah changed the spiritual climate around him before elijah prayed they were going after uh idol gods but let elijah pray and the heavens stopped giving rain and before three and a half years now there's a group of people that are praying and saying that the lord is god the greatest benefit of prayer is to change our spiritual atmosphere don't like your life pray don't like your family don't like your marriage pray don't like the situation you're in pray because prayer has the power to change the atmosphere you see now we kindly come to a fork in the road here there will be a divide at this time in this this bible lesson oh no one's going to get up and leave but some are going to check out right now some are just going to check out because i actually have it in my notes that this is the fork in the road right here when it comes to the subject of prayer here's the fork in the road and here's what i mean by it some people have the motive to pray only when life has fallen apart only when they're no longer in control only when things are happening that upset their comfort level upsets their life what then they want to be put on the prayer list or they want to have somebody that knows how to touch god because their life has fallen apart they've got a report from the doctor or they've got an empty house a maid has left or they've got a child or whatever whatever this a number of things can happen but they see prayer as the proverbial spare tire that when our four tires go one of them go flat we can always have prayer but the other branch and that's a branch i want to go down is people who do not pray only during emergencies because their motive for prayer isn't to come out of some horrible situation in life some crisis of life but their motive of prayer is very pure they want to know jesus they want to know jesus now right now i've got into my notes there's a fork in the road no you won't get up and leave but you'll check out because your motive for prayer is like an insurance policy i'm paying my premiums i'm coming to church i'm even paying tithe so when life falls apart i want to be you know prayer is like a good neighbor you know god get that insurance out somebody's going to touch god problem is the problem is that is nowhere near the awesome value of praying because prayer is designed yes for crisis yes people have got cancer and somebody prayed and they got miraculously healed yes god has made a way when there doesn't seem to be a way yes yes yes and yes but oh how we sell ourselves so short when that's the only time we push in prayer the motive of prayer is to develop a relationship with jesus with god now if you're on that path with me would you say amen ephesians chapter 1 and verse number 15 to those of you that want that real relationship with god ephesians chapter 1 verse number 15. paul is writing to the church at ephesus and he says to the church he's just 14 verses into the book and he says wherefore i also after i heard of your faith in the lord jesus and love unto all the saints cease not to give thanks for you making mention of you in my prayers we claim to be apostolic don't we i wonder what apostolic prayers sounded like in the book of acts well i found a few i found a few i found a few apostolic prayers in the book of acts he says ephesians church at ephesus i heard about your faith in the lord jesus and i heard about your love for all the saints and i cease not to give thanks for you and i make mention of you in my prayers and what's beautiful about it is he goes ahead and i'm just like a kid when i found this the other day i'm just like a kid in a candy shop sister patterson i'm just like a kid i mean i am hearing paul pray for our brothers and sisters of the apostolic faith of the first century i'm hearing what he is saying about them and it just it so excites me here it is verse 17 that the god of our lord jesus christ the father of glory may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him you see the shallow person the person that checked out on me a few moments ago they feel like they got all the knowledge of god when they believed upon the lord jesus christ they believed they got all the knowledge of god when they heard then peter said unto them repent and be baptized they believe they got all the knowledge of god when they saw that god is one and that he is the father of creation the son of redemption and the holy ghost in the church they they feel like when they heard that they got all the knowledge of him not so not so in that i thank god for the knowledge that jesus christ is the one that we should place our faith in in that i thank god for the knowledge of acts 2 38 and i thank god for the knowledge that there's only one god and jesus christ is the manifestation of that one god can i tell you can i tell you tonight that that's nowhere near all the knowledge that god has about himself nowhere near no wonder paul he says my prayer for you is that god would give you the spirit of wisdom the spirit of wisdom well what is wisdom well i wisdom is to know how to behave toward someone or i'm using that as an analogy you've often said you know a parent will tell me how they disciplined a child and i will say well that that's wisdom you used some wisdom there how you went about it how you went about it that's wisdom how you went about it and so now he says i want you to have some wisdom about what some wisdom about the knowledge of jesus christ not only wisdom not only to receive the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him i want you to know him i'm glad you've believed i'm glad you've been baptized tonight i'm glad that you've received the holy ghost i'm glad you know there's one god i'm glad you know how to do certain things and when to come to church but can i tell you it is through prayer that we can come to know him to know him to know him well what is there to know about him oh what is there to know about him how about his nature how about what he's like about what god is like because when the unnamed disciple said lord teach us to pray as john taught his disciples the request was answered and jesus was on his way to teach and he says in luke 11 and verse number 2 he says and he said unto them when you pray say our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name you know what he's saying you want me to teach you to pray i certainly will and i'm going to open up by telling you what god's nature is like he is the heavenly father he's not the big man upstairs he's not the boss he's not some uh deity up there kind of like that little game whack-a-mole he's not up there with a with a with a bat just waiting for you to step out of line so he can whack you too many people try to serve god in fear too many people walk around in fear and they don't know the true nature of the god that i embraced tonight now i'm not i'm not i'm not dare if you if you're reading into this tonight if you're reading into this tonight that i'm getting soft as far as convictions you well watch if you're reading that i understand because you checked out about 15 minutes to go with that other way i understand that all right you can get a better level of behavior when someone is comfortable in their love that they're receiving when they're comfortable in their love when we're comfortable in god's love do you know that years ago that men that worked on these high-rise buildings the productivity was very slow it took a long time for them to build because those men worked in fear of falling and so product productivity was slow because they worked in fear but someone came up with the broad idea of stretching safety nets around the building well what did that mean that meant if you're 40 stories up and you're putting steel together if you fall you're not falling far and guess what they begin to notice productivity increased why they knew if i fall i'm not falling far can i tell you that god has a safety net around us now i'm not advocating that we sin i'm just advocating that we find out the nature of the god that we serve because when he said teach us to pray teach me to connect with god teach me to understand the nature of god he said okay when you pray say our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name i think it'd be a good time right now just to worship our father right now i want to always worship our father right now oh father oh father i love you tonight oh father i rejoice in you tonight god oh father i love you i praise you tonight lord oh you are my father i want to please you lord i want to walk uprightly before you father oh i love you tonight oh i feel such a sweet spirit here right now when you pray say our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name now i know the name of jesus is a precious name we love to say it jesus there'll be several times in the service someone will ask you to say jesus but you know what it is not the magical wording of jesus it is the nature of god that manifested himself through flesh in the name of jesus it's not simply the name alone that the sound of jesus the sound of the jesus the the power is not in that name it's in faith in that name and it's in understanding the nature of the god that carries that name the nature are you getting this the nature of the god that carries that name do you know years ago there lived a man and had that man chosen to look out for humanity and the best for humanity regardless if it was of the same race as he was the same nationality if that man would spend his life working to improve the lives of people around he had the ability he could have used his life to improve others he could have used his knowledge to improve his motherland and had he done that when i would mention the name of adolf hitler a good feeling would come over you but when i just mentioned the name of adolf hitler it's almost a cringe because he was the demon-possessed mastermind behind the extermination of millions of jews but you see the reason it's not that his name is evil it was the man behind the name you see you understand it's the god behind the name that makes that name the sweetest name i know it's the god that's behind that name that can cause me to walk into a bedroom with a baby with a fevered brow and begin to simply say jesus jesus jesus jesus oh don't you love him tonight it's because the nature of our god our father who art in heaven well psalms chapter 103 would you go there with me for a moment psalms chapter 103 and verse number 13 psalms 103 verse number 13 14 speaking about our god like as a father piteoth his children so the lord pitteth them that fear him for he knoweth our frame he remembereth that we are but that we are dust our father pities us our father pities us now please understand some parents can pity their children but not love their children but god not only pities us he loves us some can pity and not do anything to help them out but god pities me enough to love me and to help me to straighten out my life as a father pitieth his children going down to isaiah chapter 9 and verse number 6 the reason that our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name the reason that jesus is such a sweet name and judas is not for unto us a child is born unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful counselor the mighty god are you with me the what everlasting what everlasting father are we seeing the connecting tonight lord teach us to pray lord i want to have a connector with you i will teach you to pray when you pray not if you pray but when you pray say our father who art in heaven i'm telling you you can go a long way with god if you'll learn that prayer is not a christmas list don't go to god like the little boy that went to god and he just falls on his knees and says god this is jimmy give me give me give me give me give me you're not going to get anywhere with god that way if you want to get somewhere with god learn how to get in his presence and just bask in the fact that he is your father how many are glad you received the holy ghost how many are glad you received the holy ghost would you like to kind of know something about what happened when you spoke in that heavenly language let me share with you what happened in romans chapter 8 verse number 15 this is so good romans chapter 8 verse number 15 for ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but ye have received the spirit of adoption talk about when you got the holy ghost when you were born again of the spirit you have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry look at this we cry abba father and that word abba there is an affectionate is it is an affectionate word it's just not saying father but it's an affectionate word think about it the day or night when you receive the holy ghost and you begin to speak in an unknown tongue guess what you were really saying you were like a baby crying in the delivery room that tongue was saying abba father you received the spirit of adoption not the spirit not the spirit of fear i looked up in david goosick's commentary where it says we cry out abba father and david gusik writes these words and i'd like for you to listen to this very closely he says it is easy for us to see jesus relating to the father with this joyful confidence but we may see ourselves as disqualified for it however remember that we are in christ we have the privilege of relating to the father even as the man christ jesus related to his father he goes on and says in the roman world of the first century a.d an adopted son was a son deliberately chosen by his adoptive father to for the purpose to perpetuate the father's name and inherit the father's estate he was not no wit inferior in status to a son born in the ordinary course of nature now what i gather from this is that a lot of people we kind of when someone is of the jewish descent we'll make mention of it this person is jewish and we do that because of the great importance of abraham in the old testament but do you know tonight gentiles that we are adopted spiritual jews we were adopted spiritual jews he chose us and you know why he chose us to perpetuate his name to keep the father's name going on and on and on listen to this under roman adoption the life and standing of the adopted child was changed completely the adopted son lost all rights in his old family and gained all new rights in his new family the old life of the adopted son was completely wiped out as if he never ever existed in that past life with all of his debts canceled with nothing from his past counting against him any more i can't help but tell you i see the new life of being born again when we cry out abba father our old life is canceled nothing can come through the blood all things have become new my old life is cancelled out why wouldn't i want to cry out abba father not only says it once not only says it once in romans but paul later in galatians the book of galatians in chapter four and verse five he goes right back at it again he says to redeem them that we're under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons and because we are sons god has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts crying are you with me tonight crying abba father i'm going to tell you what will set our prayer lives on fire is for us not to come wanting an answer in three days for us not to come like a like a a lucky rabbit's foot maybe i'll hit it just right in this prayer and i'll get a prayer answer no no no you don't come that way what'll set your prayer life on fire is to come in here in the morning and just lift your hands and say father i love you i love you father i want you to know that i love you today god your name is wonderful your nature is wonderful well let me close with this tonight in luke chapter 11 verse number 11. jesus is still teaching on the subject of prayer and he says to the crowd there if a son if a son ask bread of any of you that is a father will he give him a stone now listen to the lord now listen to it he says if if a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father will he give him a stone or if he asks a fish will he for a fish give him a serpent or if he shall ask an egg will he offer him a scorpion now of course this is absolutely absurd it's absolutely absurd there's no way no way son if any of you had a son they're saying no no my son asked for a piece of bread i wouldn't give him a rock to to chew on he asked for fish i wouldn't hand him a snake that would bite him and poison him if he asked for an egg i would give him a scorpion that could do the same thing what's your point jesus verse 13 if even being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children how much more shall your heavenly father give the holy spirit to them that ask him you see his ways are higher than our ways his thoughts are higher than our thoughts in that that boy that young man excuse me that young man sitting on the pew first you brother nolan would you stand tonight that young man standing on the front pew my life is wrapped up in this child here my my life is wrapped up in my children my grandchildren my life is wrapped up if that boy would say daddy i'm hungry i wouldn't go out in the yard and get a rock say here chew on that rock for a while daddy i'm hungry i wouldn't go out and get a snake and say hey play with this for a while or a scorpion and what jesus is saying here what jesus is saying here compared to my love your love is evil that's what he said he said if you being evil my ways are so much higher than your ways my ways are so much higher than your ways that i consider you evil he said even if you are evil when compared to my love he said how much more would i give the holy ghost to the holy spirit to them that would ask what a god we serve god doesn't want you to fail young person god doesn't want you to be held back young lady god doesn't want you to fail god's god doesn't have you in like the county fair the house of mirrors and you're trying to find your way through that house god your father wants you to make it he wants you to be prosperous he but the main thing about it he wants you to know him if you can just see him tonight if you could just see the father tonight if you just see the lord jesus and i said i hope they get this i hope they get this because i do want them to prosper material wise but far more than my pot prospering material wise i want them to know me i want them to know truly who i am because if they can truly know who i am there's nothing in life that will ever stop them if they can know who i am the wonderful nature the wonderful nature of our heavenly father the wonderful nature of our heavenly father would you just stand with me tonight and before we go home if you're in this room tonight and you've not worshiped god you've not tried because you have sin in your life can i tell you that our father waits and if you have been baptized in his name you know how you know how do you know how far away your forgiveness is you have not because you ask not you see but we think god is like us what do you mean by that pastor we think god's like us because see if if i do brother dwayne or wrong i gotta do a whole lot of good behavior and i maybe never make it back into good graces with him but you see too many of us are thinking about god like us he's ready to forgive oh i feel the lord right now he's ready to forgive oh he's waiting for you to do tonight he's just begin to lift up your voice and say god father help me tonight father forgive me tonight lord father i want to start back father i have sinned and i'm no more worthy to be called your son father father and make me a hired servant no no no no no i'm killing the fatty calf i'm getting the robe out no i'm getting things ready for you come on should we just love the father right now tonight should we just love god tonight can we just reach out come on come on you're going to begin to feel something break inside of you when you just reach out and begin to love him right now hallelujah yeah you're doing good church come on let's lift up our voice i think there's some young people tonight that ought to just lift up your hands right now god help me god you know i've got some things in my life i need to get victory over father would you help me get victory lord would you help me walk out of this lord would you help me god to be the man to be the young lady hallelujah oh hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah oh god you're my father tonight oh you're my father tonight hallowed be your name oh hallowed be your name you're my father tonight lord oh you're my father tonight go ahead go ahead just love him right now go ahead just love him right now call him father calling father tonight calling father tonight oh father i love you oh father i worship you oh yes father oh father i worship you lord oh father i praise you oh hallelujah to god hallelujah to god hallelujah to god hallelujah to god you're a real good father oh you're a real good father oh you're the best father anyone could ever have oh you're the best father anybody could ever have oh you're the everlasting father oh you're the everlasting father you're the best father anyone could ever have oh thank you lord could we just for another moment or two bask in his love right now i have created a i've created an atmosphere around me tonight that i feel the wonderful touch of god i feel the wonderful hand of our father tonight i feel that wonderful hand of our father tonight oh god i love you lord i love you lord i love you lord oh father i love you oh father i love you father i love you father i love you oh yes lord oh yes lord i love you oh yes lord i love you oh thank you lord i worship you god i love you father i love you father all those of you that are watching online tonight join us also there's a there's a beautiful spirit here right now father i love you father i love you tonight jesus christ showed us his humanity he showed us one weak moment on the cross he not only showed us his humanity when he didn't carry his cross to the top of the hill but tucked in the story is one weak moment he felt forsaken he felt forsaken anybody in here ever every would you just be transparent enough to say hey there's times i just wonder is this making a difference this one little brief time jesus shows us a weakness now he only shows us a weakness so that we can gain strength from it on the cross he did not say my father my father why hast thou forsaken me he didn't say that he said my god my god because for just a brief little glitch the man got his mind off his father and used the broad term of god and sometimes when we have that little glitch in our lives we'll get our mind off the father but he quickly brought his mind back because of one of the last things he said father into your hands i commend my spirit can i tell you he is your father tonight he is your father let's pray